Elizabeth Weitzman

No one looks at the world quite like Kaurismäki, and his deadpan sentimentality is worth discovery. This is a good place to start.

Conventional, but intensely passionate, war movie.

Travels so deeply into the confusions of female adolescence that you'd never know this deceptively languid British film was directed by a Polish-born man.

Anyone who doubts that a single individual can make a political impact should see Anders Østergaard’s gripping documentary.

So what we're left with is a sort of contact high, drifting gently over to our seats in the back row.

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.

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

Whether this smart, sexy and unsparing film is a hilarious comedy or a poignant drama is a matter of personal opinion — and experience. But if you've ever felt both baffled and blessed by your own family, this "Marriage" is one event you won't want to miss.

There are a few fight scenes, but they're as unshowy as the rest of this restrained film. If your warrior ideal is Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill," you may not have the patience this gentle story demands of its viewers.

We’re not in Disney’s world. Berger knows his Grimm, and he suffuses his entrancing fairy tale with a moving sense of melancholy.

Silva intends to keep us guessing, and it's fair to say he takes us in unexpected directions. But don't expect any flashy Hollywood twists. The surprises come from Catalina Saavedra's intense lead performance.

None of the children are professionals, and their uncontrived performances lend a painfully real quality to what becomes a rather lyrical story.

The perfect haven from the cheap ironies and cruel indifference we all have to field both in life and, far too often, at the movies.

Ultimately it's Sheen, finding new facets of his character in every scene, who shoots and scores.

It's a tribute to both the subject and his biographer that this story of one man's experience is also a vital chronicle of the times in which he's lived.

Kore-eda does extraordinary work with his young cast, who deliver gentle, natural performances in a beautifully told story of heartbreak and hope. Deceptively modest and utterly lovely, it's one of the most magical films about childhood I have ever seen.

As Claire Denis' stunning new movie reminds us, she expects a lot of her audience but gives considerably more in return.

Everyone involved can claim credit, but it's Dinklage, in an understated, outstanding performance, who turns this unlikely tale into art that will strike a chord with any open-minded audience.

Heated speeches about the International Monetary Fund, debt relief and global responsibility may not sound like your idea of Friday-night entertainment, but Sissako makes a strong case.

There's nothing exceptional about Jane Campion's historical biography, but it's a sufficiently lovely tale to suit romantics with a taste for intimate period dramas.

For a film expressly about an underappreciated culture, there are some boulder-size cliches rolling down these hills.

They’ve turned Thomas Pynchon’s work into a slapstick noir homage that doesn’t just reward but demands multiple viewings.

Ferreras is similarly frank, but heavy doses of humor and empathy, along with gorgeous hand-drawn animation, keep things from getting too morbid.

As escapist fantasies go, this easygoing romance is a modest winner.

Pegg and Wright are armed with an endlessly impressive arsenal of attention grabbers, from witty editing tricks to a wry soundtrack and a joke-packed script that demands multiple viewings.

Pahani’s films have become increasingly indistinguishable from his complex life, making them a challenging but often thrilling experience.

Whether he's the victim of poor directing or misguided ambition, Bass is almost entirely charisma-free.

Broomfield conducts riveting interviews with a former LAPD officer, Biggie's fiercely protective mother and assorted hangers-on, but the actual thrust of his evidence seems almost irrelevant.