Under the veneer of hip lies a bland romantic comedy wrapped in a layer of less-than-biting lifestyle satire, whose single most authentic moment involves an old woman and her scruffy mutt Buddy. Not cool.

Wongpim pays tribute to classic Italian Westerns in his face-hugging close-ups, but his film is more silly than existentially anarchic, and its exotic quirkiness wears thin quickly.

Between the stereotypes and endless tire screeching, there isn't much to care about here.

Glossy trash with the star at full throttle, it's the quintessential La Liz movie.

A fresh and spirited fairy tale.

It's a testament to both the timelessness and the prescience of Herman Melville's 1853 story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" that it can be so easily updated with so few changes.

One hundred and nine minutes of drama and not a single moment rings true.

While the hand-drawn animation is visually appealing, the story is completely predictable and Phil Collins's music lacks the impact of his Oscar-winning "Tarzan" tunes.

The film basically follows Moore and Slater's book, but without the details that reveal the strange complexity of the Bush-Rove symbiosis.

An improvement over the tedious "Saw II" (2005), this second sequel to the surprise 2004 hit still features the series' trademark gruesome "games" but shifts the focus to the relationships among the characters.

The character relationships are solid and there's blessed little in the way of smug, smart talk

God bless Jennifer Tilly, who attacks her role in this third sequel to 1988's killer-doll picture CHILD'S PLAY with incomparable slutty brio.

Rae's 80-minute film isn't able to answer every question or flesh out important details of these events, and she spends more time on Trudell's artistic endeavors than on his direct political action.

This early Hitchcock talkie shows none of the mastery that would subsequently make the director an internationally recognized genius.

Surprisingly heartfelt tale.

Neither the appealing cast nor the bouncing, ska-inflected soundtrack can keep the party going.

This modest little moral thriller is a pleasant surprise.

Has honorable aspirations, even as it becomes mired in mainstream movie conventions.

The characters are mostly flat and unoriginal -- - but Pfeiffer delivers a wonderfully villainous voice performance.

The film's one saving grace is 18-year-old Ellen Muth, who gives one of the screen's most natural, non-Hollywood portrayals of a child.

Anyone unfamiliar with Chomsky's work may be unsettled by his unblinking critique of the U.S. policy at a time when patriotism is the order of the day, and while he fails to offer any real solutions, his conscientious perspectives on the questions remain invaluable.

Sandler's shtick is the main thing dragging down this otherwise pleasant romantic comedy, but he's come a long way since the crude, juvenile "Billy Madison" (1995).

John Carlos Frey's tough social drama has a slightly sensationalistic edge, but the disturbing fact is that all too much of his worthy film hews closely to the real-life experiences of undocumented immigrant workers.

Rough-edged but affecting drama.

Shimizu generates a sense of palpable dread in each segment, expertly manipulating tried-and-true scare tactics supplemented by a truly inspired use of spooky sound effects.

A slick, stylish sequel to Harper (1966), this private-eye film has Newman reprising the role of Ross MacDonald's cool gumshoe, Lew Harper.

By turns sophisticated and satirical, SO FINE runs the comedy gamut from high camp to low farce.

Routine Dangerfield vehicle in which he plays an inept, slobbish baby photographer who must give up his bad habits if he wants to collect a $10 million inheritance from his snooty mother-in-law. Pesci plays the ringleader of the smoking, drinking, overeating cronies that Dangerfield must resist. It's all an insult to the great Geraldine Fitzgerald, who must have wondered during filming if it had all come down to this. If you're not already a Dangerfield fan, remember he's an acquired taste--like Spam.

There isn't one laugh in this so-called comedy...The resulting situations are so moronic that the movie is unwatchable.

Goldberger, who made his debut with the similarly gritty and deliberately unpolished "Trans," tries to pull the novel's concerns to the surface, but much of its subtlety is lost. Giamatti, however, delivers yet another superb performance, turning what might have been a freak show into an unexpectedly moving experience.

Good-humored gore, ably directed by Ernest Dickerson (JUICE), formerly Spike Lee's cinematographer.

Falls disappointing short of its ambition to be both sympathetically straightforward and funny.

Goofy and inconsequential, but pretty damned cute.

Actor-turned-director Campbell Scott handles this enigmatic science fiction mystery with such gloomy restraint that it barely moves. That said, it never panders to audience expectations and is exceptionally well acted. Bill Tyler.

