A. I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
****
USA
In the bleak future, a boy robot is programmed to love.
   Based on a project Kubrick never managed to complete, this is an obviously fascinating, flawed yet largely successful and thoughtful conflict of two vastly contrasting directorial styles. In tone, it is structured as three separate parts, and ends up uneven as a result. However, it offers all the warmth and dread a futuristic fairy tale should.
dir: Steven Spielberg
cast: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, William Hurt

A MA SOEUR!
***
France
An overweight 12-year-old girl observes her pretty 15-year-old sister's first sexual experiences.
   A stark exploration of pubescent female sexuality that fiercely refuses to portray its heroines as victims.
dir: Catherine Breillat
cast: Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero De Rienzo, Arsinée Khanjian, Romain Goupil

ALI
**½
USA
A fierce and respectful, but drawn-out and uninvolving biopic. Will Smith though, is shockingly disciplined and compelling to watch.
dir: Michael Mann
cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Angelo Dundee, Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett Smith

ALL OVER THE GUY
**½
USA
Forgettable queer fluff that wastes talented actors in limited cameos and puts the uninteresting ones in the foreground.

AMÉLIE
*****
France
A shy Parisienne finds joy in reinvigorates the lives of others, but disregards her own.
   An irresistible tale of love set against a gorgeously stylised Montmartre, with an enchanting heroine. The infectious charm and quirky imagination on the surface barely disguise the deeply affecting sense of romanticism and quiet longing that burns beneath.
dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
wr: Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
ph: Bruno Delbonnel
ed: Herve Schneid
m: Yann Tiersen
pd: Aline Bonetto
cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz,  Rufus, Serge Merlin, Isabelle Nanty, Claire Maurier, Clotilde Mollet, Yolande Moreau, Michel Robin, Artus de Penguern, Urbain Cancelier, Dominique Pinon

AMERICAN PIE 2
*½
USA
This was never really necessary.

AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS
**
USA
Implausible Hollywood fluff, with Roberts looking for a second Oscar in all the wrong places, Crystal begging to be liked, Cusack trying to hide his embarrassment, and Zeta-Jones playing herself (though quite effectively).

THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY
***
USA
An incisive and often hilarious Hollywood satire that goes overboard towards the end. Best remembered as a collection of smart one-liners and character turns.
wr/dir: Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh
cast: Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Jane Adams, Parker Posey, John Benjamin Hickey, Jennifer Beals

ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER
**½
Canada
The first and so far only internationally-released feature presented entirely in the Inuktitut language, it dramatises an ancient legend about two tribesmen and the woman they each want to marry. It was shot on digital video - reportedly on a high-definition system, but it looks like an ordinary, cheap one. In fact it is the harsh, muted DV colours that centrally prevent the picture from taking on the mythical, romanticised aura it so desperately aspires to.
   Director Zacharias Kunuk hadn't previously made any films, and he seems to have no idea how to pace this one. At nearly three hours, it's at least three times long than it needs to be. The curiosity value is what sustains you through most of it, as well as the beauty of the Arctic landscape.
dir: Zacharias Kunuk
cast: Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Madeline Ivalu

BANDITS
***
USA
Despite room for improvement, this is an entertaining Hollywood patch-up about an inept duo of bandits with a great comic turn from Billy Bob Thornton. It was his year, clearly.

BARAN
***½
Iran
A young Afghani woman in Iran must pose as a boy in order to gain work and money for her family.
   A patient, elegant challenge to sit through, though it ultimately proves rewarding and very touching.
wr/dir: Majid Majidi
cast: Hossein Abedini, Zahra Bahrami, Mohammad Amir Naji

A BEAUTIFUL MIND
**
USA
The life story of mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr.
   According to the standard code of the Oscar-hungry Hollywood biopic, a heavy-handed sense of self-importance and self-satisfaction is illustrated at every plot turn. It infects both the direction and performances.
dir: Ron Howard
cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer

THE BELIEVER
**½
USA
The inner conflict of a young Jew, who proclaims himself a neo-Nazi, is believably - if not all that skilfully - established, so that the film does manage to accumulate some power by the end. But afterwards you start thinking about it and it can't quite handle that.

