Janice Page

A rousing, sometimes funny, frequently depressing documentary.

As casually insensitive and careless as you might expect from a film of this era, but it's also surprisingly crafty about finding ways to incite discussion

As full of joy as pain, it's a perspective we need to see more often.

Think “An Inconvenient Truth” meets “Babe,” or “The Good Earth” meets a biodiverse “Marley & Me,” with a dash of the Food Network’s “Pioneer Woman” tossed in. Among other things, that means furry critters romping to a folksy soundtrack with tubas and banjos employed unironically. It means circle-of-life lessons and sun-dappled everything. It means check your cynicism and snark at the gate, if you dare.

It's practically a primer on how to rework a literary classic into an impressively restrained movie with something fresh and intelligent to say.

As goofy action comedies go, Shaolin Soccer is one of the best.

A definitive, low-tech stomping of every sci-fi clone that has sprung up in the original's wake.

Tamblyn's surprisingly measured performance commands attention.

Even when its wires are showing, the movie's soul is always evident.

Roughly translated, Touchez pas au Grisbi means ''don't touch the loot.'' But in literal terms, this film version of Albert Simonin's blockbuster really couldn't care less who ends up with the cash.

As funny as it is sharp.

A well-crafted, bravely revealing little film that could be considered essential education for baseball fans. It's just a bonus that the documentary is so entertaining.

What’s on camera is both damning and expertly assembled, a filmmaking effort worthy of standing with 2009’s Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin abuse, “The Cove.”

One of the most compelling films the Holocaust has yet produced.

Intimidated by the words "avant-garde film"? Then hand yourself over, without reservation, to the skills of documentarian Martina Kudlacek and her astonishingly accessible primer, In the Mirror of Maya Deren.

Ride it out, and you will find the rewards modest but meaningful.

Isn't just a feel-good movie; it's a feel-good-and-righteous movie. And audiences will forgive its flaws.

In Mongolian Ping Pong the point is to look under the majestic vistas and see value in ordinary things -- ping-pong balls included.

Because Manito is really just an opera without the violins or Viking hats, you probably don't need to have everything spelled out. Its Spanish-English script is secondary to the universal language and timeless drama of family, community, dreams made and dreams dashed.

fully devotes itself to painting a family portrait seldom allowed such rich cinematic detail.

Combines an insider's perspective with what can only be described as gutsy cinematography.

The best that can be said of the men in Coline Serreau's Chaos is that some of them are pimps.

This Earth doesn't really have anything new to say, but it does present some newly entertaining ways of saying it.

Knowlton has landed on four stories that deserve to be told, and she's told them in a straightforward way that gets the job done, with obvious dedication and love.

It is at least an "experience" that has to be labeled exhilarating.

One of the smartest things Kaplan does, besides getting talented Boston folk singer Catie Curtis to contribute to the soundtrack, is hang around long enough to see how this three-headed relationship plays out.

This is a ride, a video game, a soundtrack -- unapologetic and clearly labeled as such. It has no middle speed.

Where Wiseman excelled in respecting the broad rhythms and pure storytelling of the ring, Chang's new documentary focuses on the stories of three boxers and weaves them into a compelling narrative that rivals anything Hollywood could script.