In just three months, Wincer has gone from one of the worst IMAX movies ever (The Young Black Stallion) to one of the best. This time, and in all ways, he has more horsepower.

There may be no crying need for this movie, but we could use the laughs.

There is some lovely cinematography by Shelly Johnson in the classic David Lean style and plenty of excitement. Taken just for that, Hidalgo delivers.

By any reckoning, director Paul McGuigan and writer Mark Mills seem mighty ground down trying to buck these medieval odds.

The name is a tipoff: Club Dread is dreadful.

If you can't find a more scintillating brand of dirty to enjoy during your own nights (Helena or Hoboken), you're not trying very hard.

This is by far Kaufman's worst outing since becoming a major filmmaker more than a quarter-century ago, and the fact that his only other stinker from this period is 1993's "Rising Sun" means that maybe he ought to stay away from cop melodramas.

This is a very funny picture, though it's never burlesqued and is, in fact, occasionally poignant.

There is enlightenment -- even stark poetry -- in The Passion.

Though the movie is more mediocre than abysmal, Ryan's recently banged-up filmography (remember In the Cut) could use what every fighter needs at ringside: a good cut man to stop the bleeding.

This junior chick flick merely reinforces superficial clichés one associates with female teens: petty fights, intense highs and lows, and self-absorption.

Mixed with the sleaze is the unexpected and occasionally inspired.

David Mamet handled such small-town whimsy better in 2000's "State and Main." Hackman could play his role in his sleep, but Romano IS asleep. Result: Welcome to Mildport, and that's being kind.

50 First Dates is working awfully hard to be romantic and not hard enough to be a comedy.

A smooth mix of humanism and keen filmmaking instincts.

Just as sharply funny and as heartwarming, yet unsentimental, as the first.

Kid's tone is off 100% of the time. The young actors are irredeemably bland, and two of the adults (Michael Des Barres' bank president, James LeGros' Storm Trooper-like security guard) are hammy enough to make James Brown seem controlled.

Patricia Clarkson, who has emerged as one of the screen's best character actresses, plays Brooks' wife with intelligence and down-to-earth warmth.

The problem is the letdown you feel when these glorious morsels (film clips and soundtrack) end, and it's back to three morose schlumps.

The lark-ish Perfect Score is on the high side of the time-killer it sounds like.

It's too bad more energy wasn't devoted to fleshing out the one-dimensional characters and crafting a decent script. The only reason to catch this harmless diversion is for the group dance sessions.

It gets wackier as it goes, starting with Charlie Sheen cast against type as a guy who's getting no sex and turns down the chance. Bebe Neuwirth has some funny scenes as a lush.

Unexpectedly charming. It's a classic date movie, but it also will appeal to pre-dating tweens and middle-aged romantics.

Unpleasantness alone doesn't sink a movie. But miserable tidings intensify when there's not only a high ick factor but also floundering storytelling.

The civilized running time and breezy editing between scattershot plot threads keep the attention in a superficial way, and it would be misstating the case to deny that the movie has some chuckles (the kind that don't linger).

Teacher's Pet is no "Finding Nemo," nor even "Lilo and Stitch," but it is an enjoyable family film -- particularly for younger kids -- during a time of year when such fare is lacking.

The cycle thrills here are everything: flips, collisions, a chase across the top of a fast-moving train and even a zoom down the aisle of one of the train's cars as the passengers take it in stride.

It's an innocuous, occasionally cute movie made watchable by the appealing Mandy Moore and hunky Matthew Goode, a Brit who has a bit of Hugh Grant charm in an otherwise silly role.

Makes one long for Martin's edgy work in films such as "The Spanish Prisoner."

Watching this movie, it seems to be the next level down from great -- maybe too episodic. But it burns in the memory weeks after you see it.

Maybe Affleck was drawn to this movie because it involves the loss of memory. Who wouldn't want to forget "Gigli," and now this?

Peter is as adequate as the Harry Potter movies are, though you never sense in either case that kids are being bitten with the permanent movie-loving bug.

Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic.

Though the movie may not change many minds about McNamara, it richly humanizes him, a valuable feat atop all the fascinating reflection.

