Defies all but the most cynical not to get carried away by the force of its grandiose imagery and storytelling.

A tightly packed entertainment. It explodes through familiar teen-transition territory with dark ironies, but, all the while, touches are sentiments.

Engrossing and well-researched documentary.

A vigorous, fast-paced tale that entwines plot with character and psychology set against an incredibly exotic backdrop.

The new picture allows hardly any flourishes of style and character in the 007 tradition, but moviegoers seeking an adrenaline rush will be well pleased.

This intelligent, affectionate, beautifully acted movie gives crowd-pleasers a good name.

The two most hilarious characters, played by Spain's two most famous actors, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, are nothing if not cliches about tempestuous Latin lovers. But, boy, does Allen have fun with those cliches.

This smartly assembled wake-up call concerning the nation's lousy spending habits proves to be as unexpectedly spirited as it is dispiriting.

The film is a genuinely gripping tale about international terrorism that hopscotches across three continents.

Most entertaining comic drama with a great turn by Jamie Bell.

The mesmerizing performance of Fanning as the gifted and troubled young Phoebe sparks the picture.

A fine dramatic comedy with fresh characters, witty dialogue and a keen interest in how relationships must have developed among frontier folks, tyrannical ranchers, no-nonsense lawmen and -- oh, yes -- the complicated women on that frontier.

It's all here: the ingenious, obscenity-laced language, the double crosses that turn into triple crosses, the swaggering characters so in love with themselves. GottaLove RocknRolla!

A scintillating drama about pain and healing made with intelligence and compassion.

Without becoming a screed for victims' rights, the riveting film shows how in the face of terrible events a grieving parent is galvanized into activism.

Boyne's tale is starkly cautionary, and writer-director Herman handles a difficult topic with great sensitivity, drawing splendid performances from his young actors with David Thewlis and Vera Farmiga and the other grown-ups reliably efficient.

Powerful enough to make even the most cynical believe in the ability of ordinary people to induce political change.

In watching this film, it's best not to worry much about the film's fidelity to history but rather simply lean back and enjoy one great jam session on film.

The madness of Holocaust survivors is here played mainly for dark comedy. The film's dazzling central performance in a mental institute finds Jeff Goldblum in the role of his career.

A typically intelligent if occasionally overwritten political thriller, boasting a powerhouse cast.

Highly enjoyable romantic comedy.

Doerrie goes beyond the "Lost in Translation" jokes about East-West culture clashes to communicate something meaningful and deep about Japanese art and thought.

The period sets, costumes and cinematography all superbly recreate the brutal era, grand illusions and everyday suffering of the Poles under both the Nazis and the Soviets.

An affecting film that manages to find glimmers of beauty in the encroaching bleakness, and coaxing richly dimensional performances which, like Maria's photographs, transcend the conventionally black and white.

It's entertaining with a crafty mixture of action, humor and drama.

In the film's most flamboyant role, Peter Sarsgaard's devil-ish charisma and cold bluster is frightening.

The result is an insightful, exuberant, probing, long-winded and even exhausting look at what it takes for a performer to have a life in the theater.

Entertaining and even poignant.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are on fire in the lead roles: They're both charismatic as hell without sacrificing any of the emotional honesty necessary for you to believe that these movie stars are a scruffy reporter and a mentally ill musician.

It's a sympathetic portrait of a complex man driven by an anger that still bubbles beneath the surface.

A film whose every shot seems lifted right off the wall of an art gallery and just as powerfully, if quietly, satisfying.

Shot on beautifully utilized film but employing images vividly from the Internet and mobile phones, it's an examination of the power that false ideas may have on people's imagination and beliefs when they are repeated over and over.

As Julia, Swinton belongs to that league of great cinematic alcoholics such as Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in "Days of Wine and Roses" and Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend." As an action character, she naturally evokes Gena Rowlands without ever trying to resemble her.

The cast sparkles especially Simon Baker, a sturdy leading-man type, who is primed to break through any day now, and Paz Vega, already a star in Latin market.

