One doesn’t expect that kind of intensity in a sedate British murder mystery, but Pfeiffer brings it. On her own, she helps Branagh make the case for his remake over the original.

The suggestion that Peter O'Toole is playing some version of his real self in Venus adds a bittersweet poignancy to this quietly affecting British drama.

Prospect has a lived-in, working-class vibe at odds with so much of the gleaming, brave new world that is the science-fiction cliché.

In all, it’s a relaxed portrait of a likable fellow.

A handsome film, filled with lavish costumes and set designs and told in a series of exquisitely composed images. But even with its visual polish, it's a chilly, largely unaffecting film about an unsympathetic man.

Fascinating stuff.

It is bearable, in every sense of the word, and that's worth something for parents looking for G-rated entertainment.

Moving.

Details the group's raucous history with humor and a minimum of hero worship.

The film is full of low-key but telling observations, mostly about Gianni's plight but also about modern life in general.

The stunning and mostly uncompromising visuals more than compensate for the frequent corny turns of phrase.

With The Nomi Song, Horn does more than simply pay homage to a late artist. He uses his subject to revisit the euphoria of artistic and musical culture at a crossroads, and in the process brings it, briefly and poignantly, back to life again.

Chunhyang is an extravagantly beautiful movie that many viewers are going to love and others are not going to be able to sit still for. That's their problem.

A fascinating guide to its subject and her work, but the emotional wall Kusama lives behind remains unbroken. She is a loner and a mystery.

About five times as funny as "Scary Movie 3."

It exemplifies the same appealing style, which strives to show life as it's lived and people as they really talk and act.

Akeelah and the Bee connects where it counts most, on an emotional level. Only a curmudgeon could watch this feisty but vulnerable youngster rack up victories against all odds without tearing up.

A powerful allegory.

So cleverly constructed that it's easy to be taken in and believe these twins really rocked.

Obviously, sports fans will get the most out of In Search of Greatness. But there are self-help tropes for everyone.

One of the most enjoyable pictures of the season.

So chalk Escape Plan up as a pretty good action movie given an extra edge by the intelligent use of its two main actors.

Blue Chips is in many ways like a modern Frank Capra movie, about a battle between corruption and idealism, money vs. love, the pack vs. the individual. It's an Americana story about white farm boys and black ghetto kids bringing their talents together in a pure endeavor and about the cynical forces that would pollute that. [18 Feb 1994, p.C3]

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

Well-made and modestly enjoyable.

Superpower, one of several documentaries about the war in Ukraine, doesn’t break any news, but Penn, a two-time Oscar-winning actor and director of several feature films, is a skilled storyteller. He and Kaufman do an excellent job of providing a contextual overview of the conflict, from its origins — the trajectory of both Russia and Ukraine in the post-Soviet era — to its political stakes, the mood of the Ukrainian people and the fascinating man who is leading them.

Joins the growing mass of excellent, disturbing and achingly sad documentaries about the Iraq conflict.

Dream Horse is full of heart and interest. Throughout, Collette makes us believe in the human-animal connection between Jan and Dream Alliance, which is touching, mysterious and deep.