BIRTHDAY GIRL
***½
UK/USA
A fast-moving, first-rate star-vehicle, effortlessly shifting between romantic comedy and thriller, never allowing logic or plausibility to get in the way. Amiable efforts from all concerned provide for good entertainment.
dir: Jez Butterworth
cast: Ben Chaplin, Nicole Kidman, Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Kassovitz

BLACK HAWK DOWN
**½
USA
October 1993, a US helicopter is shot down and several soldiers are trapped in the middle of a Somalian uprising.
   A technically accomplished war film with convincing but uninvolving battle scenes that take up far too much running time. Style overpowers substance on several occasions, but even before the battles begin, the character-establishing scenes already alienate you with risible dialogue and uniformly embarrassing performances.
dir: Ridley Scott
cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremmer

BLOW
**
USA
A self-indulgent, cliché-ridden biopic of a 70s cocaine smuggler with lame one liners and cheap, outdated tricks and techniques.

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY
**½
USA
The diet and dating crises of a twenty-something single London girl.
   Beyond the appealing lead performance, this amounts to little more than a big screen sitcom pilot.
dir: Sharon Maguire
cast: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant

BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF
**
France
A French attempt at profound stupidity in the Hollywood mould (with added martial arts), embarrassing an all-star cast. Not only profoundly stupid, but completely nonsensical too.

BULLY
**
USA
Deeply pretentious writing about drastically dysfunctional teenagers, typical of Larry Clark and unworthy of Brad Renfro.

THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS
***½
USA
One night when stranded at an airport, a CEO engages in psychological battles with her obnoxious young assistant.
    A tight, cutting study of business and gender politics. A well-acted, under-appreciated sleeper.
wr/dir: Patrick Stettner
cast: Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles, Fred Weller

CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN
*½
USA
A bland adaptation of a romantic best-seller set on a Greek island in Hollywood, with embarrassing dialogue and performances as part of the package.

CATS AND DOGS
*½
USA
Vapid, forgettable family fare with talking animals.

THE CAT'S MEOW
***
USA
An elegant and fascinating but misguided speculation on the legendary myth of the 1924 murder aboard a Randolph Heart yacht. The decor and lensing are just right, but the actors sound and look nothing like the Hollywood figures they portray.
dir: Peter Bogdanovich
cast: Edward Herrman, Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Tilly

CHAOS
***½
France
A bourgeois Parisian couple witnesses the brutal assault of a prostitute; and, conscience-driven, the wife later finds her in a hospital.
   A fast, involving revenge thriller - so devilish and amusing as to almost make you forgive the rampant, unchecked man-hating.
dir: Coline Serrau
cast: Catherine Frot, Rachida Brakni, Vincent Lindon, Line Renaud

CRAZY / BEAUTIFUL
**½
USA
It tries hard for the most part, to little avail - since you quickly realise it's only trying to look like it's an honest representation of teens. Though Dunst comes off as authentic.
dir: John Stockwell
cast: Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez, Bruce Davison, Lucinda Jenney

THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION
***½
USA
A bickering insurance investigator and efficiency expert are hypnotized and instructed to carry out a series of robberies.
   Though far from Allen's best, this light noir homage is still miles ahead of the competition and great fun thanks to some witty exchanges and lively performances.
dir: Woody Allen
cast: Woody Allen, Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd, David Ogden Stiers, Charlize Theron

THE DEEP END
***
USA
A reasonably suspenseful variation on Max Ophüls' "The Reckless Moment" (1948) - it switches the daughter for a gay son - with an excellent lead performance from Tilda Swinton.

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE
***
Spain/Mexico
During the Spanish Civil War, a boy in an isolated orphanage is haunted by a dead boy's ghost.
   A technically accomplished but strangely uninvolving horror film with political undercurrents.
dir: Guillermo del Toro
ph: Guillermo Navarro
cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve

DONNIE DARKO
****½
USA
After an airliner engine mysteriously falls into his bedroom, a gifted and profoundly disturbed adolescent is haunted by a demonic rabbit who tells him the world will end in 28 days.
   Despite a weak if ambitious parallel universe subplot, this proudly weird mix of black comedy, social drama and science fiction works both as a deeply affecting study of teen alienation and a savage satire of small town mentality.
wr/dir: Richard Kelly
cast: Jake Gylenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze

