Connie Ogle

Mottola softens his approach, and Adventureland turns out to be more like "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" than a Judd Apatow creation.

Sensational documentary.

Well-acted and sincere, Testament of Youth is chastely romantic in its treatment of the relationship between Vera and Roland, but the film doesn’t hold back on showing the horror of trench warfare.

The new version is a glorious, thrilling throwback that never sacrifices its solid roots in the western genre despite a sharp modern update that actually improves on the original.

The sort of entertainment that makes you happy to be grown up and able to avoid the current onslaught of trite, lazy, unimaginative films aimed at tween-agers.

A well-intentioned coming-of-age film anchored by two indelible performances but weakened by an overabundance of drama.

At its core, Susanne Bier's wrenching portrayal of the shifting dynamics within a Danish family is really about survival, about how we cope in the face of shattering grief and what we'll do -- anything, really -- to save ourselves.

Literature lasts, but sometimes, The Last Station suggests, the ties that bind last, too.

Me and You and Everyone We Know brings to mind the work of happily downbeat, bad-boy provocateur Todd Solondz (Happiness, Palindromes), but July is more kind to her oddballs, although she displays a disturbing aptitude for perversity that Solondz would applaud.

First and foremost, Iris is a magnificent story about the enduring bond between two eccentric, astounding souls who somehow managed to find each other and hold on for dear life.

Once you're among them, the Tenenbaums -- and Anderson -- cast quite a spell.

Watching Wilson and Hudson toil thanklessly through this mess is more laborious than writing the Great American Novel. And a lot less lucrative.

Wild may sound like a film about redemption, but it’s more about learning to live with what you can’t control — and accepting what you can control, which is sometimes just as difficult.

For most U.S. audiences, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, an Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, is going to feel more like a history lesson than a movie.

There's little warmth or depth to the characters who, for the most part, trudge through the film with little wonder at the magical journey they're making.

Gerwig, not surprisingly, is a marvel: mercurial, thin-skinned, haughty, desperate, funny, warm, a magnetic presence who mesmerizes the audience in the same way she attracts Tracy.

A film of this sort demands superb, seemingly effortless acting, and Holofcener gets it at every turn.

In the end the film stacks up just this side of twee, as the sort of quirky fare that's passably entertaining without ever offering anything real or remarkable.

The Invisible Woman offers a compelling glimpse at a life once hidden.

Despite its scary warnings, the film ends on an upbeat note, unless of course you happen to be Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.

Move over donkey, it's Banderas' time to shine.

In the end, Roger Dodger doesn't really add up to much. Guys can be jerks when they're lonely, or even when they're not. It's not news. But Kidd's version of this truth shows he's a writer worth watching.

There is little trace of tragedy in this warm, refreshing Southern comedy, which is quirky without being idiotic, original despite some familiar developments.

Even Greg’s tattooed and charismatic history teacher (Jon Bernthal) is more interesting than the self-absorbed kid we’re supposed to care about.

This delightfully twisted story about a boy and his (dead) dog showcases precisely what Burton excels at: blending the macabre and the heartfelt in a perfect, if oddball, union.

Fortunately, Bardem, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls," makes up for the script's shortcomings.

Serenity shows what might have happened if Han Solo had been the focus of the original "Star Wars" instead of whiny Jedi wannabe Luke Skywalker.

In addition to providing a textbook example of suspense, Estes also makes us want to know what happens to these kids after the screen goes dark.