More thoughtful and pleasing to the eye than any blockbuster in recent memory, but its epic length comes without an epic reward. It's a slow ride to the same old place, nonstop action, accelerating in scale, culminating in the smirking promise of a sequel.

A low-budget wonder: rough and gritty around the edges, filmed for what looks like a budget of $1.98, but bristling with energy, passion and intimacy.

Tense and compelling, with the added charm of a mischievous spirit.

A time-waster that might be diversionary on a dull cross-Atlantic flight -- but only in the absence of alternatives.

Rote drama better suited for British television than theaters.

Like all Shelton's movies, Hollywood Homicide rambles and shambles, and like most of them, it ultimately settles into its own appealing rhythm.

The exception is Willis as Spike. He's got more energy than the rest of the cast combined.

Although Lounguine has a lot to say about Russia's struggle in its transition to global capitalism, his film is strangely uninvolving, lacking dramatic sweep.

Suffers from its enthusiasm, so fueled by anger and emotion that storytelling grows clouded. Irreverence gives way to polemic, then to an orgy of violence.

To call this effort misguided would be kind. The job this "prequel" does on the original Dumb and Dumber is the movie equivalent of surgery that removes all the vital organs and then gives the patient a prosthetic third arm. What's needed isn't there, and what's here we don't need.

Low-budget, oddly cast and strictly indie all the way.

The result? Well, as expected, director John Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood") did not make a movie as good as "FF1." This is way better.

By the end, a sense settles in that Whale Rider could have accomplished as much -- and been considerably more powerful -- as a 25- minute short.

Powerful and surprisingly timely.

This is pure entertainment but smart entertainment, plotted and executed with invention and humor and acted by a winning cast radiating good-movie energy.

Standard hack-and-giggle fare, with a few wisecracks mixed in with the gore.

A superb documentary.

The visuals pop, the fish emote and the ocean comes alive. That's in the first two minutes. After that, they do some really cool stuff.

Relies on comic formula -- but does so with more than usual panache.

A modest amusement.

On its own terms, the movie succeeds. Like a fable, its meanings are unspecific but haunting.

Even apart from the fact that it's not nearly funny enough, Bruce Almighty is a peculiar film.

A particularly strong family drama, and the Icelandic setting helps, adding a touch of the exotic.

Does a beautiful job of capturing that mood -- the exuberance and wistfulness of one man's last year of youthful irresponsibility before joining the rat race.

Better for several reasons. First, they've jazzed up the animation. The backgrounds appear to be digital, and they are striking. The story is also less violent and combative.

Martin Compston, the young man-child of Sweet Sixteen, had never acted before, but his combination of sweetness and rage -- part puppy, part pit bull -- gives Sweet Sixteen a shot of reality and a big, aching heart.

Turns out the first "Matrix" was the One, but the second is still loads of fun.

Succeeds despite that mismatch of artist and material.

Until now, it may not have occurred to you that what we needed was a witty lesbian romance. Once you see A Family Affair, you realize what we've been missing.

Sometimes the story just lies there like an old cat in the sun.

It is never a good sign when the audience is two steps ahead of the characters on the screen. Waiting for them to catch up wears everyone out.

Taps into the same emotional current that sustains the entire "buddy picture" genre, but does so with feeling and unmistakable insight.

A harmless and amusing summer comedy.

The film is certainly clever enough to hold an audience's interest throughout, though in the end it's a victim of its own ambition. As a moral investigation, it's shallow and ultimately ludicrous.

A very smart, very shrewd movie, and the smartest, shrewdest thing about it is the way it masquerades as just a fluffy comedy, a diversion, a trifle.

Sexy, surprising romance.

The movie is overplotted, a soulless maze of special effects and relentless action.

An ambitious political thriller, a multilingual film of mood and texture and the occasional haunting image.

A fascinating fact-based portrait of a gambling addict.

This is a film without a single false note. From the rain-streaked windshield to the unaffected line readings from a stellar cast, there is not a shot in Blue Car that doesn't ring true.

It works. "Lizzie" is wholesome, smart and sweet.

An appealing Hollywood satire.

Resembles a Christopher Guest movie in that it follows obsessed, socially awkward folks on a seminal journey in their lives.

Ghobadi infuses his movie with a humor that can almost be called Seinfeldian, and it's this mix of laughter with tears that gives Marooned in Iraq its big impact.

There's a case to be made for The Real Cancun as a document of the mating dance as well as an unintentionally poignant film about the brevity of youth.

An ill-conceived comedy.

There's a way to love City of Ghosts, and that's to watch it not as a story that should add up to something, but as a series of little episodes with their own specialness and integrity.

Unlike many documentaries about movies, it's neither underfunded nor perfunctory, but thoughtful and bracing.

