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EDTV
Nick: Another Ron Howard fiasco. A not very clever version of The Truman Show....a few laughs, but it adds up to nothing.

8 Mile - (R)
Steve Bertrand: Director Curtis Hanson has succeeded in directing rapper Eminem in this semi-autobriographical story of a young, troubled white man growing along the rough side of Detroit in the mid 90s. Much has been made of Eminem's acting in this film. He does a good job. He's interesting to watch. But there's not much asked of him. It will be interesting to see him stretch a bit. I'm not muchof a Eminem fan, but I'm told this is his story in many ways. His character Jimmy Smith, Jr. lives in a trailor with his unstable mother and impressionable young sister. In some ways, it looks to me like he's trying to counter all the tabloid stories for which Eminem has become famous. In this film, it's his mother's fault, he's great to the women in his life and he's all for gay rights. Seems more fiction than fact.
Nick: The film debut of notorious rapper Eminem is a well made, but resoundingly predictable film about a Detroit inner-city white kid who tries to escape from his world through rap. Loosely based on the star's real life, but clearly sent through the Hollywood-Rocky-Purple Rain cliche machine, this movie is still very entertaining and never less than compelling. Eminem is quite a strong screen presence and he is matched evenly by his terrific supporting cast (including Kim Basinger, BritanyMurphy, Michael Shannon and a fabulous Mekhi Pfieffer), but I don't see him being able to play anything but a former inner-city white rapper...which is what he is. The very gifted Curtis Hanson directs with a sure hand, and has crafted an intelligent crowd pleaser that is sure to be a hit.

8MM
Nick: A beautifully shot and well-acted morality play that gets a little crazy towards the end, but still holds together to remain a very cool film.

Eight Legged Freaks (PG-13)
Nick: Riotous and very entertaining, this goofy giant-spider comedy is everything that Men in Black II isn't. Weird, exciting, and grand entertainment. The cast has fun, the effects are terrific and I just loved it. Perfect summertime entertainment.

ELECTION
Nick: A very amusing satire with two great performances from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Smart, adult and wickedly funny.

Elephant (R)
Nick: Gus Van Sant's second brilliant film of 2003 (Gerry was the first), and his definite return to form after banging out impersonal Hollywood work for a few years (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester....Psycho????). He casts a group of real high schoolers and films what is essentially a documentary style drama about a massacre in a high school, not unlike Columbine. It's powerful, disturbing stuff that is never too preachy or overreaching. The cast is uniformly good, and Van Sant's nonjudgmental style is all the more chilling in its effectiveness. This is a brave, thought provoking film from a seminal American director who has found his heartbeat again.

Elf (PG)
Nick: Will Farrell is cast as a man who for all of his life thinks he is an elf, finds out he isn't and then must find his father (James Caan) by traveling from the North Pole to the big city. Cute is a good word to describe the film and although it runs out of steam in the last half hour, it contains enough wit and wisdom to recommend it as an afternoon killer while your doing your holiday shopping. Farrell is always great and Bob Newhart is hilarious as a head elf. Director Jon Favreau (writer of Swingers and actor/director of Made) handles the whimsy without getting schmaltzy and he cast this thing perfectly. Not great, but better than I thought it would be.

ELIZABETH
Nick: A stunningly good looking film with some fine performances by Cate Blanchette and Geoffrey Rush.

The Emperor's Club - (PG-13)
Steve Bertrand: This is a rather flat story about a teacher at an Eastern prep school who has doubts about his impact on his young male students. William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is an idealistic man eventually done in by a cynical colleague. What's left is the imprint he's made on his students. This film does a goodjob of avoiding the temptation to imitate the Dead Poet's Society, but, given what it offers instead, it might have done better to cheat a little.

