MOVIE REVIEW
In 'Adam & Steve' a Second Chance for Lovers After a Disastrous Striptease the First Time Around By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Who said mainstream Hollywood has a monopoly on dumb, gross-out farces? The gay, independent comedy "Adam & Steve" is as crude and nonsensical as any number of B-list studio equivalents.

Learning All About the Girls and the Bees By A. O. SCOTT

"The Wicker Man" is a comically inept as a horror movie, unable to even manage an effective false scare, or sustain suspense for more than a beat or two.

Into the Woods, Humming to Sondheim, in 'Stagedoor' By STEPHEN HOLDEN

This sketchy documentary portrait of a summer camp for teenagers with Broadway stars in their eyes remains a cool distance from its subject.

MOVIE REVIEW | 'THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA'

Back With a Vengeance: The Music of the Night By A. O. SCOTT
The screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical lacks both authentic romance and the thrill of memorable spectacle.

Movie Review | 'Wrestling With Angels'
The Artist as Empath and Public Intellectual By STEPHEN HOLDEN

As informative as it is, this documentary portrait of the playwright Tony Kushner doesn't have time to do more than scratch the surface of its fascinating subject.

In 'Edmond,' William H. Macy Is Desperate and Frustrated, and He Won't Take It Anymore By STEPHEN HOLDEN

In this screen adaptation of David Mamet's play, William H. Macy is perfectly cast as a prim Manhattan businessman who heeds his inner demons and plummets into free fall.

MOVIE REVIEW | 'THE MERCHANT OF VENICE'

Putting a Still-Vexed Play in a Historical Context By A. O. SCOTT
Shakespeare's most problematic play � at least with respect to modern sensitivities � receives an intelligent interpretation from Michael Radford and a superb cast.

Movie Review | 'Colma: The Musical'
Big Teenage Dreams, Small-Town Doldrums By MANOHLA DARGIS

An itty-bitty movie with a great big heart, "Colma: The Musical" is about how we learn to give voice - joyfully, honestly, loudly - to the truest parts of ourselves.

Three-Part Heartbreak in Motown By A. O. SCOTT

Audiences who go to "Dreamgirls" will have a good time, but they'll be going for old time's sake rather than to encounter anything vital or new.

Movie Review | 'The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'
At Home With the Clauses, In-Laws and Elves Included By MANOHLA DARGIS

Even better is Martin Short, who snaps the otherwise dead proceedings (the director is Michael Lembeck) to life as the villainous Jack Frost. Mr. Short is the kind of Christmas ham everyone …

MOVIE REVIEW | 'CLOSER'

When Talk Is Sexier Than a Clich�d Clinch By A. O. SCOTT
In spite of the teasing promise of its title, Mike Nichols's deft drama does everything it can to push you away.

Movie Review | 'Macbeth'
The Weird Sisters Prophesy Blood From a Dance Floor By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

Geoffrey Wright's brutal and thrilling new version of "Macbeth" envisions the thane of Cawdor as a longhaired, drug-addled gangster.

Movie Review | 'The Architect'
Malaise in the Projects, and Elsewhere By STEPHEN HOLDEN

"The Architect," written and directed by Matt Tauber from a play by the Scottish writer David Greig, feels like a creaky, tone-deaf classroom exercise in mechanical contrivance.

The Broad Scope of Broadway By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

The documentary "ShowBusiness" makes one marvel at the stamina of artists who devote themselves to a world of many miseries and few rewards.

MOVIE REVIEW
'The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch,' a Portrait of a Performer By LAURA KERN

Trailer for 'Rent'

Trailer for 'Memoirs of a Geisha'

'The Producers,' Again (This Time With Uma) By A. O. SCOTT

Uma Thurman as a would-be actress is the one bit of genuine radiance in this aggressively and pointlessly shiny, noisy spectacle.

Trailer: 'Dreamgirls'

Teenagers in Love and a Mom in Drag in the '60s By A. O. SCOTT

That "Hairspray" is good-hearted is no surprise. The surprise may be that this "Hairspray," stuffed with shiny showstoppers, is actually good.

MOVIE REVIEW | 'IDLEWILD'
Trust Me, Baby, the Joint Is Jumping and Singing By MANOHLA DARGIS

In an interview this summer, Mr. Barber expressed a long-held desire to direct what he called a "1930's musical"; he might have done well to actually watch a couple before he started shootin…

MOVIE REVIEW | 'FIND ME GUILTY'
A Bona Fide Soprano Entertains His Jury By STEPHEN HOLDEN

The gripping courtroom drama "Find Me Guilty," Sidney Lumet's first feature film in seven years, catches him near the top of his game.

Creepy Crawly Conspiracies By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

With "Bug," William Friedkin continues to be more fascinated by the evil inside our heads than the boogeyman outside.

Movie Review | 'Evening'
Sustained in Death by the Memory of One Great Love By MANOHLA DARGIS

At first, second and final glance, Susan Minot's "Evening" doesn't seem as if it would translate easily to the big screen. It hasn't.

From the Stage to the Screen, History Worth Repeating By STEPHEN HOLDEN

The current of intellectual energy snapping through the ferociously engaging screen adaptation of Alan Bennett´s Tony Award-winning play feels like electrical brain stimulation.

John Gielgud's Candid Correspondence by BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE

The actor's letters offer unvarnished assessments of his colleagues' abilities. And those were the people he liked.