Sergei Bodrov's Mongol relates the story of Genghis Khan's early years in a plodding, uninspired fashion that doesn't bode well for the next two entries in a planned trilogy.

Witty to the point of hilarity, blood-soaked and thoroughly politically incorrect, Mother of Tears: The Third Mother follows 1970s cult classics "Suspiria" and "Inferno" to complete Argento's "Mother" trilogy.

One of the unfunniest comedies ever. Punch lines are lifeless. Characters are borderline catatonic. Running gags can't even walk.

This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach not only makes for pacey entertainment, it also allows director Christopher Bell to delve deep into the matter at hand.

U.S. viewers may be put off by its tangled sexual motifs and find its implied social critique a little close to the bone. But even Stateside, Julianne Moore, in her most challenging role in years, will win plaudits and attract mature audiences to a thoroughly absorbing and polished piece of work.

Unfortunately, where episodes of the series used to take their cue from a question posed by one of Carrie's columns, writer-director Michael Patrick King never finds that focus, and Sex and the City loses its tart edge in the process.

A spare, creepily atmospheric psychological thriller with a death grip on the psychological aspect.

A neatly contained crime whodunit with a nifty setup and an expert lead performance from Samuel L. Jackson.

Full of incident but nearly devoid of dramatic tension, The Children of Huang Shi is a based-on-fact saga that has lost much of its power on the long road to the screen.

The ambitions and intentions of War, Inc., co-written by and starring John Cusack, are laudable, but the film is a nearly complete misfire.

Director Steven Spielberg seems intent on celebrating his entire early career here. Whatever the story there is, a vague journey to return a spectacular archeological find to its rightful home -- an unusual goal of the old grave-robber, you must admit -- gets swamped in a sea of stunts and CGI that are relentless as the scenes and character relationships are charmless.

The director, who also wrote the script, achieves a keen-eyed view of the Turkish expatriates in this film while sustaining his remarkable ability to make them universal.

Much of what is shown onscreen is atmospheric filler, while the various characters describe being made outcasts because of their sexuality while holding on to their commitment to their faith.

Several shades darker in tone than the previous edition -- which, to be fair, didn't carry the burden of expectation that a sequel must bear -- the return to Narnia still casts a transporting spell.

Guillermo Nieto's hand-held camerawork mimics Julia's nervous energy and keeps the audience locked up along with her, working in symbiosis with Federico Esquerro's forcefully realistic sound design.

Unlike a Pixar cartoon that embraces as wide an audience as possible, Speed Racer proudly denies entry into its ultra-bright world to all but gamers, fanboys and anime enthusiasts. Story and character are tossed aside to focus obsessively on PG-rated action and milk-guzzling heroes.

Attempting to be this generation's "Risky Business," The Babysitters is the sort of ribald morality tale that manages to feel sleazy and decorous at the same time.

Tarsem and his screenwriting collaborators aren't able to come up with enough interesting justifications for their sudden shifts, and soon the shape-shifting yarn just feels like lazy storytelling.

Despite its intriguing premise, the movie is a disappointing misfire.

While the archival footage is fun, it's ultimately those bittersweet recollections of his equally energetic wife and adult children that give Surfwise its compelling edge.

Only Diaz shows spark because the actress knows how to simultaneously play nice and be a nasty character, thereby gaining audience sympathy. Everyone else hits one note, and it isn't nice.

The film's chief asset is its superbly atmospheric evocation of its period milieu.

A failed cinematic experiment mainly notable for its fine starring performance by a pre-"Juno" Ellen Page, The Tracey Fragments provides more evidence (not that any was needed) that an extensive use of split-screen visuals is far more irritating than arresting.

With its dialogue largely improvised by many who had seen extensive combat in Iraq, Battle for Haditha has a gripping authenticity lacking in other similarly themed dramas.

Downey plays off his own bad-boy image wonderfully. The writers give him great lines to work with and ditto that for his Girl Friday, Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, whose own svelte lines cannot be improved on.

Fugitive Pieces has a sharp, devastating story to tell.

Has something a bit edgier in mind than the usual, soft-focused wedding bell high jinks. For the most part, that's exactly what it delivers -- an amusing, smartly cast romantic comedy told from a guy's perspective.

As the heart and soul of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor once again impresses.

