The film's tone is set by a bravura opening sequence that follows a single bullet from a factory conveyer belt to its resting place in a child's skull, and by Cage's flawlessly sardonic voice-over.

A slow-paced but hypnotically absorbing movie, it's buoyed by Jarmusch's trademark off-key humor and embellished throughout by an electrifying instrumental score, courtesy of Neil Young.

BITTER MOON is entertaining, but in the manner of ghastly car crashes and legendary theatrical disasters; you can't take your eyes off it, but you often want to.

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

This has got to be the first time in history that a boy-and-his-dog love story was ruined by having no chemistry between the romantic leads! Hawke doesn't even seem comfortable with the dog. If you want to see a great boy-and-his-dog story, check out Lassie Come Home.

Exchanging Buddhist mantras like diet tips, they thoughtlessly destroy themselves after destroying each other.

The willowy Danes' rich, melancholy characterization is sown in a barren field of snippy attitude and too-cool posturing, and the film's disingenuous air of bittersweet chic becomes deeply tiresome long before it's over.

Luke gives a powerful performance -- with his looks and talent, he should be a much bigger star -- but Robbins is the one you'll remember. Fixed with the faraway look of a doomed man who knows the center cannot hold, he gazes fearfully toward a future he knows is coming and can do nothing to stop.

Thoroughly dotty and surprisingly endearing.

A mystery that's filled with genuine sorrow and capped off with a denouement that may take even seasoned mystery buffs by surprise.

The film is virtually wall-to-wall music with very little commentary -- it's obvious that, given the chance, these musicians would much rather play than talk.

A funny, perceptive and seductively engaging movie.

The film's a trifle, but a beautifully crafted one.

If ever an English-language film needed English subtitles it's this.

Part documentary, part one-woman quick-change show and part sociological investigation, this is enthralling theater with a purpose.

This deliriously unsettling film evokes H.P. Lovecraft's exquisitely creepy stories of encroaching madness -- not so much in story terms but in its perversely spooky ambience -- with a subtle dose of David Lynch's dark sense of humor.

Newcomer Grace seems born to the part of an unformed young woman whose character cries out to be shaped, but it's Ivey's unobtrusive skill that shapes their onscreen relationship into something thoroughly convincing.

Sleek, stylish and ephemeral as a fireworks display, Ocean's Thirteen is the definition of light, but not totally brainless, entertainment.

While far from a bad film, The Human Factor fails to convey the desperation and stagnation felt by the Williamson character.

perfectly serviceable costume drama.

Though impressively ambitious and making the most of a small budget and talented cast, director Ari Taub's feature concentrates so intently on the day-to-day minutiae of infantry life on World War II's European front that the bigger picture gets lost.

The cast is quite good. Richardson is so compelling as Hearst that she manages to transcend the mishandled material and create a character that's much more real and stimulating than one might otherwise have imagined.

Raunchy without ever devolving into flat-out prurience, Berger's oddly sweet comedy perfectly captures the naivete of the era and the unexpected wholesomeness of some of its adult entertainment.

Trapped uncomfortably between its higher aspirations and the demands of genre, this picture never quite gets its bearings, but it's still a solid ride.

A huge hit in France, Michel Hazanavicius' straight-faced spy spoof unleashes a French operative of incomparable incompetence on the volatile Middle East of 1955.

Blanchett's quietly radiant performance anchors even the most outrageous plot developments, and she's well-supported on all sides.

Songwriter Jack Johnson's collection of laid-back, sunshine pop tunes unobtrusively support the sweet and surprisingly touching story line, rather than the other way around.

While the deliberately amateurish, stilted acting seems at odds with the fruity dialogue, Maddin's intention is to subdue every aspect of his peculiar dreamscape; acting, decor, costuming, cinematography and sound recording remain equal components. No one element predominates or upsets the director's carefully controlled chaos.

Kaufman tries to project a kind of professorial sobriety, hoping his film will seem classy and serious instead of raunchy. We think it could've used more raunch, and we're sure Henry Miller (whose favorite film was L'AGE D'OR) would have agreed.

Although it definitely falls short of The Deer Hunter or Apocalypse Now, the film is not without interest.

