This quirky, uncommonly intelligent adaptation is a strange delight.

Those who appreciate Ferrell's sense of humor will be utterly entertained by his efforts to kick it into high gear.

A small slice of a suspended life, intimate and filled with the mundane details most people forget when the waiting is over and their real lives begin.

It's funny without being toothless, adrenaline turbocharged without being mean and utterly deranged in the best sense of the word.

Dashiell Hammett's snappy banter and cynical worldview were kept intact by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, making this production all the more delectable.

Postcards is a mixed bag. There are a number of entertaining moments; however, potentially rich characters and situations wither from lack of development for the sake of the central relationship, which is never wholly convincing.

The Adventures of the Ford Fairlane is an exceptionally well-made film that is everything you could ever want in an Andrew Dice Clay movie; it's vulgar, tasteless, nasty, cynical, and, at times, very funny.

A nostalgic mix of corn, laughs, exuberance, and infectious songs.

His emphasis on acting is welcome at a time when shallow, smirkingly self-referential performances threaten to become the Hollywood norm, but the film's slack pacing and narrative indiscipline undermine its intensity.

Slow but charming film.

Cassavetes' instincts are spot-on, particularly when it comes to casting Timberlake in what turns out to be the most important role in the film. He manages to be both reprehensible and deeply charismatic, and winds up stealing the picture.

Matters become increasingly contrived as the film collapses in exhaustion from thematic overload. Still it's a fairly impressive achievement as a whole.

An entertaining and well-crafted political satire that is definitely worth a look.

Solomonoff cuts back and forth between 1984 and 1976, gradually revealing the truth of what happened, but the mystery is less important than the complex relationship between Natalia and Elena, which was sorely tested by events beyond their control.

Overall, Grindhouse may well be the Beatlemania of sleaze-movie viewing, but since the real thing is gone it's the best that many fans will ever have.

The film offers some disturbingly misogynist elements as well as a healthy dose of crushing violence. Still, those quibbles aside, this is a fun movie and a must-see for Eastwood fans.

Horror buffs in search of a fresh take on the usual grue should embrace it wholeheartedly.

Blood sprays, limbs fall, bodies are chopped in half--business as usual in this moderately diverting feudal Japanese revenge story, enlivened by peculiar plot twists and offbeat cinematic flourishes that greatly influenced Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Filmed as the Beatles were crumbling under the weight of their own legend, LET IT BE is a milder film than its reputation suggests.

It's so bright (even when it means to be serious) and bubbly that it seems mean to point out that it isn't really about anything -- except how cool sharkskin suits and Capri pants are.

A sweat-slicked, near-abstract ballet of blood and sand.

Ultimately, Coppola's pastel-colored take on Marie's life is beguiling and annoying in equal measure.

The Savages is funny in the if-you-didn't-laugh-you'd-cry way and superbly acted by all involved, including the supporting cast of home-care attendants, nurses, hospital administrators, intake personnel and nursing-home staff.

The story is simply told and absorbing, with excellent performances all around.

Based on the book by syndicated columnist and savvy media watchdog Norman Solomon, who appears throughout as the main talking head, Earp and Alper's documentary shows just how the U.S. government coerces a nation into accepting the very idea of war, and it's a job it couldn't do without the full cooperation of the media.

The brothers' dark, all-star farce about sex, lies and surveillance is pretty damned funny.

As the doomed lovers, DiCaprio and Danes -- both luminous, limpid-eyed beauties -- are allowed to deliver delicate, unpretentious performances, and their love becomes a modest, frighteningly fragile oasis amidst a tawdry saturnalia of noise and glitter.

By the time Reilly's shaggy life story winds down, it's hard not to wish he'd been your friend, too.

Looks and sounds great, and is at its best when it isn't trying too hard to have fun.

Not a particularly original or insightful film of its kind, and marred slightly by the whining of Cramer in the lead role, this is nevertheless enjoyable fare for kids.

Funny--but not that funny--western spoof.

The engaging characters play out the action against elegantly designed backgrounds. The story is genuinely exciting, a well-told tale that is entertaining to both children and adults without compromising the expectations of either group. The voices are perfectly cast, particulary Price as the evil Ratigan.

Wright's haunting performance is the anchor that keeps Ruscio's film from vanishing down a rabbit hole.

