Although the "weird" factor is very much in play here, director Tomer Heymann does a fine job of peeking behind the curtain and discovering real humanity at work. We not only get to know these transsexuals as people, but also their patients.

To enjoy it you almost have to be stoned on marijuana.

If Idlewild had something beyond OutKast's songwriting, it would make a swell musical.

It's a pleasant and well-intentioned end of summer diversion that doesn't possess the imagination-stoking qualities of a premier children's movie.

The movie is shamelessly manipulative.

The desperation TV stars must feel to be on the big screen is the only explanation for Edie Falco and Elisha Cuthbert's appearance in The Quiet, a creepy family drama that reeks of pretentiousness.

Pleasant, light-hearted fun that's soft, not edgy, but lest you think it's a Spanish "Birdcage," consider that Forque's nymphomaniac, who gives way to her urges "in the worst moments, and with the least appropriate people," seduces her son's fiancee by "accident."

Extremely bleak but occasionally compelling debut feature.

As a film, "Levees" is a significant and exhaustive achievement. Although it can be argued that it might have been even more effective if it had been edited down a bit, the power of its human stories compensates for whatever minor flaws it has.

If you can find a better time at the movies this year than this wild comic thriller, let me in on it.

If you can lighten up for an hour and a half, the film delivers one good laugh after another.

A rich and elegant film, full of sly, devious characters with complicated motives.

A grim and sometimes funny examination of life on the margins and of a singular artist's world.

Superficially entertaining romantic romp.

A smart, sexy romantic drama, directed within an inch of its life by Hans Canosa.

Has maybe a half-dozen moderately frightening scenes.

The dreary teen drama Step Up appears to be cobbled together from bits and pieces of successful movies.

Zoom is a C-list production in every possible way, from the actors and the special effects to the music and the script. Even the product placement is completely third rate.

You never catch Gosling doing anything out of character. It's the first Oscar-caliber performance I've seen so far this year.

What sells this movie is the realistic attention to detail and the bravura direction of Fabrice Du Welz, who draws a gut-wrenching performance from Lucas, who cries, squeals and screams with the best of them.

Some clunky writing and a distracting subplot limit the effectiveness of this ambitious low-budget indie. Great idea for a movie, though.

Most viewers will have no more fun watching this story than the characters do living it.

Stone does everything he can to do justice to the real-life people he's depicting, and yet nothing he does can cover up the film's single but overarching weakness: The personal story he uses to portray the larger event is limited in scope and impact.

While dinner and a movie is in theory a great idea, I'd avoid eating before taking in Lunacy.

Marshall takes a modest budget and a concept that isn't all that original and produces a frightening, intelligent and sexy thriller.

An often amusing but also an aimless and forgettable animated comedy that is noteworthy mostly for its random musical numbers and surprising amounts of violence.

A movie with lots of heart but no heartbeat.

This is a decidedly blue-state take on a red-state phenomenon.