It grabs you by the viscera in the opening prologue and for the next two hours rarely lets go.

Cruella is not as perfect as the seams Estella stitches, but there’s something ever so charming about its strut.

Parents might appreciate a lighter hand with the barnyard whimsy and food fights, but overall the movie doesn't condescend about heavy matters (grief, healing, and blended families) and is pleasantly diverting.

A sumptuous yet unexceptional story.

Terribly tender, good-hearted picture.

Ryan and Duchovny hold their own in this talky two-hander, navigating their characters’ highs and lows with conviction.

It all adds up to a peculiar whole; fun I suppose, but not what you'd call a picnic.

Many questions occur to the viewer along the way but are never addressed by the filmmakers.

After a sparky first half greatly aided by Kristin Scott Thomas' devilish turn as an unsentimental press secretary, Salmon Fishing grows soggier. It's such a pretty, witty gloss of a picture, it hardly knows what to do with real-world terror, hence the Snidely Whiplash-like limning of Muslim extremists.

Despite the film's abundant gory effects, its best technical achievement may be its English subtitles, which move about the screen for better visual and emotional impact, and sometimes dissolve into poofs of blood or other colored effects.

The seductive scenery in this French film will sink its hooks into any hungering soul, and the window into the winemaking process it offers will stimulate the juices of any armchair oenophile. But the dramatic core of Cédric Klapisch’s Back to Burgundy is pure boilerplate.

Sam & Kate doesn't try to elicit big emotional responses, but that's exactly why it gets them.

All icing, with a few crumbs devoted to the notion that it is futile to resist the heart's desires.

Kasdan injects this all with vigor and breezy humor.

God Help the Girl is not so perfectly crafted, but the promise – oh, the promise is irresistible.

Pure, unadulterated teen exploitation filmmaking at its best -- a heady, rocketing blast of fast cars, loud hip-hop, and a script so cheesy it might as well have “Made in Wisconsin” stamped on it.

It may not be spring yet, but this sweet little gem of a movie is the perfect antidote to that lengthy stretch of grimy gray weather Austin endured a while back.

Danger's never clear and present, but rather a convention. Simply put, Oliver & Company didn't work for me not because I'm many years past my sixth birthday but because it never scared me into forgetting that fact.

Although To the Wonder never transported me, personally, to the ecstatic heights the title promises, there is still much here worth one’s engagement.

Obenhaus' documentary on extreme, "big mountain" skiing feels, despite its jaw-dropping camerawork and patently fearless subjects, like a relic from 1998.

Peeking its head out from this pile of trash is the ghost of one of the year’s most wildly entertaining movies.

In the end, while both of these performers look great together, they really don't seem to belong together. And that's the biggest hitch in Hitch.

May not be grade-A prime, but it ain't chopped liver either.

If you’re looking for "Inglourious Basterds" redux, then this bloodless historical drama isn’t for you. Despite a pair of steely performances from Kingsley (as Eichmann) and Isaac (playing a roguish Shin Bet agent who eventually turns out to be the key to unlocking Eichmann’s stubborn ego), Operation Finale has the too-slow-burn of "Argo"-lite.

Before I Fall puts all its excellent elements in service to a story that’s well-told and has a valuable lesson.

It’s all so quaint to the point of being anachronistic, and considering the dearth of truly family-friendly fare in the marketplace, it arrives just in time to hold wee ones and their parents over until "The Boxtrolls" arrives at month’s end.

August: Osage County is not for the timid or those who prefer family reunions without histrionics. This film is like a long day’s journey into another damn day.

You’ve got to hand it to director Andy Muschietti. Adapting any Stephen King novel – or, for that matter, shorter material – is always a hit-or-miss gig, but It Chapter Two manages to pull out all the stops and in several areas actually tops the first film.