Clearly, much care and intelligence have been lavished on discouraging, routine material.

When there's a whole mess of zombie killing to be done, who cares about reflective writing or that time-wasting element of suspense?

Not only (Kaufman's) most accessible and romantic screenplay, it's his most complete. The third act works like a charm and pulls all his themes, characters and conflicts together beautifully.

A playfully quirky and, ultimately, unexpectedly affecting portrait of a 17-year-old slacker.

Unfortunately akin to going to a dance club stone cold sober and wearing ear plugs. You get the gist of the general experience, but euphoria is far, far away.

Ultimately unsatisfying.

A sensitive and well-observed drama that, while not breaking new ground, marks its director-screenwriter as someone to watch.

The movie telegraphs its intentions too early and relies too much on a single actor, Johnny Depp, to achieve its emotional force.

In terms of inspiration or even the slightest shred of ingenuity, Banks ranks more like an 000 than an 007.

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.

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

The film doesn't know what it wants to be -- reality programming pushed to the max or a satire of reality TV? -- but it winds up as an exercise in the rankest sort of cynicism.

Unfortunately lacks much in the way of compelling narrative or credible characterizations, but it once again reaffirms Huppert's place in the pantheon of French film actors.

There is enough compelling adventure, awesome cinematography and dynamic stunt work involving horses to keep one entertained by Hidalgo.

Cruises along agreeably on the easy chemistry between Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, who step in where Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul left off.

A beguiling, multilayered drama.

It's all Kovacs for 94 minutes. Which means the viewer experiences a perilous tug-of-war between annoyance at the extreme artificiality of the conceit and admiration of the gutsy performance by an actress who must, literally, carry the movie. Annoyance wins out, unfortunately.

An often intriguing documentary, albeit one with wires attached.

While the film occasionally stretches credibility and is also rather schematic in its characterizations, it tells its tale with skill and economy, and its observations about consumerist Israeli society are critically insightful without being overdone.

The film lacks narration or music, but the devastating images speak for themselves.

While much of what is said here has been recounted in previous forums -- the special Sept. 11 episode of TV's "Third Watch" being a prime example -- the redundancy doesn't deprive the commentary of its power.

A limp sex comedy about men behaving badly.

Works better than one might think, thanks to the group's modus operandi, which combines a fundamental reverence for the target material and a sly irreverence that's key to their skewering technique.

Like "Dogville," Neil Young's Greendale uses the deceptively simple "Our Town" foundation on which to build a platform for some highly personal sociopolitical criticisms, but unlike the contentious von Trier picture, the Young variation gets the job done in roughly half the time with a notable absence of histrionics, plus you can tap your toes to it.

Combining the ludicrous with the lurid, Twisted is twisted all right.

It's disappointing the film is so sketchy and underdeveloped. The filmmakers may have sold their story short.

Will richly award locals with sly in-jokes and a wonderful comic performance by Bruhl. Non-Germans will certainly get the essence of the humor but may find the movie long and repetitive.

Ultimately lacks the textural depth and emotional precision that marks the work of obvious influences here like Robert Altman, but it does offer a pungent slice of contemporary Israeli life that should prove resonant for audiences interested in the social complexities of the region.