It's an impressionistic experience rather than a linear one, and the process of surrendering to the images and rhythms of lives lived in simultaneous harmony with the physical and the spiritual is greatly helped by the chants that dominate much of the soundtrack.

Though low-budget sequels are often out of steam by the third go-round, Puppet Master III is a surprisingly lively and entertaining picture.

Ultimately, Dick subordinates scholarship to passion, which may be exactly what it takes to convince mainstream moviegoers that they should care about a system that shortchanges THEM when they go to the movies.

If anyone else but Williams had written this stage play, it might have been hailed by everyone.

Everyone in the movie seems to have a comic moment, because the laughs are piled on top of each other. Call it rude, crude, and lewd, but you also have to call it very funny.

This was a small, low-budget picture that went straight for the heart and succeeded critically as well as financially.

You don't have to know an arabesque from an alligator handbag to enjoy Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine's loving documentary about the various incarnations of the Ballet Russe.

This stirring if slightly overlong saga of England's WWII defense of its homeland features a staggering, star-studded cast, who abet the film's docudrama style with excellent portrayals down the line, despite the restrictions of their roles.

Shot on digital video as murky as Masuoka's imagination, its creeping sense of dank dread is as slow to build as it is hard to shake.

It has heart and warmth in the American Graffiti vein, with everything carried out top-notch in a sociological study of black youths.

Hilarious spoof of the classic Universal horror films of the 1930s and early 40s, with Abbott and Costello playing railway porters who unwittingly deliver the "undead" bodies of Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) and Dracula (Bela Lugosi) to a wax museum, where the bodies are revived.

The Tin Drum is a disturbing film, rich with black humor, that takes a decidedly bitter and horrific look at the German people.

Though not without problems, Desert Hearts is a triumph for director Donna Deitch and an inspiration for any independent filmmaker.

One of the best British science-fiction films and one of the most controversial.

A worthy remake of the film noir classic THE BIG CLOCK, NO WAY OUT adds, among other things, a delightfully subversive twist ending. Good performances from a strong cast.

Kor's intentions are beyond reproach, but her campaign raises discomfiting questions.

While much of Godzilla, King of the Monsters is second-rate, there's no doubt that you're watching a star being born.

An utterly preposterous but entertaining sci-fi action brain-bender.

Guided by director Silver's gentle but sure hand and benefiting from strong performances by the leads, this is a sweet, funny movie that doesn't exploit the sentimentality of its story.

Detective Story is methodical in its depiction of the sometimes traumatic events of one day in a precinct but the marvelous quirks and shadings of these characters create highly exciting drama.

Vincent turns in a fine performance as the rootless drifter who enters a community gripped by fear and comes to care enough for its denizens to put himself on the line for them.

This fun film is filled with loads of laughs, atmosphere, and nostalgia.

The film has a strikingly unsettling mood that enhances its power and gives it an impact that the story would otherwise lack. Much of the credit, though, must go to Spacek, who so convincingly portrays Carrie's pain and her longing for acceptance.

The film itself is a lot of fun--but the audience-participation phenomenon has turned it into a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience.

The result is fearlessly divisive and will no doubt play according to viewers' preexisting perceptions.

Excellent cinematography on the road and particularly good camerawork for the dismal gray 1930s Chicago settings. Salenger is wonderful, and so is the wolf.

The supporting cast is uniformly strong, with Simon McBurney standing out as an oily representative of the British foreign service.

No, it isn't as magically enchanting as the 1952 children's classic by E.B. White, any more than a museum-shop print of La Giaconda is as mysteriously beguiling as Leonardo's original. But this respectful, live-action adaptation of White's gentle tale about an undersized pig, a clever spider and the everyday marvels that too often pass unnoticed is a charmer nonetheless.

Neither trite nor pandering, and that's what makes the film better than most of its peers.

A remarkably assured comedy-drama of domestic life in Taiwan, Ang Lee's EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN explores how families use meals and other rituals to appease their hunger for love in stressful times.

Some nice scenery, an unexpectedly funny performance by Jodie Foster and a unflaggingly spunky Abigail Breslin make for above average family entertainment.

If the 1960s political thrust of the movie is somewhat blunted by the passage of time, the historical, even archival, import of Wadleigh's accomplishment is all the more striking. This is a documentary in the purest sense of that word, in that it "documents" a social and cultural benchmark, the coming together of more than 400,000 young people in the meadows of a dairy farm in upstate New York for what was billed as "three days of peace and music"--but turned out to be much more. [Director's Cut]

Director John Glen is an old hand at James Bond films, having worked on three other 007 movies. He knows this popular spy well and does him great service in this well-paced film.

