Hart’s War (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell as American soldiers in a World War II prisoner-of-war camp, Hart’s War seems to be auditioning plot lines as it goes along. The movie begins as a military action film, later turns into a POW drama and then detours into a courtroom mystery before climaxing as an escape flick.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Thriller Rated R

The comedic version of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, this Hollywood-fed pulp mystery comes from late ’80s, early ’90s screenwriting king Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), who makes his directorial debut by spewing whatever comic bile has been building up in his brain since his glory days. As Robert Downey Jr.’s thief gets caught up in a

Lost Souls (2000)

Horror Rated R

Lost Souls takes The Exorcist a step further by having a crime reporter (Ben Chaplin) in danger of being possessed by Satan himself. Winona Ryder also is on hand as an exorcism survivor. As the directorial debut of Janusz Kaminski, longtime cinematographer for Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List), this has a lot of

Mr. 3000 (2004)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Mr. 3000 would probably not seem quite as factory-made if it didn’t star irreverent comic Bernie Mac, playing a retired baseball player who mounts a comeback campaign when a mistake is found in the record books. Mac is allowed to swing free at the start, but as sure as the inevitable workout montage gets rolled

Ninth Gate, The (1999)

Horror Rated R

A wry and cerebral horror movie from director Roman Polanski, The Ninth Gate is surprisingly gripping until its devilishly silly ending. Johnny Depp, delightfully eccentric as usual, stars as a rare book appraiser who gets caught up in the world of demonic texts, but even his engaging presence can’t save the film from literally and

Gerry (2002)

Drama Rated R

An experimental exercise from director Gus Van Sant, who wrote the screenplay with stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, Gerry follows two friends as they get lost on a desert trail and encounter thirst, desperation and … ? Well, not exactly transcendence, although that’s clearly what the movie is aiming for. Some moments approach such

No Man’s Land (2001)

Drama Rated R

This Bosnian import, which won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2002 Oscars, takes place almost entirely within a battlefield trench where a Bosnian and a Serb find themselves in a tense standoff. The ensuing morality play at times turns preachy, but it also offers a glimpse at the fractious hatred that allowed

Jonah – A Veggie Tales Movie (2002)

Family Rated G

This computer-animated dramatization of the Old Testament tale of the prophet Jonah is a long way from industry giant Pixar, but there’s enough creativity and wit to make something that sounds like Sunday school fun. By recasting Biblical figures as tomatoes, carrots and the like, the filmmakers strip the story of the potential for sanctimoniousness,

Producers, The (2005)

Musical Rated PG-13

The obvious first step in transferring this Broadway musical comedy to the screen would have been to tone things down a notch – to soften material that had been yelled to the back row of a theater for the cozy intimacy of the cinema. Yet Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, reprising their stage roles as

Medallion, The (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

A disposable, slapdash action comedy in which Jackie Chan plays a Hong Kong detective who comes across a mysterious artifact that grants him superhuman powers. The series of bloopers over the end credits feel redundant – the movie is a screwup of its own.