Mega Movie Guide 2004

Sex/Nudity: None. Violence: 7 slapstick scenes. Profanity: 4 expressions. Drugs: 1 scene with drinking.

Director: Hugo Rodríguez. With Diego Luna, Marta Belaustegui, Lucas Crespi. (90 min.)

Sterritt **** A diamond thief, a computer geek spying on the woman next door, and a barber with a dead customer in his chair are among the characters of this quick-moving Mexico City caper movie. Supercharged with an ingenuity that "Run Lola Run" once had a patent on. In Spanish with subtitles.

Director: Chazz Palminteri. With Susan Sarandon, Penélope Cruz, Robin Williams. (96 min.)

Sterritt * A lonely divorcee, an eccentric old man, and a squabbling couple are among the characters of this Christmas Eve comedy-drama. Santa Claus's bag couldn't hold as many clichés as the screenplay dishes out.

Director: Dagur Kari. With Tomas Lemarquis, Throster Anna Fridriksdóttir. (88 min.)

Sterritt *** The title character is a very bright teen who seems unable to get along with his family, his teachers, or anyone in his Icelandic town except a pretty new girl whose father doesn't like him. A superior entry in the perennial teenage-misfit genre. In Icelandic with English subtitles.

Director: Nick Cassavetes. With Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling. (115 min.)

Sterritt ** An aging man reads a lengthy love story to a debilitated old woman, and gradually we realize its profound relevance to their own former lives. Rowlands is superb, as usual, and Garner partners her with the grace of a dancer.

Staff ** Nostalgic, contrived, sentimental.

Sex/Nudity: 3 instances. Violence: 2 scenes. Profanity: 13 mild expressions. Drugs: 6 scenes of drinking, 3 of smoking.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard. With Judith Lerner, Ramos Garcia, Jean-Luc Godard. (79 min.)

Sterritt **** Godard's latest masterpiece takes a symbolic journey starting in hell, represented by modern war; moving to purgatory, set in Sarajevo, where a Jewish journalist hopes to confirm the possibilities of peace; and ending in paradise, a chunk of Swiss countryside. Visually sublime and intellectually dense, this is one of the extremely rare movies that prove cinema can be as complex and profound as the very greatest art works in any form. In English, French, and Spanish, with subtitles.

Director: Steven Soderbergh. With George Clooney, Julia Roberts. (123 min.)

Sterritt *** Danny Ocean's gang expands to a dirty dozen when he decides to pull off three heists in three European cities - a twist on the "Ocean's Eleven" idea of robbing three casinos. The action is sparkling entertainment most of the way through. Too bad the picture indulges in occasional clichés to fill out its too-long running time.

Staff **1/2 Playful, improbable, fresh sequel.

Sex/Nudity: 1 scene of innuendo. Violence: 1 explosion. Profanity: 2 harsh expressions. Drugs: 6 scenes with cigarettes; 7 scenes with alcohol.

Director: Chris Kentis. With Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein. (80 min.)

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46