21 Grams (2003)

"21 Grams thrashes wildly...exhorting us to feel something. Apart from the fleeting satisfaction of its structural parlor game, I felt little...save exhausted boredom."

The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

"...jerkily paced, dramatically obvious, and seems penned by a self-serious 16-year-old"

Bend It Like Beckham (2003)

"its irresistible charms and performances are what linger and make Beckham a popcorn, er, samosa flick worth savoring."

Blithe Spirit (1945)

"Blithe is ingeniously goofy...worth seeing just to see Rutherford riding her bicycle like a charging fury and capering about giddily at the mere mention of ghosts."

Brief Encounter (1946)

" Its themes of...regret and longing can still be heard—Before Sunrise and Lost in Translation both bear its note of pining and loneliness in a hurly-burly world"

Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)

"Bubba Ho-Tep tries ineffectually to be both a lyrical character study and a darkly satirical horror flick."

Bukowski: Born Into This (2004)

"a loving tribute to a writer, his craft and, above all, the idea of living and dying by one’s own creed"

The China Syndrome (1979)

"Crackling drama about TV reporter (Jane Fonda) investigating a coverup at a faulty nuclear reactor, and pressing upon conflicted technician played by the first-rate Jack Lemmon to go public with the story."

Coffee and Cigarettes (2004)

"Coffee and Cigarettes feels thin and slight at times.... But at its best, the movie achieves the charm and delight that underscores Jarmusch’s best work"

The Cooler (2003)

" The Cooler is too earnest a morality tale, saddled with derivative characters, to heat up much sympathy or interest. "

The Crowd (1928)

"my favorite silent film: poetically told with dazzling direction"

DIG! (2004)

"Timoner’s...narrative entertains but also offers an unflinching look at the rage and heartbreak that result in trying to stay true...in [a] soulless, image-driven business. "

Down and Out with the Dolls (2003)

"an assuredly made, unexpectedly poignant and hilarious feel-good flick, pitched somewhere between the goofy campiness of John Waters and the good-heartedness of Cameron Crowe"

Dummy (2003)

"Pritikin's movie succeeds...thanks to its spirited, oddball humor and winning performances"

Elephant (2003)

" Elephant is one of this year's boldest movies....But, in refusing to assert a point of view about what troubles American youth, Van Sant...flees the scene of the crime"

Father and Son (2004)

"for a hit of pure cinema, you could do no better...than to spend a few moments reveling in its high"

Friday Night (2003)

"a most rewarding cinematic journey"

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

"Girl gives us a vividly painted world but only patchily drawn characters — in that sense, it gets Vermeer only half right"

Gulliver's Travels (1939)

"Cheesy but well-drawn"

Harper (1966)

No article available.

Hobson's Choice (1954)

"What seems superficially like a showcase for the formidable genius of Charles Laughton turns out to be a crowd-pleaser about female liberation."

House of Flying Daggers (2004)

"a tedious...excuse for this director to indulge his fetish for digitalized blood and daggers and...immaculately composed nature shots"

Intermission (2004)

"Dizzily paced and structured, the Irish import Intermission charms with a never-let-‘em-see-you-sweat exuberance"

It's All About Love (2004)

"while watching it you might be hit with the urge to grab the Danish writer-director by the collar and shout 'No, it’s all about story!'"

The Killing Fields (1984)

"One of the most potent politically-charged dramas ever made, managing to honor both the epic and the intimate aspects of its drama. One of the top films of the '80s."