A hodgepodge of popular kids' elements crammed into a mishmash of a movie.

The story of a young hermaphrodite who's not sure if she's emotionally a boy or a girl manages to be both raw-edged and moving.

This family film is willing to tackle important issues such as burgeoning sexuality, alcoholism and a troubled home life but does so in a bland and unconvincing story.

Baby Boom serves up plenty of smart, knowing laughs early on, but by the time it hits the third act (or would that be trimester?), it barely crawls to the finish line.

Why Hugh Jackman was so excited by Mark Bomback's script to star and produce the film is as big a mystery as why such talents-on-a-roll as Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams joined the cast.

Lacks the fresh charm that made their first such an unexpected (if guilty) pleasure.

The result is infectiously enjoyable.

Too narrowly focused.

With subtle laughs but solid emotional thrust, it will play very well with older audiences.

The dull production obviously sees itself as an updated "Cincinnati Kid" for the World Poker Tour set, but the end result and its characters have all the originality and dramatic depth of a TV telecast.

This ridiculous thriller would be hard-pressed to last much longer than its title in theaters before doing time on DVD, as is already the case in many overseas territories.

Will please its core audience but won't enthrall anyone over the age of 16. (Even that might be stretching the point.)

Solid rom com finds another Judd Apatow acolyte moving into the spotlight.

Boasting two terrific performances by Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood as the adult and teenage versions of the same character.

A particularly nasty slice of medical-themed horror, Marc Scholermann's film is the sort of thriller in which the tenderest scene depicts an autopsy.

Although he makes an amusing comic foil, Spurlock is ill-equipped to either evaluate or report on Middle East foreign policy. His methodology is disturbingly casual and conclusions woefully simplistic.

Jay Lee's grotesque little horror film makes up for in audacity what it might lack in finesse.

Managing to make the films of Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock look like dry, scholarly treatises by comparison, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed more than lives up to its subtitle.

There are undeniably arresting moments along the way, thanks to Dafoe's subtly intense performance and the well-crafted visuals.

Without the gore, this old school slasher rehash is one anemic bore.

"Kings" covers familiar territory but does so with ruthless efficiency, intense performances and a densely packed plot designed to highlight the moral issues that most concern Ayer and Ellroy.

A compelling and illuminating story of four people who form an unlikely and momentary friendship of considerable depth.

The picture continuously shuffles moods like tunes on an iPod without ever making any lasting commitments.

The plot holds no surprises, but the eventual climactic foot chase and showdown suffice (if barely) to satisfy genre expectations.

It's a piece of unabashed myth-making from first-time writer-director Sunny Abberton, himself a member of the infamous surf tribe from the working-class beachside suburb of Maroubra, in Sydney.

Poirier is a master at dialogue. His script crackles with sharp lines and he gives all his scenes a splendid comic undertow.

This movie wants to help make things better. But it also -- fervently, and for a purpose -- holds a grudge.

Several stories, or scraps of stories, are woven together in the making of Jellyfish ("Meduzot"), linked by common themes and a shared sense of humor, poetry and loss.

Clooney, the film's director and star, can't make up his mind how to approach the story. One minute it's a romantic comedy. Then it switches to slapstick, then to screwball comedy before sliding into Frank Capra territory.

After a promising start, this quirky comedy falls flat despite Eckhart's best efforts.

The director is chasing a mood here -- a mood, an atmosphere and feelings -- much as he did in "In the Mood for Love."

This family comedy adventure from Walden Media is likable in a scruffy way. Its characters, especially the youngest one, are engaging, and few adults are immune to childhood fantasies about secluded tropical isles.

In the end, the gimmick is too risible and its effects on the characters too forced to sustain either suspense or horror.

A lame comic idea poorly executed dooms Sex and Death 101 to failure.

The film does not stand up to the current crop of music/concert films like "U2 3D," which brilliantly uses 3-D to show the Irish band in concert so as to encapsulate its relationship to its fans, each other and their own music, and "CSNY: Deja Vu," which hones in on the political connection Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young have to their music.

Although a little too open-ended to be wholly satisfying, Water Lilies is still an excellent directorial debut.

Not the freshest heist movie ever made, Flawless still has a few pleasures to offer, thanks to a well-studied social and political background and to Michael Caine's lovely creation.

