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 3.5/4 |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"Watching A Scanner Darkly, we can feel [Philip K.] Dick's world close in on us. And we can be glad we're only visitors." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3/4 |
A Secret (2008) |
"The acting is exceptional. If parts of A Secret veer toward soap opera, the ensemble work reduces the suds to a minimum." |
Michael Phillips |
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 2/4 |
A Tout de Suite (2005) |
"If you're not careful, A Tout De Suite--Benoit Jacquot's ode to the French New Wave, infused with his love of American crime classics 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'Badlands'--will fool you." |
Allison Benedikt |
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4/4 |
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) |
"A provocative, personal and intensely engaging picture made with big-studio resources and technical magic." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3/4 |
Abandon (2002) |
"Gaghan would rather make you think than jump. You might prefer to do both, but idea-driven thrillers are in short supply, and the troubled Katie earns the right to haunt your mind." |
Mark Caro |
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3.5/4 |
ABC Africa (2002) |
"A movie of seemingly limpid transparency and tremendous, understated compassion." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3.5/4 |
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story (2007) |
" This superb, quite moving film combines interviews, news footage and some reality TV-like sequences and works on a number of levels." |
Sid Smith |
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3/4 |
Aberdeen (2001) |
"Grips us precisely because its actors are so utterly absorbed in their roles, so unfettered and nakedly expressive." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3.5/4 |
About a Boy (2002) |
"The movie occasionally strains for crowd-pleasing moments as it pumps up the drama toward the end, but it more than earns our indulgence." |
Mark Caro |
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4/4 |
About Schmidt (2002) |
"This is a superb film and one of Nicholson's great performances, tamped down but magnetic." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3/4 |
Absolute Wilson (2006) |
"While the testimonials from friends and colleagues are predictable, the subject himself opens up to the camera in strikingly revelatory fashion." |
Chris Jones |
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2/4 |
Accepted (2006) |
"Accepted cannot handle its pretensions toward social commentary." |
Michael Phillips |
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3/4 |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"If you can get past its relatively minor failings, it's hard not to be seduced by the big heart of this chaotic, colorful movie." |
Jessica Reaves |
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1.5/4 |
Adam & Steve (2006) |
"Adam & Steve is a mostly bland, sporadically crude, by-the-numbers romantic comedy about two gay men in love." |
Allison Benedikt |
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1/4 |
Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights (2002) |
"Who is this movie for? Not kids, who don't need the lesson in repugnance. It's also not smart or barbed enough for older viewers -- not everyone thinks poo-poo jokes are 'edgy.'" |
Mark Caro |
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2.5/4 |
Adanggaman (2001) |
"There are ... images that are shocking and disturbing." |
John Petrakis |
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3.5/4 |
Adaptation (2002) |
"Almost all of it is funny and provocative in ways many other Hollywood movies, especially the adaptations, can't touch." |
Michael Wilmington |
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1.5/4 |
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) |
"It might be the first sci-fi comedy that could benefit from a Three's Company-style laugh track." |
Robert K. Elder |
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The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) |
"Rocky and Bullwinkle is stuffed with smart Internet gags, silly movie references and a happy energy." |
Mark Caro |
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1.5/4 |
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) |
"It's hard to argue that a film won't capture a kid's imagination when it comes from a kid's imagination. But I will argue nonetheless." |
Allison Benedikt |
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2/4 |
Aeon Flux (2005) |
"Ten years ago, Chung's animated Aeon Flux was groundbreaking, inspirational. It still is. Maybe another spin through Chung's Flux DVD set will wipe away all memory of its middling live-action cousin." |
Robert K. Elder |
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2/4 |
The Affair of the Necklace (2001) |
"Shyer ... exhibits little flair for the ebb and flow of a costume caper movie." |
John Petrakis |
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4/4 |
After the Life (2002) |
"If On the Run is the most riveting and shocking of the three, and An Amazing Couple the funniest and most engaging, After the Life is the most touching and dramatic." |
Michael Wilmington |
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2/4 |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"With nothing at stake and little mortal peril, Sunset loses most of its dramatic tension." |
Robert K. Elder |
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3.5/4 |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"For once, the bigger the emotion, the truer the moviegoing experience." |
Michael Phillips |
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1.5/4 |
Against the Ropes (2003) |