The clash over the house quickly escalates into a modern-day tragedy. It is a fascinating film, handsomely adapted from the book and well directed.

What the movie can't quite get over, no matter how hard the filmmakers try, is the story's built-in limitations.

As good as each individual movie is, the third film vaults the work into the stratosphere of classic movies. Key characters are enhanced, new civilizations visited and battles fought more intensely, while feelings and motivations are plumbed more deeply and movingly.

A rich gem expertly told in a surprisingly scant 95 minutes.

For a story that centers on intrigue in high places, the few even halfway-grabbing scenes come from the mild if unexplored sexual tension between co-Caine sleuthers Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam.

But let's not mislead about acting gold: Without Nicholson and Keaton, the movie would be fair. With them, it's one of the few good romantic comedies this year. What we gotta give is thanks.

Has enough tasty bait to satisfy an array of moviegoers: Burton fans, Albert Finney fans, fans of tall tales well spun by experts and fans of movies that don't look like any other.

Hip-hoppish Honey is in the harmlessly junky "let's put on a show" tradition of "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo," minus electricity but with a budget for supporting-cast navel rings that 1984's break-dance sequel certainly didn't have.

Never recovers from its failure to grip or engage in the early going.

The movie has a couple of surprises, including a major plot turn at the end that leads to a memorable resolution somewhere between happy and wistful.

Touching, but not cloying, uplifting and hopeful but never sappy and also just plain funny. There is not a false note among the five core performances, nor a false word in Sheridan's script.

Both a nostalgic throwback to the silent-picture era and an ultra-modern animated tale, the slyly humorous Triplets of Belleville is artful, engrossing and oddly touching.

This is a filmmaker who instinctively knows that a shot of Santa sitting at a bar as Ricky Nelson sings Jingle Bells will be no-frills funny.

A Disney Thanksgiving movie that plays like a Halloween holdover is odd enough. Even so, it wouldn't be that bad if you stuck your hand into the trick-or-treat bag and found a hefty, succulently dressed and edible turkey instead of the other kind.

You'll be checking your watch a lot during Timeline. Though most of the cast is strong and the movie has moments of suspense, ultimately the mystery in this action thriller is so far-fetched it's ludicrous.

Grabber sub-plots further boost a story that is basically made by its three leads.

Unstintingly explores and exposes excruciating pain, raw grief, ruinous vengeance and life-affirming resilience, creating human portraits that are uncommonly exhilarating in their honesty. This is cinematic art in its highest form.

Long on visual dazzle but short on warmth, and the humor is excessively raunchy for a family film.

The movie gets a mild boost when her escape briefly takes it from just another crummy supernatural thriller into an OK escape melodrama, albeit one dependent on a whopper of an unlikely occurrence.

Despite a slight tendency to be overly pleased with itself, this is a smart piece of work that got Arcand's screenplay an award at Cannes.

This movie will remind a lot of people of John Ford's masterpiece, "The Searchers," without the rowdy humor and, yes, without the greatness. But it's an admirably solid effort that's as mean as it has to be, which is plenty.

And novel insights notwithstanding, this is a plain old good movie, too.

Even when the movie works, it's so much like having Daffy Duck assault your face that you want to buy a box set of elevator music for the calming drive home.

Though there must be a dozen U.S. presidents who have never had a documentary made about them, the late Tupac Shakur could rate his own section in video stores, placed between "music" and "action."

Its message is unobjectionable, and there are a few laughs to be had, but too much of Elf is like Buddy's favorite meals: syrupy sweet.

Love Actually is irresistible. You'd have to be Ebenezer Scrooge not to walk out smiling.

This come-down of a series capper is so arch and pompous amid its clanks and collisions that you can only snicker at the verbal wind that obscures the din of marauding machinery.

It's problematic enough that the movie's lead characters are unlikable. But worse is the blackening of The Human Stain with a trite and forced plot, uninteresting digressions and clunky direction.

You get the sense that there's probably more to the story than you get here. But the movie's moral will soon be indelible: You just can't fake it in the Internet age.

Angelina Jolie slums her way through Beyond Borders, a film that telegraphs its plot and then drags ploddingly, its humane spirit obscured by an inane script and Jolie's implausible character.

