As a documentary about Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic, City of Gold is more or less an entertaining valentine to an interesting guy. As cultural archaeology, unearthing the relationship between food and a city, food and a critic, a city and a critic and a swirling stew of all the above, it's fantastic.

Frot's performance is so towering, so convincing, that it smooths out all the film's rough edges. It's a triumph.

The script, written by the actress, is downright wretched at times.

Yes, questions regarding violence and mayhem are drowned out by violence and mayhem. Such is the superhero life as directed by Zack Snyder. There is no problem that can't be solved with a cranium-rattling explosion or two.

Maybe the real message here is that Brooklyn hipsters are absurdly annoying, whether it's past, present or near future. On that front, Creative Control succeeds. As a compelling film about the alienating effects of technology, not so much.

The film feels overlong and a bit repetitious, but it’s obviously a complex subject that deserves a thought-out treatment.

Subtle it's not, but the film is effective both as a thriller and as a war film with something to say.

Hello, My Name Is Doris is at times self-consciously quirky and precious and implausible — and Sally Field is so good in it that those complaints seem pointless.

Let's just call "Allegiant" what it is: A way for the studio to make money and bring you back next year for the real finale. See you then. Maybe.

I'm all for directors making audiences think, but ultimately, those thoughts need to lead us somewhere. "To the Wonder" didn't, to my mind. I'm not sure Knight of Cups does, either.

Its images are classic, its story immediate and urgent. That's a pretty vital combination.

Only Yesterday is a mature work of art, no matter what the genre, no matter what the format, no matter what.

Trachtenberg is patient building this world, and the actors do a good job inhabiting it. Winstead is a terrific actress, and she makes Michelle's desperation and inventiveness believable. Goodman is never better than when playing a nut, and while we aren't sure if that's what he's doing here, the possibility makes for an intriguing portrayal.

It's an interesting movie, odd and disturbing by design. But it's also effective.

The effect is initially giddy but it ultimately wears the viewer down.

The Boy and the Beast might not quite have the storytelling sophistication to win over every adult, but for teens and tweens in the midst of their own coming-of-age stories, it has the potential to be a wondrous eye-opener.

Ficarra and Requa never quite strike a successful balance between comedy and drama, making the whole thing feel a bit off.

What it lacks in thematic innovation it more than makes up for with enough memorable characters and visual splendor to make Zootopia a perennial Disney favorite.

It's all silly and meant to be fun, except when Najafi tries to throw in some serious bits, which wind up being sillier still.

Jude refuses to force a happy ending upon the audience. Things happen as they happen, and if one scene is especially hard to stomach, it leads to a kind of grim resolve to just keep forging ahead as best you can.

The Last Man on the Moon is one of those movies we didn't realize we needed, but turns out to be just the thing for our fractured, cynical times.

It's a movie as warm and fuzzy as a comfortable blanket, and as safe as the milk Edwards prefers to anything stronger. Not as exciting, perhaps, but it gets the job done well enough.

It’s a compelling journey into the deep, if a meandering one, guided by a moral compass that operates by a different magnetic field than our own, and often leads astray.

Miele also made the similar "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's," a look at another ultra-expensive store in New York. That film, however, did a better job as a social investigation into how the other half lives. Crazy about Tiffany's is more shallow, as befits so many of the interview subjects.

There’s never a sense the filmmakers are preaching the gospel of legalization, although they are certainly not preaching against it, either.

It’s ambiguity without engagement, art you can admire but not feel.

With incredible attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to the world he has created, Eggers slowly, surely builds tension until it's almost unbearable. And that's delightful, if you're a horror fan. It's a terrific film.

Where does creativity come from? And how do the lucky few who are touched by it make it last? Can they? Touched with Fire isn't a perfect study of the question, and it can't really provide a complete answer, probably because there isn't one. But thanks to Holmes and Kirby, it at least asks in a compelling way.

The film, directed and co-written by Kevin Reynolds ("Fandango," um, "Waterworld"), is a nice-enough telling of the Resurrection of Jesus, which at times seems like it also wants to be a Very Special Episode of "CSI: Jerusalem." It's well-made and well-acted.

It’s a stumble down the catwalk not even Blue Steel can save.

How to Be Single has enough laughs and heartfelt moments to appeal to all generations.

It takes a strong stomach for extreme violence and over-the-top obscenity, but if you're willing to roll with that, Deadpool is a hoot.

The zombification of Austen’s material is frequently funny and sometimes clever, but the film stumbles hard when it loses sight of just how ridiculous it is.

What grates is the lack of attention to details. There is a grating sloppiness to much of The Choice, both narratively and stylistically.

