Movie Reviews

The Story: A princess in ancient Scotland refuses to follow her parents' wishes and tries to change her fate with the help of a witch. The Lowdown: It's a solidly OK animated fantasy from Pixar, but it's certainly nothing to get excited about.

The Story: An uptight lawyer being divorced by her husband goes to visit her aging hippie mother in Woodstock. The Lowdown: A frequently charming, but largely predictable comedy with some romance. The cast is a big help in making it all seem more worthwhile than it probably is.

In Brief: Busby Berkeley meets Technicolor in this almost surreal musical comedy. It's perhaps most famous for Carmen Miranda's "The Lady in the Tutti Fruiti Hat" number, with its pop art imagery and giant phallic bananas. But there are other pleasures -- some just as peculiar -- within its fast-paced, often silly confines. Ever hear…

In Brief: Explosively controversial in its homeland because of its depiction of a love affair between a Bangladeshi woman and a Pakistani soldier, this Bangladeshi import isn't likely to have the same impact here, and plays more like a star-crossed love story with an agenda about "loving the other." Whatever its take, it's one gorgeous…

In Brief: Martin Scorsese's masterful and beautiful film about a young boy living within the walls of a Paris train station turns out to be a great deal more than a fantasy for children (though it is that, too). It's also a movie about the movies, their history and their sheer magic.

The Story: A deadbeat dad, who knocked up his high school teacher as a teenager, tries to reconnect with his now-grown, estranged son in an attempt to avoid going to prison. The Lowdown: The usual parade of Adam Sandler juvenilia and grotesqueness, but with a vague undercurrent of heart revolving around the idea of family.…

The Story: Film version of the "jukebox musical" play that's comprised of 1980s songs. The Lowdown: An almost hypnotic trainwreck of a movie with occasional flashes of cleverness. Neither those flashes, nor the two-headed-cow oddity value overcomes the excessive length or the painful blandness of the leads.

The Story: A corporate headhunter who moonlights as an art thief steals a Rubens from the wrong man. The Lowdown: A slickly made thriller that’s often surprisingly grim, but still impressively clever.

In Brief: What more does one need to know about The Mad Monster other than the fact that it has a werewolf in bib overalls? Or that the werewolf in question was created "scientifically" for the purpose of fighting the Nazis? This is exactly the sort of thing to expect from the series of "poverty…

The Story: The escaped zoo animals of the first two Madagascar movies head to Europe, where they must go on the lam with a circus troupe in order to outrun a devious animal control officer. The Lowdown: A superfluous rehash of its predecessors that only exists to cash in on the popularity of those films.

In Brief: The classic Universal horror about a 3,700-year-old reanimated mummy (played by Boris Karloff in one of his best performances) seeking his reincarnated love (Zita Johann) in modern Cairo. This is an eerie, atmospheric and even poetic horror fantasy that remains unique in the genre.

The Story: A corporation sends a small group of specialists into space to track down what may be the origin of life on Earth. The Lowdown: Never as deep, and certainly not as daring, as it seems to wish it was, Prometheus is still compelling as entertainment -- and boasts some incredible effects and design.

In Brief: Ronald Neame's brilliant film -- with a screenplay by star Alec Guinness -- of Joyce Cary's novel is one of the best, if not the best, films ever made about a painter. Rich, wryly funny, shot through with perception, beautifully acted by a splendid cast and then perfectly topped off by the skillful…

In Brief: A minor-key little film about a struggling Australian sheep-farming family who are attempting to stay together and keep their heads above water, despite seemingly endless bad luck brought on by drought and the generally inhospitable climate of the Outback. Admirably done -- if a little on the film-school-project side -- and with an…

In Brief: Solid production values don't really make up for the fact that this is simply not a very good film version of George. L. Du Maurier's Trilby. The casting is often just plain wrong-headed, but it's impossible to deny that there's a certain amusement value to Donald Wolfit in the role of Svengali. It…

The Story: The somewhat factual story about the invention of the personal vibrator in Victorian England. The Lowdown: An utterly delightful, charming and funny film that manages to tackle a tricky subject without a false note, thanks to stylish direction and a terrific cast. A must-see film.

The Story: A pair of aspiring documentarians infiltrate a cult led by a woman who claims to be from the future. The Lowdown: Very indie, very low-tech yarn that's sporadically successful and constantly watchable, but finally not completely persuasive.

In Brief: As filmmaking, there's nothing very remarkable about Love Free or Die. However, the film is certainly solidly made and it focuses on a timely and important subject -- especially after the Amendent One vote -- since it deals with the impact of gays in the clergy, gay marriage and gay rights in general.…

The Story: An upscale family loses their pet dog while on vacation at their woodland cabin. The Lowdown: A not unpleasant, shambling little comedy-drama with a cast and director you expect more from.

The Story: Ten people are gathered in an isolated location where an unknown assailant is out to take the law into his or her own hands to execute them for crimes they haven't paid for. The Lowdown: Brilliantly stylish and witty adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel, played to the hilt by a perfect cast.…

In Brief: Roman Polanski's 1976 psychological horror film about a Polish immigrant (Polanski) losing his own personality to that of the woman who previously lived in his apartment (and who committed suicide by throwing herself out of the window) may well be the director's best film. It is certainly his creepiest -- and made all…