The Emperor's New Groove - (G)
Nick: A refreshingly goofy Disney movie with a lot of big laughs, and, thankfully, not a lot of stupid songs. -

Empire -(R)
Steve Bertrand: John Leguizamo stars Victor Rosa, as a Brooklyn drug dealer, who see himself as a businessman rather than a thug. After a few scares, he decides to go legitimate. If he can make it on the streets of Brooklyn, think how well he could do on Wall Street. Wooed by a young investment banker (Peter Sarsgaard), Rosa invests in startup businesses and does well at first. Eventually, helearns that thugs roam Wall Street as well as Brooklyn. This is a reap what you sow movie. There are a lot of them. But while this film doesn't break much new ground, it does do a good job of telling its story. For that, I think it is more than worthwhile.
Nick: John Leguizamo plays a Bronx hood with aspirations of becoming a legit business man in this urban/gangster thriller that has some nice moments, but loses its message about halfway through. I liked the setup and the performance of Leguizamo (he tries mightily to bring credibility to the movie), but ultimately it's just a shoot-em-up that's pretty unremarkable.

THE END OF THE AFFAIR
Nick: Not the most emotional love story ever made, but it is well acted and smartly directed by the great Neil Jordan. Julianne Moore continues to prove that she's a goddess. The Endurance:Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition No rating
Steve Bertrand: This is a beautiful documentary retelling the adventure of Ernest Shackleton and his men as they try to cross Antarctica. Director George Butler uses photographs and actual film from the 1914 expedition, along with spectacular color footage from the south Atlantic.

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (NOT RATED)
Nick: A remarkable rock documentary about one of music history's most important bands, The Ramones. Following everything from their beginnings, to some of their final shows in the '90s, this charmingly lowbrow picture perfectly captures the spirit of the band, and chronicles a great and important time in music history.

Enemy at the Gates (R)
Nick: Politics aside (wow, is this movie confused on that level!), this is a relatively entertaining war film with a couple of great battles and a final duel between two snipers that's clever and suspenseful. In between, there's a sappy romance and some weak acting. Don't rush out to see it, but it's worth a look.

Enough (PG-13)
Nick: Aptly titled. Jennifer Lopez (what happened to this person??? she used to be bearable) stars in this glorifyed slasher movie as an abused wife who gets beat up for 45 minutes and then does the beating for the final half hour. Billy Campbell has fun as the villian, but this is a very unpleasant and incredibly stupid film. -

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (NOT RATED)
Nick: A great documentary that will probably make you steaming mad. Covering the scandal in a remarkably nonpolitical fashion, this movie is a great crime story and a compelling statement about greed, theft and revenge.

Envy (PG-13)
Nick: Yet another lousy comedy to make 2004 begin to look like the year of unamusing cinema. Jack Black and Ben Stiller (wow, am I through with both of these guys...especially Stiller) play a couple of neighbors who become enemies after Black invents a spray that makes dog poop disappear and becomes a millionaire. The once reliable Barry Levinson (Diner, Tin Men, Rainman) continues his downward spiral with this moronic, boring and incessantly annoying farce. The enormously talented supporting cast includes Rachel Weisz, Amy Poehler and Christopher Walken (bad hair, worse performance), and they all should be ashamed of themselves. This is about four bad ones in a row for Stiller...can't wait for Dodgeball.

E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL
Nick: - I was in high school when it was first released and I liked it. Now, I'm not too sure. It's awfully corny, very manipulative and at times, a bit strained...but this is a critic-proof movie if there ever was one. The new scene is kind of funny, the added effects are a bit distracting and the removal of certain images and words is downright wrong, but it remains an enormously entertaining movie made by a guy who knows how to push the right buttons.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R)
Nick: A fabulously original film from the twisted mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation). This time Kaufman dives into a plot of extraordinary promise: a heartbroken man (a brilliant, subdued Jim Carrey) discovers that his ex-girlfiend (sexy, funny, exquisite Kate Winslet) has undergone a procedure to have all memories of him erased from her mind. He undergoes the same procedure and discovers he doesn't want to loose them. Weird, funny, startling and ultimately devastating and moving.

Eurotrip (R)
Nick: From the producers of Road Trip and Old School comes the latest T&A throwback about a group of students who hit the road in Europe to find an online mystery woman, and of course, wackiness ensues. Xenophobic, outlandish, vulgar and misogynistic, and all of that would be forgivable if it were funny...it's not. The cast is bland (even Lucy Lawless as a dominatrix is boring) with only a funny cameo by SNL's hilarious Fred Armisen as a groping Italian being the main highlight. Stupid, stupid stuff recommended only for the most desperate of horny 16 year old boys.