"Pure fairy tale and flimflam, as phony as a fixed fight." |
Michael Wilmington |
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2/4 |
Agent Cody Banks (2003) |
"Had the movie chosen to go the campy route, Muniz probably would have shined, using his face and vacant delivery to their fullest potential. But most of the time, everything is played ridiculously straight." |
Allison Benedikt |
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1.5/4 |
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) |
"Malcolm loyalists are too sophisticated for this simple script, and fans of the spy genre have so many better options." |
Allison Benedikt |
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2.5/4 |
Agnes and His Brothers (2006) |
"It's a slick, ambitious movie that doesn't always nail all the many moods and themes it's after. But the actors give it force and depth." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3.5/4 |
The Agronomist (2004) |
"A labor of love in the best sense: both a ferocious indictment of the corrupt dictatorships that have subjugated Haiti for decades (sometimes with American support) and a stirring salute to a fallen comrade, Dominique." |
Michael Wilmington |
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2.5/4 |
Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) |
"Though one can question the movie's quality as a documentary ... Aileen raises such troubling issues that it stays, hellishly, in your mind." |
Michael Wilmington |
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2.5/4 |
Akeelah and the Bee (2006) |
"Even though their movie is more like Akeelah and the B-Plus, Fishburne, Bassett and Palmer spell quality." |
Michael Phillips |
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2/4 |
Al Franken: God Spoke (2006) |
"Most of this doc is content to wander through Franken's recent show-biz resume, to no particular end." |
Michael Phillips |
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2/4 |
The Alamo (2004) |
"Plays like your standard-issue modern war movie." |
Mark Caro |
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2/4 |
Alex and Emma (2003) |
"Frankly, this screenplay plays like something slapped together in 30 days to settle a gambling debt, except that it lacks the manic tension or focus you'd expect from anything written by a man facing execution." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3/4 |
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006) |
"It's better than some James Bond movies -- no matter what your age." |
Michael Esposito |
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3.5/4 |
Alexander (2004) |
"Even if it doesn't conquer its world, Stone's Alexander is worth the battle. Like JFK and Fourth of July, it hot-wires history and politics into a wild, memorable, breathtaking ride." |
Michael Wilmington |
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4/4 |
Alexandra (2008) |
"The film is built on a massive incongruity: Watching this octogenarian drag her little bent-up wheeled luggage cart, amid rolling tanks and military transport trucks, you're looking at two eternal verities%u2014war, and civilians caught up in its wake%u20" |
Michael Phillips |
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3.5/4 |
Alfie (2004) |
"Not only delights and provokes, but twists and tweaks the plot with just the right amount of 21st Century flavor." |
Sid Smith |
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2/4 |
Ali (2001) |
"We've seen Ali as the charismatic star of the real-time drama of his life. Ali, for all its flashy filmmaking, just doesn’t compare." |
Mark Caro |
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3.5/4 |
Alias Betty (2002) |
"The story pulls us in almost immediately -- and the style and cast keep us hooked." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3.5/4 |
Alien (1979) |
"It's a scream from another era that still echoes around us." |
Michael Wilmington |
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1.5/4 |
Alien vs. Predator (2004) |
"It's a murky, empty-headed dive into the depths of the Antarctic and the heart of monster movie cliches that leaves you praying for most of the cast to get killed off fast, to put them (and us) out of our misery." |
Michael Wilmington |
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3.5/4 |
Alien: The Director's Cut (2003) |
"A movie that can still give you the shakes, even though most of its surprises have long since passed into popular legend." |
Michael Wilmington |
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2.5/4 |
Aliens of the Deep (2005) |
"It's a fascinating, kid-friendly journey, minus some clunky dialogue and the injection of Hollywood-style hypothesizing about what Europa's aliens might look like." |
Robert K. Elder |
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2/4 |
All About the Benjamins (2002) |
"The home-run performances of Cube and Epps are handicapped by inept and illogical action sequences." |
Robert K. Elder |
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2/4 |
All About You (2001) |
"Utterly lacking surprise, tension or any flair." |
Patrick Z. McGavin |
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3.5/4 |
All or Nothing (2002) |
"A triumph, a film that hews out a world and carries us effortlessly from darkness to light." |
Michael Wilmington |
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All Over the Guy (2001) |
"It's light and fun, with some peppy dialogue, but it's also sentimental and predictable." |
Loren King |
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1/4 |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"Watching scene after scene linger and expire in this haplessly faithful version of the 1946 Robert Penn Warren novel, it's impossible to tell what compelled adapter-director Steven Zaillian to address the material in the first place." |
Michael Phillips |
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