The gritty photography is a perfect match for the film's harsh realities, the script is taut (not a word or motion is wasted) and the acting is raw and realistic.

Emotionally honest, feel-good saga with a universality that stands out in a season of singularly depressing and cynical Hollywood product.

It's a positive hat trick by John Cameron Mitchell.

The most delightful family movie since "Stuart Little."

Genuinely creepy Southern Gothic thriller that once again proves that in horror movies, sometimes less is actually more.

May be the creepiest and most original horror film since John Carpenter's classic "Halloween."

The quirky High Fidelity really deserves being called the first must-see movie of the century.

Subversively funny, it's a welcome alternative to the big-budget movies flooding into theaters at this time of year.

Schrader's strongest movie since "Affliction," is another meditation on American masculinity powerfully told with great wit and style.

An astonishing re-creation of the Londonderry massacre of January 1972.

Thoughtful and entertaining documentary.

Forget the hype, and the backlash. The Phantom Menace is captivating.

A technological landmark that couldn't look or sound better.

An unforgettable and complex portrait of a nuclear family in meltdown.

Vulgar and lewd and raunchy like you wouldn't believe, and absolutely hilarious from beginning to end.

An exhilarating, sweeping epic that begs to be seen on the largest possible screen.

Williams triumphs by exceeding both in sheer actor's craft - and the depths he plumbs in his character's tortured soul.

Atriumph on almost every level. It is breathtakingly stylish, wonderfully acted and its three interrelated tales of the "war" on drugs are brilliantly structured to form a cohesive, powerful whole.

Isn't quite as accessible or as deeply moving as his masterpiece, "All About My Mother." It's a tad too self-consciously a work of art for that. But it's still a must-see for anyone who's halfway serious about film.

Isn't just scary, charming and delightfully unpredictable - it's also smarter and subtler than any new movie out there.

A powerful fable about love and addiction that manages to be darkly humorous when it isn't graphic or harrowing in the extreme.

A remarkable accomplishment, an absorbing documentary about the joy of reading that's also a positively gripping literary mystery.

Gripping, smart and moving, without falling prey to sentimentality, it shows what can be achieved when mainstream filmmakers like Howard and Goldsman are genuinely inspired and determined to be honest.

A visually stunning film.

Brilliantly idiosyncratic.

Lilya is portrayed by Oksana Akinshina, who gives a dynamic, heartbreaking performance... She was wonderful in ["Brothers"], but is even more astonishing in Lilya 4-Ever.

Quirkily likable comedy-drama about a family trying to coping with loss, contains three of the best performances you're likely to see in an American movie this year.

(Osment) delivers what may be the greatest performance ever by a child actor.

An affectionate, often clever and unflaggingly funny satire.

Hilarious sweet and sour David Mamet comedy.

Norton, returning to cracking form, doesn't try to make the selfish and smug Monty sympathetic -- but he lights up the screen, especially in two fantasy sequences.

In place of elaborate sets, clever filmmaking gives the impression of a central London emptied of people and cars, to eerie effect - and this opening reel is nothing short of magnificent.

The final result, shaped by the brilliantly nimble, pitch-perfect direction of Spike Jonze, and blessed by superb acting, is an extraordinarily clever comedy that falters only in the last 20 minutes.

An enthralling 3-D IMAX documentary.

Drawing inspiration from anime and vintage Looney Toons, this beautifully drafted, offbeat charmer is hip, funny - and a bona fide heart tugger for the whole family.

As hip, funny and truthful a sleeper as has ever flown under Tinseltown's radar.

This demanding puzzle is not for the "Chocolat" crowd, but those who stay with it will experience perhaps the most dazzling film released so far this year - even though a second viewing is virtually mandatory.

Strictly a love it-or-hate-it proposition, it requires viewers to work at a movie with a narrative that could support at least half a dozen interpretations.

A summery confection crammed with fresh young talented faces that's hard not to love.