Throughout, Pacino absolutely nails the hollow but overpowering charisma that is so easily mistaken for leadership; anyone whose heart has ever been broken by a politician will recognize it at once.

But there's a vaguely self-congratulatory tone to the screenplay that's a bit off-putting.

A rare sequel that's better than the original.

It's Norton who makes the film such an enlightening experience, and he's mesmerizing.

Casting Caine as Austin's father is a stroke of pure genius.

A sweet and surprisingly unconventional look at the changing definition of family in contemporary Japan.

By recreating things too well, the film itself becomes as boring, indulgent and over-stuffed as its hero.

The film is both fun and frightening, and can also be viewed (however modest its intentions) as a commercialized techno-version of Franz Kafka's allegory Metamorphosis.

The fine acting and sexy chemistry between Bonham Carter and Eckhart make it work.

An impressive parade of scientists, meteorologists and grassroots activists assert that humanity is capable of adapting to a changing climate, building sustainable communities without sacrificing modern-day comforts and even reversing some of the damage already done.

Newman's performance is unquestionably the best thing about this brutal portrait of humanity.

The film cannot compare with John Ford's masterpiece about coal miners, How Green Was My Valley. However, it does offer some memorable moments of quality and passion.

Works best as an illustration of the way conspiracy theories serve to weave threads of order, however fantastic, during moments of incomprehensible upheaval.

Dellal and their cast consistently hit the right notes, and the result is an uplifting tale that you don't have to be embarrassed to enjoy.

The down-to-earth portrayals possess none of the stereotypes popular in media representations of prostitutes, and, as a result, are frighteningly realistic. A film with an interesting and provocative feminist edge.

This is a doggedly eccentric film which some will reject out of hand. Others will find it profoundly moving and life affirming.

Television director David Von Ancken's metaphorical revenge Western wears its influences on its sleeve, but adds nothing to the genre that hasn't already been explored in the quietly demythologizing films of Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher, the baroque, operatic Italian Westerns of Sergio Leone and his less-familiar peers, and even in Sam Fuller's deranged, post-Civil War psychodrama "Run of the Arrow"(1956).

All in all, a fine example of what a sense of humor can do with a low budget and an old idea.

Kathy Bates, so memorably creepy in "Misery", delivers what may be 1995's most underrated performance in this implicitly feminist melodrama.

Despite the low budget, the film is handsomely designed and well acted.

Sardonic and steeped in the tumultuous history of the former Yugoslavia, this absurdist comedy of contemporary mores can be appreciated even without intimate knowledge of its specific cultural context.

Fisher's dialogue draws heavily on the original film's intertitles and script directions and the addition of sound is a plus for moviegoers uncomfortable with the artificial embarrassment of silence.

Ivory's dispassionate direction precludes real involvement with the characters, resulting in a peculiarly austere depiction of a colorful era.

Film offers a combination of highly technical jargon and emotional suspense in a well-balanced effort. The technical effects are extremely realistic, making the impact of the film much more powerful.

The entire film, in fact, is one of the better submarine dramas ever made, tense and claustrophobic, with a minimum of dalliances back at the base (in defiance of the Hollywood dictum that no movie without a love interest can succeed).

Something to forget about. In this painfully contrived comedy of Southern manners, Julia Roberts's waning star power finally winks out.

Intermittently snappy and featuring slicker animation than its TV incarnation, this popular children's cartoon may satisfy its youngest fans, but it'll be a big snoozefest for the rest of the family.

Ti West's affectionate homage to no-frills fright flicks keeps it simple and succeeds on its own stripped-down terms.

This strikingly beautiful anti-western is filled with arresting images.

The only surprise here is how a film with so much promise could ultimately settle for so little.

It's a must-see for horror buffs and anime fans; and while it lacks the haunting thematic underpinnings of "Blood The Last Vampire," -- it's a more satisfying movie-going experience.

Well acted (notably by newcomer Brown), warm hearted and utterly predictable, this film is aimed squarely at everyone who loved "Good Will Hunting."

This film got made because Seinfeld is famous, but it's still hard not to wish the filmmakers had devoted a couple of years to following Adams instead. The guy's such a throbbing bundle of arrogance, raw nerves and self-destructive insecurity that you can see the flame-out coming.

