This is a building-block movie: Its stand-out excellence becomes apparent only gradually.

At least the horror premise here has a hook - a house can spread its curse like a plague to adversely affect all who enter.

Some screwball moments elicit a chuckle or two, but the script is weak and the characterizations clichéd.

Give Anderson credit for at least sustaining a mood. This is the kind of all-or-nothing movie in which a filmmaker probably can't waver from his tone.

When Team America works, it falls squarely into the category of guilty pleasure.

Do yourself a favor and rent the 1996 original from Japan instead.

Bening takes a complex, sometimes cloying character and makes her sympathetic - all the while pulling off a British accent with seeming ease. She single-handedly makes the movie worth seeing.

Linney remains a full-blooded character so memorable that she's worth watching - even in a less-than-memorable movie.

This is the kind of people-driven story that the movies used to give us - before special effects took over.

One of the best football movies ever, Nights in the end celebrates the game.

Actor John Corbett, so clean-cut in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Raising Helen," goes surprisingly scruffy here as someone who apparently studied music under Grizzly Adams.

A bittersweet relationship drama with enough honest emotion and gentle humor to move even the steeliest heart.

Beauty is about two-thirds the serious-edged romp it would like to be, which still leaves a lot of room for tony fun.

A surprisingly funny, female-driven romp — as long as you don't question too many plot particulars.

There has been a need for a big-screen feature about firefighter heroics since Sept. 11, but as drama, Ladder 49 falls short of even the second rung.

Story is everything and Shark's is rather thin and soupy, despite the winning improvisational skills of stars Will Smith and Jack Black.

What emerges is part screwball comedy, absurdist farce, social satire and earnest self-exploration. If it had the unwavering focus and clear-eyed vision of Russell's previous two features, I Heart Huckabees might have been brilliant.

Offers a compelling portrait of human tragedy and the journey to redemption.

Viewers who like clean storytelling may not be happy. Those who savor ironic wrap-ups will be.

For those who like their spoofs silly and their cartoonish gore vivid, Shaun offers some amusement.

All this dreary movie has is a terrible whodunit payoff.

More coming-of-age story than biopic, this Guevara odyssey is a transformative adventure well worth watching.

Mr. 3000 isn't nearly as fun as an afternoon of America's Pastime.

Bettany is the best thing about the movie. A wonderful dramatic actor, he also proves to be richly skilled at romantic comedy, playing Peter with an easy grace and a droll sense of humor.

Worse, the story is so thin and clichéd, it seems as if a computer wrote the screenplay and a robot directed it.

Though there's nothing wrong with moral outrage, it doesn't always aid the telling of a complex story. More subtlety might have worked better.

A well-paced action film in the vein of "Speed."

Should the desire to see a clever zombie movie strike, try the recent remake of "Dawn of the Dead" or last year's "28 Days."