One of the year's most engaging films.

[McCarthy] marries beautifully spare compositions with comically abbreviated dialogue to craft something magnificent from a vaguely precious premise that could easily be the foundation for a parody.

Hilariously overblown, "Cruelty" fairly pops at the seams with the beloved eccentricity of Joel and Ethan Coen, from the fiendishly ludicrous scenarios and casually tossed off visual gags to the razor-sharp repartee.

Mostly it's worth seeing Alien, which established Scott as an A-list director, in a theater because his brilliant and often expansive visuals have always worked better on a big screen than on video.

Stunningly photographed, largely with a hand-held camera, by Rodrigo Prieto (another member of the "Amores Perros" team) on gritty locations in Memphis and Albuquerque, 21 Grams is also a visual tour de force - and a rare Hollywood product depicting class differences with any kind of honesty.

A thoughtful, rousing and beautifully crafted epic.

The result is an immensely enjoyable portrait of a strange-looking, non-comforming genius who loved women as much as designing masterpieces but was never able to commit to them. In other words: great architect, lousy family man.

One of the most original and stylish films to come along this year.

The best thing Baldwin has done in years, and a triumph of low-budget storytelling by a director to watch.

Even with Burton's imagination turning its trademark cartwheels, the film's big beating heart holds the whimsical offshoots steady.

A grim, challenging movie that will amply reward audiences willing to go along with its ride into the dark depths of its characters' souls.

An exquisitely crafted Civil War epic that combines the epic romantic sweep of "Gone With the Wind" with a more intimate voice that speaks eloquently to the war-weary nation of today.

The film is dark, both literally and figuratively. Only at the very end do we get a glimpse of the sun.

If "Starsky & Hutch" is your idea of art, keep your distance from Distant, the droll new movie from maverick Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. If, on the other hand, you're searching for something that will remain with you long after leaving the theater, run, don't walk, to Distant.

A stunning achievement, every bit the equal of the classic moun taineering book which inspired it.

Vladimir Garin and Ivan Dobronravov are amazingly natural as the boys, and Konstantin Lavronenko impresses as the taciturn father.

More than a celebration of Chaplin's art; it is a thorough examination of what made this gifted artist, the world's first true celebrity, tick.

Working from an unfinished script by the late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski, Stuhr directs in a laid-back, deadpan style that, at times, recalls Fellini.

A stunning display of a filmmaker adventuring on the far side of what's possible.

Vol. 2 isn't anywhere near as self-indulgent as its predecessor, but it still plays like the work of a man too in love with his creations to decide which of his darlings to kill - so he ended up with merely a very good movie.

Meant to evoke filmmaking of a bygone era, but this time the director is more restrained visually, while making use of a more conventionally structured script than usual. And he has a real, honest-to-goodness star in Rossellini.

Carandiru, which ends with actual footage of the prison being demolished in 2002, marks a terrific comeback for Babenco - it's the roughest picture of life behind bars since "Midnight Express."

Can be summed up in one word: style.

So gorgeously animated and so thoroughly entertaining for all ages that only an ogre would complain it's not quite as fresh as the original.

This movie belongs to its young stars, who have grown immensely as actors since they were first ideally cast by Chris Columbus, the hack who directed the first two movies.

Throughout, Mrs. Marcos comes across as an elitist, insulated against real life by wealth and power -- yet one who truly believes she is misunderstood and has done nothing wrong.

Sequels don't get much better - or smarter - than the action-, drama-, romance- and comedy-packed Spider-Man 2, which miraculously improves on the webslinger's hugely popular first screen adventure in every imaginable department.

Magnificent if overlong and oddly structured surfing documentary.

More than a ripped-from-the- headlines drug drama, Maria Full of Grace is like a horror movie made real.

So terrifically entertaining, it would be a shame if it didn't inspire a companion piece on New York.

