It really does communicate an optimistic sense that race is irrelevant and we can all live happily ever after together.

It's not "The Wizard of Oz," and its cotton-candy fantasy of a story line is definitely aimed at very young children. But it's well made, and adults likely will find themselves yielding to its gentle, whimsical charm.

A familiar but rewarding little parable.

For most of the way, it's indeed quite a ride: a cumulatively exhilarating, visually mouth-dropping, somberly stylish odyssey crammed full of virtuoso animation sequences.

It's hard to figure exactly what the point of this movie is -- except maybe to expose the myth of samurai machismo.

When (Tykwer) connects it's exhilarating and gorgeous, a sight to behold.

Together, the two of them (Pitt, Roberts) are cute as a bug.

This restrained drama of lifelong friends drifting in separate directions is a quietly rich and resonant portrait of disconnection.

A breezy comedy about a battling couple (Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery) who discover they aren't married. [07 Sep 2004]

Both sophisticated and elemental enough for all ages to grasp the message.

This is an actress (Streep) who can pull off anything -- including a shamelessly kitschy musical.

Full of mystery, romance and ambiguity, Zhou Yu's Train is a tight mosaic of a film.

A big change of pace for the bad-boy Spanish director. Like his other work, it's kinky and proudly gay, but this time it's not a comedy. It's a serious neo-film-noir, and a pretty darn good one at that.

Original, imaginative and stylish.

The film powerfully demonstrates the diversity, the adaptability, the resilience of the insect world. The rest of the animal kingdom (including man) may be on the brink of extinction, but these little guys are thriving. [22 Nov 1996]

The film goes for a grainy, fast-cut, documentary look that is both a blessing and a curse.

It makes for an unusual angle on the era, and a passionate paean to the power of books, ideas and art.

Love. Lust. Recrimination. Jealousy. Resolution. This British female friendship melodrama has them all.

Though it's hardly as uplifting or inspiring, it's hard not to appreciate these driven men who know they've found their calling when they start to anagram in their dreams.

Fukada captures the stubborn individualism of a girl who embraces an unpopular lifestyle.

An indie film that was lavishly praised and won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, rolls along in the well-rutted, dusty tire tracks of other mother-and-daughter road trip

Kidman brings her character to life with a fey, moth-to-the-flame enthrallment that's both touching and fascinating.

Although set in England with a predominantly British cast, Death at a Funeral is no stiff-upper-lipped comedy, but a lean, mean, and often crude, farce.

Whatever you think of her performance, Foster has certainly made all the right choices as a producer, and come up with a movie of taste, integrity and considerable emotional impact. [23 Dec 1994]

It's as if Gondry lets his performers settle into their parts and feel their way through their stories. It gives the film an ambling pace and a unique chemistry that bubbles with strange and unexpected flavors.

Schroeder's misstep is trying hard to please his star, whether it be her character's empathetic past or one very fake-looking action climax. His greatest service is keeping her toe-to-toe with her talented co-stars -- and both are the better for it.

Inspired, inventive and funnier than it has a right to be, Larry Blamire's loopy spoof of 1950s bargain-basement sci-fi and horror knock-offs gets it right where so many well-meaning efforts go wrong.

The casting is so strong and the overall filmmaking flair of the movie is so captivating that it basically works.