Lou Lumenick

To get to the best part first, Tarantino's adrenaline-pumping "Death Proof" is actually a good movie that - unlike Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," - rethinks its genre in ways that say something to contemporary audiences. And it's got some of Tarantino's best dialogue since "Pulp Fiction."

Directed with sledgehammer subtlety by Dennis Dugan ("I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry").

Thomas Vinterberg (“The Celebration”) directs with restraint that makes the story all the more affecting.

Rip Torn gives his best performance in years.

This superb documentary about the Catholic Church's worst pedophile scandal is in many ways far scarier than any fiction.

Duvall and Spacek are so in tune with each other's rhythms -- despite their 20-year age difference -- that it's hard to believe they've never acted together before.

Has a generosity of spirit and a wonderfully upbeat ending that makes it a nice little antidote to a bleak season.

Offers some stunningly beautiful sequences and an engaging, if at times quite dark, story line.

A devastatingly straightforward chamber piece that goes straight to the heart of what this city was feeling in the days right after Sept. 11.

A hip eye-opener.

That still makes Broken Embraces superior to at least 99 percent of the movies released in 2009. Run, don't walk.

Has a doozy of a surprise ending that doesn't really stand up under close scrutiny - but you'll have so much fun getting there, it's easy to go along with Lee and company for the ride.

Chico and Rita beguiles first and foremost as a bebop romance that evokes a bygone era as well as, or maybe even better than, "The Artist."

Only sporadically entertaining.

So exploitative and misogynistic that its last-minute dramatic turns and pleas for tolerance and understanding come off as manipulative as its heroine.

An extremely well-acted and well-directed remake of a 1957 oater.

After 160 years, this is a story that still grips the heart and the mind.

Clooney, who gained 35 pounds for the role, gives a self-effacing but highly effective performance.

Dreamgirls may be good enough to win the Oscar for Best Picture - great costumes, sets and choreography help - but despite stellar work by erstwhile "American Idol" contestant Hudson and Murphy, it's far from a great picture.

That 20-minute white-knuckle sequence - which includes Washington's character, Whip Whitaker, flipping the plane upside down to pull out of a tailspin - is by far the most effective part of director Robert Zemeckis' first live-action film since the underrated "Cast Away" 12 years ago.

Filming in gritty, black-and-white 16mm, Riker gets terrifically natural, often moving performances from his mostly non-professional cast.

This So-Called Disaster was the father's sarcastic term for their relationship.

It's an odd, initially jarring mixture of style and subject matter that works better as the film goes along.

Features a riveting performance by Michael Shannon as oldest son Son. He's definitely an actor to watch.

Wojtowicz was a folk hero thanks to the movie, and he cashed in on his celebrity by signing autographs in front of the bank he tried to rob. He also retained the love and support of his wife and his doting mother, both of whom are interviewed with him in The Dog, until his death in 2006.

Helen Mirren outdoes even her Oscar-winning performance in "The Queen" with her tour de force as Countess Sofya Tolstoy in Michael Hoffman's delightful The Last Station.

Spacey does his best work since "American Beauty'' as a tired middle-aged corporate warrior whose greatest compassion, in the end, is reserved for an ailing dog he has to put to sleep.

One of the year's best.