DUST
**½
Macedonia/UK/Germany/Italy
A contemporary New York tale is intertwined with a melodrama set in turn-of-the-century Macedonia. The early, monochromatic Western passage is effectively bleak and moody, but the film is smothered by the mannered visuals, the forced profundity and sheer wankery.
dir: Milcho Manchevski
cast: David Wenham, Adrian Lester, Joseph Fiennes, Nikolina Kujaca, Anne Brochet, Rosemary Harris

FRAILTY
***
USA
A man confesses to an FBI agent how his religious fanatic father was convinced he was chosen by God to destroy demons.
   A grim, chilling and disturbing horror, which would have been better served by a visual stylist able exploit its Southern Gothic sensibilities more creatively.
dir: Bill Paxton
cast: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Matt O'Leary, Jeremy Sumpter, Powers Boothe, Luke Askew, Levi Kreis

FROM HELL
***
USA
A drug-addicted detective tries to figure out the identity of Jack the Ripper.
   Though stunning camerawork and detailed production design provide for a gorgeous re-creation of late 19th century London, this could have been much more. The picture actually reveals Jack the Ripper's 'true' identity - it's a major misstep.
dir: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
ph: Peter Deming
pd: Martin Childs
cast: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson, Jason Flemyng, Katrin Cartlidge

GHOST WORLD
*****
USA
Two obnoxiously aimless teenagers intend to waste away the summer after finishing high school.
   A clever, poignant, commendably mature adaptation of Daniel Clowes' delicate graphic novel, more faithful to its spirit than its plot.
dir: Terry Zwigoff
wr: Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
cast: Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi, Scarlett Johansson, Ileanna Douglas, Brad Renfro, David Cross, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban

GOSFORD PARK
***½
USA/UK
A murder is committed during a party at an English country estate in 1932.
   Witty, complex and absorbing study of upstairs-downstairs politics in 1930s Britain, with an accomplished ensemble cast, though the emotional impact is somewhat muted by the overwhelming amount of intertwining characters and storylines.
dir: Robert Altman
wr: Julian Fellows
ph: Andrew Dunn
ed: Tim Squyres
cast: Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald, Emily Watson, Clive Owen, Eileen Atkins, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Ryan Philippe, Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, Alan Bates

HANNIBAL
**
USA
A nicely lensed, but largely repellent and embarrassing prequel.

HEARTBREAKERS
**½
USA
Despite Sigourney Weaver's and Gene Hackman's best efforts this is strictly routine Hollywood fluff about a mother-daughter con-team.

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
***½
USA
A drag queen recounts events in her colourful life, including an East Berlin childhood, a botched sex change and several deceptive lovers.
   A bold, vibrant and exuberant rock musical, which doesn't always work but offers regular outbursts of style and inspiration as well as a talent to watch out for.
dir: John Cameron Mitchell
cast: John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Pitt, Miriam Shor, Stephen Trask, Theodore Liscinski, Rob Campbell, Michael Aronov, Andrea Martin, Ben Mayer-Goodman, Alberta Watson

HEIST
***
USA/Canada
The tired caper plot has been done much better and much worse. The real problem though is that the tired caper plot has had all life squeezed out of it to the point where even Mamet's smart dialogue and distinctive characters can't quite save it. The twists too are far more predictable than usual.
wr/dir: David Mamet
cast: Gene Hackman, Sam Rockwell, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, Patty LuPone

IN THE BEDROOM
****
USA
The comfortable life of a middle-aged new-England couple is destroyed when their young son dates a divorcee.
   A mature, intelligent Sundance favorite which critical acclaim promoted to a wide release and Oscar contention. The thoughtful and perceptive writing and tour de force performances, are its driving force. Some shifts in tone distract from the overall emotional impact.
dir: Todd Field
wr: Robert Festinger, Todd Field
cast: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei, Nick Stahl, William Mapother, William Wise, Celia Weston

INTIMACY
***½
France/UK/Germany/Spain
Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox meet up for anonymous, dysfunctional sex every Wednesday at his grimy bachelor pad. It becomes apparent very quickly that the movie is based on a book (specifically, the stories of Hanif Kureishi): there are several mannered patches in the script (resulting in some awkward bits in otherwise perfectly solid performances). But overall, director Patrice Chéreau keeps the introspection raw and compelling, aided enormously as he is by Eric Gautier's moody, precise camerawork.
dir: Patrice Chéreau
wr: Patrice Chéreau, Anne-Louise Tridivic
ph: Eric Gautier
cast: Mark Rylance, Kerry Fox, Timothy Spall, Alastair Galbraith, Philippe Calvario, Marianne Faithfull, Susannah Harker

JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK
*
USA
It isn't courteous to suffocate others with your own spaced out self-gratification.

