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John Anderson, Newsday

1. 2 Days in New York 2012 Much of the alleged humor is based on French-English language gags, or cultural differences or continental mores vs. the priggishness of Americans, but it's all more irritating than funny. full review
2. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry 2012 A movie that somehow mixes apprehension for Ai with a feeling of warmth and, certainly, fun. full review
3. Bernie 2012 Linklater, admirably unconcerned about how his film can be categorized, has made a comedy, a drama and most certainly a character study. full review
4. Dark Horse 2012 Even though Todd Solondz' latest journey into suburban dysfunction may seem dark (and is), it's also about joy, and how easily it's wasted. full review
5. The Deep Blue Sea 2012 Certainly stage-bound and dusty, but it's a perfect vehicle for Davies the aesthete/social critic. full review
6. Detropia 2012 Just as the film finds an aesthetic in its dilapidated setting, the city's residents find hope in a desperate place, a place that once represented hope itself. full review
7. Elles 2012 This is not an entirely new idea. Nor does "Elles" offer any new insights into either domestic slavery or sex work. But it does offer a lot of sex, which for some will be just fine. full review
8. Jiro Dreams of Sushi 2012 As exhausting as Jiro may be, he's also inspiring. full review
9. A Royal Affair 2012 The film tells an intimate story with an enormous amount of grace. full review
10. Seeking Justice 2012 It's a perfectly palatable and even engaging thriller, albeit one requiring several leaps of faith and/or disengagement with reality. full review
11. Take This Waltz 2012 No one's a cliche; no one speaks dialogue the viewer could have muttered a beat or two ahead of the movie; no one hews to a mode of behavior fabricated to explain away his or her irrational behavior. full review
12. Unforgivable 2012 Techine lavishes upon us not just scenery and characters but complications and emotional turmoil in pursuit of subtlety. If this seems perverse, it most certainly is. full review
13. Union Square 2012 The kind of character-driven movie about whacked-out characters we need more of (the characters and the movies). full review
14. We Have a Pope 2012 There's a sweetness to Italian director Nanni Moretti's "We Have a Pope" that belies its seemingly unholy premise... full review
15. The Adventures of Tintin 2011 A frenetic bonbon with an empty center, and a movie made without any perceivable audience outside of filmmakers besotted by their own innovative processes. full review
16. Another Happy Day 2011 Levinson piles on the anguish with such abandon he never convinces you that these people would ever speak to each other, much less live under the same roof. full review
17. Hugo 2011 Although it brings Scorsese together with people and techniques he hasn't worked with before, it also touches on themes close to his heart: the birth of cinema, and its preservation. full review
18. The Conspirator 2010 A bracing courtroom drama whose every scene seems wreathed in mist, dust motes and cigar smoke, the better to suggest a nation befogged by grief. full review
19. Morning Glory 2010 [A] generally woeful comedy. full review
20. The Whistleblower 2010 Director Larysa Kondracki's debut film is unsparing in its portrayal of sexual trafficking in a supposedly civilized world. But it's valiant, too -- especially regarding Rachel Weisz's performance as reluctant crusader Kathryn Bolkovac. full review
21. American Violet 2008 American Violet is a justice story, with some honest justice. It's nicely reassuring that it happens to be true. full review
22. Bottle Shock 2008 A winning cast and a magnum's worth of subplots make Bottle Shock extremely watchable, perhaps a bit fruity, with grace notes of leather, oak and no ham. full review
23. The Business of Being Born 2008 [Director] Epstein's opinion on the issue is never in doubt and once the attitude of the film is established, it seems to make the same points repeatedly. Fortunately, Epstein herself gets pregnant, and she gets to test her own theories. full review
24. Before the Rains 2007 The film is well-acted, a broad colonial allegory, and again, visually gorgeous. full review
25. Broken English 2007 [Director] Cassavetes shows genuine, even original, talent in the way she creates emotional connections between camera and character, via fluid movement and unhinged perspective. But the advantage of having Posey as her lead shouldn't be underestimated. full review
26. Chris & Don: A Love Story 2007 While they might have had their ups and downs, the subjects of Chris & Don are a testament to fidelity. full review
27. Day Zero 2007 There's very little that rings true. full review
28. The Devil Came on Horseback 2007 The failure of world conscience haunts The Devil Came on Horseback. full review
