Frank Scheck

Each of the stories, impeccably staged and acted, has just the right length, well befitting the slight aspects of their story lines. Never allowing preciousness or ponderousness to infuse the material, filmmaker Pak demonstrates a real talent for concise storytelling marked by poignancy and humor.

This is one film that’s definitely worth catching on the big screen.

The animation, too, is consistently delightful, densely crammed with visual gags and imaginative flourishes.

Julian Fellowes’ typical witty script proves a pleasure throughout.

The film’s computer-animated visuals, vividly rendering such locales as Cuba, Key West and the Everglades, are consistently arresting. But it’s the joyous musical numbers and sentimental but never treacly tale at its center that make Vivo such a winning effort.

At once a touching adolescent love story and a visually evocative portrait of society torn apart by literally competing forces, Patema Inverted is an uncommonly ambitious animated effort that beautfully illustrates the need for both physical and emotional connections in a topsy-turvy world.

Unlike the restrained 1974 film which cleverly relied mainly on suggestion, this version piles on the graphic, often CGI-enhanced gore.

Ultimately, for all its wildly entertaining elements, Kalki 2898 AD feels like too much of a good thing, resembling the sort of lavish buffet meal that leaves you feeling overstuffed and exhausted. But fans of this particular style of cinema are not likely to mind.

A highly informative if rather hagiographic portrait of the notable playwright and performer, The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch should prove quite enticing for the legions of fans who have followed him throughout his career.

The problem is, despite the fact that the cast is filled with a gallery of veteran comic performers, few of the characters they portray are very interesting.

Infused with psychological complexity and nuanced characterizations, Ouija: Origin of Evil falters only in the final section.

More interesting conceptually than dramatically, Eric Nicholas' thriller Alone With Her boasts a highly clever technological conceit, albeit one that was exploited many years ago to a lesser degree in "The Anderson Tapes."

This documentary about Howard Zinn provides an effective if not necessarily comprehensive or objective portrait of the esteemed historian and activist.

A stylish period thriller set in 1930's Shanghai, The Bullet Vanishes is one of the more striking Chinese imports.

Filled with devastating statistics documenting the devastating effects of climate change on the planet, the film takes particular aim at CEOs, or “greedy lying bastards,” of the oil and gas corporations which are contributing to the crisis.

The Dirties is as provocative as it is sloppily messy in its themes.

Thomason delivers a strong performance as the stalwart hero, and Furlong... makes for a highly convincing jerk. But their efforts aren’t enough to prevent the end of the world, at least as depicted here, from seeming awfully dull.

Featuring generous amounts of haunting archival footage and photographs, the film is occasionally a bit diffuse in its narrative, straining to convey the complexities of its story with an overabundance of detail. But it ultimately succeeds.

The film serves as a concise biographical portrait and an excellent introduction to the writer's works.

The odd subject matter should have made for a riveting film, but, like many documentaries, Liberation Day (the title refers to the North Korean holiday celebrating the anniversary of the end of Japanese rule) feels both too short and too long.

A diverting blend of "Rear Window"-style suspense and autumnal romance. While the film is ultimately unable to fully succeed on either front, it offers many pleasures along the way.

Flirting intriguingly with film noir conventions, the film never really achieves a coherent tone in its depiction of the complicated and sometimes fatal series of events that arise.

Phillip Noyce’s thriller starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role has the irreverence of an Elmore Leonard tale, leavened with generous doses of sentiment.

While the disparate thematic elements don’t mesh together seamlessly in Crater, the film offers enough fun and thrills to swell the ranks of aspiring astronauts.

Speed Sisters is an eye-opening doc that succeeds in its goal of shattering stereotypes.

Whether outsiders will find much to appreciate in The TV Set is another question because the film fails to provide the thematic resonance of similarly themed predecessors like the brilliant "Network."

The scattershot results, while admittedly providing plenty of fascinating details, doesn't quite do its subject justice.

It is Gubler’s appealing performance that anchors the proceedings.