Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

There is a good reason we see a lot of Tobey Maguire’s face in Spider-Man 2 – why even during the action scenes his mask has been shredded. Peter Parker’s high-flying alter ego may get top billing, but it’s the conflicted kid beneath the tights who is the focus of this character-driven sequel from returning

Garden State (2004)

Drama Rated R

Television actor Zach Braff (Scrubs) unveiled true filmmaking talent in this writing-directing-starring effort about a middling, heavily medicated actor (Braff) who returns to his native New Jersey for a funeral and learns that even a painful life is worth living. There’s a tinge of narcissim to get past, but the reward is Braff’s penchant for

Thirteen (2003)

Drama Rated R

The insistently shocking Thirteen, about a junior-high kid’s (Evan Rachel Wood) self-destructive bout with adolescence, argues that today’s culture of flirtatious consumerism has made trashy 20-somethings out of our preteens. But what begins as an observant piece of social commentary soon becomes a hysterical exploitation flick, in which every sweet little girl you know is

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Drama Rated R

What appears to be a female version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest actually is a quieter, subtler and at times even more discerning look at mental illness. Winona Ryder stars as 17-year-old Susanna Kaysen, whose memoir about her real-life experiences in a psychiatric hospital during the late 1960s inspired the film, but this

U-571 (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

This is straightforward but gripping adventure material about a U.S. Navy crew posing as German sailors in order to take over a Nazi submarine. The action scenes invigorate submarine thriller cliches, and Matthew McConaughey lends some depth as an executive officer struggling with the responsibilities of military leadership.

Grudge, The (2004)

Horror Rated PG-13

At heart a haunted-house flick, this remake of a Japanese hit follows an American (Sarah Michelle Gellar) having trouble adjusting to her new life in Tokyo, where her caregiving job for an older woman involves, among other things, a pale little boy in the closet who meows. At least the theme of cultural dislocation allows

Vanilla Sky (2001)

Thriller Rated R

Characters swap identities and dreams unfold within dreams in this romantic thriller from star Tom Cruise and writer-director Cameron Crowe. The story – which follows a rich young playboy (Cruise) after he’s disfigured in a car accident – is an intriguing mixture of pop psychology and science fiction, even if it’s not entirely original. The

Hamlet (2000)

Drama Rated R

Admirable, yet never registering as more than a stunt, writer-director Michael Almereyda’s adaptation sets Shakespeare’s tragedy – original language and all – amid the corporate culture of 2000 New York (here it’s the Denmark Corporation that’s corrupted). This modernity allows for some sly wit and nifty touches – Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) delivers the “to be

White Countess, The (2005)

Drama Rated PG-13

Director James Ivory, working for the last time with his late producing partner Ismail Merchant, has a stately style that has served him so well because he usually employs it in stately stories (Howards End). But this calls for something different. Ralph Fiennes stars as a blind diplomat in 1936 Shanghai who opens a nightclub

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who risked his life to house more than 1,0000 refugees from both sides of the genocide that plagued Rwanda in the 1990s. The movie’s triumph – particularly in light of the hero-worshipping biopics we’re used to – is the way it traces Rusesabagina’s burgeoning courage with an