While individually some of the scenes are terrific, they don't add up to much, making Hail, Caesar! one of the Coens' lesser comedies, better than "Intolerable Cruelty," say, but nowhere near the genius of "The Big Lewbowski."

What is so impressive is how deeply Abreu makes us feel what Cuca is experiencing.

The Finest Hours is set in the early '50s. But did it really need to feel like it was made during the Eisenhower era?

If directors Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh don't reinvent the panda-as-martial-artist wheel, they avoid making the story seem stale. The terrific animation helps, of course.

Sizemore seems to be operating in his own dimension outside the confines of the film and script, just doing whatever he wants. That's not a compliment. Mills' direction is the movie's high point. It's assured, and he stages scenes with skill.

Brilliant performances from Tom Courtenay and especially Charlotte Rampling make the proceedings all the more genuine, as they bring to piercing life the relationship of two people who maybe don't know as much about each other as they once believed.

The cinematography is outstanding, revealing the harsh beauty of the land. And the acting...is terrific. The burden rests on Eid’s shoulders, and he more than carries it. He’s a natural, showing us Theeb’s curiosity, loyalty and ingenuity while still retaining the innocence of a boy who has been sheltered from the world outside the desert.

Son of Saul offers Nemes' harrowing vision of the possibility of peace, at least within oneself. And it is a singular vision, one that demands to be shared.

At best, Ride Along 2 is what you’ve seen in every other comedic cop movie. Nothing outstanding, but mindless fun.

It’s when bullets fly that Bay is at his best. He stages the battles well, and builds tension effectively and at times inventively.

The Forest is one of those horror movies that starts with an intriguing idea but has no idea what to do with it.

Despite being peppered with dynamic fight scenes, the film drags. And the tacked-on vigilante subplot...doesn't help.

Its scale and ambition at times makes it seem like more than it is: a survival story. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s a good one. It’s just not a whole lot more.

Kaufman and King somehow give felt puppets an independence they might otherwise have lacked. How? The magic of movies, I guess. Or, more likely, the magic of Kaufman’s mind.

The cultural specificity and fiercely patriarchal setting sets Mustang apart. It’s a timely reminder that, even still, there are few safe havens in the world for a free spirit.

Tarantino seems to have no shortage of creativity or inspiration. What he needs to find is someone who isn’t afraid to occasionally say, “Cut.”

The script feels not half-finished, but maybe three-quarters. Lawrence does what she can to make up the missing 25 percent, but even she can’t perform miracles.

Not that there’s anything wrong with raunch. But in the Judd Apatow era of raunch-coms, Anders’ version is pretty weak tea.

Carol is a simple story that sneaks up on you. Todd Haynes takes such care in the telling of it — and the gorgeous depiction of it — that it's impossible not to be moved.

Smith’s performance, in which he resists the urge to go over the top, and the subject matter make Concussion an interesting movie, but not the urgent one it could have been.

The Big Short manages to entertain you while making you really, really mad.

Sorrentino drenches his audiences in the movie-going experience — when you’re done, it’s something akin to enjoying a rich meal, even if you didn’t quite understand how all the ingredients combined. All that’s important is that it satisfies, and ultimately, Youth does.

The camerawork makes Mond's film lovely to look at. But whether you want to spend time with James White depends on your tolerance for yet another film about how hard it is for guys who just feel too much.

The Danish Girl is beautifully shot and tastefully made and acted, but only Vikander seems willing to take chances. Happily, she does.

The movie presents a cute lesson about the importance of family sticking together.

The same effortless chemistry that made the comedians such ideal Golden Globes hosts is on full display in this broad comedy, given extra oomph by a wise and glorious R rating that opens the floodgates of creative vulgarity.

What Abrams has done is find and return the ingredient crucial to the original three films in the franchise that was sorely lacking in the second round: fun...There are some laugh-out-loud moments here, but also some touching ones. Happy, sad, exciting, silly — all that is included, along with the original sense of Saturday-morning-serial abandon that made what became known as “A New Hope” so wonderful all those years ago.

It’s an enjoyable ride, but probably not one you need to take twice.

In an age in which celebrity gossip and page views trump all, hearing two masters talk intelligently about movies and how they’re made is, if nothing else, a welcome treat.

[Kurzel's] vision of what he wants his Macbeth to be never wavers. And he has the actors to make it happen.

The images are impressive. But the characters and their development leave something to be desired.

It is intense and uneven, moving and maddening, all in just about equal measure. But an angry Lee is an interesting Lee, and he’s really angry here.

Though there are no blazing historical insights here, the film is filled with moments of ribald humor and tender poignancy that offer glimpses into a society divided by class but united, mostly, in an outpouring of sheer, overwhelming relief.

The Wonders is one of those films that's easier to experience than explain, which is almost always a good thing.