Surprisingly cohesive.

Should please undiscriminating fans. But it in no way improves on the clichéd formula.

The music is generally undistinguished, with the exception of the searing "Every Six Minutes."

This oddly flat serial-killer picture shows none of the baroque flair that characterizes the best of Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento's work.

The plot's contrivances are uncomfortably strained, and ultimately your reaction to its featherweight story of love and serendipity will be determined by how charming you find the dithering, slack-jawed Janice.

Too much time is spent on the forced romance between O'Keefe and Holcomb, an attractive waitress, however, and the slapstick becomes utterly mindless toward the end (as if the producer said, "Okay, it's time for this film to really get out of control!"). Still, the laughs keep coming.

It's obvious that director Milestone could not control Brando for a moment and that the famous, sometimes brilliant actor directed himself. His is one of the most impossible performances in screen history, infecting Harris, who plays a sort of seagoing Iago and is equally hammy and unbelievable.

Lee Van Cleef (master of the menacing grin) makes the most of his role as the leader of a vengeful group of antiterrorists.

Predictable and dull, though sleazy brothers Borgnine, Martin, and Elam are terrific.

Surprisingly, it's not bad on the whole (in an Afterschool Special kind of way), and the young stars are uniformly appealing, especially Schuyler Fisk (Sissy Spacek's daughter) and CROOKLYN's Zelda Harris.

The film's sense of humor is relentlessly smutty. Rifkin attempts to wring laughs from gross food, breasts, garbage and sex with fat women. He is largely unsuccessful.

Despite all the props, costumes, and music, the film conveys no feel for the city, the period, or the seedy gambling milieu.

This wild and unexpected ride should delight younger children with its bright colors and constant chaos, while adults are likely to be charmed by the witty banter, subtle one-liners and a sweet father-son relationship that highlights the need for good communication.

It's overtly about provocation, set in a tony Danish suburb where a group of men and women living commune-style in an empty house are discovering their "inner idiots" by pretending to be developmentally challenged.

A predictable moral tale enacted by blandly pretty young things who bear little resemblance to the average brainiac.

An extremely funny movie that presents a torrent of insightful gags at breakneck pace, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka features many of the stars of the old "blaxploitation" movies, adding weight and authenticity to Wayan's film. In offering up this affectionate parody of the old movies, Wayans also turns a satiric eye on black culture in general--but in an inoffensive, lighthearted manner.

Director Jeff Renfroe and screenwriter Andrew Joiner's flashy psychological thriller wants to say something important about the dangers of a fear-mongering media and resultant ethnic profiling in an age of terrorism, but their warnings are undone by a tricky plot that tries to have it both ways while leaving the audience arguing among themselves as to what it all means.

Relentless parade of tragedy.

You have to have a certain affection for any movie in which a stressed-out Mother Nature announces ominously, "Don't mess with me -- I'm pre-El Niño."

Elvira fans could hardly ask for more.

The love story is pretty conventional stuff, but Linney's finely calibrated, low-key performance as Callie goes a long way towards making it more interesting than it might otherwise be.

The similarities between this film and Michael Bay's overblown "Armageddon"are too numerous to ignore; the crucial difference is that this one is actually pretty good.

This ORANGE is a lemon.

Fans of cheesy '70s TV shows will also be pleased by Wonder Woman Lynda Carter's brief cameo appearance as the governor of Vermont.

Crams more subplots, minor characters and comic situations into 100 minutes than most sitcoms burn through in an entire season. And that's not necessarily a good thing.

Overlong, talky, predictable, and dull, dull, dull.

Despite a crowded cast of famous actors, this WW II adventure falls flat because of its claustrophobic sets, cliche dialog, and hackneyed story.

Rodriguez's film is a high-octane fun-house ride with only one speed: sick-making.

By Romero's own admission the film was a disaster and shouldn't have been made at all. It is quite obvious the director's heart just wasn't in it.

Unfortunately, it is the spirit of adventure that is distinctly lacking in MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN, a dismayingly flat and predictable, special-effects-laden action thriller.

Sleeping With The Enemy teeters constantly on the verge of silliness but director Joseph Ruben keeps the cornball melodrama scaled down to a pleasant lull.

Daisy Miller as a book is a good read, but the film by Bogdanovich is truly a dud in spite of handsome sets and an intelligent writing job.

A good premise spins out of control in the hectic final hour.