Buoyed by some sensitive performances and nearly tanked by insensitive filming.

Ultimately, the con we witness in the movie is almost as beautiful as the con that is the movie -- believable in the moment, too irresistible to question upon reflection and executed with invigorating confidence.

The violence and mayhem are constant, though the movie's style is refreshingly old-fashioned -- scream- and laughter-inducing, rather than coldly repulsive in the modern fashion.

Achingly long and pointless, "Runs" is a movie about family that's dishonest in its presentation of every relationship.

Becomes tiresome.

The moments of action are interspersed with lengthy plot developments that are hard to follow.

Stays in the mind, changing the way we look at the world.

It eschews obvious effects, but even more impressively, it tells a story without an obvious moral. It assumes that kids can wrestle with a fairly complicated narrative and draw their own conclusions.

Riveting.

A small triumph for lowered expectations.

The picture gently caricatures the folk music scene with dozens of delicate brush strokes, creating a picture that's increasingly, gloriously funny -- as in entire lines of dialogue are lost because the audience's laughing so hard.

It has a life and style that other buddy action movies lack

What this really is is a great deal of screaming and running from room to room, wacky chase scenes, the old bag switcheroo, dim-bulb crooks and zany antics. Everyone is working hard, but as with Sofia Vergara's costumes, there isn't enough material.

Through a simple story line, dramatic acting and National Geographic-like shots of the city's rough and pristine edges -- creates cinematic magic.

Dredges up every cliche about druggy, obnoxious dreamers on the fringes of Hollywood and assumes that said cliches have the power to shock and surprise.

The movie is really a sexy, emotionally true portrait of a handful of people wrestling with their impulses and trying to find their way to happiness.

In some ways, this is "The Graduate" gone to "Lord of the Flies."

Occasionally exciting but carefully controlled.

Isn't all bad. It isn't good, either, but it's better than it deserves to be, and if one sits and watches, the laughs do come, a few.

Downbeat but ultimately hopeful, it's a domestic tragedy that cuts clearly to the bone, finding emotional nuance among the family's knotty secrets and dense layers of subterfuge.

Unfortunately, we've seen this before.

A master of minimalism, Finland's Aki Kaurismaki makes films that are so dry, so delicately ironic that they seem on the verge of crumbling in front of us -- but they never do.

The result is a movie that combines a seriousness of purpose with an impish delight in craft, in a way Hitchcock would have appreciated.

Dreadful teen comedy with a "Cinderella" theme.

Saddest, most hang-dog, most depressing movie possible.

Just another bloody cop thriller.

Overlong, overplotted and underdrawn.

It is a great story, but it hasn't been translated to the screen. It is never a good sign when the biographical notes have more emotional wallop than the movie.

Occasionally brilliant, profiting from Fellini's distinct and unmistakable way of looking and seeing. But it goes in circles and wears out its welcome, except for the most hard-core enthusiasts.

Though it ultimately recovers, too much of The Good Thief forgets about Bob, and in the process the movie loses much of its allure and vividness.

Despite good reviews at this year's Sundance Film Festival, this is the kind of squishy lost cause that gives liberal guilt a bad name.

At heart, ridiculous -- ludicrous in its conception and silly in its spectacle.

It's a straight-ahead adventure with the usual number of thrills, but with the added virtue of being smarter and more sober than one might expect.

Pleasing and occasionally very funny movie that maintains a mild but consistent hold on its audience.

A gritty but sweet look at young love and family dynamics.

Just not worth revisiting, unless one wants to tie one's brain into a knot for no discernible reward.

The story goes nowhere...We don't understand the motivation of the characters.

This is harmless fun for the kindergarten crowd, but even they will notice that the "Blustery Day" video they've been playing at home is a lot better.

A lot of the acting is amateurish, and most of the plot feels like a rehash of a rehash. The music, written and performed in the spirit of L7, is small consolation.

An unfunny fish-out-of-water comedy.

An awkward comedy made surprisingly bearable, most of the way, by one actress' ability to turn on the charm and sparkle.

The saving grace of this French film is that it's anything but a sentimental story.

Could hardly be called a success -- it's rather a likable disaster.

A silly, snarling romp -- a fun (if you're in the mood for it), sometimes scary look at the life of a socially awkward man whose best friend is a white rodent he names Socrates.

Friedkin is steeped in gore, like some cinematic Macbeth, and it's obscuring his artistic vision.

An entertaining film for kids and young teens. It's also a product of the era in which we're living, and weird times make for weird movies.

Has no insights, no point, no urgency and no importance.

Routine, genial sports movie.

Ultimately lacks the narrative muscle that could have made it great. But it does have McDormand, who is great in this, her best showcase since "Fargo."

Sinks into melodrama.