In preparing Burma VJ, Ostergaard decided to reconstruct some scenes with scripted dialogue -- in part to explain events, but also to protect the participants. This material, shot in darkened offices and apartments, feels both accurate and necessary.

Jessica Biel has great fun with the American adventuress, while Kristin Scott Thomas is truly scary as her nemesis and mother-in-law.

Wholly one-third of the country, some 11 million people, watched the finale. Marking's film is too astute to pretend that such fleeting things can bring about peaceful democracy, but it's also perfectly aware that they certainly can't hurt.

Actors blossom under Frears' direction. There is no false moment or off-key note in this movie.

It's a powerful, shocking piece, and the denunciation of a system in which an accused woman has to prove her own innocence (while in the case of a man, his guilt has to be proven by others), is strong and clear and unforgettable.

Meadows and cinematographer Natasha Braier present their story with a gritty, unfussy lyricism that finds unexpected glimpses of beauty in overlooked corners of London.

Had Cameron Crowe and the late John Hughes collaborated on a movie populated by Disney Channel superstars, the result might have looked and sounded a lot like Todd Graff's Bandslam. And that's meant as a compliment.

Dabis, a Palestinian-American, has thoroughly re-energized the genre with refreshing wit, honest emotions, incisive observations and a perfect cast.

Minor flaws and all, Crude represents a crucial document as much as any evidence put forward in the courtroom itself.

This movie is a hoot, and a pertinent one at that.

A really terrific, intensely focused documentary on a fascinating personality.

Amiel's greatest achievement is that Creation is a deeply human film with moments of genuine lightness and high spirits to go with all the deep thinking.

What's most immediately remarkable about the film is the raw intensity of its hyper-realistic encounters, hugely enhanced by the superb acting of newcomer Rahim.

The beautifully acted serio-comedy takes a potentially smirky premise -- a chance dirty phone call between an introverted writer and a persuasive mystery woman becomes a meaningful long-distance relationship -- and turns it into something that really reaches out and touches you.

Kells proves that in the increasingly high-tech world of feature animation, there still can be a place for old-time tradition.

Christopher Rouse's rapid-fire editing nervously stitches the stunts, chases, fights and confrontations together. It's a remarkable film.

This 3-D Imax film puts you at eye level with awesome creatures that look like alien beasts from deep space.

Filmmaker Devlin details this complicated series of events with clarity, a sense of drama and more than a few touches of dark humor.

Schickel's documentary, narrated by Sydney Pollack, breaks no new ground stylistically, but it is a well-organized, informative and inevitably entertaining portrait of the man who revolutionized screen comedy and who arguably became the first mass-market, commercialized media figure.

In his feature debut, writer-director Eric Byler demonstrates a refreshing trust in his material and his audience, crafting a compact, intriguing drama from understated performances and a subtle visual sensibility.

With its compelling central character and colorful milieu, the film comes across as a combination of Greek tragedy and "Behind the Music."

Ultimately, Swimming Pool belongs to Ozon, and while incorporating a carefully measured, quietly menacing style that summons up vintage Hitchcock and Chabrol, he has made it unmistakably -- and entertainingly -- his very own.

Tinged with sorrow, compassion, forgiveness and, ultimately, love. More than 25 years after his father's death, Nathaniel visits his father's architectural works and speaks to the people who knew him.

Not only set the high standards for surfing documentaries but brought the sport much greater respect and interest from around the globe.

It's a breezily cheerful and affectionate send-up of the contradictions of California chic.

Arguably the most conventional documentary made by Errol Morris and, perhaps equally surprising, it displays sympathy toward its subject.

For all the work that went into the whimsical creatures and painterly palette, the voice actors more or less steal the show.

A wonderfully vivid and engaging theatrical experience.

A poet warrior of the first order emerges in this riveting chronicle of the brief life and times of rap superstar Tupac Shakur.

Compelling.

What will make the film compelling even for audiences who never heard of the miracle on ice is Kurt Russell's taut, nuanced portrait of Herb Brooks.

