Layered with elements that are both amusing and touching but never threatening to collapse into a big heap of sentimental mush.

Hugely satisfying entertainment that will attract a broad spectrum of audiences around the world. Zwick fully exploits the star power at his disposal, pairing off Cruise and Japanese star Ken Watanabe as two larger-than-life warriors.

This creature feature is exhilarating fun, a richly designed and often quite funny re-exploration of the movie past.

The filmmakers turn what could have been dry subject matter into compelling, inspirational drama.

The new "Freaky" plays the obvious gags in ways both surprising and imaginative.

An engrossing, highly intelligent reimagining of the legend of Arthur.

This is a work of art so deep and resonant that it puts most narrative films to shame.

A thoughtful, provocative effort that makes up for its narrative failings with its astute philosophical musings.

The film lets you get caught up in the excitement of this religion and the addictive nature of those stadium lights. Berg and cinematographer Tobias Schliessler get up close to the action, catching the hits and miscues in all their violent urgency.

A sharply observed tragicomedy that draws laughter as genuinely as it coaxes tears, the nicely paced film tempers its themes of loss and sorrow with a cynically witty edge and is graced by a perfectly pitched Sigourney Weaver performance.

Reunites one of the best voice casts ever for an animated film to create a shrewd entertainment that again successfully aims its jokes at various age groups.

The film boasts a terrific newcomer in the lead role, exquisite widescreen photography and a powerful sense of place.

Director John Curran has masterfully managed to convey flesh and blood within the permutations of the sometimes clinical story. Enhancing the people-next-door nature of this saga were the film's smart technical contributions.

In the wonderfully droll Kitchen Stories, Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer takes an already inspired premise and weaves it into a spry absurdist comedy that also manages to find some considerable warmth.

In a summer of remakes, sequels and movies swollen with effects, The Terminal stands out as a strikingly original comedy.

Affectionately conceived, imaginatively staged and highly entertaining.

The movie makes an excellent primer about the world of stock car racing for fans and nonfans alike. In 48 fast minutes, the Simon Wincer-directed film gives you a genuine sense of this particular sport, its rigorous demands and the fan base that supports it with such wildly enthusiastic devotion.

Captivating drama delivers literary flair and Louisiana music and great roles for a grizzled John Travolta and lovely Scarlett Johansson.

Pacino gives a keenly measured performance, leading an excellent British cast through their paces in a richly colorful production that should please selective audiences and adds to the list of major film adaptations of Shakespeare's work.

Driven by two great performances surrounded by solid supporting acts, Infernal Affairs is the rare testosterone movie that is also mature and thoughtful.

Happens to be extremely funny -- at times sidesplittingly so -- thanks to Zwigoff's way with raw irreverence and Thornton's perfectly pitched, ready-for-anything performance.

Kevin Spacey, both as star and director, has created a hugely entertaining, highly empathetic portrait of a man for whom music was literally the thing that kept him alive.

In Jarmusch's capable hands, the mundane has never been so delightful.

Despite the clunky bits, "Tomorrow" still manages to deliver the blockbuster goods.

While the words "instant holiday classic" might be pushing it, Elf is at the very least a breezily entertaining, perfectly cast family treat.

A fascinating examination of a mysterious life and the truly bizarre art that it spawned.

The film hits another comic mother lode in the byplay between Black and Cusack.

Jeunet provides numerous pleasures, particularly visual, along the way.

Writer/director Zach Braff has threaded a powerful and intelligent personal story through a genre all too rare today – romantic comedy.

The central trio of actors deliver engaging, pitch-perfect work.

A rewarding piece of filmmaking that has all the makings of a classic weepie.

Brooks is solidly in charge of this feel-good fairy tale as he gets terrific performances from everyone including two super-talented child actors.

The updated classic is a chiller of a political thriller in its own right.

The film feels contained — its design, visual effects and cinematography all in the right balance and proportion. Spider-Man is the hero, and not some element in the filmmaking process.