A disturbing examination of what appears to be the definition of a "bad" police shooting.

Carrey's relentless showboating is almost its undoing.

Writer-director James Ponsoldt's first feature is a small, modest movie structured around a fairly simple situation that leaves plenty of room for some fine performances.

Fortunately, no amount of optical wizardry and quick-change trickery can disguise the fundamental power of Harper's performance, a revelatory turn that's truly transformative in every sense of the term.

Ferrara's gritty and powerful style makes Ms. 45 a standout.

An enjoyable, light-hearted romantic comedy with some cute incestuous undertones, CHANCES ARE is among the best of the body-switch films that cluttered movie screens in the late 1980s.

Often funny, though just as often tasteless.

Provocative, deeply unsettling mockumentary.

Although the performances by the star-studded cast are generally excellent, only Billy Crystal really manages to transcend the dour misery of Allen's script: His witty turn as a dapper Satan is a blessed relief from the neurotic gloom.

A truly fresh take on the romantic comedy: It's as sad as it is funny, and the boy-girl match so misbegotten you can't help but pray it won't work out in the end. Call it an anti-rom-com, and see it if you can.

An animated parody of the disparity between Hollywood image and reality, this occasionally clever kiddie feature often rises above its straightforward plot.

This cliche-riddled picture was the directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Michael Chapman, who took no risks in his first time out.

Cynical and bloated, Maverick is a comic western whose high-powered cast does very little but looks damned fine doing it. Even fans of the vintage TV show may find it trying.

Bancroft and Mortensen take home the acting awards -- the pleasure they take in what they're doing really makes the film come alive.

Not surprisingly, his ranting soon becomes repetitive and boring. Greenaway's dialogue cannot sustain our interest, and his lack of humor is the film's biggest drawback. For a lover of games, the director is never remotely playful.

A clever debut film from writer-director Fred Dekker that combines science fiction, horror, and comedy into a fairly entertaining package.

More comic book-like and less intriguing than the original, the film's punch-drunk cyber-mysticism still has a darkly seductive allure that sets it apart from juvenile, Star Wars-style space opera.

Brisk, engaging story.

Though obviously aimed at a younger audience, The Goonies is packed with four-letter words. Sure kids speak like that, but writer Chris Columbus and director Richard Donner rely on obscenities as a substitution for clever punch lines, tossing in a few sex jokes and a touch of racist humor as well.

This intimate coming-of-age story benefits from excellent performances, notably Gregory Smith's.

What is grating is the filmmakers' perennial tendency to underestimate their audiences; their lack of faith leads them to drive home each nuance with a hammer.

It's straightforwardly entertaining and a genuine nail-biter.

The first 45 minutes of this wickedly clever comedy features the smartest, tartest high-school satire since Alexander Payne's "Election."

As complex as the issue it tackles.

This limp, forgettable fluff is as preachy and heavy-handed as the "Goofus and Gallant" cartoons that a generation of children far less media-savvy than today's recognized as ham-fisted lessons in good behavior masquerading as funny strips.

An offbeat and sometimes jumbled western adventure film. (Review of Original Release)

A wickedly entertaining bit of domestic tragedy.

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.

In blending the personal worlds of these characters into a complete cosmology of the abyss, director Uli Edel (Christiane F.) and scriptwriter Desmond Nakano have transformed Selby's episodic book into an aesthetic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

As Jim, Bale delivers a stunning performance; he appears in virtually every frame and truly seems to grow over the course of the film from a coddled rich child to a calculating, almost feral creature who will ally himself with whoever wields the most power in a given situation.

A crisp, well-written cast caper movie sporting some stunning landscapes and a fine core of performances.

This remake really can't compare with the 1932 original and Lee is given no chance to flesh out his character in the haunting manner that Boris Karloff did, but for fairly standardized movie horror, this flick isn't half bad.

Borrowing intelligently from This Is Spinal Tap, writer-director-actor Rusty Cundieff has crafted a mock music documentary that is as irreverent, hilarious, and tough-minded as its model.

A minor classic of the genre, this is a memorable addition to the vampire tradition in the horror film.

It's actually a clever commentary on documentary filmmaking, an pretty good monster movie to boot.