Miriam Bale

Mr. Anderson displays his mastery as a director in the sword-fighting scenes... But the glares and eye rolls that bookend these scenes are what make this film both GIF-ready and campy fun.

A wondrous and slightly deranged story about oddballs embracing their differences.

Free Birds is likely to leave audiences fuzzy-headed and vaguely nauseated instead of nourished and satisfied.

Very young children fluent in French may enjoy the film for its jokes, but anyone old enough to read the subtitles is likely to be unamused.

The Nut Job features muddy-colored and often ugly animation, a plot that feels too stretched out and loaded with details to hold the attention of most children, and more flatulence jokes than anyone deserves.

This eager film piles on common fears: evil puppetry, haunted homes and overly generous hosts. So despite a sloppy and humorless execution, it is scary by association.

The miracle of the new 3-D dance film Battle of the Year is how it can be so relentlessly boring while there is so much frenetic activity on screen.

This is a message film with the narrative sophistication of a recruiting pamphlet.

The documentary is not really about these older people but about this couple.

The film’s strange mixture of primitive and poetic images becomes etched into memory. Weaving observation and a shared dream state, this is an intuitive and intricate exploration into the feeling of sound.

Mr. Verrette shows talent in conveying complex emotions, yet he’s handicapped by his grand ambition and an inability to do simple scenes well.

It’s amusing, and a refreshing change from the usual C.G.I.-heavy blockbusters.

Ms. Jaye uses sound, composition and careful patience to create a contemplative mood of memory, loss and magic. With limited resources and the power of storytelling, she has created a small film that feels mainstream and epic.

It’s essentially a modern version of “The Big Chill” without the banging oldies soundtrack or competent actors.

Watching it feels like packing a semester-long history course with a very cool, left-leaning teacher into less than 90 minutes. The aim is wide-reaching and abstract, yet cohesive and invigorating.

Instead of one satisfyingly complex film, it’s two or three films in one, a turducken of comedies.

In addition to the copious flashbacks, there is an overly generous heaping of styles on display.

[A] useful, if slightly redundant, oral history.