League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

It took until July, but the summer of 2003’s first big-budget bomb finally arrived. This comic-book adaptation, about an assortment of legendary figures from adventure stories and Gothic novels who join forces to stop world war, is largely incoherent when it isn’t supremely silly. Presiding over all is Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain, looking slightly

Venus (2007)

Drama Rated R

A feature-length defense of dirty old man syndrome, Venus charts the occasionally sweet but often icky relationship between an aged British actor named Maurice (Peter O’Toole) and the rebellious teen niece (Jodie Whittaker) of his friend. It’s a relief that the movie isn’t mawkish, but it goes too far once sexual favors become involved. What

Condemned, The (2007)

Action/Adventure Rated R

“This is a B picture that wants to be smarter than its central concept … and there are moments when it’s even smarter than it intends.

We Are Marshall (2006)

Drama Rated PG

“…begins with a politely observed time of mourning and then gets on to the business of triumph, even if the movie has to invent it.

Dreamgirls (2006)

Musical Rated PG-13

Eddie Murphy is the best reason to see this otherwise overblown, narratively clunky adaptation of the Broadway musical. As a James Brown-type singer, Murphy is more alive than he’s been in years. That familiar gleam in his eye shines – for the first time in a long time –over something other than the easy money

Cold Creek Manor (2003)

Horror Rated R

A thriller that can’t decide who the bad guy should be: the upscale urbanites (Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid) who buy a country estate for cheap or the working-class former owner (Stephen Dorff) who couldn’t make his mortgage payments. As their showdown grows increasingly ridiculous, eventually resembling the intelligence of a Friday the 13th flick,

Dogville (2003)

Drama Rated R

Danish director Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark) has always provoked, but usually he does so through art. Dogville is agitprop. A failed, formalist experiment involving a single soundstage and chalk marks to denote buildings, the movie follows a moll (Nicole Kidman) on the run in Depression-era America who seeks solace

Dogma (1999)

Comedy Rated R

Writer-director Kevin Smith is hell-bent on proving that God has a sense of humor with this self-described “comedic fantasy,” in which an abortion-clinic worker (Linda Fiorentino) tries to save the world from a pair of murderous angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck). There’s enough sharp, satirical humor here – and honest intention – to make

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Drama Rated R

In Notes, Judi Dench pulls a fast one on both the other characters in the movie and the audience, and it’s a delight to be deceived. Dench plays Barbara, a hard-knock schoolteacher who discovers that a friend and fellow teacher (Cate Blanchett) is having an affair. She swoops in to correct the situation as responsibly

Year of the Dog (2007)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Treading lightly between bemused affection and outright derision, Year of the Dog infuses one of society’s standard wallflowers, the single dog-lady, with uncommon dignity. The lady in question is Peggy (Molly Shannon), a mousy cubicle worker whose life revolves around her beloved dog Pencil. Shannon’s face rarely reveals anything but a pleasant, benign smile, yet