Elizabeth Weitzman

The latest collaboration between Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean") and Johnny Depp is sharp-edged, surreal, and often astonishing in its giddy creativity. What it is not, however, is a family film.

Anyone with some patience and a penchant for thoughtful ambiguity will find more than enough rewards here, from Gyllenhaal’s intelligent performance to Colangelo’s empathetic insight. True, it’s not always an easy movie to sit through. But the impact of Lisa’s plight lingers long after her fate’s been sealed.

Argott treats Barnes' story as an intellectual crime thriller, uncovering each new surprise -- and a seemingly endless parade of villains -- with a deadpan flourish.

We never really forget we're watching two highly paid professionals create a cinematic placebo, strong enough to entertain without making a long-term impact. Fortunately, everyone works just hard enough to sell us on the whole thing anyway.

Though he's working with an unavoidably sentimental story, Kon embraces the dark underside of his characters' lives, giving this animated film a satisfyingly three-dimensional feel.

Feels more earnest than real. Still, its sincerity is admirable, and often touching.

To Devlin's great credit, he keeps us rapt throughout.

A patronizing, self-satisfied piece of work, Funny Games is Michael Haneke's way of chastising us for blindly following the traditional rules of entertainment.

As that description suggests, the film winds up a rather grim, often indulgent muddle. But it's also undeniably compelling.

Coogan and Brydon make terrific companions for us partially because, at least as they appear onscreen, they’re so amusingly incompatible themselves.

Stokes recorded every story she possibly could, from 1977 to 2012. By then, it had become a lot easier to chronicle both the minutiae and the magnitude of life in the 21st century. But has that been an improvement? Wolf leaves it to his audience to decide, after gently pushing us past any instinctual answers.

Bergman and his gifted cast do an excellent job portraying the wounded, but still vital, connections that help these people heal even as they fervently believe it's time to give up.

Thomas does an excellent job exploring the incendiary environment that shaped the band in the late 1960s. His primary interest, however, is simply to express and explain the thrill the MC5 still inspires.

The cast is splendid, the script quick-witted and the action satisfying.

While "Twilight" will make more money and get more attention, the darkly comic Cirque du Freak boasts the shaggy charm of the natural underdog.

Selim's script doesn't hit new territory, but beautiful cinematography takes it just far enough.

The way in which tradition and progress convenes amid such challenging circumstances becomes Meirelles’ tribute to his subjects. The fact that we fully believe in this apparent impossibility feels like his gift to us.

As for that unpolished screenplay, the less said the better.

While Kim is unable to keep us riveted on her near-silent performance, the script and direction have a gentle sensitivity.

When these two powerhouse performers come together, a rather predictable tale ignites with surprising force.

If you're in the mood for fairy tales, you've come to the right place.

If this sounds like a typical date movie, worry not. It's very much an Apatow production-though the crasser additions, like his already-notorious food poisoning scene, feel painfully forced.

Though the Chinese government won't be too happy about it, everyone else ought to be deeply moved by the tragedies Peosay records.

Directed tastefully by Ralph Fiennes, The Invisible Woman is very lovely to look at. But it lives up to its own title too well.

Segel and Nicholas Stoller, who made "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" together, wrote the screenplay for The Muppets with obvious intent: to return these icons to their former glory.

Bursting with so much amped-up energy, you may need to rest once it's finally done.

A suddenly vital biography, Make It Funky, pays apt homage to the unique gifts New ­Orleans has given its country over the last century. Watching it ought to inspire anyone to return the favor.

While Enchanted wittily updates traditional tales, it is, in the end, as carefully calculated in its appeal as any movie ever was.