Munich (2005)

Drama Rated R

Steven Spielberg seems embarrassed by his talent in this painstakingly restrained dramatization of the Israeli revenge mission that followed the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli Olympians. Munich has a few arresting elements, including the newsreel cinematography of Janusz Kaminski and an appropriately twitchy lead performance from Eric Bana (Troy), playing an Israeli agent who is

Along Came Polly (2004)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Ben Stiller’s brand of exasperated embarrassment is on display once again as he plays Reuben Feffer, a risk assessor for a huge insurance firm. His methods prove pointless when he meets Polly Prince, one of those movie free spirits that you usually want to lock in a closet. This time, as played by Jennifer Aniston,

Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

You get the feeling the cast and crew – including writer-director Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones and more – skipped filming a sequel to the 2001 heist hit and decided to go right ahead to the wrap party. Nobody making a high-stakes major-studio release should be having

Amelie (2001)

Romantic Comedy Rated R

Whimsy with a French accent. Audrey Tautou is irresistible as a shy waitress who finds happiness – and eventually love – by performing anonymous acts of kindness (her smile is that of a 5-year-old who just cracked her first joke). Meanwhile, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s style – bold colors, impulsive edits, an eye for life’s little

Must Love Dogs (2005)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

This Diane Lane vehicle, in which she plays a divorced woman whose nosy family pushes her into the world of online dating, offers enough doses of real life to elevate it above your average romantic-comedy fantasy. With strong support from John Cusack, Dermot Mulroney and Elizabeth Perkins, this is a pleasant enough romantic-comedy bubble, able

American Beauty (1999)

Drama Rated R

“…a particularly embittered entry in the suburban satire genre.”

I’m Not Scared (2003)

Horror Rated R

This import perfectly captures kids at play, as well as something related but darker. Ten-year-old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) leads an idyllic life in rural Italy until one day he comes across a covered pit next to an old farmhouse and on further investigation finds … Exactly what, the movie leaves up to you. Such ambiguity

American Dreamz (2006)

Comedy Rated PG-13

This pop-culture satire came under fire for being all over the place, but that’s like complaining that a trapeze artist shouldn’t be performing so far up in the air. The movie exhilarates precisely because it takes random, high-altitude risks. Among the contestants of a televised talent show is a small-town girl with big-city ambitions (Mandy

Importance of Being Earnest, The (2002)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG

Writer-director Oliver Parker continues the charming, witty conversation he began with 1999’s An Ideal Husband by tackling Oscar Wilde’s better-known play. The result is pretty much the same, and delightfully so: another verbal roundelay conducted by an exquisite cast. Rupert Everett stars as a rich and eloquent English layabout whose only true pursuit is the

American Outlaws (2001)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

If you see this latest take on the Jesse James legend, starring Colin Farrell, Scott Caan and Ali Larter, let me know what it’s like. American Outlaws was so generic and inconsequential the first time I sat through it, I can barely recall what happened.