The film is less violent and bloody than much of the director's work, but the absurdity level is sky high. Takashi Miike is at the top of his game, loving every minute of his surreal visit to the twilight zone.

Confirms Leigh's reputation as one of the world's master filmmakers - and showcases Staunton as one of its great actresses.

Iraqi-Kurdish director-writer Hiner Saleem is in no hurry to tell the story, and viewers drawn in by the warm-hearted tale and charmingly eccentric characters will be in no hurry for the closing credits.

Anderson gives The Machinist a sickly noirish look that contributes to the creeping horror - but it's the emaciated Bale's spectral presence that leaves the imprint.

Contains large helpings of Hollywood schmaltz, stereotype and clich‚, but it's also pretty impossible to resist.

Devoid of 21st-century irony, this visually stunning, action-packed yuletide treat is sweet and, yes, magical in a way that will enchant kids and give older viewers a twinge of nostalgia.

It's as purely entertaining as it is thought-provoking and timely.

Hilarious from first frame to last.

The sweet script, crisp direction and a delightful performance by Leila Hatami, as the sad-eyed wife, should put Deserted Station on your must-see list.

One of the year's best.

One of the year's best.

East Is East is "The Full Monty" of 2000, a fresh, funny and poignant film filled with sparkling performances.

You can tell this is a smart take on Hamlet from the first wordless opening shots.

Woody Allen's most purely entertaining film in years.

In-depth performances by De Niro and Gooding Jr. provide the oxygen for this extremely shipshape biopic.

I'm not generally a huge fan of movies with two-or three-person casts -- they tend to resemble filmed plays -- but The Business of Strangers is a knockout.

You don't have to know Chile's bloody history to be moved by the poignant new film Machuca, the first movie made by a Chilean about the country's 1973 military coup.

An intoxicating, heartbreaking Turkish-German drama that's already won a slew of awards from international film festivals.

Kore-eda presents the deeply moving story in a documentary style that is both gentle and compelling.

It's the well-wrought details that explain, perhaps better than any earlier film, how an entire country bought into Hitler's genocidal madness.

Sobering and important.

The less you know going in, the more you'll enjoy it. Suffice it to say that it's a hugely entertaining thriller disguised as a chick flick.

Gut-Bustingly funny moves are pretty rare, so hustle over to Kung Fu Hustle, actor-director Ste phen Chow's exhilaratingly hilarious and affectionate send-up of Hong Kong action flicks.

Akhavan plays each change brilliantly in a film that is so tightly controlled that the mere glimpse of a new beard or a prayer mat being unrolled becomes a moment of horror.

Solondz beats on abortion defenders, stomps on the pro-life crowd and finishes up by telling us there is no free will. If you want some easy laughs tonight you'd be better off curling up with some Kierkegaard.

Not for the squeamish, but it is a beautifully crafted and thoughtful film that genuinely provokes.

A long, messy cinematic novel full of hate, love, murder, ghosts, madness, poetry and Catherine Deneuve.

It could turn someone who never heard of the Flaming Lips into a devoted fan.

Like mother, like daughter best sums up Or (My Treasure), a raw drama.

If the director had more gospel and less blues in him, it might have brought him closer to really understanding these talents. Still, I can't wait for "Rize 2: Electric Boogaloo."

A remarkable, eye-popping nature documentary.

If you enjoy intelligent, challenging filmmaking, Tropical Malady is for you.

Fast-moving, psychologically savvy.

Like Roald Dahl's book, Tim Burton's splendidly imaginative and visually stunning - and often very dark and creepy - new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is squarely aimed more at children than their parents.

The flick brings two hours of great big sloppy buck-wild laughs by morphing into a cross between "Meet the Parents" and "Some Like It Hot."

A yellow dog of a movie that delights in offending the offendable. It's also a whitesploitation classic, from its menacing sideburns to its demented laughter.

An achingly beautiful look at the most tragic victims of the longtime war in Chechnya: children.

