M. E. Russell

If you enjoyed any of Frank's previous work, or thought "Brick" was the bomb, you'll love this.

This is one of Downey's most enjoyable performances, and one of Kilmer's funniest. It's a relationship comedy wrapped in sharp talk and gunplay, a triumphant comeback for Black, and one of the year's best movies.

Imaginary Heroes feels like an endless series of wakes, awkward cocktail conversations and teen house parties, which would be fine if Harris wrote less cartoony dialogue.

The Ringer is appalling.

The movie's biggest charm is its unpredictable, offbeat tone.

Bacon's mature performance serves a story that's considerably less sophisticated than he is, making The Woodsman less "brave" and more a slightly better-made movie of the week.

It's frustrating that a movie about a man so deathly serious about music has largely boiled his life down to addiction and adultery.

This meandering tale of a pack of ticket inspectors working the Hungarian subway system delights in misleading viewers.

The movie is well-acted and a bit frustrating, but also a pleasant little surprise.

On balance, the filmmakers do a terrific job with one of the weaker stories. It's welcome news that Yates is coming back for one of the stronger ones; he's set to direct "Half-Blood Prince."

Despite some fast-paced direction by Wes Craven, Red Eye finally gets so silly, it's practically popping its wing-rivets.

After the terrifying grotesques that were the live-action "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Cat in the Hat," it was easy to dread a feature-length Horton Hears a Who!. But -- surprise -- the computer-animated "Horton" is largely funny and faithful to the spirit of the Dr. Seuss book.

After the initial charm wears off, the whole thing gets check-your-text-messages dull.

A nasty little tube of frozen horror concentrate.

The Boys of Baraka leaves you outraged in the way only the best documentaries can.

At its best, Prisoners dwells on the ways the characters affected by the case are held mentally captive -- by conviction, compulsion, procedure, skewed beliefs, rage, and grief -- and how each character's blind spot and/or maniacal focus furthers or frustrates the search for the girls.

A rough little comedy of tone. White, making his directorial debut, asks if the search for self is still heroic when the discoveries are unpleasant.

Our Idiot Brother lives in a sort of relaxed in-between place where it doesn't really bite as drama or comedy, but the movie's world-class cast and big heart push it over.

Though it somehow manages to be a movie about inner peace with crazy, incredibly staged fight scenes every 10 minutes, it is, first and foremost, a movie about inner peace.

The movie has "heart" in a way that doesn't feel cloying or dishonest. And the cast -- especially Janelle Schremmer -- just nails it.

Gosling is excellent playing a character who's fundamentally unknowable.

Waititi is still telling stories of offbeat, semi-delusional New Zealanders, and he's still sprinkling his work with cartoonish flights of fancy -- but this time he grounds the comedy in a big-hearted, bittersweet story about a boy desperate to connect with his father.

Director Tony Scott's runaway-train action flick Unstoppable is semi-remarkable for what it doesn't contain.

As pointless suspense exercises go, The Strangers at least gets off to a good start.

Duplicity is perfectly titled: There isn't a second of this smart, twisty, grown-up thriller in which someone isn't lying, cheating or stealing, often from someone they claim to love.

Night at the Museum ends up being a pretty fun all-ages comedy -- if you can survive its first 20 minutes.

The movie still works as a clever little "Twilight Zone" episode with great production values, and it's an impressively ambitious debut for Barthes.

It's a definite crowd-pleaser and a perfectly fun night at the movies.