A stunning, difficult film.

It's difficult to think of another recent film so seamlessly rendered or that envelops an audience so completely in its period authenticity.

Scorsese has crafted a rip-roaringly gorgeous-looking, beautifully acted biographical epic. But while firing on all cylinders, there's something oddly distancing about the picture.

Wonderfully weird and wistful adventure-comedy about a fish-out-of-water oceanographer.

While the plot is a bit light even to be carried on Wayne and Garth's droopy shoulders, it's splendidly smart, dumb stuff.

In American Me, Edward James Olmos has achieved several important goals, but one outweighs the rest: he has made a film that will scare the hell out of any inner-city youth not already lost to the hopelessness of gangs, drugs and prison. [9 Mar 1992]

Although one need not have graduated from a weekend screenwriting seminar to tell where the story is headed, Big is just plain funny and wonderfully goofy throughout. Again, while certainly not a new story or even a new theme, Big is done refreshingly well.

Cameron isn't as concerned with scares or atmosphere, the staples of traditional horror films, as he is with setting up difficult situations for his characters to get out of, leaving audiences deliciously on edge.

It took three films, but The Twilight Saga finally nails just the right tone in Eclipse, a film that neatly balances the teenage operatic passions from Stephenie Meyer's novels with the movies' supernatural trappings.

A highly entertaining documentary revealing a serious talent behind the one-note present-day reputation.

Scott has an eye -- and it's a very good one -- for sieges of castles, charging horsemen, hand-to-hand combat, glistening swords arcing through the air and deadly arrows whistling toward helpless targets.

Its balancing act between innocence and gore perfectly matches the expectations of genre fans, who should embrace the movie.

Ultimately a powerful portrait of the sort of apocalyptic culture clash that is resulting in an increasingly dangerous and fragmented world.

A terrific cinematic essay that will have a very, very long shelf life.

Captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.

A work of powerful humanism.

A nature documentary that captures the ferocity and heroism of nature.

A deeply personal, often wrenching documentary.

Astonishingly powerful documentary about really, really hard work.

Fascinatingly ambiguous tale and bizarre cast of characters make it one of the more entertaining documentaries in recent memory.

An eye-opener that handles its themes in a refreshingly nonexploitative manner.

Although the story takes place during a tumultuous period, historical events never obscure the gaming genius' story. Rather it's a scrupulous examination of a somewhat naive intellectual.

What distinguishes it are its intelligent, unsentimental screenplay, which only occasionally lapses into emotional manipulation; the assured direction by Yukihiko Tsutsumi; and the superb acting.

The movie takes on the quality of a first-rate detective story.

The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.

New wave Bollywood at its best, a Hindi-language film from a Mumbai studio that shows the influence of American and foreign films.

This is an accomplished suspense-action piece that touches on universal themes of brotherhood, exile, love and honor.

While the political implications of the film are provocative, "Sugar" also happens to be an impressive cinematic achievement. This picture has a visual sweep that many docu films lack; the plantations and nearby towns are vividly evoked.

Despite his obvious infirmities, Reilly infuses his performance with a great deal of energy -- frequently shouting his lines for emphasis -- and, of course, perfect comic timing. It's fortunate that we have this filmed record -- directed by Barry Poltermann and Frank Anderson -- of a memorable solo performance by a true show business original.

A music documentary of uncommon richness.

Although it takes a while for Yu's thesis to jell, the film makes a lasting impression as it delves into an unfashionable territory: character as fate rather than a function of pharmaceuticals.

A knowledge of Smith's landmark contribution as a rock 'n' roll pioneer is not essential, and the film should be a joy for anyone interested in pop culture of the past 40 years.

East meets West in a beguiling, old-fashioned romantic comedy set in today's global economy.

The secrets revealed here are not quite as shocking as the hints of child molestation captured in "Friedmans." Still, this is an equally intriguing and unsettling look at the turmoil hidden behind the white picket fences of suburbia.