JEEPERS CREEPERS
**½
USA
Tense and well-sustained horror until it loses track towards the final act.

JOY RIDE
**½
USA
A predictable B-thriller, although handled better than most of its kind.

KANDAHAR
****½
Iran/France
A Canadian resident of Afghan descent travels back to her homeland and races against time to stop her sister from committing suicide.
   Most of the acting is incompetent and the dubbing crude, but the urgency and immediacy of this docudrama lends it a raw, gripping and ultimately devastating power that few films have managed to generate with far flashier productions. In this sense, it practically invites you to reevaluate cinema.
wr/dir: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
cast: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai, Seydou Teymouri, Hoyatala Hakimi

KISSING JESSICA STEIN
***
USA
Inoffensive, sitcom-level indie fluff about sexual experimentation.

L.I.E.
****½
USA
A 15-year-old delinquent stuck in Long Island suburbia befriends an old man who enjoys the company of younger boys.
   The type of low-key, obscure indie that can afford to portray those perceived as the scum of the world with honesty and a degree of sympathy, as well as tackle paedophilia with intelligence and no sensationalism. Driven by an offbeat sense of humour and remarkable ensemble acting, it is filled with minor details of major insight.
dir: Michael Cuesta
cast: Paul Franklin Dano, Brian Cox, Bruce Altman, Billy Kaye

LANTANA
***
Australia
A police detective undergoing a mid-life crisis is assigned to investigate a therapist's disappearance.
   A decently crafted ensemble drama, emphatically embraced on home soil (often above the same year's Luhrmann extravaganza). It builds well but the emotional pay-off proves inadequate and the dialogue doesn't always allow the actors to be convincing. 
dir: Ray Lawrence
wr: Andrew Bovell
ph: Mandy Walker
cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Rachael Blake, Vince Colosimo, Daniela Farinacci, Russell Dykstra, Peter Phelps

LAST ORDERS
****
UK
Old-time friends travel to a beachfront to deliver a deceased butcher's ashes.
   A warm, beautifully assembled and quite moving ensemble piece, with a cast of well-established British thespians gracefully reveling in the material.
wr/dir: Fred Schepisi
ph: Brian Tufano
ed: Kate Williams
cast: Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Ray Winstone

LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER
**
USA
Nobody should need a proudly idiotic video game plot to get in the way of staring at Angelina Jolie for 90 minutes.

LEGALLY BLONDE
***
USA
As an intellectually-challenged daddy's-gal goes to Harvard Law, a remarkably stupid premise is made digestible by Reese Witherspoon's star-making turn.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
***
New Zealand/USA
An all-powerful ring falls into the hands of an inexperienced hobbit and he must take it to be destroyed at Mount Doom before the evil forces of Lord Sauron can get to it.
   The ambitious, uneven first instalment of an epic trilogy adaptation. The spectacular introduction is the highlight here, with the flaws later arising primarily because the film is forced to follow its literary source or else angry nerd mobs would crucify Jackson for failing to include overlong passages set in Hobbiton, Rivendell and the like.
dir: Peter Jackson
wr: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
ph: Andrew Lesnie
cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE
*****
USA
A quiet small-town barber discovers to anonymously blackmail his wife's lover in order to invest in a dry-cleaning business. So things get out of hand.
   This cool and blackly funny noir homage could also make for a fine satire of 40s small-town values. Gorgeous monochrome lensing, flawless direction and performances.
dir: Joel Coen
wr: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
ph: Roger Deakins
ed: Roderick Jaynes, Tricia Cooke
pd: Dennis Gassner
cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Badalucco