Evelyn - (PG)
Steve Bertrand: Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan) is an Irish father down on his luck; it's 1953, his wife has abandoned him and his three children, and, given his unemployment, the government declares him an unfit father. When he gains employment and saves some money he goes back to court to regain custody of his chidren, only to learn that Irish law requires the signature of both parents for the children to be released. His wife is long gone so Doyle sets off on a long fight to undo Ireland's arcane system. This movie scores highest when it shows Irish life in the pub. It falters in the courtroom. Unfortunately, the courtroom is more central to the story. Evelyn devolves into a melodrama that would fit nicely on TV. Aidan Quinn and Stephen Rea co-star as attorneys who champion Doyle's cause. The the interaction of the three never really hits a stride. Better is Julianna Margulies as an independent bar maid who helps out Doyle in other ways.

An Everlasting Piece - (R)
Nick: Barry Levinson's forced, unfunny Irish satire about a couple of wig salesman in Belfast. Just a few laughs. -

Evolution (PG-13)
Nick: A perfectly entertaining piece of summertime fluff with some funny performances, great special effects and a hip attitude. Now, it's not perfect by any means, there are missed opportunities for jokes, some screwy logic, a too-strong similarity to Ghostbusters (which director Ivan Reitman also helmed) and an unsatisfying ending, But, if you want to spend a couple of hours in a movie theater watching talented people act goofy, you could do much worse than this. And surprise....Dan Aykroyd is actually funny for the first time in years.

eXistenZ
Nick: With the release of this and The Matrix in a matter of weeks, the Sci-Fi genre has received a well deserved boost. This is a thrilling, weird, wholly original and stunning piece of work. Not for the squeamish or the unimaginative. A great work from a great director (David Cronenberg). Jennifer Jason Leigh shines.

Exit Wounds (R)
Nick: Lock up the kids, hide the Brylcream and order some pizza...the fabulous Steven Seagal is back and he's better than ever.

Exorcist: The Beginning (R)
Nick: Not as bad as I thought it would be, this troubled production finally hits the big screen. The story behind the movie is more interesting that the film itself, but I won’t waste the room on that. The resulting film is very well made (directed by the great Renny Harlin) and quite nice to look at, but it’s confusing, dumb, and worst of all, boring. Stellan Starsgard plays Father Merrin in this prequel to the original 1973 classic which details his first encounter with the demon that eventually ended up pestering Linda Blair. This is a sloppy combination of an Indiana Jones movie and a gross-out picture that never gels. Despite the sharpness of the technical aspect, this is a very silly movie.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Nick: One of the worst and strangest films I have seen in years! Confusing and downright offensive. Ashley Judd continues a sad slide downhill.

EYES WIDE SHUT
Nick: 'Greatness.' 'Never less than mesmerizing.' Stanley Kubrick's brilliant final film about the strained marriage of two New York professionals is hypnotic and beautiful. With the funniest punchline of any film this year.

THE FACULTY
"Dawson's Creek" smacks into "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The results are ugly.

Family Man - (PG-13)
Nick: Nicolas Cage's continuing downward spiral picks up speed with this terrible and very non-magical fantasy. Middle class life stinks...that's your message. -

Far From Heaven - (PG-13)
Nick: A fabulous film. Todd Hayne's loving, subversive and gorgeous salute to 50's melodramas features three of the year's very best performances (Julliane Moore, Dennis Haysbert and the brilliant Dennis Quaid) and sports the finest production design/photograhy of the year. It's a great, meticulous recreation of Douglas Sirk films, and while it explores many of the same themes (and strikingly similar plot twists), it digs deeper and becomes not only movie about that time period, but movie about universal themes caught in a time warp. A sneaky, profoundly moving piece of work that will stick with you for days.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (R)
Nick: Michael Moore's latest piece of propaganda filmmaking is an angry, scathing attack of the Bush Administration, particularly pertaining to the war in Iraq. Much of the film is one-sided, slanted or conveniently incomplete, but it's still a remarkably powerful experience. Moore continues to be a rabble-rousing, egomaniac who exploits whenever he sees fit, and uses the same questionable tactics he seems to be rallying against. However, it seems to work best with this material and Moore himself is barely in the film (which is a big plus). There are sequences that are beautifully put together and there's so much information jammed into the film, that it should be seen to be believed. It's heartbreaking (at times a very manipulative), funny and explosive in its passion. What effect this film will have on the election is unknown, but it's a pretty convincing argument (albeit one-sided) that all is not right in the White House. Flawed and aggravating, this is still Moore's most mature work...but he's still not a documentarian, he's a propaganda machine.

