1. An alternate and superior British version of Rounders with elements of Reindeer Games and hilariously unnecessary voiceover narration thrown in.
2. Clive Owen conveys a sharp, cynical intelligence that rolls off the screen in waves whenever he widens his glittering blue eyes.
3. The choice of Clive Owen as the star is a good one. He's got the same sort of physical reserve as Sean Connery in the Bond pictures.
4. With its fascinating, multi-layered plot, intelligent screenplay, and subtle-yet-undeniable tension building, Croupier is an engrossing, stylish thriller that never threatens to wear out its welcome.
5. Actor Clive Owen proves to be powerfully unflappable -- a working-stiff James Bond, whose understated intensity draws you into the movie and refuses to let you leave.
6. Don't let Croupier go by without a look.
7. Seldom will you see a film so well crafted, and you will likely go a long way to find performances even half this good, especially Owen's and McKee's.
8. Owen is superb.
9. Stylish but cold.
10. Croupier also offers an intriguing look at the writing process and the allure of writing, which in part is the ability to pull strings.
What is the critic consensus?
A: The writer slumming for human truths and real experience is a common enough story, but this cool-headed and slick thriller provides a gut-churningly compelling backdrop to a look at our darker sides.

1. Among a handful of the scariest movies ever made.
2. One of Kubrick's most severely overcooked, overdetermined projects; Duvall fascinates, but the rest bores and wearies.
3. Re-cut or not, The Shining remains one of the most viscerally disturbing films ever made.
4. It's all in the build-up: Kubrick sets the scene for the horror with meticulous care.
5. The first time I saw Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, I had to turn it off during three key moments... Perhaps this time, I prayed, [it] would seem almost comically silly. Yeah, not so much.
6. The Shining is like a near-miss auto accident: You don't know how scared you really were until you start shaking a few hours later.
7. A masterpiece.
8. One of the best scary movies ever made, one of the best scary movies even imaginable.
9. Kubrick's compositions and Jack Nicholson going kill-crazy with an axe remain hard to beat on the big screen.
10. The technique is as overpowering as Nicholson's performance, which is both hammy and deeply disturbing.
What is the critic consensus?
A: Though it deviates from Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness -- exemplified by an unforgettable turn from Jack Nicholson

1. Lords Of Dogtown is true to its roots, and a pure buzz.
2. Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown works as both an energetic thrill ride and a keenly-felt drama about boys gone wild.
3. Directed with vigor and wit.
4. The action sequences are real and raw, and if Lords never quite gets airborne, it does justice to a scene whose legacy rolls on.
5. What Lords needed, and what it mostly lacks, is dramatic impact off the concrete.
6. Demonstrates enough narrative style, grit and artistry to latch onto plenty of viewers with absolutely zero interest in skateboarding.
7. [Hardwicke] brings a social realism to Dogtown and a fondness for the sport that pay early dividends. As the movie unspools, though, it also unravels, because it seems that nothing consequential is at stake.
8. Catherine Hardwicke, working from a Peralta script and stealing the look and verve of his earlier documentary, turns in a dazzling, edgy and entertainingly blunt riff on the gnarly and how they got that way.
9. A credible, handsome and engaging entertainment.
10. A sports memoir fringed with punk rock clamor.
What is the critic consensus?
A: Lords of Dogtown, while slickly made and edited, lacks the depth and entertaining value of the far superior documentary on the same subject, Dogtown and Z-Boys.

1. Hercules has all the fun mythological stuff to hook the kids, cute baby Pegasus, familar myths, fun songs, and Disney's prerequisite BEAUTIFUL animation.
2. A spiffy, fast paced animated film with a few inventive takes on the nature of heroism.
3. Man, am I glad to see John Musker and Ron Clements' work back on the screen!
4. What fun!
5. The world will fall in love with Hercules.
6. Woods is funny as the lord of the Underworld, playing him like an agent with blue flames for hair.
7. Another wonderful feature-length Disney cartoon that's fun for the whole family.
8. Light on its feet and continually amusing, this free-spirited show-biz version of Greek mythology ranks with the best of modern Disney animation.
9. As usual, the only character that's not white bread with mayo is the villain.
10. Pretty appalling.
What is the critic consensus?
A:
Fast-paced and packed with dozens of pop culture references, Hercules might not measure up with the true classics of the Disney pantheon, but it's still plenty of fun.