Works the brain in two-part harmony: the melody skids effortlessly across the historical timeline of the Ching dynasty, China's last, and the harmony part is all aesthetic appeal...

Marvel's new deal with Madhouse Studio bodes well for the future. The Japanese animation giant...has the chops to produce spectacular, dynamic, colorful, stylish animation (or, rather, anime) that's an evolutionary leap for Marvel on the small screen.

A complex production mounted, with confidence and a scrupulous eye for detail, by one of our great American filmmakers.

It's not a TV remake, with pooches playing the parts made famous by James Brolin, Anne Baxter, and Connie Sellecca. Damn.

Despite an excellent performance by Luke Wilson and a promising start, Henry Poole is Here ends up an overindulgent misfire.

Like a biography plucked from the shelf of a grade-school library...includes ample inspiration and sufficient history to get to its destination in "express" fashion.

Would be innocuous if it weren't so utterly, utterly misguided.

Liman adds to his knack for controlling audience tension a moody visual sense that exploits the mournful, sleeping-giant, old-world architecture of Prague as a place where action may break out at any moment, and frequently does.

Predicated on finally delivering answers we basically already know...and cornered into bigger and better variations on the same basic action tropes, The Bourne Ultimatum turns out to be: be pretty damn exciting or get off the stage.

If one were to rewind a James Bond movie, one might get The Bourne Supremacy, a steadfastly unglamorous spy thriller with a few adrenaline jolts for good measure.

A spy version of Pygmalion, complete with perverse romance, Nikita was well ahead of the curve when it came to women warriors as modern shoot-'em-up stars.

Berg fashions a Spike Lee-esque prism through which he sheds light on the game, though Berg hasn't so much got game as he got highlight.

As for Squires' outlandish behavior and Kingsley's theatrical performance, they're entertaining, but very hard to believe. The film lives more comfortably in the milieu of '90s youth culture...

Nothing in Superhero Movie could be described as magical, but for comic-book fans in a forgiving mood, this lowbrow outing has its moments.

Despite its rusty mechanics and hodgepodge of tones, Pineapple Express convincingly imitates the mode of Midnight Run: on-the-run odd-couple comedy with gunplay and car chases.

The new thriller that emphatically pairs [De Niro and Pacino] qualifies as a historic event, whether it's any good or not.

Pretty thin material, but it still holds up for the same reason it worked in 1994: Carrey unleashed in a part tailor-made for just that purpose.

Oh, Napoleon Dynamite! What have you wrought?

Penn has managed an impressive achievement that qualifies as a great American film.

So colossally ridiculous (and transparently derivative) that willing suspension of disbelief is a fool’s errand.

An enduring film property with an unforgettable catch phrase ("Klaatu barada nikto")...[and] socially conscious themes.

[A] hugely entertaining dramatization of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"...a fable that would be relevant 50 years earlier and no doubt will remain relevant 50 years hence.

Whedon's smart, densely plotted, fast-paced story provides ample opportunities for characterization, revealing the pain beneath the characters' defensive humor.

A better way to seize the day would be to do something other than sitting through the sitcomedic Last Holiday.

That's the problem with this well-intentioned celebration of the spirit of Title IX: it wants so badly to be liked that it tries to blend into the crowd.

A celebration of unrealistic lifestyles, which makes it exactly the wrong film for our times.

Willing to settle for all-around competency instead of excavating history for deeper insights, leaving audiences with another undemanding genre placeholder.

The comic voice of Ricky Gervais comes through loud and clear, and Koepp's vision of a classical Hollywood comedy creates a confluence not only of great performers but of considerable wit and heart.

An unofficial "sideways sequel" to Top Gun...except with national treasure Robert Duvall in the role of crusty mentor.

An unqualified populist success...works because it evinces a sincerity rarely felt in today's cinema.

Farley and Spade have a definite chemistry, and they do their best to pick up the slack.

Sour candy...redeemed by its humor and its clever construction, harkening back to the relatively optimistic crime comedy Fargo.

Almost worth seeing just for Faris' spot-on work...Shelley becomes an endearing character in Faris' nonjudgmental hands.

The sort of bad movie that constantly threatens to turn into something good, mostly on the strength of a few talented actors.

Though flawed, Bottle Rocket is full of buried treasures and holds up to repeated viewings, as any cult film should. [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]

Complete fluff, and proud of it...Once you adjust your senses, however, you're bound to submit to this vacation of a movie.

Joyless spectacle: it has a certain epic sweep...but it also has tacky CGI Yeti.

Gleefully silly...plays like an extension of a Ben Stiller Show sketch (but a pretty good one, at that).

The Farrellys' knack for stupid, Three Stooges-esque comedy writ larger by an infusion of heart excels with the complementary screen teaming of manic Jim Carrey and consummate screen actor Jeff Daniels.

Particularly in the strike-shortened fourth season, the writers propelled their plot aggressively...

A surprisingly engaging entry in the stupid comedy sweepstakes, and sure to become a minor cult favorite.

Though the film teases questions that would spark a child’s imagination, they’re all dropped like hot potatoes in favor of cheap infusions of dancing, slapstick, and...cartoon sound effects.

Grindhouse isn't great cinema, but it is a genuine event picture, a rare good reason to venture out on a Friday night with a big crowd and the necessary wad of cash.

If this is Li's epic swan song, it's a reasonably graceful exit.

Ledger slips into the purple suit as if it were an animal skin for a primal, archetypal dance...Nolan's richly realized adaptation of a modern American mythology fulfills our faith in the material and its interpreters.

For fans, it's the equivalent of a "very special episode," with a beefed up budget and an imperative to advance the storyline at least a little

A fantasy, so it's not obligated to be logical, but it should at least have internal logic and follow its own set of rules. A failure to do so untethers the film.

Interesting enough as a symbolic drama of conflicting and conflicted beliefs. But this is also supposed to be a spooky movie, right?

A Discovery Channel production about Antarctica that breaks the mold with Herzog's eccentric musings and auteur's eye.

The movie's crackpot message—'To make something special, you just have to believe it's special'—may best be proven by the existence of this funny, unpretentious crowd-pleaser.