In a variety of forms, Slither excels in imaginative gore and shows that first-time director James Gunn has learned much about the joys of linking humor and horror.

A weird and near-perfect polyglot of indie art film and noir mystery.

The result, although a great idea, doesn't translate into a great movie.

A genuinely affecting love story with something to say about such contemporary obstacles to affection as weird families, hot exes, addictions, anonymous hookups, homophobia, irony, gay two-stepping -- and the difficulty of connecting no matter what gender you go for.

A one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. This musician may not be a genius along the lines of Brain Wilson, as Feuerzeig claims, but Johnston has a knack for revealing innermost thoughts in an offhand way that is eerie and uncanny.

An attempt at a beautiful film about renewal -- about past love, love lost, longing and rediscovery -- but it has no emotional truth.

A potent social allegory told with humor and mystery.

You might if you have a strong interest in and at least a general familiarity with Buddhism. If not, the film is a crashing bore, and does little to help the novice understand what the religion is all about.

A proper labor of love profiling many of the principles involved in the making of the films, peppered with a generous helping of wonderful clips.

Anyone who puts production gloss above performance, plot, dialogue and editing may thrill to Drawing Restraint 9.

The thrills in Spike Lee's singularly savvy thriller are in small unexpected moments.

Works better as unintentional comedy than horror.

At its best, Mermin -- who used an all-female crew -- conveys the sense of an entirely feminine world being created under the beauty school roof, and it's refreshing.

Well-intentioned but lifeless.

For all the squalor and extremely upsetting subject matter, you can't take your eyes off the screen.

Some say all the great movie stars are gone, but I say we've still got Charles Busch. A one-man archive of vanished showbiz glamour and period acting styles, Busch has reincarnated the great ladies of stage and screen in such camp treasures as "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom" and "Psycho Beach Party."

Almost so bad it's good. Almost.

This so-called comedy is so not funny, it makes "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" look like Chaplin.

Three story lines make up this tense movie, and while each has its strengths, they don't quite add up to a satisfying whole.

Richly satisfying entertainment the way movies are at their best, when they prod you to think.

Perhaps no director has so thoroughly explored the American concept of police work, prosecution and legal justice, and Find Me Guilty is a film that brings the 81-year-old filmmaker thematically full circle, back to his starting point, 1957's "12 Angry Men."

Has a certain charm and is sure to appeal to tweens, at least the female variety.

A glib satire with a slick surface, lots of snappy patter and nothing to sell but its own cleverness.

Although the movie doesn't turn the Zodiac saga into a slasher film, it has the look of a straight-to-video movie, or at best a Project Greenlight production.

While hardly glorifying abusive husbands, Take My Eyes, a mesmerizing and deeply disturbing film from Spain, makes an attempt to understand their thought processes.

Don't Tell often has the eerie feel of a Hitchcock film -- "Vertigo" in particular -- where you're not always sure if what you're seeing is really happening.

Pretentious drama.

"The Family Stone" did nothing for Parker, but Failure to Launch makes a strong case for life after "Sex and the City."