Lou Lumenick

Masterful acting.

Frequently hilarious, occasionally sweet and often graphically violent, Pineapple Express may not be the greatest stoner movie ever made, but it will do perfectly well until we get another hit of Harold and Kumar.

It's a far more effective leftist argument than the bombastic "Fahrenheit 9/11."

42 may not be a home run, but it’s certainly a solid three-base hit as worthy family entertainment.

Look at Me is on the talky side, but like Jaoui's directing debut, "The Taste of Others," it offers uniformly excellent performances and smart observations on social and family interactions.

A breakthrough animated film -- a trippy cross between "Yellow Submarine" and "My Dinner With Andre" that will leave some audience members struggling to stay awake and others reaching for a toke.

Despite some plot holes, Delirious, hits the bull's-eye with razor-sharp performances and dialogue.

Classic shipboard romantic dramedy involving a condemned prisoner (William Powell) who hooks up with a dying woman (Kay Francis). Excellent support by Frank McHugh and Aline MacMahon as a pair of con artists. [31 Jan 2010, p.6]

Queen To Play is ultimately about people's capacity for emotional and intellectual growth at any age.

Obviously a labor of love for all involved, including GOP mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg, who bankrolled the production and receives full producer credit. He deserves it.

Never reaches the heights of "Short Cuts" or "Magnolia" -- two multi-story films that clearly provided inspiration -- but it's a thoughtful road trip well worth taking.

A delightful "That's Entertainment" for the theater.

The documentary was filmed in the 1990s by Denny Tedesco, whose father Tommy is credited as the most recorded guitarist in history, including the instantly identifiable themes to “Bonanza” and “Mission: Impossible.”

A clever and big- hearted gay screwball comedy.

Truth be told, Firth's transcendent performance in A Single Man renders that stylistic gimmick utterly unnecessary -- Firth provides all the emotional color this movie needs, and then some.

The Congress doesn’t fully live up to its lofty ambitions, but it does attempt something most filmmakers wouldn’t even dream of — a dystopian blend of live-action and animation that acidly comments on some of Hollywood’s touchiest issues before drifting off into an existential fog.

Starts out a lot like an expensive-looking episode of "CSI" before morphing into a solidly entertaining time-traveling romance.

This superbly acted and ultimately disarming dual coming-out comedy-drama -- which turns out to be semi-autobiographical -- certainly grows on you, despite all of the twee touches.

Mr. Holmes, derived from a novel by Mitch Cullin, isn’t quite as deep or as poignant, but amply rewards McKellen and Holmes fans willing to go with its leisurely pace.

Rip Torn gives his best performance in years.

Dark, morbidly funny and quite violent movie, which plays with audience members' heads in ways many people will find quite disturbing.

The second half of Godzilla is definitely more fun than the first part of a film I enjoyed overall, if less than last year’s similar dip into giant monster blockbusterdom, “Pacific Rim.”

Except possibly for a superlative supporting performance by Hugh Bonneville of “Downton Abbey,’’ Clooney’s low-key directorial effort is not quite an Oscar-caliber movie, though it’s got a great cast, a worthy theme and plenty of things to reward adult moviegoers.

What makes Storm Surfers 3-D mesmerizing is jaw-dropping footage shot inside brute waves that’s unlike any I’ve ever seen before.

Had me watching through misty eyes, at least for the first half.

Basically a mega-budget war movie that makes fun of mega-budget war movies.

Redford's history lesson illustrates the old maxim that those who forget history are bound to repeat it.

Risks trivializing history and pandering to feminist fantasies, but it may be the year's most fearless movie.