This is a vision of hell conveyed in a simple, documentary style, far removed from the sumptuous American Mafia fables.

As in a good European film, shots are allowed to breathe. The focus is on character and human emotion. At the same time, the movie shows an American concern for pace and story development. The result is the best of both worlds.

The reboot of the "Friday the 13th" series is a pretty big mess - not particularly scary or interesting or even gory by 21st century movie standards.

Seems more appropriate for a science museum than the Metreon, but that's not the film's problem. The problem is that oceanic movies in actual science museums are far more interesting and nuanced than this documentary.

What a shrewd achievement for writer-director Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"), to have made a movie that everyone will acclaim as beautiful, when perhaps the most beautiful thing about it is the sheer ugliness of it all.

Never soars, but it never flags. It remains brisk, engaging and pleasant throughout, and face it: If a movie this well made had Spanish or French subtitles, we'd all be talking about it as a searing examination of sexual politics.

The predictable script feels as if it were filmed right off the cocktail napkin it was jotted on, but at least the movie has an "Ocean's 11" sequel's worth of good actors, including Alfred Molina, Jeremy Irons and Jean Reno.

Two awful things about Push are at least interesting: The first is the way in which the story is confused. The second is that the story makes no sense.

It's a shame that "Confessions" doesn't aim higher because there is a great film to be made about the consumer bait-and-switch that has led so many Americans to live beyond their means.

Won't go down as an action thriller for the record books, but it's a pretty good one for right now. First of all, the villain is a bank. How's that for timing?

Uninspired and only faintly funny.

I won't tell you Taken is great, but it's great fun.

Won't make anyone forget "The Shining," but it's a nice throwback to the days when scary movies featured pretty good actors, a plot that holds together and a couple of creepy-looking ghost kids.

Zellweger takes an otherwise passable mainstream comedy and all but ruins it with her lack of effort.

Serbis has the feel of a documentary, but a documentary can't accomplish what Serbis does: Take us to a corner of the world where sex and regret are so intimately entwined.

If Stanley Kubrick filmed an orgy like the one in this film, "Eyes Wide Shut" might have been halfway tolerable.

Seemingly intended as a celebration of the power of books, it's an occasionally incoherent, sleep-inducing picture that reduces narrative to mere mechanics.

In its second half, Outlander falls apart completely, becoming nothing but a violent, mindless monster movie along the lines of "Alien vs. Predator."

The result is a warm and extremely thoughtful journey, with a deliberately bare-bones narrative.

More important is to be in a silly mood yourself. Without that - without a complete suspension of disbelief - Chandni Chowk to China is a drag to sit through.

The movie is an ideal blend of character study, deceptively simple plot twists, inspired acting, and travelogue.

It's no great shakes as a film, but its combination of mild comedy, slapstick, pathos, many photogenic canines and a positive message will make it irresistible to families.

A fawning bio-pic.

The action sequences are just as ridiculous as the romance parts, but at least James seems comfortable with the pratfalls and gross-out scenarios.

If you came to see two pretty girls in wedding dresses wrestle, you won't be disappointed.

Unfortunately, for those who do not subscribe to the notion that God's dust smooths a marriage's rough patches, but rather hard work by people do, the message rings hollow.

Yonkers Joe is incoherent, succeeding neither as an exciting gambling ride nor a touching family story.

You can see this Danish offering as a sardonic update of familiar noir material, or simply as the story of the midlife crisis of a guy who wishes - or dreams, or dreads - that he's living out a grand drama. There are pleasures to be had either way.