The pic benefits from a loveable-loser turn by Simon Pegg, but the "Shaun of the Dead" star's presence may also lead to disappointment for those familiar with his work.

Escapist moviegoers happy to live out a flashy fantasy get a brief comeuppance and still walk away from the table with a little something in their pockets.

High praise to the cast and crew. Jared Leto is mesmeric as the bloated, deranged Chapman. It's a brilliantly measured performance, evincing the tale of a madman through his own awful rhyme and reason.

Documentarian Morgan Neville has fashioned a spirited riposte to the groundless cliche that Los Angeles is a cultural wasteland.

A young cast and hotheaded melodramatic streak make it broadly accessible, perhaps enough so to help the film scrape past boxoffice challenges faced by other Iraq-centered features.

By-the-numbers screen parody fails to resurrect an increasingly tired genre.

A relatively lame exercise that never achieves comic traction.

What The Grand lacks in originality it more than makes up for with its high percentage of funny moments.

The film hardly could be credited with breaking any new ground, but it has a hangdog charm, much like its leading actor.

Features a fine performance by Angela Bassett, but her work is the sole subtle element.

Genuine scares are few and far between, and the climactic explanation for the ghost's appearances comes as something less than a revelation.

An eye-catching combination of cultural history, performer profiles and competition footage that should see enthusiastic response from niche audiences in urban and specialty venues.

Marianne Faithfull is unforgettable as a middle-class, middle-aged frump …in Sam Garbarski's crowd-pleasing comedy-drama Irina Palm.

Mitra, clad in the requisite tight, sexy outfits, conveys a suitable toughness but little in the way of personality, while such distinguished British actors as Bob Hoskins and Adrian Lester dutifully show up to collect their paychecks.

A delight, brimming with colorful, elastic characters and bountiful wit.

Although the movie set in the hot new arena of mixed martial arts is a bit short on star power, it's energetic and warm-hearted enough to become a word-of-mouth hit.

Even if the movie takes you to some dark places you would rather not visit, at least you will remember the actors who navigate the tortured journey.

The movie is, arguably, too long and overladen with ideas. Klotz and Perceval are particularly keen on nailing the use and abuse of language in formatting human behavior.

The plot development of Flash Point is purely utilitarian, like a shuttle bus that transports stock characters from one action set to another.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the picture, its few intellectual pretensions notwithstanding, is as a classy horror film with a particularly nasty edge. It's not exactly entertainment, but it casts a poisonous spell.

The film's economical style, vivid cinematography and tremendous acting should attract audiences far and wide.

As one might expect, there are campy moments and far too much reliance on God-like interventions in the affairs of early man. Less expected is that 10,000 BC works just fine as an action Western with handsome actors in striking costumes and a few CG predators, which are giddy fun.

A slow-paced and often confusingly plotted crime drama that never lives up to the delicious potential of its premise.

What is puzzling is the incompatibility of the two leads with their roles. Raven is supposed to be a high school senior on a road trip to check out prospective universities. But she acts like a adolescent on a sugar high during a weekend sleepover.

Sustains itself through terrific forward momentum and two glorious star turns by gifted actresses Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

In Paranoid Park, Gus Van Sant enters the world of high school kids just as he did in "Elephant," achieving this time a much sharper, more focused portrait of how these rapidly maturing young people act, think, speak and behave.

Snow Angels succeeds because of the depth of its well-drawn characters. With no cinematic sugarcoating, it's an organic story that draws us in to these people's lives, as flawed and destructive as they may be.

A hyperactive, wishful-thinking special effects fantasy suitable for family outings.

Put three old friends in a convertible for a cross-country road trip to a loved one's funeral, and what do you get? Very few surprises, in this feel-good fluff that, despite offering nothing novel, could do well with older audiences who rightly feel that too few films are being made with them in mind.

Shot in high definition and filmed at many historic locations, the film somehow still lacks the splendor of an epic, and its urgency to get on with the next plot point leaves much unexplained while context goes out the window.

The result is an entertaining comedy for young girls and older girls who still like a good romantic fable.

The comedy is sloppy, crude and contains far too many misfires, but the film does capture the old ABA spirit in its ungainly struggles to wrestle laughs from seriously mediocre material.

An unusually poetic and meditative eco-themed documentary, Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen is as beautiful as it is ultimately depressing.