Problem: 1. Annette Bening finally finds a role that will ease her into advancing age with style but grace.
2. Bening keeps you off-balance as you wait to see what Julia does next.
3. Even with the whimsically understated Irons as the oblivious husband and that lion Michael Gambon as the ghost of Julia's acting teacher, director István Szabó's movie leaves no impression.
4. Everything is in place for a tour de force film. Yet the end result is so lackluster and pedestrian, a more fitting title is Being and Nothingness.
5. A tour de force and an utter delight.
6. [Bening] pulls out all the stops playing a limelight-loving stage diva in 1930s London, and her vivacious performance should guarantee her a spot on Oscar's list of Best Actress nominees.
7. It's an immensely satisfying and stylish entry in the grand tradition of films about the theater.
8. Movies don't get much more inoffensively middlebrow than Being Julia.
9. Bening alone makes it worth the price of admission.
10. In addition to good performances from support players such as Canadians Bruce Greenwood and Sheila McCarthy, Being Julia also features consummate British pro Michael Gambon as a ghost and young Lucy Punch in a sexy, career-making turn.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: Annette Bening delivers a captivating performance in Being Julia, a sophisticated comedy that follows a 1930s stage diva who experiences an identity crisis at age 40.


Problem: 1. Chrisopher Walken gives a thoughtful performance as a psychic-in-spite-of-himself who must save the world from a mad politician.
2. One of
3. Isn't about anything really save the crushing disappointment of ambition and the unbearable lightness of being.
4. Mr. Cronenberg's direction is vivid and effective; his pacing is a little unemphatic at times, but the film's individual scenes are very well staged.
5. An unusually thoughtful and engrossing horror flick with a terrific performance by Walken.
6. A dud.
7. Brilliantly creepy Walken
8. ...near perfect...
9. One of King's better cinematic adaptations.
10. Cronenberg's most accessible film. Very good, but not great.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and and a rich performance from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations.


Problem: 1. A visionary science-fiction film that takes us on a profound voyage into both outer and inner space.
2. There was so much to think about afterward, and so much that remained in my memory.
3. This movie is divine like an Italian cathedral: It's solemn, huge in scope and deeply meditative.
4. Ambiciosamente filosófico, Solaris é uma reflexăo maravilhosa e fascinante sobre o conceito de realidade, felicidade e também sobre a própria natureza humana.
5. Draggy, but compelling, if you've read the book.
6. Meditative cinema.
7. ...[Tarkovsky's] camera lingers oppressively on things that mean absolutely nothing.
8. A million light years removed from the pseudo-religious grandstanding of Kubrick's acid-trip space odyssey, this takes Kelvin -- and us -- on a journey into the uncharted depths of inner space.
9. The most pop film the great Russian filmmaker ever made.
10. Some movies are like dieting - you gotta stretch some muscles if you want the most satisfying results.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer:
Solaris is a haunting, meditative film that uses sci-fi to raise complex questions about humanity and existence.