An exceptionally sturdy cast -- especially Danny Glover as a stern but sensitive captain and Denis Leary as a wisecracking supply sergeant -- manages to keep the one-joke scenario airborne most of the time.

Undermined by contrived suspense sequences, a pointless subplot involving Claire's flaky, trashy sister, and a formulaic thriller ending.

While the cast and songs are top notch, the predictability of the madness makes it pretty clear that this musical shouldn't have left the stage

Something of a cop-out, lacking the courage of its convictions.

It's repetitive and obvious but somehow endearing, like a truly ugly dog with sweet eyes.

The main problem is Marcore, who is almost too gawky to be believed.

It's all pretty tasteless, but surprisingly chaste and not very funny.

Whatever Howard's reasons for keeping things so stale, it was a bad choice, but lucky for viewers, some stories are just too crazy for even the dullest storytelling to completely ruin the fun.

A mess. Casino Royale is two hours and eleven minutes of non sequitur.

A technically accomplished but dramatically uneven futuristic action film.

Sandler's performance is aimed squarely at the fans who love his smarty-pants man-boy shtick and Rock gets off some funny lines, but overall this is one dreary, formulaic slog through sports-movie cliches.

Alien Trespass needs to be buried for another 50 years and then unearthed to be studied for how tributes can go oh so wrong.

No voice is more vivid than that of the writer of O, who died in 2002.

Think of it as a dark, suspenseful scenario penned by Joseph Conrad and designed by Toulouse-Lautrec and Auguste Renoir, and jump right in.

The overall effect of watching his film is a bit like a nerve-racking game of Russian roulette: You just know a gun is going to go off, but you don't know which of this multitude of characters it's going to hit.

This isn't your usual kiddie fare: Beneath the initial glare and blare is a quietly literate script by first-time writer-director Zach Helm that deals directly with big issues like believing in yourself and living on after a loved one passes away. But is it heavy? Not really.

This teen drama may be filled with some great-looking dancing, but its hackneyed, predictable script is a giant step in the wrong direction.

Jamal's comedy of family dysfunction is essentially a sitcom episode writ large; it's not subtle, but it's good-natured and hits its marks with ruthless efficiency.

A sweet, unassuming surprise.

After reminding us that the AIDS crisis in the West is far from over in "The Event," Fitzgerald widened his scope with this much-needed perspective on the global dimensions the disease has achieved. Despite the importance and seriousness of the subject, there's plenty of Fitzgerald's brand of sly humor on hand, particularly in the scenes involving the Quebecoise porn industry.

It's strange to imagine the subject of World War II a now no-brainer in the same league as sequels and old TV show-spinoffs, something safe and familiar in light of its new, "inspiring" spin. But that's the only way to explain the existence of this otherwise pointless picture.

Suffers from an excess of material crammed into too little screen time. There's so much story that the characters get short shrift; you have to wonder, for example, what became of Siddalee's three siblings.

The film deploys its disparate elements smartly, and director Hirotsugu Kawasaki can stage an action sequence with the best of them.

Though many of the risks she takes don't pay off, Elster's film contains a number of stylishly staged set pieces.

It desperately wants to be a paranoid political thriller, but this cobbled-together collection of corruption-on-Capitol Hill and cop movie cliches is so implausible that it's hard to care about any of the conspiratorial cover-ups and counter cover-ups.

This sequel to AIRPLANE! is just as crammed with sight gags and sophomoric humor as its predecessor, but the novelty has worn off and the humor worn thin. A cast of mainly Hollywood has-beens and unknowns enjoys itself in this spoof of disaster movies, this time centering around a space shuttle headed for a crash. The various bits and cameos flash past without providing the laughs AIRPLANE! delivered.

For the terminally hip and/or terminally adolescent.

The Undefeated adds up to nothing more than a weak imitation of many other westerns--paying little or no heed to such issues as originality.

Cusack makes a half-hearted attempt to connect with Coleman, but chemistry is fatally absent and small wonder: Dennis is a unsettlingly strange creature who could well be from another planet.

In the tradition of misbegotten sequels that stagger into theaters long after the original movie's release, this follow-up to 1980's BLUES BROTHERS may find a sympathetic berth with ardent fans. But newbies are warned to stay away, unless they feel compelled to experience endless scenes of pointless buffoonery and crashing cars.

This is a creditable but disappointingly draggy war epic. It should sizzle like a fuse, but instead plods along with methodical deliberation.