You'll either be screaming with laughter - or be incredibly offended.

2046 is a bit overlong and not for all tastes, but fans of "In the Mood for Love" will relish this second helping, which is more emotionally substantial than the first.

All of this is punctuated with refreshingly strange wit.

Herzog tries to make sense out of the blond-haired young man, who looked an awful lot like Kinski.

Expect a sequel -- perhaps one with a more satisfying conclusion.

Just Like Heaven isn't far short of a classic among romantic comedies with a teary chaser, sure to please fans of "Ghost" and "Heaven Can Wait."

An instant classic.

In his fourth outing with the director, cinematographer Andreas Sinanos produces stunning scene after stunning scene, almost as if each frame were a small painting.

Adults will be more than passably entertained by this short, patriotic feature, and kids will be entranced.

A remarkably assured feature debut by Bennett Miller, a longtime director of commercials (and the documentary "The Cruise") whose no-frills style trusts that the powerful material and the uniformly excellent performances need little embellishment.

With its dry wit and all-star household, Baumbach's movie resembles Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" without the heavy whimsy.

If animated dogs were eligible for acting awards, the Oscar would go to Gromit.

Includes insightful and often hilarious archival interviews with Langlois and dozens of associates, as well as wonderful footage of Langlois.

A classic social drama in the proud tradition of "Norma Rae," "Silkwood" and "Erin Brockovich."

Thebest sports movies aren't really about sports. Dreamer has a few thundering horse races, but its finest moments are beautifully still ones, like the one in which a little girl peeks through a fence to give a lame filly a Popsicle.

Like Truffaut's heaviest work, it's less interested in what brings people together than in what keeps them apart, and it achieves a painful truth you won't find in dating comedies.

Combining a thoughtful script with splendid acting -- especially by Sansa -- Bellocchio has fashioned a tense thriller that is both understated and powerful.

Clooney, who gained 35 pounds for the role, gives a self-effacing but highly effective performance.

Constantly battling, Hoskins and Dench have terrific chemistry together.

Its many pleasures derive from the way this drama unfolds unexpectedly from the characters rather than imposing itself on them.

A deliciously elusive mystery.

Censors in Iran must have been smoking weed when they approved I'm Taraneh, 15, a sympathetic portrait of an unwed mother.

Veers between mystery, comedy, philosophical inquest and medical/psychological drama.

This is a guy comedy being mismarketed as a chick flick, complete with a poster that looks like a page from Lucky magazine.

An entertaining piece of pulp fiction.

It's not always clear exactly what's happening in this dark tale, full of barking dogs and slabs of meat. But you won't be able to take your eyes from the screen; nor will you quickly forget this fiercely original eye-popper.

It'll make you want to dig out your Whitesnake T-shirt. It might even convince Tipper Gore that heavy metal thunder is all in good fun.

Similar to the recent Emmanuelle Devos drama "Gilles' Wife," but it's as cool as that one was melodramatic.

Showcases a brilliantly realistic performance by Abbie Cornish as Heidi. She's a provocative mix of naivete and ripe, unbridled sexuality.

It's a long, brutal and honest look at a shattering event some Americans would apparently prefer not to see depicted - but also a respectful, inspiring one that's in no way exploitative or emotionally manipulative.

If they were still making Looney Tunes, they'd look a lot like Over the Hedge.

Cars leaves the animated competition in the dust, even if it is a tad slower and more predictable than Pixar at full throttle.

We get to know three of these courageous, funny, smart and perhaps permanently damaged men in a film that largely avoids telling us what to think and makes an effort to get near the truth of the soldiers' experience.

This distaff "Hoop Dreams" is less of an epic than the earlier movie, and less deep, but it's got more sunshine, too.

You're either going to love this film and run out to see everything Majewski has directed, or you're going to be bored silly. I'm hoping for the former.

Bryan Singer's super, soulful and very expensive new resurrection of the venerable big-screen franchise, ups the ante with must-see results.