MONSOON WEDDING
***
East and West collide amid preparations for a wedding in New Delhi.
   An internationally successful mix of music, colour and multiple storylines. Despite the exotic setting however, little here is really new.
dir: Mira Nair
cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Tilotama Shome, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas

MONSTER'S BALL
***
A racist prison warden falls in love with the troubled black widow of one of his former inmates.
   A well-acted study of two grudging survivors in a gruelling South, though director Marc Forster mistakes his eagerness (and failure) to make you uncomfortable for rich social insight.
dir: Marc Forster
cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Peter Boyle, Heath Ledger

MONSTERS, INC.
**½
USA
A monster factory relies on young children's screams of terror to keep running, but the monsters are scared of children themselves.
   The concept was always promising but the final product is overly Disneyfied, replacing the high school humour made popular by "Shrek" with primary school humour. The animation too, is lifeless and lacking in detail.
dir: Peter Docter & David Silverman
voices of: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly

MULHOLLAND DRIVE
*****
USA
David Lynch's noirish, idiosyncratic, half-abstract love story was far too readily summed up as a moody, stylish mindfuck. Many adored it all the same, though it's a shame more people didn't dig a little deeper. It's intriguing more than confounding, and in a thoughtful, engrossing way.
   The film may not be linear, but it's centrally tied to a story - a lurid, gruelling but morbidly touching love story refracted through the dream perspective of the damaged party. The plane of dream-logic on which it unfolds is layered, intricate and organic enough (not to mention, rewarding) to go along with.
   Lynch does wobble at times - scenes like the pre-production conference and the dwarf overlord in the cavernous lounge feel a bit like auto-pilot. But they amount to minor eccentricities in a rich, sprawling, enveloping whole.
wr/dir: David Lynch
ph: Peter Deming
m: Angelo Badalamenti
cast: Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya

MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING
***½
France
One year before Michael Moore happened to the Academy Awards, this is the picture that came away with the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It received a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at a Los Angeles theatre before it premiered on HBO in April the following year. It's not unlike an episode of a TV lawyer show, except the performers are less mannered (they're real people but they receive individual cast credits at the end). The crafting barely passes for rudimentary - the music is a hip, computer-composed knock-off of a dramatic, orchestral score - but the storytelling is compelling and thorough - de Lestrade was lucky enough to get involved in the early stages of the investigation. He was also lucky enough to find at its centre a public defender, who is not just clever, articulate and dedicated but terribly charismatic as well.
dir: Jean Xavier de Lestrade

NO MAN'S LAND
***½
A Bosnian and Serb soldier end up trapped in no man's land and victims of media coverage.
   A savage and biting attack on the media as well as a perceptive anti-war film, incorporating the blackest of black comedy. Due to lack of budget, it plays out as almost an allegory at times. Both the fanatical Balkan mentality and the UN's barely disguised indifference are well-established.
wr/dir: Danis Tanovic
cast: Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Katrin Cartlidge, Simon Callow

NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE
*½
USA
A misnomer.

NOWHERE IN AFRICA
**½
Germany
In 1938, a Jewish aristocratic family migrates from Germany to Kenya.
   A long, literate, intimate journey through the bits of Africa previously featured in similarly exotic Oscar bait.
dir: Caroline Link
cast: Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Karoline Eckertz, Lea Kurka, Sidede Onyulo

OCEAN'S ELEVEN
****
USA
A gang of down-and-out con artists plans to simultaneously rob three Las Vegas casinos.
   A slick, exhilarating remake, with all concerned at top form and obviously having fun.
dir: Steven Soderbergh
cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts

ONE NIGHT AT McCOOL'S
***
USA
A hilarious and sadly underrated noir parody.

OSMOSIS JONES
*
USA
Like a suffocating primary school health video. Who would think something this unbearably dull and unfunny could come from the Farrelly brothers?