Actors dominate with finely nuanced performances where every scene feels dramatically right.

It will never be confused with the groundbreaking "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," but when it comes to a zippy live-action-meets-animation kid flick with plenty of grown-up gags, Looney Tunes: Back in Action does not disappoint.

It provides both deep musical pleasures and a touching farewell to the former Beatle.

Stiller performs a good balancing act not only with his many jobs on this movie but also in keeping the big picture firmly in mind. It's not always easy to be both silly and smart, but Stiller for the most part pulls it off.

An invaluable addition to the rock history cinema archives.

A luminous performance from Cate Blanchett lies at the heart of Joel Schumacher's impressive drama.

Structurally, Predator is a classic behind-enemy-lines/buddy movies. Nothing much new, just well done.

This gripping Brazilian documentary shows a bus hijacking that spirals out of control because of police incompetence.

David Mamet’s harsh, hard-talking drama about shady, desperate real estate salesmen makes for an actors’ showcase with a surprisingly conventional whodunit backdrop in the movie version of Glengarry Glen Ross.

Like a juicy steak served to a man suffering on a diet of micro-greens and tofu, Runaway Jury will be devoured by fans of movie melodramas.

Raimi has not lost his knack for stylish action, and a couple of the pieces -- particularly the concluding scene in the discount department store where Ash works in the present -- are audience-rousers. [19 Feb 1993]

Has the punch of a good Western with a clean and direct script plus an adventurous use of songs and folk paintings.

Challenges audiences with an unrelieved portrait of self-destruction and horrific violence. American movies don't get much grimmer than this.

Catch Me If You Can represents a distinct change of pace for director Steven Spielberg. This is a lighter movie than he has made in a long while, and you sense his relief that nothing much is at stake.

Almost unbearably moving at times, Julie Betuccelli's simple but sublime debut feature presents a portrait of maternal love and female fortitude that will reduce the stoniest of viewers to tears.

Carpenter creates excellent tension throughout and he avoids excessive blood and gore in the murder sequences. The violent actions are mostly implied more than graphically depicted, which serves to heighten the effect.

The film is an example of social activism at its best; it's not only enlightening, but it's an engrossing story that a smart television audience should embrace.

Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those small fry who can read English subtitles.

Hits on all cylinders -- a smart blend of acting, direction, editing, design, costumes and effects.

Blind Shaft, a well-acted and well-produced film, is a quiet though searing indictment of contemporary China.

These are rich, aging men in a young man's game, and the discrepancy between image and reality, captured by the filmmakers, makes for engrossing material.

It is a film that should be required viewing by all citizens, especially students, if we hope not to repeat this awful chapter.

Director Brad Bird (TV's King of the Hill, The Simpsons), adapting the original children's book by the late British poet laureate Ted Hughes, has created a wonderful character in the huge childlike visitor from space.

What makes this movie work is Jennifer Lopez's electric performance as Selena, capturing the charismatic aspects of Selena's stage persona and the essence of her maturity as a growing woman.

Other than the actors, their costumes, and a few props, everything in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is digital illusion, and the effects are often exhilarating.

In a season of proliferating issue-oriented documentaries, Voices of Iraq stands out by the sheer nature of its provenance: Iraqis themselves filmed the footage during a six-month period this year.

A classy and clever French thriller. Jean-Pierre Darroussin's performance as a browbeaten husband is entertaining, and Kahn's script brings wit and imagination to a straightforward story.

Kim Ki-duk keeps dialogue to a minimum and actions simple in what is virtually a two-character piece. Humor arrives organically, often resulting in hearty laughs.

Simply lets the sinfully gorgeous music and emotions sweep over an audience.

All elements click in "Sun," a shimmering, deeply felt film.

That a ragtag group of intellectuals and misfits could so blindside the FBI and hold the media in its grip is an especially sobering aspect of this dynamically told story.

A zinger-filled crowd-pleaser that open-minded Elvis fans (but by no means all) will have fun with.

At its best Ferris Bueller is a free-spirited romp, a devil-may-care respite from grueling dailiness.