What this spectacular-looking sci-fi thriller lacks in originality it makes up for in pure beauty: It just might be the most visually audacious and startlingly beautiful space opera since the original "Solaris."

DiCillo's short, sharp snapshot about celebrity and life on the fringe has nothing new to say, but it says it with considerable charm and affection.

Surprisingly sweet and good-natured, Dick Tracy is a highly stylized piece of fluff that's easier to digest than the ponderous pretensions of the equally over-hyped Batman.

Jonathan Demme's characteristic generosity toward his characters and refusal to make absolute moral judgments are strong points, while the feminist subtext adds freshness to the story.

High Plains Drifter is a morality tale carved out of the harsh Western desert and directed with a panache that synthesized the styles of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, two directors who had worked with Eastwood frequently. The result is one of the best Westerns of the 1970s.

The story is familiar, but terrific performances and a vivid sense of place elevate it above the average teen-oriented picture.

Bugsy is an elegant, knowing, but ultimately heartless homage to the bygone glamour of Hollywood and Vegas.

Inventive visuals and funny bits abound, but the film's gritty look and unsentimental characterizations - Harry, Hermione and Ron are far from golden teens - ominously foreshadow the truly wicked shape of things to come.

A tongue-in-cheek nod to gumshoes Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

Although the film was cut by more than 30 minutes by United Artists, what is left of this satirical, intimate look at the revered character is intriguing and wholly entertaining.

perfectly serviceable costume drama.

Rooney and Garland deliver their usual energy-packed performances.

Probably the most lighthearted and enjoyable of Meyer's films, Faster, Pussycat was embraced by a new generation during its art-house re-release in 1994; many viewers detected a feminist subtext beneath its extravagantly campy surface.

THE HARVEY GIRLS has a little of everything: songs, dance, action, romance, and the triumph of virtue and chastity over the forces of saloondom.

More gripping than anything on Court TV and unexpectedly uplifting.

Blue Steel's greatest pleasure is its smashing cinematography, courtesy of Amir Mokri, but also owing much to Bigelow's distinctive pop aesthetics. The dependable Curtis adds depth to what might have been a stock character; Silver is convincingly vicious and seductive.

Essentially a compendium of unrelated shorts, the delightful Melody Time incorporates visual styles as varied as the subjects of its segments.

An erratic but compelling film that lingers long after the fade-out.

Neat little chiller with Polanski honing his abilities as a director and standout performances from Pleasence, Stander, and Dorleac.

THEM! is one of the best of a 1950s spate of monster movies rooted in nuclear paranoia.

The charismatic Dillon is a believable delinquent and gets solid support from a cast that went on to populate some of the better youth pictures in years to come. [Review of re-release]

It is in this film that Hitchcock showed his development of a theme he would repeat in films to come--the innocent victim suddenly caught up in a terrifying situation with apparently no way out, coupled with breathless chases in popular public places.

Most of Wood's films have this strangely direct feel to them, but Plan 9 From Outer Space is definitely the tightest synthesis of the man's personal idiosyncrasies and his deep desire to tell a story that everyone would love.

Despite its drawbacks as entertainment, it remains one of the best technical cartoon features ever produced by Disney.

An exciting mix of science fiction, cop thriller, and buddy film, The Hidden is one of the most exciting and unique genre hybrids.

What's best about Block's documentary is how well he captures his own shifting perceptions.

Aided by a superb script from playwright John Guare, director Louis Malle pulls off a minor coup here, celebrating his wounded characters even as he mercilessly reveals their dreams for the hopeless illusions they really are.

Silent Running concentrates heavily on special effects, resulting in some stunning imagery. Dern gives an engaging, against-type performance, though the script is stretched out very thin to support a feature-length film.

Underrated science-fiction thriller about a superintelligent thinking machine, Proteus IV, designed by obsessive computer wizard Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver).

Well acted and hugely entertaining, the film strikes a near-flawless balance between sly pop-culture allusions and the details of how business gets done under pressure.

Competently directed by Pakula and featuring gorgeous cinematography by Almendros, Sophie's Choice is an overlong, fairly schlocky film that takes itself very seriously.

MANNEQUIN TWO is breathlessly funny and blessedly unassuming comedic nonsense.