Peter Brunette

With Before Night Falls, Schnabel has moved to an entirely new plane of cinematic achievement.

Temple's wonderfully entertaining film brings the era back in all its confused and tentatively revolutionary glory, and bracingly demonstrates that the Pistols still have the power to shock.

As the late Stanley Kubrick's swansong, it fills the bill magnificently.

One of the most troubling views of the human race I've seen in years. Luckily for us, its depressing, almost pathologically ironic vision is redeemed by the sublimity of Solondz' filmmaking. I first saw the film at Cannes last May and it's haunted me, both for its nastiness and its brilliance, ever since.

The landscapes are so gorgeous, the philosophy so richly appealing, the narrative so epically sweeping, and the characters so intense.

Sure, the territory is not exactly fresh...but the chemistry between the two leads is so explosive yet assured, and the comic timing so perfect, that the cliches are given new life.

It's a masterpiece, a sublime tone poem that shows what cinema is capable of when it tries to do more than just tell a story.

It's a superb example of the genre of the self-expressive documentary.

It makes us realize, suddenly, and with immense regret, what the rest of contemporary cinema so sorely lacks.

It simultaneously wows you with the stark beauty of its images, a beauty that leads to another, related kind of truth that is equally crucial. It's not to be missed.