Richard Mowe

This intense and almost operatic Italian family melodrama recalls the best of Douglas Sirk.

For all lovers of old style animation it should build up the same cultish following as "Triplets."

Films have punctured The American Dream before, but rarely so devastatingly as The Company Men does.

The script does not provide that much illumination, yet the power of the acting and the quality of the visual imagery carry us along.

A whimsical essay about the final days of a villager suffering from kidney failure it is undoubtedly one of the filmmaker's most accessible works.

Mike Leigh has a knack of making the ordinary extraordinary. Here he deals with themes of class, family and depression over a period of a year, breaking it up into seasonal chapters.

The deadly sins of envy, lust and salacious gossip in deepest rural England provide the motor for Stephen Frears's black romp, featuring vivacious former Bond girl Gemma Arterton.

A tough psychological drama, it may stretch some audience sensibilities.

Wacky and good-humored, Go Go has a seductive visual appeal that Ferrara exploits to the fullest.

Don't count on special effects: it has been lovingly and traditionally animated to pay homage to E.H. Shepard's original drawings.

The reinvention of this neighborhood may be in the cause of progress for New York's urban landscape, but sometimes you can't help feeling that the planners and the bureaucrats should leave well-enough alone.

The performances are excellent, even if none of the characters are all that likeable or involving.

Araki's got a certain garish flare to his delivery that those more patient with the content will find appealing and Thomas Dekker offers an engaging performance.

Both emotionally charged and at times extremely funny, with humor emerging naturally from the characters' predicaments, Meet Monica Velour has the feel-good factor without comprising its ideals.

The romantic fable of love, marriage, art and second chances may not add up to all that much but the journey is exquisite.

It is the boy's tough exterior and lack of self-pity that binds the narrative together, making this one of the Dardennes' most appealing undertakings.

This film is only for those with strong constitutions and a penchant for painstaking details.

The Thompsons have a tough task to explain all the machinations in the film's first half but once the scene is set it unravels in an entertaining way, jumping forward a year--but always with flashbacks to that infamous dinner party.

Stunningly shot by cinematographer Nigel Bluck (Handsome Harry) the film captures beautifully the magic of the foliage and the surrounding landscapes.

Despite the high drama of the financial crisis, this documentary, which is full of talking heads, could have been as dry as a balance sheet. It's quite the reverse: funny, sardonic, investigative and gripping.

This is one of Denis's most provocative films and also one of her most compelling.

The film proves a gripping, if uneven, cinematic journey.

Koolhoven manages the difficult balance of entertaining as well as offering a high emotional impact, with considerable agility. Pino Donaggio's soaring and powerful score intensifies all of the drama.

Thrilling and suspenseful without an American star like Russell Crowe or an excess of explosions.

The film wears its heart on its sleeve, but the drama falters when the tone grows over-earnest; additionally, Scott's direction fails to exert a tight grasp on his material.

Just when many may have thought that Cold War thrillers had gone out of fashion, along comes one to reinvigorate the genre.

Actress and director Maïwenn Le Besco (a.k.a. Maïwenn) confounds expectations by drawing together a heart-thumping patchwork of dramas and emotions.

Piccoli in a role that relies on looks, gestures and very few words, does not hit an off note, making him into a silent, everyman figure.