Misunderstandings, new turns and stratagems mark the rest of this delightful divertimento, which navigates between burlesque and romantic comedy.

Managing to avoid facile sentimentality, the story grows emotionally more and more engaging thanks to Moretti's impeccable comic timing and neurotic acumen.

Peter's lightning-fast script and Loncraine's steady direction steer this road picture to the sunny side of the street.

Kore-eda listens to his characters' inner thoughts with the attentiveness of a piano tuner, and reveals them with the lightest inferences.

Part One, at least, is a French "Bonnie and Clyde."

Greenaway is first and foremost a deft storyteller and filmmaker -- and a cheeky art historian. An appreciation of art isn't necessary to enjoy Rembrandt's J'Accuse, and Greenaway goes to great lengths to draw the artistically illiterate into the story.

A moving if too-leisurely paced effort that benefits immeasurably from the superb performance by its 84-year-old star.

A fanciful and melancholy portrait of exiled Russian poet Joseph Brodsky.

The main drawback to this noble effort, just nominated for the foreign-language Oscar, is that the two-hour film is unrelievedly grim and tense.

The film gets seriously weird as it goes along, but without losing its sense of direction or taste for offbeat humor.

While Demme's latest doc might not fully express the sublime arc of Young's career, it's another worthy contribution to the artist's lifelong body of work.

The director also pulls career-high performances from Mezzogiorno and Timi that are, respectively, tragic and mesmerizing.

The film is essential viewing for anyone who cares about the fate of the mountain region and the legacy of the Dalai Lama.

After a career excelling in highbrow urban romances, Hong Kong director Peter Chan ("Perhaps Love") earns his spurs in his march into war epic territory.

Only the film's slow pace softens its powerful message.

A well-made and entertaining descent into a black-comic hell.

While The Misfortunates careens with madcap hilarity through the Strobbe's tumultuous lives, it also resonates with its serious story undercurrent. In essence, it is the story of a boy's struggle to survive, and, in this case, evolve.

Comprising seven individual films with a cumulative running time of more than 8 1/2 hours, Have You Heard From Johannesburg (the title comes from a Gil Scott-Heron song) naturally will find a more receptive home on television and home video, but New York's Film Forum, presenting it in three parts, is to be commended for giving the series its world theatrical premiere.

The guy really goes all out in these performances.

It's an energetic and vivacious film that will appeal to fans of punk rock worldwide and should find its place in the pantheon of great music-film biographies.

Most notable for its evocative photography of the bleak Oklahoma landscapes and for the memorable turns by its two leads, who bring a haunting, world-weary gravitas to their performances that feels utterly authentic.

A stirring romantic drama centering on the last royal heir to the native line of traditional monarchs.

George Nofi pulls off a relative rarity in his feature film debut by creating a genuinely romantic fantasy suspense thriller.

These are people at the frontline of idealism in action, working to alleviate suffering, one patient at a time, in some of the most devastated places on Earth.

The film, which received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, no doubt will become a mainstay of university film courses.

With fierce arguments, often drawn on partisan lines, raging across the country, The Lottery will be of vital interest to anyone interested in the topic, especially the parents of young children.

An ambitious film, and Guadagnino deserves praise for the risks he takes here.

For an event of such seismic social importance in the modern era, the 1969 Stonewall riots went shockingly undocumented. Almost no archival footage exists, which gives Kate Davis and David Heilbroner's documentary feature Stonewall Uprising the frustrating air of an oral history lesson. But it's a vitally important one nonetheless.

Good-humored, illuminating and without cant, Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone's documentary South of the Border is a rebuttal of what he views as the fulminations and lies of right-wing media at home and abroad regarding the socialist democracies of South America.

Despicable doesn't measure up to Pixar at its best. Nonetheless, it's funny, clever and warmly animated with memorable characters.