Never Let Me Go -- Film Review
Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" is expertly acted, impeccably photographed, intelligently written and even intermittently touching, but the film is also too parched and ponderous to connect with a large audience.
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Love Crime -- Film Review
Alain Corneau's thriller "Love Crime" should play well at the box office although the plot, considered in the cold light of day, does not withstand scrutiny
Beyond -- Film Review
"Beyond" is a simultaneously restrained, gut-wrenching, but hopeful feature debut.
We Believed -- Film Review
Mario Martone is best known as an enfant terrible of Italian theater, and a filmmaker of significant critical acclaim. Which makes it hard to believe that he is behind the arid, anonymous made-for-TV film "We Believed."
The First Grader -- Film Review
Stories about inspiring teachers have tantalized moviemakers and movie audiences since the era of Mr. Chips and Miss Dove. Although the arc of the story might be familiar, the setting and characters are fresh.
Silent Souls -- Film Review
Aleksei Fedorchenko's "Silent Souls" takes the viewer on a voyage into the human soul.
Promises Written in Water -- Film Review
"Promises Written in Water" is an incomprehensible, disappointing effort in which Vincent Gallo receives producing, directing, writing, editing, music and acting credits, so there really is no one else to blame.
I'm Still Here -- Film Review
Casey Affleck's energetic directorial debut, "I'm Still Here," basically scotches the idea that Joaquin Phoenix has retired as an actor to become a hip-hop artist, revealing it all to be an elaborate media hoax.
Never Let Me Go -- Film Review
Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" is expertly acted, impeccably photographed, intelligently written and even intermittently touching, but the film is also too parched and ponderous to connect with a large audience.
20 Cigarettes -- Film Review
In someone else's hands, "20 Cigarettes" could have become a gritty anti-war movie or an outright tearjerker. Instead, Aureliano Amadei opts for a middle ground for his autobiographical debut feature, which is surprisingly mainstream and sincere at the same time.
Afraid of the Dark (Bruises) -- Film Review
Former MTV VJ and documentary director Massimo Coppola's sensitive portrayal of an unlikely friendship, good eye for industrial wastelands and Joy Division soundtrack make some of the film's social cliches easier to overlook.
127 Hours -- Film Review
Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to loud ovations -- and a few squeals of terror.
The Way Back -- Film Review
"The Way Back" is a harrowing epic that will not be an easy sell, but it finds filmmaker Peter Weir again working at the top of his game.
The Land of the Astronauts -- Film Review
Visually assured but chock full of cliches, Belgian-born filmmaker Carl Colpaert's "The Land of the Astronauts" is a waste of a promising premise and a game lead actor, David Arquette.
The Debt -- Film Review
As a thriller, "The Debt" performs many if not all the right moves. Where the John Madden-directed film gets into trouble is in wanting to deal with the Holocaust without being entirely a period film.
The King's Speech -- Film Review
Colin Firth, following up on his Oscar-nominated role in "A Single Man," now can claim a place among Britain's finest film actors with his performance as the man who became King George VI.
Deep in the Woods (Au fond des bois) -- Film Review
French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot's "Deep in the Woods" (Au fond des bois) takes a surprisingly benign view of kidnapping and rape in the tale of a bucolic neurotic and her many tumbles in the long grass with a scalawag who beguiles her.
El Superstar: The Unlikely Rise of Juan Frances -- Film Review
The satire lands softly in "El Superstar: The Unlikely Rise of Juan Frances," a mockumentary about the music-biz rise and fall of a white guy raised as a Chicano.
The Passion -- Film Review
Carlo Mazzacurati attempts to blend a folksy comedy about small-town misfits with a filmmaker's dramatic mid-life/career crisis and the Passion of Christ -- and ends up doing none of the above in "The Passion."
Lost Kisses -- Film Review
Roberta Torre returns to the Sicilian camp of her earlier work in a comedy drama that goes everywhere and nowhere.
Gorbaciof -- Film Review
Lean and meticulously acted, "Gorbaciof" is a throwback to sober 1970s cinema about lone wolves and small lives on the fringes of the underworld.
Tomorrow, When the War Began -- Film Review
Australia may finally have a homegrown blockbuster on its hands with the terrifically engaging "Tomorrow, When the War Began," an action-packed war film for and about teenagers.
Reign of Assassins -- Film Review
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" relocate to ancient China in the dazzling martial-arts epic "Reign of Assassins," in which Asian superstars Michelle Yeoh and Jung Woo-Sung play an ordinary married couple, each unaware the spouse is a world-class assassin.
Somewhere -- Film Review
Sofia Coppola makes a happy return to "Lost in Translation" territory in the cut-back charmer "Somewhere," which illuminates the emptiness of a movie star's life through close observation and gentle irony.
The Stool Pigeon -- Film Review
Smarting with as much psychological as physical bruising, "The Stool Pigeon" is an action film with a grave, melancholic strain.
Clear Blue Tuesday -- Film Review
Want to experience the worst sort of theater without the bother or expense of heading to New York? Take in the new indie film "Clear Blue Tuesday."