Though probably well-intentioned, Radio comes off as manipulative of its audience and exploitative of the mentally challenged.

The time might be right for the Scary movies to quit on top, even though, alas, there are no term limits for sequels.

A sweet celebration of brotherhood in its many forms. It gently encourages human communion with animals, nature and our fellow man.

An OK mood piece but story-hungry murder mystery that flubs its whodunit fundamentals.

The new version has a few jolts, some occasionally effective smoke-and-mirrors photography and a lead (7th Heaven's Jessica Biel) who could teach a grad course on walking provocatively in blue jeans.

Only slightly more slick and slightly less edgy than past John Grisham adaptations.

Doesn't shed much light on the fragile and enigmatic writer whose myth has nearly obscured the real woman.

Made gripping almost single-handedly by Blanchett's superlative performance.

No new ground is dug up in Good Boy, but the story is well-paced, sweet and lively, filling a void for very young filmgoers.

Not brilliantly funny nor incisively clever, Intolerable Cruelty is still moderately satirical and laugh-out-loud enjoyable.

Bill re-establishes that Tarantino ranks with "Boogie Nights'" Paul Thomas Anderson as one of the few Hollywood filmmakers of the past 25 years with the stuff to win a lifetime achievement award.

River ranks with the best movies Eastwood has directed: "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Unforgiven" and "The Bridges of Madison County." But this time, the work is strong without his own on-screen presence -- a significant achievement.

Out of Time seems out of another time and place. Remember "Presumed Innocent?"

It plays even more like a bent version of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" for the new millennium. Slinging a line of bull but displaying genuine affection for the youngsters he's bamboozling.

The movie, which ends on an unexpected note of wistful humor, also gleans gentle and non-derisive chuckles out of Fin's physical state.

Becomes a little more compelling as it progresses because Lisa Kudrow (as the straight-arrow first Mrs. Holmes, who halfway stood with him despite her disgust) ends up being surprisingly well cast. She engages in some very un-Friends-like fiery exchanges that also give Kilmer his best scenes.

Tells an increasingly outlandish story with very funny (and often gross) moments. But about an hour in, it grows derivative and disappointing.

By nature, the character (Rock) is as gentle and affable as this Amazonian adventure is -- a yarn complete with an oddball robber baron, pro football linemen, Type-A monkeys and hallucinogenic fruit.

A fun movie to sit through even when you don't always buy it.

It's asking a lot of audiences to spend nearly two hours with characters as screen-unfriendly as the ones played by Biggs and Ricci, though both actors (and especially Ricci) do what they're asked to do.

Will leave audiences yawning rather than gasping from fear.

If Gooding can't get another "Boyz N the Hood" or "Jerry Maguire" soon, his career will need its own cork.

The movie, though predictable and formulaic, is not that simple, although it might have been better off had it been so basic. It interweaves clichés from several other genres and ends up a mishmash of stories.

Neither side is worth rooting for in this ridiculous blood feud, which features some of the year's most laughable dialogue.

Babys is intellectually stimulating and emotionally stirring, a rare combination these days, though hardly unusual for writer/director John Sayles.

A disciple of David Lynch's, Roth packs his story with horror, humor, hillbillies and sex. Roth caps his fast-moving story with a joke that's as oddly left-field as it is funny, but truth to tell, it is funny.

Well-acted and intriguing exploration of dishonesty in its varied forms, leavened with a dry comic touch.

Rodriguez is such a visual stylist, and the violence is so cartoonish, that the flurry of whizzing bullets and growing pile of bodies is not as offensive as it might be.

Romantic comedies with two low-key leads can be asking for trouble, but one senses that the actors must have clicked on some fundamental level.

Sharp satire or feel-good foolishness? Silly sap won out.

The thrills, chills, frights, starts and occasional screams that a good horror film elicits from an audience are not there. Jeepers, the Creeper has little to recommend it.

Longer on action than comedy. But with Chan's affable charm and stunning leaps, kicks and jumps, it's a good-natured and amusing spectacle.

The most powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas; indeed, it's tough to recall the last such drama that packed as much emotional clout.

Truth be told, the movie isn't among the worst sequels of this summer.