The Fast and the Furious (PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language)
Nick: An exhilarating, incredibly entertaining B-movie that makes no apologies for it's stupidity, and God bless it! A group of illegal street racers are infiltrated by an undercover cop and the testosterone flies. It owes a lot to the far superior Point Break, but it's still a fabulous little action movie in it's own right. Great stunts, fabulous car chases and inane dialogue combine in one of the summer's best films so far. If drive-ins were still around, this is a movie that is custom made for them. Great, great summertime stuff.
Steve Bertrand: Fast and Furious is a dumbed down Point Break, where cops infiltrate the robbers and then fall in love with the bad guys. In this version, Paul Walker plays the cop and Vin Diesel the bad guy. Walker's character infiltrates a group of Los Angeles drag racers. Some of them are hijacking semis at the same time. He has to figure out who. This movie is so dumb its silly. The bad guys drive their hot rod Honda Civics in formation. Michelle Rodiriguez, who was touted for an Oscar last year for her work in Girlfight, plays another toughie here.

Fat Albert (PG)
Nick: Hey, hey, hey...stay away.

Fear Dot Com (R)
Nick: Wow, what a mess. Alternately boring, offensive, brutal, derivative and moronic, sometimes all at the same time. I hope the slumming group of actors (including the great Stephen Rea, Jeffrey Combs, Udo Keir and Stephen Dorff) enjoyed their free trip to Luxembourg where they filmed this nonsense. People begin mysteriously dying (in varying degrees of grossness) after visiting a spooky website, and a cop and a health researcher investigate..."horror" ensues. At times this is a blatant rip off of the far superior Seven, and it also steals from The Cell (which is a pretty terrible flick to steal from in the first place). This is the kind of pseudo-pretentious fright flick that gives fright flicks a bad name.

Femme Fatale - (R)
Nick: A masterpiece of insanity. The brilliant Brian DePalma (one of my favorite filmmakers) has made a dizzying composate of his career with this wacky, smart, astoundingly well made thriller whose plot isn't worth going into here. The craft on display in this film is awe inspiring, and DePalma's audacious and often outrageous storytelling style is in full effect here. There are stunning twists and turns in this noir satire, and more impressive cinematic setpieces than you can shake a stick at. DePalma still evokes the memories of other directors and this film is no exception. It's his spectacular return to form after Mission to Mars and it's also his bravest, most personal, and overwhelmingly clever movie in years. Rebecca Romjin Stamos is the femme fatale hero, and she's sexy,but not quite strong enough, while Antonio Banderas is fabulous as the typical DePalma male hero: horny, dumb, misunderstood and completely manipulated. Here's a piece of advice, if you don't like flashy, goofy, violent,exploitive, sex-filled fantasy....or if you hated DePalma's Raising Cain, then don't bother. If you like what I've just described, then get to the theater as soon as possible, you'll probably see me there again.

Fever Pitch (PG-13)
Nick: Nick Hornby’s great novel about an obsessed English soccer fanatic has been moved overseas, and turned into a lame comedy about an obsessed Boston Red Sox fan (a likable, but shallow Jimmy Fallon) and his girlfriend’s (Drew Barrymore) struggle to accept his obsession. The Farrelly Brothers have made a sweet, goofy little romantic comedy, but they have managed to suck the very life out of Hornby’s work, and some of the behavior by the characters is beyond stupid.

