American Beauty / ***1/2 (1999)

Like the river water as it moves down a cascade of sharp rocks, "American Beauty" sails with a stubborn and unrelenting distinction, only for it to arrive at a turbulent climactic moment that surprises even the characters. Here is a movie that deals with the dysfunction of the American dream, leaves us questioning our own family values, and looking closer for the "hidden beauty" of all things existing. In many ways, this it is reminiscnent of Ang Lee’s "The Ice Storm" – both have foregrounds as elegant as a Thomas Kinkade painting, while the interior lives are occupied by everlasting tribulations and selfish impulses.

Supernatural summer follows up with "Stigmata," "Stir Of Echoes"

Seemingly embraced by countless avid moviegoers, the supernatural force found in this summer’s most successful movies is gearing up within two post-summer flicks to be released this Friday--the Kevin Bacon vehicle "Stir Of Echoes," and the religiously-based thriller "Stigmata." They follow on the heels of three or more mega-popular horror-based films that arrived sometime this summer, including the recent box-office survivor "The Sixth Sense" starring Bruce Willis. One has difficulty finding the words to describe the sudden success of this genre, especially when the years preceding it were filled with no more than dumb slasher movies and poor commercial business. Nonetheless, the financial and (sometimes) critical figures speak for themselves: horror movies are hip again. It is no question as to whether these two upcoming movies might experience the same kind of commercial success as the others have.

The 13th Warrior / *1/2 (1999)

For one moment, let's just say you are Antonio Banderas' biggest fan –you've seen all his movies, read all magazine articles about him, memorized his dialogue and even wept when he was denied Oscar accolades for "Evita." Without a doubt, you love the guy. And why shouldn't you? This is someone who, behind all those mystifying good looks, can act his way out of a quicksand pit. With that in mind, ask yourself this question: are you the proper candidate to see his latest picture, "The 13th Warrior," and walk away from it confident of his decision making? I sincerely hope not.

Audience's "Eyes" shut for 65 seconds

When Stanley Kubrick’s final film "Eyes Wide Shut" is released on Friday, July 16 to North America, chances are some viewers are going to feel betrayed.

In a recent, dreadful development from last Saturday’s press screening in Burbank, California, producer Jan Harlan revealed that the distribution of the film to the US and Canada will feature 65 seconds of "digitally tampered" footage, in order for the film to safely secure an "R" rating. The MPAA apparently considers these excruciatingly revealing moments some of the most sexually charged footage ever captured in filmmaking, and told Warner Bros. that, if it had not been edited, they would have to enforce the notorious NC-17. Since the studio is not about to put extra limitations on Kubrick’s highly anticipated final film, they made the edits without much objection, although Harlan admits that Warner Bros. wasn’t too happy about them.

"Love" Conquers All! "Shakespeare" wins 7 Academy Awards in 71st year of surprises and disappointments

The minute Whoopi Goldberg walked out onto the stage dressed as Queen Elizabeth, we were reminded that the Academy Awards are always unforgettable. Not one year has gone by in which we were not surprised, overjoyed, brought to tears, and even angered at some of the night’s honors. The 71st Academy Awards, the last of the millennium, was no exception to those feelings, although some of them were somewhat unexpected. In a year dominated by Elizabethan England and World War II, the Oscar was handed out to, for the most part, awkward winners. Everyone was almost sure that Spielberg’s "Saving Private Ryan" would win picture, but that honor went to the other front-runner, "Shakespeare In Love," which in total earned 7 of the 8 Elizabethan Oscars. The other went to "Elizabeth," for achievement in make-up (we’ll discuss that later).

The Black Cauldron / **** (1985)

As far back as memory serves, Disney's animation has produced some excellent films, but none so classic as "Bambi" or "Pinocchio," of which his studio was still in its golden era. When Disney died in 1967, his last great movie was "Sleeping Beauty," and afterwards the studio fell into recession, making low-quality films with poor animation techniques and a lack of originality. It wasn't until 1983 when the studio began to return the magic of earlier years, when they presented the audience "The Fox and The Hound," a film which approached Walt's original vision of magic.

But then in 1985, the studio was under new management, and many of the original Disney animators had already left. They produced "The Black Cauldron," the first effort of their modern-day era of animated films. The film did not receive well-deserved recognition because of it's first-ever PG rating, dark and surreal landscapes, and creepy characters woven into a grizzly story.