This big, fat theatrical bomb has a lot going for it. There's the three leads, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, playing three resurrected witches who wreak havoc on Salem, Massachusetts, 300 hundred years after they were hung. There's music, special effects, and magic. There's a surprisingly horror-filled plot. Whoops, hold up on that last one. It's probably the extremes that this film goes to (displaying a Disney label), such as the witches sucking the life out of a little girl in the first five minutes, that put the brakes on any success for Hocus Pocus. Older children, however, in the 8 and up range should get a kick out of all the weird goings-on. It's a good measure of Halloween thrills and chills. —Keith Simanton

Bill Murray gives yet another simple, seemingly effortless, yet illuminating performance in Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers. Don Johnston (Murray, Lost in Translation, Rushmore) receives an anonymous letter telling him that he has a 19 year old son who's looking for him. Don only decides to investigate at the prompting of his neighbor Winston (the indispensable Jeffrey Wright, Shaft, Basquiat), who not only tracks down the current addresses of the possible mothers, he plans Don's entire trip down to the rental cars. Almost against his will, Don finds himself knocking at the doors of four very different women (Sharon Stone, The Quick and the Dead; Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under; Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams; and Tilda Swinton, The Deep End) who were once his lovers. Part road movie, part detective story, part existential meditation, Broken Flowersis even more minimalist than most Jarmusch movies (Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man, Mystery Train)—anyone looking for an easy resolution should look elsewhere. But for anyone willing to let a movie be a poem as much as a story—i.e., let it observe behavior without explaining it—Broken Flowerswill offer a wealth of mysteries, gestures, and Bill Murray's soulful eyes. It's a movie that's wonderfully eloquent about what's not being said. —Bret Fetzer

Director Zhang Yimou brings the sumptuous visual style of his previous films (Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad) to the high-kicking kung fu genre. A nameless warrior (Jet Li, Romeo Must Die, Once Upon a Time in China) arrives at an emperor's palace with three weapons, each belonging to a famous assassin who had sworn to kill the emperor. As the nameless man spins out his story—and the emperor presents his own interpretation of what might really have happened—each episode is drenched in red, blue, white or another dominant color. Hero combines sweeping cinematography and superb performances from the cream of the Hong Kong cinema (Maggie Cheung, Irma Vep, Comrades: Almost a Love Story; Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, In the Mood for Love, Hard Boiled; and Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). The result is stunning, a dazzling action movie with an emotional richness that deepens with every step. —Bret Fetzer

It's got a round table, some knights, and a noble warrior who rises to become King Arthur, but everything else about this revisionist legend is pure Hollywood. That's not such a bad thing if you enjoyed Rob Roy, Braveheart, Gladiator, and Troy, and there's some intriguing potential in presenting the "real" Arthur (played by Clive Owen) as a 5th-century soldier of Rome, assigned to defend Roman-imperial England against a hoard of invading Saxons (led by Stellan Skarsgård in hairy villain mode). As revamped history and "archaeological findings" would have us believe, Guinevere (Keira Knightley) is a warrior babe in face-paint and Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) is a nonentity who fades into the woodwork. Never mind! Best to enjoy the harsh, gloomy atmosphere of Irish locations, the ruggedness of Owen and his hearty supporting cast, and the entertaining nonsense of a Jerry Bruckheimer production that strips battle-ready Guinevere down to leather-strap S&M gear while all the men sport full-body armor. Hail to the queen, indeed! —Jeff Shannon

Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft's absorbing documentary, "The Tramp and the Dictator," backgrounds Chaplin and Hitler (who were born a few days apart) and gives a detailed account of The Great Dictator's production. Twenty-five minutes of color footage, shot by Chaplin's brother Sydney on the set, provides a fascinating look behind the scenes. —Robert Horton

Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigohas since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. In fact, it consistently ranks among the top 10 movies ever made in the once-a-decade Sight & Soundinternational critics poll, placing at number 4 in the most recent survey. (Universal Pictures' spectacularly gorgeous 1996 restoration and rerelease of this 1958 Paramount production was a tremendous success with the public, too.) James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. The detective and the disturbed woman fall ("fall" is indeed the operative word) in love and...well, to give away any more of the story would be criminal. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigois as lovely as it is haunting. —Jim Emerson

Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, National Treasureoffers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to overcome its rampant silliness. Although it was roundly criticized as a poor man's rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Arkand The Da Vinci Code, it's entertaining on its own ludicrous terms, and Nicolas Cage proves once again that one actor's infectious enthusiasm can compensate for a multitude of movie sins. The contrived plot involves Cage's present-day quest for the ancient treasure of the Knights Templar, kept secret through the ages by Freemasons past and present. Finding the treasure requires the theft of the Declaration of Independence (there are crucial treasure clues on the back, of course!), so you can add "caper comedy" to this Jerry Bruckheimer production's multi-genre appeal. Nobody will ever accuse director Jon Turtletaub of artistic ambition, but you've got to admit he serves up an enjoyable dose of PG-rated entertainment, full of musty clues, skeletons, deep tunnels, and harmless adventure in the old-school tradition. It's a load of hokum, but it's funhokum, and that makes all the difference. —Jeff Shannon

Like Carrie before it, Ginger Snaps uses horror-movie conventions as an inspired metaphor for puberty. When beautiful but reclusive goth teenager Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) is attacked by a monstrous wolf on the eve of her first period, her body starts changing in a big way, as do her suddenly lusty, feral appetites. Director John Fawcett masterfully balances the expectations of teen horror exploitation (blood, bodies, sex, smart dialogue, and good old-fashioned monster-movie scares) with clever black humor and tender sisterly solidarity. Only devoted sister Brigitte (gloomy Emily Perkins) knows the truth, and even as Ginger's abrupt transformation threatens their once unbreakable friendship, bonds of blood and love keep them together: Brigitte disposes of Ginger's victims while searching for a cure. Mimi Rogers costars as their dotty but unexpectedly sensitive mom, ready to sacrifice all to protect her daughter. Blood and blood ties have never been more evocative. —Sean Axmaker

"Good Night, And, Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.

Running Time: 93 min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Steven Shainberg explore la relation plus que particulière qu'entretiennent un patron et sa secrétaire dans Secretary, second long métrage audacieux qui a obtenu le prix spécial du jury pour son originalité au Festival des films indépendants de Sundance.

Après quelques années d'internement dans un hôpital psychiatrique, la jeune Lee Holloway cherche un emploi. Même si elle rêve toujours d'orchidées roses et de dauphins, elle n'aurait jamais cru que ses pulsions sadomasochistes seraient son atout principal pour convaincre M. Grey, un avocat, de l'engager. Comment alors éviter que le jeu n'aille trop loin ?

Si Steven Shainberg est habile à une chose, c'est bien à faire naître le malaise. En filmant cette Secretarycomme une série B romantique ordinaire, mais en y injectant une bonne dose de déviance, il crée un décalage fort original et dérangeant. James Spader et Maggie Gyllenhaal, dont le jeu frôle la folie, sont les interprètes convaincants de cette fable sadomasochiste qui révèle les liens secrets entre amour, sexe et pouvoir. La fin, un peu facile, aurait sans doute pu être plus audacieuse pour rester dans le ton du film. Reste que Secretaryose regarder, avec beaucoup de franchise et d'humour, derrière la porte de la sexualité humaine. —Helen Faradji

Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. —Marshall Fine