29. Postal 2007 Convinced that Arab terrorists are inherently hilarious, and that shooting fish in the leaky barrel of American pop culture takes marksmanship, Boll is a boor, and a symptom of something sad and dehumanizing. full review
30. Sangre De Mi Sangre 2007 The grimy elegance of this Sundance award winner elevates it well above the standard-issue immigrant drama. full review
31. Steal a Pencil for Me 2007 Some may think the Holocaust has nothing new to offer up, but Michele Ohayon says otherwise. full review
32. Trumbo 2007 The film is an enlightening recap of '50s Red Scare politics, and a parade of actors giving meaningful, earnest readings of Trumbo's speeches and letters. full review
33. Bloodrayne 2006 There isn't much more of a story. In fact, there isn't any story. Luckily, Loken is there to provide something to stare at, vacantly. full review
34. I'm Reed Fish 2006 The acting is good, the turf is familiar, and the mood is sweet without causing diabetes. full review
35. Trailer Park Boys: The Movie 2006 Co-writer/director Mike Clattenburg is right on target with his trio of inept trailer-park criminals. full review
36. The Treatment 2006 An odd, funny film. full review
37. Aeon Flux 2005 A failure even on the action-adventure/vicarious-butt-kicking level. full review
38. Into Great Silence 2005 Into Great Silence is one of those films -- Martin Scorsese's Kundun is another example -- wherein the spiritual aspiration of the filmmaker informs, and even exalts, the film itself. full review
39. Psychopathia Sexualis 2005 What Woods achieves in his arch, velvet-cushioned vignettes is a sense of the subjects being reduced to symptom and diagnosis. full review
40. A State of Mind 2005 A portrait of the power of power. full review
41. Stoned 2005 Played with such an utter lack of charisma by Leo Gregory, Jones comes across as a rocker so drug- and ego-addled he doesn't have enough sense to lie down. full review
42. Moog 2004 Somewhat cursory portrait. full review
43. Vanity Fair 2004 As a film, Vanity Fair has a lot going for it -- including acting and energy. full review
44. Word Wars 2004 A thoroughly entertaining glimpse of a world most people don't know even exists -- and whether they wanted to know it exists may be a question. full review
45. CSA: Confederate States of America 2003 Offensive? Yes, and creatively so. full review
46. The Hunted 2003 Things take off immediately and stay in motion for 90 solid, economical minutes. full review
47. I Like Killing Flies 2003 It's a rough-hewn film, more interesting, probably, to those who've actually made it through a meal there, but fun and maybe even inspiring. full review
48. Ned Kelly 2003 Ledger, talking into his chest for much of the film in an apparent effort to lend gravity to his performance, is pretty stiff, but so is Jordan's direction. full review
49. Tears of the Sun 2003 Painfully obvious, yet confusing. full review
50. Changing Lanes 2002 Engaging, in a coldly intellectually fashion, but depressing sociologically, emotionally. full review
51. The Rules of Attraction 2002 Interminably bleak, to say nothing of boring. full review
52. Sex Is Comedy 2002 It's refreshing to see this side of Breillat, a self-reflective artist whose evident anger over the sexual state of the world doesn't entirely subsume her, or her humanity. full review
53. Suddenly 2002 An illustration of what happens when new blood hits old or inert cinema: Everything is rejected, or everything is embraced. full review
54. Windtalkers 2002 You might need a decoder of your own to figure out what went awry with Windtalkers. full review
55. Along Came a Spider 2001 Thoroughly surprising and far from unsatisfactory. full review
56. America's Sweethearts 2001 Occasionally amusing, but also an irritating mess. full review
57. Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India 2001 In some ways, Lagaan is quintessential Bollywood. Except it's much, much better. full review
58. Love the Hard Way 2001 The movie is of the sort that relies exclusively on charm and charisma. Love the Hard Way has neither. full review
59. No Such Thing 2001 What [Hartley] wants, and gets, is a fablish mood. full review
60. Shaolin Soccer 2001 With no inhibitions about whom or where he borrows from, Chow makes us complicit in his stylistic shoplifting. The result is the definition of guilty pleasure. full review
61. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider 2001 Highly anticipated adaptation of the popular computer game is uneven, sometimes awkward, but Angelina Jolie makes the title character a virtual icon of female competence and coolth. full review
62. Vanilla Sky 2001 [Crowe] should stick to more conventional narratives and leave the cerebral gymnastics to someone who can handle them. full review
63. The Gift 2000 Uneven and conventional. full review
64. Hamlet 2000 Provocative!
65. Meet the Parents 2000 If ever there was a movie that felt like it was built backward, it's Meet the Parents.
66. Being John Malkovich 1999 Cusack and Diaz are adorable schlumps.
67. Ride with the Devil 1999 Politically astute, visually breathtaking but emotionally inert.