Hulk, The (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Sorry special effects – the title character looks mostly like a very angry avocado, a new Veggie Tales character, perhaps – are the main problem with this comic-book adaptation, but hardly the only one. Eclectic director Ang Lee wastes his mythic, dreamy style; this is less like watching an Ang Lee movie than like watching

Wolf Creek (2005)

Horror Rated NR

This low-budget horror flick claims to be based on a true story, but the movie never decides if it wants to go for the sort of documentary-like realism of The Blair Witch Project or the more mythic frights of one of the iconic Jason or Freddy slasher films. The movie follows three casual friends on

Human Nature (2001)

Comedy Rated R

Human Nature is only funny if you’re willing to see human nature as funny – in other words, if you’re willing to poke fun of yourself. A bizarre comedy that spoofs the clash between our animal instincts and our refined social order, the movie follows a love triangle involving a sweet young woman (Patricia Arquette)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG

Following the age-old rule that you’re allowed to deal in stereotypes as long as you’re stereotyping your own kind, this independent release follows a Greek-American woman (Nia Vardalos, also the screenwriter) who escapes from the clutches of her traditional, overbearing family into the arms of a handsome – and non-Greek – stranger (John Corbett). The

Beach, The (2000)

Thriller Rated R

A clever cautionary tale about the dangers of a would-be Shangri-la, The Beach dangles sun, sand and skin before our eyes – and then cruelly snatches it all away. Leonardo DiCaprio puts his good looks to subversive use as Richard, a young American abroad whose sexual betrayals turn an idyllic island into paradise lost.

Blood & Chocolate (2007)

Horror Rated PG-13

There’s something refreshingly low-tech about this werewolf romance which compensates for the shagginess that otherwise defines the production. Set in contemporary Bucharest, the movie follows a young werewolf (Agnes Bruckner, exuding carnality) who feels compassion, not hatred, for full-fledged humans. That compassion turns to love when she falls for a visiting American artist (Hugh Dancy).

ABC Africa (2001)

Documentary Rated NR

The parade of suffering yet smiling kids peering into the camera in ABC Africa is endless, and that’s the point. This compassionate, impressionistic documentary, from acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, tries to come to grips with the 1.6 million orphans in Uganda whose parents succumbed to AIDS. The film provides some facts, but more importantly

Martian Child (2007)

Drama Rated PG

“Coleman … seems to have been cast not for his chemistry with Cusack but for his adorable lack of key baby teeth.

Ararat (2002)

Drama Rated R

How can an artist be true to the tragic past? That’s the question driving Ararat, a movie that poses the query to itself as much as it does to endeavors such as Schindler’s List. An extremely personal effort from Canadian-Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), Ararat features his usual abstract approach, this time to

Art School Confidential (2006)

Drama Rated R

Like the socially awkward art students it depicts, Art School Confidential is at turns endearing and cringe-inducing. It’s best to focus on the endearing qualities. This is the third feature from director Terry Zwigoff, whose previous odes to misfit souls are Bad Santa and Ghost World (as well as the documentary Crumb). Zwigoff is in