15 Minutes (R)
Steve Bertrand: "15 Minutes" is about 12 minutes too long. Robert DeNiro stars as a celebrity New York City police detective. Edward Burns is a low-key Fire Marshall. When two Eastern European bad guys try to cover a murder and arson, our two heros meet and form a reluctant alliance aimed at keeping Gotham safe. The bad guys, meanwhile, think they've figured out American justice and continue their killing spree while manipulating the media in ways to ensure their freedom. Unfortunately, this film can't decide whether it wants to be an action drama or a cartoon. Poisoning justice with media irresponsibility is a potent field to mine. Maybe the next filmmaker will get it right.
Nick: Robert DeNiro is really good in this forgettable, but very well made thirller about murder, mayhem and the media. Edward Burns isn't too annoying and Kelsey Grammer is good and sleazy. This is a pretty violent film, but reality TV/exploitaion news is a pretty easy target and this film doesn't add anything new.

50 First Dates (PG-13)
Nick: A surprisingly sad and boring Adam Sandler comedy in which he plays a stud who falls for a woman (Drew Barrymore) who suffers from a condition in which her memory is wiped clean every 24 hours. The mixed up premise sounds like Memento combined with Groundhog Day with a dollop of Clean Slate slapped on top, only it's not really played for laughs. It's a sincerely melancholy romance with some slob comedy thrown in for good measure. Only Sean Astin provides any real laughs, and Rob Schneider continues to prove how unfunny he really is. I'm a stupid Sandler comedy fan, and I didn't even like this one.

The Fighting Temptations (PG-13)
Nick: A goofy, predictable and stale plot is enlivened by some great music and some charming performances. Director Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny) directs this crowd pleaser with a sure hand and a knowledge of what an audience likes. Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a former New York ad man who
goes down south where he must lead the local choir in a competition. The wooden Beyonce Knowles costars and the supporting cast varies from terrific to downright terrible. As scripts go, this one is pretty weak, but there is no denying the fun factor here. This is brainless, harmless entertainment that had the audience I was with roaring. I absolutely loved the music and I also had a good time, despite the fact that it's not a very good movie.

Final Destination 2 (R)
Nick: After a spectacularly complex opening car wreck sequence, this goofy little sequel settles down into your typical, boring, let's watch the teenagers die scenario. Sure there are some creative death
sequences, and it's all very flashy, but this is a pretty weak carbon copy of the original picture. Great opening, stupid movie.

Final Fantasy (PG-13)
Nick: A surprisingly good sci-fi adventure. I say surprisingly because it's based on a video game (see my review for Tomb Raider). The computer animation is spectacular and the story has some neat ideas. The celebrity voices are a bit off-putting, but this is a quality piece of work. -

Finding Forrester - (PG-13)
Nick: Not a great movie by any means, but for some reason I was on board for the ride all the way. Predictable and by the numbers, but beautifully acted and smartly directed. -

Finding Nemo (G)
Steve Bertrand: Pixar has done it again. This animated undersea adventure is beautiful, if a little perilous for young audiences. Marlin (the voice of Albert Brooks) is a clownfish father who dotes over young Nemo (Alexander Gould) after the death of his wife and the rest of Nemo's siblings. When the child rebels, he is captured by fisherman and father and son spend the rest of the film trying to reunite. This film is visually stunning. There is one scene where Marlin and his forgetful friend Dory, a blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, swim their way through a field of jellyfish that is breathtaking. It must be said, however, that there is a lot of anguish in this story. Nemo's mother and siblings (albeit unborn eggs) are killed before the opening credits. From there Marlin jumps from one spot fraught with danger to the next while Nemo pines for escape from an Australian fish tank.
Nick: Another gem from the folks at Pixar. This enormously entertaining and breathtakingly beautiful animated picture tells the wonderful story of a fish and his search for his lost son. Albert Brooks, Brad Garrett, Geoffrey Rush, Alison Janney, Willem Dafoe and Ellen DeGeneres provide the great voice work here. The computer animation is spectacular and the film is alternately hilarious, exciting, touching and scary. I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to see it again.

Finding Neverland (PG)
Nick: A sweet (sometimes too sweet) true story about author J.M. Barrie (a great Johnny Depp) whose relationship with a widowed mother of four (a heartbreaking performance from eh always stellar Kate Winslet) inspires his classic play Peter Pan. Mark Forster’s direction is a bit hamfisted (especially near the end), but this is undeniably effective stuff with a moving and wonderful tone. There won’t be a dry eye in the house at the end.