Entertainment [3]

By most critical yardsticks, 2002 was a great year for movies. But it was a lousy year for consensus.

As the title character of Daredevil, Ben Affleck leaps, wriggles, and -- mostly -- strikes iconic poses, standing against the New York skyline in what's meant to be a very cool superhero-of-the-night outfit.

Gary Hardwick has a rare and noble ambition among contemporary filmmakers: to explore the love lives of young black professionals in seriocomic tapestries that never ignore race but transcend it with their universality of theme.

Gus Van Sant's Gerry is a very slow and beautiful and compelling movie about a couple of brash dudes, played by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who get lost in the stony pink grandeur of the California desert.

Turgid, textureless and endless, Gods and Generals will alienate all but the most dogged Civil War buffs.

My God, a lot of men in the office hate this movie.

We know what you're thinking: Nada Surf? Aren't they the guys who had a hit single, like, seven years ago?

Remember when people took firebrand political message movies seriously?

Old School gets old -- real fast.

One part crime saga, two parts family drama, ''Road to Perdition,'' Sam Mendes' stirring follow-up to 1999's ''American Beauty,'' falls squarely between genres.

''Poolhall Junkies'' is an unwieldy jumble of empty tough-guy gestures led by Chazz Palminteri and that king of sui generis eccentricity, Christopher Walken.

In Maid in Manhattan, Jennifer Lopez trots out her polished routine of a Bronx girl done good. Her character is a hardworking single mother who rises up from the streets with the help of a full figure, a chiffon dress, and a rich, white boyfriend. It's a sweetly benign Cinderella story with limp roots in the 'hood.

Until the Fishers came along, there was no particular reason to think that a series about a family of undertakers could be so messily, vibrantly alive -- or so deeply, darkly funny.

First The Fly (1986), now Spider. It seems writer/director David Cronenberg has a thing for insects.

Every Goliath needs his David, especially in hip-hop circles, and for the past few years, no one's been happier playing the role of giant slaya than 50 Cent.

Alan Parker's turgid new drama, The Life Of David Gale, leaks cynicism like acid rain.

He tells us this is his last season, and, he tells us, this time he really means it.

''This book is fiction except for snout salad, the bull's pizzle, and my grandmother's short stint as a human table in a vaudeville act,'' writes Louise Erdrich in her acknowledgments, displaying the same gift for extraordinary detail and teasing indirection that makes ''The Master Butchers Singing Club'' (HarperCollins, $25.95) so marvelous.

Suppose John Grisham had written the sentence you're reading right now. You would definitely have sped straight to the next one.

A word of warning: Don't read Michael Graham with a mouth full of lemonade. You might just end up spurting it out your nose.

They were gods; red-faced gentlemen of appetite and power: architects, scions, money movers, and engineers. Men who rent and reshaped the American landscape just before the turn of the 20th century. And feeding off their most idyllic vision was a startling new kind of killer.

Send in the clowns. Both of them. Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson are together again.

Is it possible to listen to ''Chocolate Factory,'' R. Kelly's new album, without prejudice?

The most buzzed-about of the new buzz-saw-rock bands are the Donnas, four California girls who went so far as to adopt the same first name as a way of honoring the Ramones, who gave themselves the same last name.

Kylie Minogue, a best dance recording nominee for her single Love at First Sight, is the wonder from Down Under.

Last night, I watched four hours' worth of TV in a little over three hours. As the kids say: Sweet!

William Gibson's early works, such as the novel Neuromancer and the story collection Burning Chrome, were characterized by eerily accurate premonitions of the future. But while time marched forward, Gibson appeared to be moving backwards -- to the present -- in more recent novels such as Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties.

Gang rape. Sodomy. Crucifixion. Immolation. Poisoning. Stabbing.

Walking into Robert Davidman's office is like walking into a real, live Springfield.

For a day at the beach, a girl's best friend is her sarong.

Here's evidence that watching too much ''American Idol'' fries your brain like the egg in that anti-drug commercial:

February 14 has long been associated with love, romance and gifts.

Sweet and sexy treats will dazzle the woman in your life.

Roses are red, violets are blue. Here, gift ideas for him, from you!

There's lots of talk these days about how so-called ''reality TV'' -- whether it's the giddyup-and-con-'em ''Joe Millionaire'' or the songbird-screeching of ''American Idol'' -- is changing the TV industry, and probably for the worse. The argument goes something like this:

The first time he saw Phil Spector, Larry Levine recalled, he didn't like him.

The TV series adaptation of the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding drew robust ratings for its premiere Monday night on CBS.

Serious film proved no match for a daredevil and a big old frat party.

Universal Pictures has joined in optioning The Elric Saga, a multi-part, Tolkein-esque fantasy series written by Michael Moorcock, for development as a potential big-screen trilogy.

After resuscitating the big-screen musical with Chicago, Harvey Weinstein is ready for an encore.

Critics called it a bad date movie, but How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days courted movie-goers to the tune of $24.1 million in its first weekend for a No. 1 debut.

The event: The Los Angeles and New York premieres of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Less than a week after Valentine's Day, you will learn the funny valentines Evan and Trista chose.

Fox can well afford to write Joe Millionaire a check: His show's finale led the network to its most-watched week ever, except during sports events like the Super Bowl or World Series.

Unknown to the world just a few weeks ago, Evan Marriott has overthrown the King of Pop -- at least, on network television.

Fred Rogers, better known as television's Mister Rogers, a cultural icon and kindly neighbor to generations of American children, died Thursday at the age of 74.

Tom Glazer, a folk singer best known for fanciful children's songs including one about a mountain of spaghetti, died Friday at his home in Philadelphia. He was 88.

On a night when no film won more than two prizes, the big winner at the British Academy Film Awards was The Pianist, which picked up best film and best director prizes for Roman Polanski.

Queer as Folk is wearing its heart on its sleeve this season.

Tom Welling has learned firsthand: Being Clark Kent isn't easy.