Boat Trip (2002)

Comedy Rated R

The mugging comedic duo of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Horatio Sanz are just two of the many problems in this tone-deaf comedy, which follows two heterosexual buddies who mistakenly book themselves on a gay cruise. Of course the heroes eventually learn to overcome their homophobia – enabling the movie to safely revel in its own.

Roger & Me (1989)

Documentary Rated R

Michael Moore broke onto the national scene with this screen screed against the automobile factory closings across his home town of Flint, Mich., in the late 1980s. Right from the start, Moore’s knack for using comedy to illuminate injustice is nearly outweighed by his considerable flaws: a whiny narcissism, cheap-shot tactics and maddening tunnel vision.

High Crimes (2002)

Thriller Rated PG-13

Another woman-in-peril movie from Ashley Judd, very similar in its pseudo-feminist tone to Double Jeopardy, Eye of the Beholder and Where the Heart Is. This time she stars as a glitzy lawyer defending her husband (Jim Caviezel) against a military conspiracy. There’s plenty of emotional manipulation here (including the callously casual use of a miscarriage

Tears of the Black Tiger (2007)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Equally influenced by Thai genre films of the 1960s and classic Hollywood westerns, writer-director Wisit Sasanatieng’s tribute film is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Or, rather, it is like things I’ve seen many times, but in an entirely new way. The archetypal story centers on Black Tiger (Chartchai Ngamsan), a sharp-shooting bandit who is in

Monsoon Wedding (2001)

Drama Rated R

Anyone who’s ever been part of a wedding will enjoy the way director Mira Nair captures the giddy chaos surrounding such an occasion, even if the titular event here takes place in contemporary India. The movie focuses on a four-day celebration of an arranged marriage between a young New Delhi woman and an engineer from

Blue Crush (2002)

Drama Rated PG-13

This teen flick turns an Outside magazine article about female surfers into something like MTV’s The Real World in Hawaii. False, forced drama – primarily the heroine’s (Kate Bosworth) unlikely jitters about an approaching surfing competition – take precedence over any real sense of this sports subculture. Even the action shots, edited with the rabid

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG

Like most adaptations of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, this lives or dies according to Mr. Darcy, the sourpuss romantic foil to headstrong heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley, showing her usual spunk). The best Darcys are preternaturally gloomy and reserved, and indeed Matthew Macfadyen appears to have stepped right out of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride here.

De-Lovely (2004)

Musical Rated PG-13

An oddly stodgy biography picture of composer and lyricist Cole Porter, De-Lovely follows an aging Porter (Kevin Kline) as he revisits scenes from his life, many re-created as musical numbers. Director Irwin Winkler (Life as a House) fails to give it an ounce of the life of say, Chicago or Moulin Rouge. It’s a curious

Shall We Dance? (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

Jennifer Lopez unwisely tries to dominate this otherwise charming remake of a 1996 Japanese film, even though it is supposed to be about a man (Richard Gere) who solves his midlife crisis by secretly taking dancing lessons, not about how sexy his instructor (Lopez) is. As long the movie focuses on Gere’s character – his

Ghost World (2001)

Comedy Rated R

A touching ode to teen angst. As Enid, an 18-year-old who greets life with a withering sarcasm (she rolls her eyes the way other people breathe), Thora Birch paints a vivid portrait of a disaffected teen. But Ghost World offers more than witty putdowns, especially when Enid finally drops her armor of cynicism with the