Calvin Wilson

This is the kind of film that benefits from being experienced with as little prior knowledge as possible. As one watches it, certain questions may arise. But don’t worry — the answers are fascinating.

A provocative mood piece. Nichols, who had an art-house hit in 2011 with “Take Shelter,” has a gift for creating characters of unusual depth, and for eliciting performances of emotional resonance. With Mud, he seems to be edging closer to the mainstream, but his skills are as sharp as ever.

To the Wonder teeters between experimentation and incoherence. Does it deserve to be seen? Absolutely. Just be aware of what you’re getting into.

The acting is first-rate. Gosling masterfully fills in Luke’s motivational blanks, and Cooper nicely handles Avery’s evolution from idealist to manipulator.

The Oscar-nominated No has the gritty feel of a foreign film from the 1970s. As such, it may take a few minutes for most moviegoers to adjust to its rhythms. Ironically for a film about advertising, there’s nothing slick about it — and therein lies much of its greatness.

Admission is one film you may not want to get into.

Although The Gatekeepers lacks the stylistic inventiveness of “Fog,” it is nonetheless a compelling account of what can go wrong when power is unrestrained.

The story is so masterfully told that one can't help but be enthralled.

A film that's all the more intriguing for being virtually impossible to categorize.

Unlike too many films these days, Zero Dark Thirty dares to embrace complexity. And that makes it not just state-of-the-art entertainment, but a great film.

Bana ("Munich") makes an effective bad guy. Hunnam portrays Jay as a hero worth rooting for. And Wilde turns in a nuanced performance as a woman in conflict with herself.

The Big Picture ends perhaps a bit too ambiguously, but there's something refreshing about its faith in the moviegoer's intelligence.

As enchanting as it is ambitious.

Superior filmmaking. Yes, it runs almost three hours - but you've probably seen 90-minute films that felt a lot longer.

At once an intriguing character study and a refreshingly offbeat romance.

Whereas "Chill" attempted to define a generation, "Lies" is more of a statement about the nature and limits of friendship.

The performances are first-rate, with Lindhardt particularly moving as a guy who's in deep denial about just how much he can expect from a relationship with an addict.

Zobel's unsparing approach is justified. This film should be hard to watch - and it is. But it's also hard to forget.

One of the best films of the year.

The Well-Digger's Daughter is perhaps a bit too sentimental. But the performances are so heartfelt that its occasional excesses are easily forgiven. In a movie summer too often obsessed with things that go boom, this film is all about romance.

Particularly memorable are scenes in which Calvin loses his cool as Ruby holds onto her calm. It all adds up to a movie that's sparklingly entertaining.

A cinematic miracle, a film that carves out a vivid space that has nothing to do with wizards or extraterrestrials, but quite a lot to say about the fantastical creatures that roam through the humanity in us all.

As memorable as it is insightful, Take This Waltz is one of the best films of the year.

Alma is at once a charmer and a contrarian, and Bergsholm achieves that balance with seeming effortlessness. At times, she's more than a bit reminiscent of the young Jodie Foster.

This is a smart, moving film that's also very, very funny.

Denham impressively captures Peter's flintiness, rendering him sympathetic yet not quite likable, and Vicius is just right as the wary Lorna.

Bernie could easily have gone horribly wrong. But Black and Linklater finesse this tricky material with as much virtuosity as Bernie brings to that broccoli.

Episodically structured and lethargically paced, the new film attempts to convince us that there's something incredibly charming about an old guy who makes a habit of ogling young women. Actually, the whole scenario is pretty creepy.