"Gomorrah" doesn't take place in Tijuana but in Naples, Italy, yet the movie's startling street violence ignites images occurring in Mexico.   RATINGS  GUIDE: 4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Based on the book "Gomorrah: A Personal Journey Into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System" by Naples native Roberto Saviano, it also recalls TV's peerless "The Sopranos" in ... [full story]

Tia and Tony have been replaced by Sarah and Seth as the two endearing alien children in "Race to Witch Mountain," but this remake of Disney's 1975 "Escape to Witch Mountain" is bound to become as popular as the classic family film.   RATINGS  GUIDE: 4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Director Andy Fickman stayed close to the heart of the ... [full story]

From the cinematic archives, a few words of wisdom: In the Hitchcock classic "Rear Window," Thelma Ritter (playing an insurance nurse) asserts, "When a man and woman see each other, and like each other, they should come together — wham!, like two taxis on Broadway."   RATINGS  GUIDE: 4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  It's a wham!, not on Broadway but ... [full story]

If director Steven Soderbergh wanted to bring the Cuban revolution to the screen, depicting guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara as a saint, why didn't he attempt one dynamic movie? What he generated with "Che: Part One" and "Che: Part Two" is a pair of forgettable and wearying ones. It's a lumbering, indulgent exercise in hero worship.   Benicio Del Toro stars as the legendary revolutionary in ‘Che, Part I and Part II’  RATINGS GUIDE: 4 STARS - ... [full story]

"Watchmen" takes a remarkable piece of literature, an assemblage of comic books transitioned into a mind-blowing graphic novel that considers sober human issues, and turns into a distended botch of a movie.   RATINGS GUIDE: 4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  This "Watchmen," from director Zack Snyder (the box-office behemoth "300"), is tough to watch. Alan Moore, the book's masterly writer, ... [full story]

"Two Lovers" is too good to be true. In a cinematic season when studios dump their leftovers from the year before, a salient picture like this one shows up with rich characters, a heartfelt story and fine performances from a trio of 30-something actors.   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Joaquin Phoenix plays Leonard, a damaged man living with his ... [full story]

Being French, "The Class" believes it has more class than it does. In fact, this pseudo-documentary doesn't have the originality of Israel's "Waltz With Bashir," the animated and horrifying memoir of that country's 1982 war with Lebanon.   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  In "The Class," a middle-school teacher wars daily with his students, an undisciplined, confrontational bunch more interested ... [full story]

Watching "The Secrets" is work. It's a multilayered film, in Hebrew with English subtitles, about complex religious concepts. It's also a story about human relationships, love, courage and redemption. And that's why you work to stay with it.   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Set in Israel, the film opens in Naomi's home, at the funeral for her mother. Naomi ... [full story]

Parents: Need an effective approach to abstinence-only education? Fire those fire-juggling clowns with their insipid inspirational messages. Instead, load your teenagers into the SUV for an educational matinee of "Friday the 13th." It'll scare the pants onto them.   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Like many teen horror movies, the lesson of "Friday the 13th" is that sinners die. Die ... [full story]

"The International" is not quite world-class, but it is a timely, involving thriller set in the miasma of global banking, and it crackles with tension. In this era of economic meltdown, the movie resonates. There's a squirm when a grubby monetary executive explains, "You control debt, you control everything. This is the essence of the banking industry. Whether countries or individuals, it is to make us all slaves to debt."   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 ... [full story]

Might as well get this over with: The movie "Push" is a heck of a lot like the television show "Heroes." Or maybe "Anti-Heroes," or "Heroes in Hong Kong," or "If We Load This Movie With Style and Nifty Actors, Promise You Won't Compare Us to Heroes?"   4 STARS - Excellent. 3 STARS - Worthy. 2 STARS - Mixed. 1 STAR - Poor. 0 - Forget It (a dog.)  Sorry, no can do. Just like "Heroes," ... [full story]

NEW RELEASES SON OF RAMBOW - The first thing to know about "Son of Rambow": It has about as much to do with Rambo as Dirty Harry does with "Harry Potter" or as Rocky Balboa does with flying squirrels. The second thing to know about "Son of Rambow": It recalls so many other films, you can count the cultural footnotes on your fingers and tributes on your toes. Set in the   'SON OF RAMBOW' - ... [full story]

The first thing to know about "Son of Rambow": It has about as much to do with Rambo as Dirty Harry does with "Harry Potter" or as Rocky Balboa does with flying squirrels. The second thing to know about "Son of Rambow": It recalls so many other films, you can count the cultural footnotes on your fingers and tributes on your toes.   'SON OF RAMBOW' - Jules Sitruk, middle, stars in the comedy/drama 'Son of ... [full story]