Philip Gröning's Into Great Silence is pure cinema at its purest and most exalted. Its achievement virtually defies commentary; a critic has only words with which to illuminate a film, but how can what is wrought in silence be illumined…

Coming just a few weeks after the faith-and-football drama Facing the Giants, One Night With the King — a retelling of the Old Testament story of Esther — is the second overtly religious Christian-produced independent film to hit the big…

In the days after September 11, some cultural commentators foresaw an end of an era of irony and cynicism, the death of a jaded, postmodern culture in which nothing could be taken seriously.
Wholesomely All-American
Writing for Time magazine, Roger…

Sometimes, lightning does strike twice. No, that’s not quite right. Three years ago Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
was an unexpected bolt from the blue, a movie based on a theme-park attraction that — unlike…

An unseen presence haunts M. Night Shyamalan’s films — an unacknowledged but tangible force that in Lady in the Water finally steps into the light.
The Laws of Drama
One senses a growing awareness in the writer–director’s films of this…

Cars is Pixar’s most improbable success to date, a film that could easily have misfired, but somehow does not.
Elevated Art and Entertainment
Directed by Pixar honcho John Lasseter, who helmed Pixar’s first three films (the brilliant Toy Story films…

Expressions like “Good things come in threes” and “Third time’s the charm” may have their place in the world, but when it comes to comic-book movies, so far at least, anything after two is all downhill.
Another Disappointing Third
Christopher…

Like the various memorial proposals at the long-delayed Ground Zero reconstruction, only now beginning after years of paralysis, the prospect of the first 9/11 movie inevitably inspires trepidation. It is so crucial to get it right, but it would be…

“Have you been away so long you’ve forgotten how good we really are?” Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames) chides Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) early in Mission: Impossible III.
This Chilling Plot Is Warmed-Over
[Editor’s note: This film contains much strong action…

Three years ago, Walden Media released their freshman film Holes, one of the sharpest, most satisfying, live-action family films in years. Based on the Newbery Award–winning novel for young readers by Louis Sachar, Holes was refreshingly free of the usual…