If you can tell the difference between a mule and a pump, attendance at The Devil Wears Prada is mandatory. You might have to reach back to "Funny Face" to find a fashion movie so on-trend.

The movie itself is a powerful cocktail of not just sex and love but race, poverty, colonialism and jealousy.

Time to Leave just might be Ozon's best work yet. He tackles a sensitive, off-putting subject with a dignity that will put viewers at ease. Poupaud connects as the dying man and Moreau is - Moreau, a French national treasure.

Miami Vice isn't an action flick but a neo-noir: tough, quiet, moody and hard.

A slumber-party classic that belongs on the same shelf as "Bring It On" and "10 Things I Hate About You." This high-school comedy should do for its 20-year-old star, Brittany Snow, what those movies did for Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles.

Starts slowly but builds, Hitchcock-style, to a terrifying crescendo. And don't fool yourself into thinking you know what's going to happen.

Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade (interesting combination, no?).

It's brilliant work.

Lassie is a dog movie even non-dog lovers will lap up.

An acid trip of a movie about a piece of Los Angeles history that exists no more: the Ambassador Hotel.

The Last King of Scotland is a parable shocking in its truth, jolting in its lack of sentimentality, Shakespearean in its vision of the doctor's catastrophic flaw.

The profanity-laced but witty and literate dialogue by William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven") is delivered by a brilliantly chosen cast, almost all of whom are operating at the very top of their game.

This superb documentary about the Catholic Church's worst pedophile scandal is in many ways far scarier than any fiction.

Dizzy with celebrity, New York society and gay life (if all that isn't the same thing), Infamous is more fun. But "Capote" is a better movie.

Coppola works in weird ways, but the real Versailles was so much weirder.

This year's actress to watch is Elizabeth Reaser, who delivers a tour de force as a determined German mail-order bride who comes to 1920 Minnesota in Ali Selim's captivating indie Sweet Land.

Five people did escape, and they contribute their stories to the spellbinding documentary.

Described as a cross between "Mildred Pierce" and "Arsenic and Old Lace" by Almodóvar - which ought to be more than enough to entice his fans.

If Martin Scorsese were 30 and a Los Angeleno, he'd be making movies much like this one.

The skillfully acted and directed The Lives of Others is a timely warning about governments that seek to repress dissent.

Arguably the year's most entertaining art-house film.

What do you get when you mix a Douglas Sirk melodrama with a Sergio Leone Western? Tears of the Black Tiger, a high-camp Western from, of all places, Thailand.

This movie sends you into the night thinking, maybe even a little afraid. Bravo, Mr. Fincher.

A fantastical genre-buster.

Overall, this gorgeously designed and photographed movie artfully depicts the immigrant experience in ways that transcend its setting, melding Hollywood and Bollywood storytelling techniques to weave a tale a large audience will relate to.

Julie Christie is simply astounding as a woman slipping into the ravages of Alzheimer's in Sarah Polley's deeply affecting and artfully crafted Away From Her.

Not many people are making silent horror serials these days, but Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin pushes his love of lurid melodrama to the limit in his latest demented treat, Brand Upon the Brain!

What "Rent" should have been, Once is: a Bohemian rhapsody.

Unspeakable brutality ensues, including a rape, a castration and cold-blooded murder. Dumont never mentions Iraq, but the parallels are clear.

Intelligent and tasteful, even while being sexually frank.

Director Paul Greengrass - who directed the superb "United 93" between the second and third "Bourne" installments - knows how to stage and edit bravura action sequences, generating almost unbearable suspense while deploying a superb cast.

It's a stirring reminder of a time when anything seemed possible - these American heroes boosted morale eroded by the Vietnam War, as well as bringing the whole world together to celebrate their success.

Even with his clothes on, this is Mortensen's best and richest performance, worthy of serious awards consideration. He lends a moral complexity to Eastern Promises that makes it much more than just a very accomplished action thriller.

