Madagascar (2005)

"If Madagascar is in all ways a sunnier place than Walt Disney's matricidal canon, it is also a correspondingly less magical kingdom."

Magnolia (1999)

"A fascinating film from a director of great skill and even greater promise."

The Majestic (2001)

"At 2 1/2 hours, this movie is about an hour too long, and this makes an obvious story obnoxious in the extreme."

The Man from Elysian Fields (2002)

"Nothing, not a single character, gesture or exchange, rings true. When you think about it, that's some accomplishment."

Man on the Moon (1999)

"Go get your wallet. Right now. I'll wait. Got it? OK. Open it up. Take out $8. Now go to the nearest toilet. Drop the cash into the bowl. Flush. Congratulations. You have just simulated attending Man on the Moon."

The Man Who Cried (2001)

"If this all sounds terribly melodramatic, that's because it is."

Man With The Screaming Brain (2005)

"An unapologetically sloppy jumble of Roger Corman-style antics that could only hope to inspire their own drinking game."

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

"As literal-minded and dramatically flaccid as its predecessor was allusive and taut."

March of the Penguins (2005)

"Comes with the shapely narrative of such animated classics as Bambi and The Lion King, and yet the penguins are all quite real."

Masked and Anonymous (2003)

"Masked and Anonymous is the rare movie that improves with repeated viewings, but is almost unendurable to sit through just once."

Matando Cabos (2005)

"What makes this movie funny -- and different from all the pictures it may remind you of -- is the relentlessness of its characters' amorality."

Matchstick Men (2003)

"A whimsical winner in which everybody seems to be having a blast."

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

"Revolutions makes good on its creators' promise to fuse Kafka, Alice in Wonderland, the New Testament and The Wizard of Oz."

The Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)

"Would you rather be hugely rich or fabulously famous? Mayor of the Sunset Strip, a biography of radio disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, is a chilling picture of what happens to those who make the second choice."

Meet the Fockers (2004)

"More than any recent comedy I can think of, Meet the Fockers seems likely to split audiences between those who find it deliriously funny and those who grind their teeth at its obviousness."

Melinda and Melinda (2005)

"Sin City is the most gorgeous digital movie ever made. It represents a stunning leap forward in both the technology of digital cinema and the art of filmmaking."

Men in Black II (2002)

"MIB II hits its marks reliably enough."

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

"The Messenger is a mess, and probably an unholy one at that."

Miami Vice (2006)

"The movie isn't perfect, but it's good enough, and better than most. It should keep us occupied until the big screen version of The Apprentice comes along."

Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)

"The second half is a mess, full of characters going off in directions we're not prepared for and rogue plot devices that seem either to have been planned for and then forgotten, or added as an afterthought."

A Mighty Wind (2003)

"This stuff is sporadically amusing but never laugh-out-loud funny because we never escape the feeling that the gang is coasting until a more worthy target materializes, a target they can lambaste with impunity."

Millions (2005)

"The best movie of the new year."

Miracle (2004)

"The first truly good movie of the year."

Mission to Mars (2000)

"Though unapologetically old-fashioned and corny, Mission still has its share of nail-biter moments."

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

"If you've ever wondered what a two-hour episode of Abrams' TV show Alias would look like if he spent $150 million making it, well, now's your chance to find out."