Jolie Pitt is going for a European cinema vibe here, but all the smoking, drinking and speaking in French can’t disguise the fact that there isn’t a lot going on here. Filmmakers reserve every right to demand patience from their audiences, but they have to provide a worthwhile payoff in the end. By the Sea simply doesn’t.

“No life, no music,” the Tower slogan read. For Solomon and the rest, it was more like a battle cry in a war they fought but ultimately couldn’t win.

With Lake Bell and Simon Pegg as the would-be couple involved, the emphasis is squarely on comedy. There’s some romance in there, too, but it’s nicely twisted, just enough to keep things fresh and funny.

The story lacks the same intensity of the original. Not that everyone will have seen the first one. Those who have will almost certainly find the new version lacking. Those who haven’t will find a solid mystery, nothing more. Given the cast, that’s a letdown.

When all the parts are sewn together, the end result proves as crude and slapdash as the monster itself.

Once you’ve seen the work Stallone and Jordan do in Creed, the idea of a “Rocky 8” doesn’t sound so bad.

Visually beautiful — stunning, in places — but somewhat stale in story, director Peter Sohn’s feature debut will certainly charm young audiences, and there is some nicely bracing grown-up material: love and death, the whole deal.

The Night Before wants to make you laugh and cry, but it doesn’t give us enough opportunities to do enough of either.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 is a dark film, in a dramatically satisfying way.

While 43 points heavily to the corruption and the lies of the government, the truth about what happened to those students still remains a mystery. Perhaps the true point of the film is to spur discussion and not let the story fade as just another unsolved crime against the poor.

The movie is much like its hero, Freddie — straightforward, sweet, hard-working and predictable.

McCarthy and his brilliant cast make hard work and truth-telling inspiring.

Director Jessie Nelson shoots it all like a Hallmark card that comes to life, which sounds like a cliche, which it is, which is the point.

Roach’s film may be light in places, even sugarcoated in others, but any reminder of the past and its impact on the future is a welcome one. Plus, we get a good Cranston performance in the bargain.

Massaging the facts to pump up the drama is a necessary evil in a film like this, but The 33’s cinematic beats are so familiar that they undercut the sense of realism that would make it more compelling.

Brooklyn often feels like a throwback in the best way, while Ronan has an old-time star turn, and she makes the most of it.

There’s more than a whiff of the didactic in Difret, a film overly earnest in spelling out its cause in more-than-occasional exposition. But it is otherwise an affecting drama that is honest and clear-eyed about Hirut’s trauma, and the ongoing struggles she’ll face even if she’s freed, without ever treating her abuse in an exploitative manner.

No one wants to live in the past, but in The Peanuts Movie, the old stuff still stands up, while the new story is just flimsy glue holding the classic bits in place.

It doesn’t help that Barrymore and Collette don’t have much chemistry for best friends forever, but Collette’s work is so compulsively watchable that Miss You Already is worth a watch for that reason alone. And precious few others.

Spectre is still fun, the cast is top-flight. And had it been the first Bond film with Craig in the title role, the reaction likely would be "wow!" This is some good stuff, way deeper than the silly Bonds. But with history behind us, it feels a little slight.

Muscled and ruggedly un-manscaped, Stapleton is an intimidating presence based on physicality alone, but the actor ratchets up the menace factor with a gripping portrayal of a man driven by emotions more complex than mere anger.

That everything is held at such a remove is the artistry of The Assassin, but it comes at the cost of emotional investment. It’s so elliptical in its approach that there’s no love for anyone, or anything, outside of beauty. It can be admired — greatly, even — but it can’t be felt.

It’s an admirable film, though not a particularly memorable one.

The Armor of Light can be frustrating and painful to watch. But ultimately, there is hope here. Schenck and McBath are only two people from opposite sides of the political spectrum coming together, but at least that’s a start.

The food, it must be said, is beautiful. (Mario Batali and Marcus Wareing were consultants on the film.) And Cooper, despite the shortcomings of the role as written, goes all in. So does Miller. This should be a better movie than it is.

Gordon is an eclectic director, and he has trouble with the tone here. It’s not that cynicism can’t evolve into something more useful in film. It’s that the reasons should be more convincing.

What saves Meadowland from being an exercise in masochism is the acting. Wilson and Wilde have a light touch that makes them perfect for the comedies they often make. Here, Morano leads them to much darker places, and they plunge right in.

Cate Blanchett gives a ferocious performance as the steely Mapes, and she mines some genuine emotion out of the material.

Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay Victoria is that while you go in knowing about the gimmick, it doesn’t take long for Schipper to make you forget it almost entirely.

Room is a terrific movie, one that has two outstanding performances, confident direction and a story line that is both harrowing and moving.