Theron is very good as a woman struggling for respect in a sexist environment. There are also small but telling performances by Susan Sarandon as Hank's worried wife, and Frances Fisher as a topless bartender who aids in the investigation.

There are more than ample rewards for discerning adults: Some of the best dialogue in a recent movie and a gallery of unforgettable performances.

Darkly hilarious.

Actors tell us that dying is easy, comedy is hard. But comedies about dying are hardest of all.

Between D-Day, the sheer ambition of Paul Thomas Anderson's historical epic and Robert Elswit's dazzling cinematography, this is a must-see movie - even though its emotional temperature rarely rises above freezing and the climax goes way, way, way over the top.

It's a pulp story pinned to the screen with an ice pick of conscience in a manner that would have pleased Allen's idol, Ingmar Bergman.

The acting is uniformly superb, the camera work and set design are haunting, and The Orphanage delivers well-earned tears at its beautiful conclusion. Go see it already.

Mighty entertainment that makes you feel sorry for the saps next door in the multiplex.

It is filmmaking as it should be but usually isn't.

The movie all but proclaims U2 the world's best rock band. Somewhere, Mick Jagger's jaws are grinding.

A modest and charming comedy from Israel.

Best movie I've seen so far this year? Hands down, it's Tom McCarthy's superb The Visitor, which turns Richard Jenkins, one of the best character actors in the business, into a full-fledged star.

Low-budget triumph.

With such smarts and outstanding special effects, I eagerly await a second Iron Man movie, which of course is virtually promised in the final scene.

The highest praise I can give a superhero movie is that it makes me forget about its 10-cent-comic-book soul.

One of the 10 best American movies released so far this year, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is the surprisingly satisfying first theatrical film inspired by a long-running series of historically themed dolls.

Beautifully composed, The Last Mistress, Breillat's 11th film, deals with the theme she has put forth in such previous work as "Romance" and "Fat Girl": how women deal with sexual desire.

There is too much funny here for a movie (even though it continues into the closing credits). Step Brothers should be a TV show.

Engrossing and exhilarating documentary.

There is no shortage of indie movies about economically challenged women. This one is different, in that the women actually do something besides just talk about it.

After years of diminishing returns, Woody Allen spectacularly returns to form with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, his funniest movie in years and arguably his sexiest.

The twists are executed superbly, right up to a climax that fits the David Mamet definition of what makes for a perfect ending: It is both surprising and inevitable.

Slowly builds power to devastating effect.

Phoebe in Wonderland happens to be at least partly a Lifetime movie, but this special little film is no disease-of-the-week tear-jerker.

Sheen, who is also reprising his stage role and appeared as Tony Blair in the Morgan-written "The Queen," is highly effective as Frost - though the stakes for Frost are nowhere near as interesting as those for Nixon.

As Kym, Hathaway runs an astonishing gamut of emotions, from anger to fragility and from hurt to regret - without ever seeming actress-y, like Nicole Kidman. Start clearing that mantelpiece, Anne.

For all of its laughs and a star-making performance by Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky represents a serious philosophical inquiry by Leigh, who has illustrated a consistently pessimistic view of humankind in his semi-improvised movies.

So powerful is Stranded that when the lucky few finally make their way back to civilization, you feel as thrilled as if they were your own loved ones.

Another remarkable addition to Eastwood's directorial canon.

It's got more imagination than half a dozen movies combined; there's nothing else out there like this, and to me that's a very good thing.

It's also a terrific, career-capping role for Eastwood, who claims he's now retired as an actor. He shows off his comic chops more fully than in any film since "Bronco Billy" more than a quarter-century ago.

Winslet (Mendes' wife) once again demonstrates why she's one of the best actresses working today.

The Wrestler offers something to pretty much everyone in the audience. Much like "The Sopranos," it creates a world that might make you feel utterly at home or exhilarated by strange horrors. Maybe both.