David DeWitt

Modest yet meaningful, Underwater Dreams has a political point of view, shining light on underground Americans who deserve recognition.

Finding Mr. Right (even the title is generic) has a top-to-bottom capable cast, a nice sense of place and a few honest epiphanies that are given time to land. But neither the comedy nor the romance exists beyond the level of idea.

Its characterizations may be overwrought — it is a thriller, after all — and the audience might prefer to have sympathy for a character without being practically told to feel it. But the acting is strong.

A promising, though static, new film that never leaves its taciturn shadows for a single emotionally gripping moment.

Arise always feels unified, a genuinely felt and executed womanist letter to the world.

No one in this complex and haunting documentary feels fully explained.

It’s then, as nature documentary and inspirational device, that Wampler’s Ascent finds its power.

Rising From Ashes has the phantom limbs of missed opportunities.

While the film is let down by its plot, it is much too smart for reductive visions of “the other.” And there are moments, like a heartfelt exchange of keepsakes, when seeing Postales is a memory worth preserving.

“Free China” is not news, and, however moving, it’s really not art. It’s advocacy. In that aim, it is ardently committed.