THE OTHERS
****
USA
Towards the end of WWII, supernatural incidents occur at an isolated Jersey mansion.
   A genuinely suspenseful and effective bit of horror. Brilliantly staged and directed.
wr/dir: Alejandro Amenábar
ph: Javier Aguirresarobe
cast: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy

THE PIANO TEACHER
***
France/Austria
A talented but tyrannical piano instructor secretly carries an appetite for voyeurism and sado-masochism.
   A cold, alienating study of a disturbed mind that ultimately feels empty despite its extended psychological dissecting, pent-up hysteria and enigmatic central presence .
dir: Michael Haneke
cast: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar

THE PLEDGE
***
USA
A retiring cop swears to find the killer of an eight-year-old girl.
   A sombre, understated and ultimately alienating character study.
dir: Sean Penn
cast: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Sam Shepard, Aaron Eckhart, Benicio del Toro, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Helen Mirren

PROMISES
***½
USA
Interviews with Jewish and Palestinian children.
   The makers don't take this anywhere unpredictable, but the subject matter is certainly fascinating and worthwhile.
dir: Carlos Bolado, B.Z. Goldberg, Justine Shapiro

PROZAC NATION
**½
USA
A promising university student struggles with depression.
   An arbitrary adaptation of a cult novel that never manages a grip on its heroine's mood swings and character in general, often leaving the audience completely disoriented in an unproductive way.
dir: Erik Skjoldbjærg
cast: Christina Ricci, Jessica Lange, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche, Michelle Williams, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

RAT RACE
*½
USA
I turned to this in search of dumb fun. It was only dumb.

READ MY LIPS
***
France
A put-upon secretary hires a con artist for an assistant.
   What starts off as a tough neo-noir of office politics turns into a heist thriller half-way through. It's intelligent and well-acted, but essentially two incomplete movies in one. The first one could have been brilliant. (Another problem is that a strikingly attractive woman is meant to pass as a dowdy secretary, whereas the ratty-looking male lead is supposed to be smouldering.)
dir: Jacques Audiard
cast: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier

THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS
****½
USA
A family of failed geniuses is reunited.
    The remarkable thing about Wes Anderson's quirky gallery of kooks - which sets it apart from the myriad twee and stultifying imitations - is that beneath the quirk and the kookiness, you have an aching, alive, thoroughly and lovingly developed family dynamic.
dir: Wes Anderson
wr: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson
ph: Robert Yeoman
m: Mark Mothersbaugh
ed: Dylan Tichenor
cast: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson

THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS
***
USA
A not necessarily distinguished but somehow affecting study of an emotionally disturbed ensemble.

SCARY MOVIE 2
*½
USA
Very nothing. And certainly not funny.

THE SCORE
**
USA
A remarkable cast wastes time on a caper formula with criminally dull direction.
dir: Frank Oz
cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett

SECRET BALLOT
***
Iran/Italy/Canada/Switzerland
On election day, a young woman is sent to collect votes in and around an isolated island.
   An offbeat, episodic political parable with an irrepressible protagonist and long stretches where next to nothing happens. Whatever point or mood it aims for is regularly undermined by the simplistic, obvious dialogue when it arrives, but the film remains generally pleasing and absorbing, 
wr/dir: Babak Payami
cast: Nassim Abdi, Cyrus Abidi

SERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS
****
USA
Six people are selected for a TV show where the object of the game is literally to be the final survivor.
   A savage and hilarious satire of reality television with superb ensemble acting. It loses some steam towards the end, but it's self-assured and vicious in making its timely point.
wr/dir: Daniel Minahan
cast: Brooke Smith, Glenn Fitzgerald, Marylouise Burke, Michael Kaycheck, Merritt Wever, Richard Venture, Angelina Phillips, Nada Despotovich, Will Arnett

SEXY BEAST
**½
A brutal gangster terrifies a retired safecracker into the One Last Job.
Arty Brit caper film, notable chiefly for Kingsley's creepy performance and some interesting directorial touches.
dir: Jonathan Glazer
cast: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley

SHALLOW HAL
**½
USA
The more memorable Farrelly Bros. effort of the year revolved around a shallow Jack Black character hypnotised to see women's inner beauty so that a fat woman appears to him in the shape of Gwyneth Paltrow. It's funny in parts, but also dubious as it carries the impression that you're allowed to make vulgar fat jokes as long as you turn around at the end and say it's okay to be fat.

