Loren King

Offers a surprising and revealing look at Russia's past and present.

An innovative hybrid of documentary, staged reading, fictional feature, and confessional, The Arbor defies categorization not merely for art's sake - although its artistry is without question - but because conventional forms seem inadequate for such a harrowing story.

Mesmerizing and unforgettable.

One of the most searing, heartbreaking and ultimately triumphant mother/daughter stories ever put on film.

Exquisitely captures the irony and hopefulness of the era.

Despite its shortcomings, Girls Can't Swim represents an engaging and intimate first feature by a talented director to watch, and it's a worthy entry in the French coming-of-age genre.

Mix of stylish action and meta-musings, provides plenty of confusing, satisfying surprises, though it could have used more tightness and punch.

A fine, handsome-looking costume drama that works best as a historical account of a brutal era. But as a portrait of the Marquis de Sade, it is not titillating in the over-the-top manner of "Quills."

Any film about the folk tradition is required to have a stellar soundtrack, and Songcatcher does not disappoint.

Manages the right balance of fairy tale and joyous self-discovery. And the Venice locations don't hurt.

Despite the deftness with which Bigelow handles the transitions, the modern story never attains the intrigue and tension of the period tale.

Toback's films deliver a lot of bang for the buck. He's one of the few serious and original directors who can mix group sex and talk of existentialism; a fast-paced basketball sequence cut with scenes of Mafia members plotting a hit; and an in-class philosophy lecture stylishly edited with Alan's memories of a contradictory in-bed discussion.

Miss Bala signals the rise of a director to watch, as Naranjo offers a grim subject with neither flash nor sentiment. It is a sober film done with style.

Time of Favor, which boasts a haunting score, is an unflinching, complex portrait of a modern Israel that is rarely seen on-screen.

It is an uncompromising family tale, one that's dark but lyrical and moving in its rendering of the ties that bind even the most dysfunctional families, despite valiant efforts to destroy them.

The storytelling is episodic, and the film takes a little while to get going, but it hits its stride.

A luminous love letter to the Banco Chinchorro, the largest coral reef off Mexico's coast, and to the tender bonds between a father and son.

It puts The Cockettes into social, political and popular cultural context and gives the documentary a moving resonance.

Circo offers a fascinating mix of backstage drama and family dynamics.

The intriguing subject, unfortunately, collapses under too many talky scenes of the samurai discussing their feelings and gossiping about who loves whom.

Delivers a surprising, moving portrait of contemporary womanhood.

Despite its charms, and the refreshingly non-traditional characters, Lilo & Stitch seems diluted and too derivative to be as effective as one wants it to be.

Resonates with intelligence and a poignancy made more sorrowful by what happened to all of us, but especially to New Yorkers, on that terrible day.

Reliable, standard Disney animated fare, with enough creative energy and wit to entertain all ages.

The film's crude humor and violence -- cartoonish, but still violent -- should offend parents of younger kids. Yet its ultra-broad, pratfall-filled comedy will satisfy only the most indiscriminate teens.

It’s a surprisingly humorous and humane film — a lyrical little oddity that stands as a welcome return to form.

Griffin may well get there, but he's not there yet.

Radnor's script is more bittersweet than laugh-out-loud funny.