Children of Men (2006)

The cinema verite style ambush scene is enough to recommend the movie.

How'd they do that?

Hard Candy (2005)

Soft in the head.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

As every last critic has undoubtedly already pointed out, this documentary is fascinating regardless your feelings about heavy metal and/or Metallica.

I know that some of you (*cough* Kevin *cough*) prefer Megadeth, but don't let that deter you either.

Dumplings (2004)

This is one J-horror that will not be remade in the U.S.

Not ever.

To say much more would be to give away the game, but I will say that there was a certain amount of restraint and even charm brought to bear on this ghastly enterprise.

Keane (2005)

Lodge Kerrigan's earlier film Clean, Shaven was also about a schizophrenic man searching for his daughter, but Keane is different enough to stand on its own, and Kerrigan has my blessing to shoot the same story once every decade - which is about how often I could stand to watch it - for however long he chooses.

Emperor of the North (1973)

I remember being disappointed by this movie when I was a kid, because the print ads had led me to believe it would be non-stop action - Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, armed with hammers, chasing each other across the top of a moving train - and it turned out to be mostly talk.

Perhaps I'd missed out on the many nuances, and a viewing as an adult would reveal a film full of keen sociopolitical insight into the Great Depression, or a Cormac McCarthy-style study of what passes for honor among human trash, rural division.

But no. My pre-adolescent verdict stands: Not enough hammer fights.

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Slow zombies still scarier than fast zombies - sorry, kids.