Ernest Hardy

One marvel of the film is how it conveys so much information so quickly, and with such accessibility.

It's all about having your intelligence -- emotional, spiritual, cerebral -- respected. Garcia does that; Place Vendôme does that.

A scathing, darkly funny political essay wrapped inside a tragic love story (or vice versa).

It's a smart, funny, tough-minded film crammed with data and personal anecdotes, each illuminating the other, each sketching in the staggering costs—and not just financial—of the ways authorities in this country have shaped the drug issue. It's far from glib.

Sure to become a classic; it taps into the fury of being a drone with a deeply knowing precision.

While all the pieces don't quite add up in the end, as memory, fantasy and delusion collide, the film succeeds again and again at pulling you to the edge of your seat and keeping you there.

Stars the cult celebrity Om Puri, widely considered by cinephiles to be one of the best actors in the world.

The film is riveting from the start, with its ragtag multiculti heroines and heroes meshing multiple identity markers (activist, academic, refurbished hippie), often within individual selves.

It's an often gut-wrenching viewing experience in which the triumphs of the hero are hard won.

Cloudy is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action.

The images of the style as it evolves, and especially those that fill the last 15 minutes of "Tattoo", are so beautiful and often majestic that they overshadow the film's small shortcomings.

So gently told, so deceptively simple a story, that its considerable emotional power sneaks up on you.

A smart, quietly moving film.

Through masterful editing, nimble music selection and smart use of documentary materials, the filmmakers shake the dust off cultural clichés to provide a provocative survey of the past. It’s a subversively sleek enterprise.

Nathan Lopez, armed with a diva's slinky cat walk and determination, is absolutely fantastic as Maximo.

A fascinating, richly detailed documentary about the legendary queer collective based in San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s.

Although the writing and the directing are smart and purposeful, the movie takes flight on the strength of its performances.

Xiaoshuai isn't really interested in glamorizing or even exploring the gangster lifestyle; nor is he interested in conventional dramatic arcs.

Hotel Rwanda, based on real lives and events, aims unequivocally to break your heart.

Has moments that are haunting, and it stays with you long after the lights have come back up.

Even those who closely follow African (or global) politics will likely be bowled over by the real-life plot twists unfolding before Merz's camera. What makes the film especially resonate now is the frustration with the status quo that is consistently voiced by the people on the street.

Filmed over a period of six weeks and supplemented with animated music sequences and chilling news footage of the terrifying deluge, Pray is both an elegy and a love letter.

Saturated with deep, rich color and low-key visual wit, and graced with sympathetic performances.

It's both surreal -- and wholly accessible.

But what you ultimately take from the film is the awareness that this smart, self-aware, uncensored kid has been playing to a camera in his own head since well before Venditti came along.

Tender, smart, soulful.

Sampled old newsreel and security-camera footage flesh out the narrative, and the film's visually arresting, but it's the performances that hold it all together.

Leaves you reeling from the force of the humanity it captures and -- in its own gut-wrenching way -- honors.