SHREK
***½
A reclusive ogre assisted by an obnoxious donkey goes to save a tough princess.
   Although dated, fragmented, underconceived and inflated with high school humour, it has great heart as well as some clever, subversive twists on the traditional fairy tale format. Its influence on the next wave of CGI-animation though was unpleasant.
dir: Adam Adamson, Vicky Jenson
voices of: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow

SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
**½
USA
Well-intentioned but unremarkable romantic comedy that wants to be Woody Allen when it grows up.

THE SON'S ROOM
**½
Italy
A family is shattered by the death of the teenage son.
   Though it milks out some emotional impact, this is a shamelessly derivative, self-absorbed and maudlin family drama. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
dir: Nanni Moretti
cast: Nanni Moretti, Laura Morante, Jasmine Trinca, Giuseppe Sanfelice

SPIRITED AWAY
****
Japan
A 10-year-old girl wonders into an alternate universe.
   An imaginative, dream-like cartoon feature, crammed with grotesque, captivating creations. Awarded the Golden Bear at the year's Berlin Film Festival.
dir: Hayao Miyazaki
voices of: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Bunta Sugawara

SPY KIDS
**½
USA
A popular kiddie superhero movie. Even critics liked it. But why?

STORYTELLING
***
USA
Solondz makes audiences uncomfortable again as he valiantly but not very successfully attempts to explore issues of angst, frustration, exploitation and the youth today.
wr/dir: Todd Solondz
cast: Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom, Noah Fleiss, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Julie Haggerty, Lupe Ontiveros, Franka Potente

SWORDFISH
*½
USA
Hollywood can technically do worse. But not in terms of writing - this truly is as risible as it gets.

TIME OUT
***½
A man hides the fact that he has lost his job from his family.
   Laurent Cantet's gloomy character study delves into the nasty depths of a miserable mind. It isn't pleasant, though it is engrossing.
dir: Laurent Cantet
cast: Aurélien Recoing, Karin Viard, Serge Livrozet, Jean-Pierre Mangeot, Monique Mengeot

TOMCATS
*
USA
A lowpoint of moviemaking. Repulsive without restraint.

TRAINING DAY
***
On his first day on the job, a young cop bears witness to corruption within the system.
The powerhouse central performance and preachy moralizing of the Denzel Washington vehicle are both present. The intense atmosphere and visual style are however, all authentic.
dir: Antoine Fuqua
cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke

VANILLA SKY
**½
USA
An ambitious remake of a 1997 Spanish mindfuck, with some impressive elements and a knockout turn from Cameron Diaz. Yet as a whole, it's a confused and confusing failure. It would have benefited greatly from a darker tone and tighter editing.

WAKING LIFE
**½
USA
A guy has trouble waking from a dream haunted by philosophising characters.
   The digitally animated live action technique is interesting but as soon as the curiosity factor wears off and the pseudo-intellectual talk just keeps going on and and on, the plain light of an exit sign is far more compelling than any of the revolutionary Rotoscoping.
dir: Richard Linklater
voices of: Wiley Wiggins, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater

THE WEDDING PLANNER
**
USA
One of those generic romantic comedies where the two toned and tanned leads - in this case J-Lo and Matthew McConaughey - appear so resolutely self-involved that it's difficult to buy their attraction to a second human being.
   Also worth nothing - getting in the way of their meant-to-be-ness are a walking and talking Ken and Barbie.

Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN
***½
Mexico
Two Mexican teenagers go on a road trip with an attractive, slightly older and far more experienced woman.
   A witty and brutally honest depiction of teenagers being teenagers, also notable for the detailed, gritty yet seductive portrait of modern-day Mexico.
dir: Alfonso Cuarón
cast: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Maribel Verdú

ZOOLANDER
**½
A satire that takes a shot at an exceptionally easy target - the fashion industry - and misses. It could have made for great dumb fun, but little of it is any fun.

YET TO SEE:

BAD GUY (Kim);
BLOODY SUNDAY (Greengrass);
DISTANCE (Hirokazu);
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Wiseman);
ELOGE DE L'AMOUR (Godard);
LADY AND THE DUKE, THE (Rohmer);
LATE MARRIAGE (Kosashvili);
STARTUP.COM (Hegedus);
TROUBLE EVERY DAY (Denis);
UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY;
VA SAVOIR (Rivette);
WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE (Imamura);
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Tsai)