The Twilight Saga: New Moon -- Film Review
The moon may be new and the director may be different, but otherwise, the second installment of the "Twilight" saga remains, for better or worse, exceptionally faithful to its 2008 beginnings.
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Red Riding Trilogy -- Film Review
Maybe it's the underlying material of David Peace's novels, but the "Red Riding Trilogy," while strong in performances and atmosphere, is a daunting tangle of characters, time periods, crimes and cover-ups that is more "who's where" than whodunit.
Staten Island -- Film Review
Staten Island is regarded as New York's bastard stepchild of a borough, and unfortunately, this film is unlikely to enhance its reputation.
Fix -- Film Review
This grungy, microbudget road movie clearly harkens back to the 1960s in terms of its rough-hewn style and druggie orientation. But although it was made just last year, it feels just as dated as that era's films.
Rapt -- Film Review
The film lacks star power but shrewdly promoted and with good word of mouth it could pay off handsomely at the boxoffice.
The Anchorage -- Film Review
Only ultra-patient audiences should seek berth at "The Anchorage," a glacier-paced experimental independent feature that downplays narrative development in favor of elemental atmospherics with intriguing but ultimately frustrating results.
Berlin-Stettin -- Film Review
Arriving with perfect timing to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's demise, "Berlin-Stettin" is a fine cinematic essay-autobiography from veteran documentarian Volker Koepp.
Domain -- Film Review
An unusual family relationship is examined in writer-director Patric Chiha's enigmatic "Domain," providing Beatrice Dalle with the French arthouse equivalent of a golden-era Hollywood star-vehicle.
The Woman With the 5 Elephants -- Film Review
Connoisseurs of wildlife documentaries lured by the exotic-sounding title may possibly be disappointed by "The Woman With the 5 Elephants" ("Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten"), but most everyone else will find their expectations delightfully exceeded.
Toto -- Film Review
Taking a challenging and radically unconventional approach to seemingly unremarkable material, Peter Schreiner's intense attention to detail yields startling sensory magic from everyday sights and sounds.
Initiation -- Film Review
Occasional flashes of imagination and inspiration hint at why writer/director Peter Kern has a passionate following among certain coteries of adventurous cinephiles, but there's little here to win new recruits to his cause.
Castaway on the Moon -- Film Review
The stigma of suicide and serious neurosis hardly seems to make ideal material for comedy, yet South Korean writer-director Lee Hey-jun's empathy for his unusual characters engenders abundant humor in "Castaway on the Moon."
Oh My God? -- Film Review
Peter Rodger displays no qualms about tackling a subject that has perplexed the world's greatest thinkers. Regrettably, his film adds nothing but glitz and noise to our understanding of religion.
The Blind Side -- Film Review
Sticking safely to proven sports-movie/fish-out-of-water formulas, the dramedy doesn't skimp on the crowd-pleasing stuff, but given the setup, there also was room for more thought-provoking substance.
Planet 51 -- Film Review
This digital cartoon is a jokey reimagining of 1950s science fiction flicks where Earth faced extinction by alien space invaders seemingly on a monthly basis.
Jail -- Film Review
Madhur Bhandarkar's film takes viewers deep inside an Indian prison, and "Jail" packs a satisfying emotional punch in its portrayal of a decent man pushed to the limit by the creaky, maddening Indian legal system.
The End of Poverty? -- Film Review
This refreshingly straightforward documentary gives the world-history "backstory" (and continuing story) of why so many people live so poorly and die of malnutrition in abundant societies.
Turning Green -- Film Review
Featuring a protagonist who outdoes even Philip Roth's Portnoy in terms of his fascination with pleasuring himself, "Turning Green" is an odd little comedy drama set in Ireland that boasts more onscreen talent than it deserves.
Love Hurts -- Film Review
The protagonist of Barra Grant's "Love Hurts" is an absent-minded physician more or less stuck in the '80s, and the movie suffers from a similar problem: It's a romantic comedy that takes as its model TV sitcoms from bygone days.
Ninja Assassin -- Film Review
Chances are if you're willingly walking into a movie entitled "Ninja Assassin," you're expecting to see three basic things: 1) ninjas, 2) lots of them, 3) fighting each other with all sorts of cool weapons your parents never would let you own.
Something's Gonna Live -- Film Review
Daniel Raim's "Something's Gonna Live" is absolutely infused with profound admiration and respect for the people who can make real or imagined worlds come alive.
First of All, Felicia -- Film Review
With its long takes, quiet realism and fusion of dark humor and poignancy, "First of All, Felicia" bears the hallmarks of recent Romanian cinema.
A Room and a Half -- Film Review
Audrey Khrzhanovsky makes a smooth feature debut with "A Room and a Half," a free-form look at the life of exiled Russian poet and Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996).
The City of Your Final Destination -- Film Review
Its appeal naturally will be to book-reading audiences who appreciate films with well-written dialogue, a tony cast (Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg), lush visuals and the triumph of civilized values.
Oceans -- Film Review
What "Winged Migration" did for birds, "Oceans" does for all sorts of strange sea creatures in an ambitious, impressively filmed documentary.
That Evening Sun -- Film Review
Echoing themes from last year's Clint Eastwood starrer "Gran Torino, "That Evening Sun" is a moving if too-leisurely paced effort that benefits immeasurably from the superb performance by its 84-year-old star.
