Best
Ghost World
Acidic humor and a sense of compassion seem unlikely companions, but the two walk firmly hand-in-hand in Terry Zwigoff's ("Crumb") lively adaptation of Daniel Clowes' haunting 80-page graphic novel. Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson are terrific as Enid and Rebecca, a pair of cynical teen girls whose friendship falls apart when the two leave high school. Zwigoff and Clowes teamed up on the writing of this one, and the pair come up with some snappy parodies of commercials ("You might think it crazy for an oil company to care about the environment.") and banalities of mall culture. The two ably switch gears by giving eternal oddball Steve Buscemi his most sympathetic role to date as a lonely record collector. Similarly, Birch manages to balance vulnerability with a caustic-but-intelligent sarcasm. Because the chief source of Enid's woe is the falseness around her, she doesn't come off as a smug brat. By exaggerating the foibles of modern life only slightly, Zwigoff and Clowes have made a satire that thankfully has more than ridicule on its mind.
Last Resort
Polish documentary director Pawel Pawlikowski fashions a gripping feature debut with this story about a single Russian mother (Dina Korzun) who leaves for England with her son (Artiom Strelnikov) only to find themselves abandoned by her boyfriend in a seaside U.K. resort town. Their plight becomes even more harrowing when she makes the mistake of passing herself off as a political refugee, stranding herself and her son there indefinitely. Pawlikowski's previous training serves him well because the film consistently feels both genuine and urgent. The ambiguous ending is a bit off-putting at first, but it eventually makes us realize that Korzun's character has a strength that isn't immediately apparent. So does the film.
Amelie
French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's tale of a young waitress (the charming Audrey Tautou) who uses her vivid imagination to solve other people's problems has a simple but potent premise: Acting in the interest of others makes the world a better place. Anyone who has seen Jeunet's previous movies ("Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children") knows he can make impossible images seem completely real. In "Amelie," a garden gnome travels around the world, and stuffed animals come to life. Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurant also create several memorable characters, including a hypochondriac tobacconist and a young man obsessed with photo booths. Thanks to the director's abundant creativity, "Amelie" turns fantasy into relentless delight.
The Deep End
Anchored by a commandingly low-key performance by Scottish actress Tilda Swinton, this remake of the 1949 thriller "The Reckless Moment" offers much tension of its own. Swinton plays a naval officer's wife who attempts to cover up a death she thinks her son (Jonathan Tucker) is responsible for. Writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("Suture") generate thrills by giving the audience clues that the characters don't have. They also add some solid twists while keeping the situation sufficiently dynamic. Although Swinton's character is scared, she's valiant and resourceful, and her blackmailer (Goran Visnjic) may not be as threatening as he initially appears.
Memento
"Memento" is one of those rare movies, where the central gimmick works beyond its initial novelty. Because the protagonist is a former insurance investigator who has no short-term memory (Guy Pierce, "L.A. Confidential"), the order of events puts the audience in his state of mind, and makes him more compelling than if the story had progressed in a conventional manner. His quest to find his wife's killer becomes murkier, but with each viewing the movie remains as intriguing as it is baffling for its anti-hero. The proceedings benefit immeasurably from the wonderfully shifty turns from Carrie Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano. Both make chameleonic transformations as the story unravels.
Gosford Park
No Man's Land
A Beautiful Mind
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Worst
The Musketeer
If you were to judge journeyman director Peter Hyams' output solely on this cheap, anemic retelling of the Alexandre Dumas swashbuckler, it would appear that he has been making flicks for more than two decades without ever looking at the developed footage. Viewers who are more observant than he will notice that rain is falling in front of the camera (which is sometimes out of focus), but none of the performers farther in the background get wet. Hyams hired the stunt coordinator Xin Xin Xiong, who choreographed the breathtaking action scenes in the Jet Li hit "Once Upon a Time in China." Unfortunately, his work looks as if it were shot by Stevie Wonder and edited by Ray Charles. Hyams also has a knack for making great actors like Stephen Rea, Tim Roth and Catherine Deneuve look less accomplished than a high school drama troupe.
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
John Carpenter should stop putting his name above the title the way Frank Capra or Alfred Hitchcock did because it lets viewers know who's responsible for such unbearably dull attempts at thrillers like "Vampires" and "Ghosts of Mars." The latter stars the arboreal Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube (at least HE can say he's moonlighting at acting) who have to fight their way out of a prison colony in a Martian mine. In Carpenter's vision of the future (which winds up as a watered down version of his very scary "Assault on Precinct 13"), toy trains take cops to and from locations, and the red planet's atmosphere looks like a velvet painting.
Glitter
Reading about Mariah Carey's reported breakdowns in the tabloids is infinitely more entertaining than watching her elephantine attempts at acting her way through this 15th generation dub of "A Star Is Born." While it might not be a stretch to imagine Carey as an up-and-coming singer, the material does her a disservice. Her technical proficiency is wasted on surprisingly flat tunes from ace producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and director Vondie Curtis Hall ("Gridlock'd") can't even get his performers to lip sync properly. Much of "Glitter" looks like a "Godzilla," and the hyperactive bungee-cam shots of the New York skyline are as stomach-churning as the tunes.
American Outlaws
At last, someone gets to harm the legend of Jesse James as much as Robert Ford did when he shot the famous outlaw in the back. Director Les Mayfield ("Blue Streak"), who normally handles special effects comedies, can't even get the oater cliches right. While Irish actor Colin Farrell manages to shed his regional accent nicely, his "Zestfully Clean" screen presence makes him an unconvincing threat to law and corrupt railroad barons. In addition to scenery that looks nothing like James' home turf of Missouri (try Oregon), leading lady Ali Larter ("Legally Blonde") is as stiff as an ice sculpture and almost as expressive.
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
Stick a fork in the shrimp on the barbie because it's done. Paul Hogan's laconic charm makes driving Subaru station wagons look adventurous. But it's useless against a script that ineptly repeats the jokes from the first movie -- his struggles with modern bathroom appliances, his bushman's ability to thwart muggers and the stereotypical gags about gays are tweaked to considerably less effect. Month-old leftovers from the Outback Steakhouse would be more appetizing.
Pootie Tang
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
See Spot Run
Pearl Harbor
Head over Heels
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