Movies Shticky Stuff: 'Zack And Miri' And A Fluid Or Two October 31, 2008 • Lively, naughty and crude, it's exactly the film you'd expect from Kevin Smith. Maybe too much so: The director's sentimental passions (and his frat-boy urges) have congealed into shtick.
Movies 'The Other End of the Line': Phoning It In October 31, 2008 • James Dodson's cross-cultural romantic comedy brings its unlikely lovers together from home bases that are oceans apart. It's implausible and formulaic — but the stars are charming enough.
Movies 'Changeling': Against The Odds, A Mother's Fight Fresh Air October 31, 2008 • Clint Eastwood's film recounts the based-on-a-true-story tale of a Los Angeles woman's struggle to find her missing son — after police return the wrong child to her. David Edelstein has a review.
Movies In 'Synecdoche, N.Y.,' A State Of Mind Expanded October 26, 2008 • A theatrical director, driven by ambition and anxiety, restages his own life — on a full-scale New York set he builds in the shelter of a huge warehouse. Bob Mondello says it's one heck of a head-trip. (Recommended)
Movies 'Changeling' Another Step In Eastwood's Evolution October 24, 2008 • Like Million Dollar Baby and his World War II films, the director's new true-crime drama centers on a driven protagonist facing the rigid ideology of a major institution — this time, the LAPD.
Movies Shiny, 'Happy-Go-Lucky' People In A World Of Blue Fresh Air October 24, 2008 • In Mike Leigh's marvelous comedy Happy-Go-Lucky, a London schoolteacher tackles life's everyday travails with a good dose of the giggles. Film critic David Edelstein reviews.
Movies 'Let The Right One In': Lyrical, If Well-Chewed October 23, 2008 • In his Swedish vampire fable, director Tomas Alfredson constructs a biting narrative without going overboard on the blood. For all its finesse, though, the movie is still essentially a genre exercise.
Movies 'I've Loved You So Long': In Extremis, Sisters Still October 23, 2008 • Juliette Fontaine (Kristin Scott Thomas) has spent 15 years estranged from her family. When her younger sister reaches out to bring her back into the fold, long-buried secrets finally surface.
Movies A 'Boogie Man' With A Legacy Of Complicated Moves Fresh Air October 20, 2008 • Stefan Forbes' documentary looks at the life and controversial career of Lee Atwater, the political operative who ran George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign — and introduced the nation to Willie Horton.
Movies 'Max Payne': Gaming The System, Gloomily October 17, 2008 • Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis star in a cops-and-corruption thriller with supernatural overtones; adapted from the hit video game, John Moore's movie could use more nuance but looks like a crowd-pleaser.
Movies 'Nights and Weekends': A Relationship In Fragments October 17, 2008 • A lovely, gentle relationship drama about loss and disappointment; impressionistic and intimate, it captures moments, but also evolutions, the unchartable rhythms of a romance diminishing.
Movies Fool Me Once: Stone's Oedipal 'W.' Lacks Depth Fresh Air October 17, 2008 • Filmmaker Oliver Stone couldn't wait for President Bush to leave office before he made a movie about him. And despite Stone's famously left-leaning views, his treatment of The Decider is surprisingly empathetic — though ultimately the film doesn't do justice to its characters.
Movies Oliver Stone's 'W.': Taking Aim At A Lame Duck October 16, 2008 • With elections just days away, the director of Nixon and JFK returns with a fantasia on the life of George W. Bush. As the first-ever film about a sitting president, it's certainly a curiosity; but is it much more?
Movies 'Morning Light': Speed Racers On The Ocean Blue October 16, 2008 • Fifteen sailors — collegiate nonprofessionals all — compete in one of the world's most celebrated yacht races in this handsomely shot if ultimately underwhelming documentary.
Movies Madonna's 'Filth And Wisdom': Not Much Of Either October 16, 2008 • The indestructible pop star (who proved decidedly destructible as an actress) makes her directorial debut. Mark Jenkins says that for an offbeat sex comedy about alt-culture love and larceny, it's surprisingly middlebrow.