Audiences smart and tough enough to seek the film out will have their own reward.

A masterwork from a master filmmaker.

Meticulously thoughtful and economical in its execution, from its camerawork to its editing, Farhadi's carefully wrought narrative and the ways it handles the fragile emotions of its characters truly sets it apart, not only from contemporary Iranian cinema but world cinema in general.

With Sita, Paley brings the same, highly specific and very personal vision we associate with the best indie and alternative filmmaking to the animated form, and the result is riveting.

What MORE could audiences want from a movie than this hilarious, heartwarming entertainment for all ages?

Winter's Bone so far past any notion of formula or precedent that comparison is a futile exercise. This film is a thing all its own.

This Is Not A Film and "A Separation" masterfully show Iranians that are full of the same passions, concerns and desires as the rest of the world-an incredibly important accomplishment now that the drumbeat to war grows louder each day.

Whether audiences have the stomach for 150 minutes behind bars remains debatable, but there is no denying the persuasive power of a film that takes no prisoners and pulls no punches.

The film's charm and delight of discovery, plus its sterling international performances, could make it a breakout hit in theaters.

Andrea Dunbar's portrait here is unforgiving; comparable to Joan Crawford in "Mommy Dearest" or Tobias Wolff's brass-knuckled dad in "This Boy's Life."

Just when we thought there were no new twists to the story of the Warsaw Ghetto comes this documentary: focused, sorrowful and revelatory.

The King's Speech is a magnificent movie treat, one of the very best pictures of the year.

Has a stirring elemental feel and constitutes filmmaking at its most basic and transfixing.

This is not really a biopic of the great President as the title might indicate, but rather a fascinating, savvy look at the inner-workings of the political process and how things in the White House get - or don't get - done.

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.

The title's no joke: the film presents Ceausescu as he presented himself to the world and wanted to be remembered.

The surprisingly effective Moneyball has a smart script, solid direction and great performances.

The Tillman Story illustrates the amazing lengths the Pentagon went to in order to hide the details of that killing.

With his (Herzog) idiosyncratic blend of serendipity, bluntness and mischievous irony, he's able to get at deep questions like no other documentarian.

The film is masterfully directed by Xavier Beauvois who co-wrote the screenplay. At Cannes, Of Gods and Men received the runner-up Grand Prix. It's also France's selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

If there was any doubt Ben Affleck has turned into an exceptional director, his wildly entertaining, pulse-pounding thriller Argo will handily erase those thoughts.

The Master is big screen marvel intended for 70mm projection (a rare treat), with some beautiful imagery, but often inaudible dialogue. Phoenix's lived-in mumble comes off about as clear as Fenster from The Usual Suspects and Amy Adam's precise diction can't even save her harshest talking points.

Seek this one out though, because it's too unique and too defiantly strange to survive for long in today's Darwinian and consumerist exhibition environment.

Fan finds the delicate balance between broad socio-political themes and a single family torn between centuries-old traditions and the desire to succeed in the capitalist world.

Part II gets everything right to send off Harry on a cinematic high.

Shannon makes the man's dilemma plain and moving, and that gives Take Shelter a resonance that last long after the final fade out.

The performances are spot on and so is the film's ever growing sense of horror.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the intellectual action flick of your dreams.

Aggressively impressionistic and unapologetically spiritual, Malick's long-gestating meditation on the meaning of life is, if nothing else, a singularly original and deeply personal film - a growing rarity in American cinema.

The filmmakers have created a wrenching piece of work that allows the viewer to draw his own conclusions-and should make anyone of whatever political persuasion think about exactly what they mean when claiming to "support the troops."

Epic in scope, and featuring a powerful lead performance by Williams, Reichardt does justice to the myth of the wagon train settlers and makes a Western every bit as beautiful and poetic as Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven," and thankfully a bit more energetic.

The director of quirky fare with a rabid cult-like following has made a charming, magical and really funny new work about two unique young kids discovering love over one unforgettable summer, and it's the director's most accessible movie yet.

Director Rian Johnson's resulting film, a cornfield neo-noir, is the coolest, most-confident sci-fi flick since 2006's "Children of Men."

The Descendants is that rare bird, moving, enlightening, funny and unapologetically human. It's one of the year's best pictures, one to savor and think about.

There's more to it than a black-and-white political conclusion, and the laundry list of California documentary heroes in the credits suggests this film is humanist before it's agenda driven.

Wiseman's approach will surprise none of his veteran viewers: no voiceover, no real narrative, just a pure evocation of a place that acts both as a specific site and a microcosm of a larger sphere.

Equally nostalgic and fresh-faced, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is a bohemian musical that owes as much to Cassavetes "Shadows" as it does the French musicals of the '30s.

British filmmaker James Marsh recreates this tale of an ambitious primate language study through traditional face-the-camera interviews, clever graphics and dramatic recreations.

It’s a marvelous document of a still vital musician whose unbending indifference to pop fashion has proven him more creatively durable than any other figure from the golden ’60s moment that gave birth to his career.

It's a mood piece more than a conventional documentary and it should do comfortably above average business on the theatrical documentary circuit, particularly given its location on the list of Oscar nominated documentaries.

This could have been a slick little thriller. Instead, it evolves into the unfolding of an epic tragedy.

Magical and imaginative, this eye-popping masterpiece from director Martin Scorsese will transport audiences to a place they won't believe.

As in "L'Humanité" and "Twentynine Palms," the director presents a cogent study of emotional excess with a sure handed control that harkens back to Robert Bresson.

Joseph Cedar's Footnote is a wry, wise little film that revels in the cataclysmic import of a life's most ostensibly trivial details.

The kids, especially Néron and Nélisse are irresistible and supporting players are well-cast. Human dramas like Monsieur Lazhar are a rare breed these days and this exceptional example is one to be cherished.

A timely and timeless look at the intersecting lives, fortunes and fates of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the fragile Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, Israel.

With a tour-de-force performance from James Franco and an imaginative shooting style that relies on two cameras and inventive angles, what could have been static and deadly dull comes blazingly to life in this powerful and compelling story of one man's will to survive.

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

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 exquisite art and fairytale ambience will win over animation fans and children alike.

Sweet moments of subtle comedy and straightforward family drama mix perfectly with Mike Mills' trademark artfulness in Beginners.

A sharp shock of a film in an Awards season very full of movies so noble they become immobile. It's wildly unlikely to get much love from the Academy, and that's fine-bluntly, it's too good for them. With its bloody stew of history and hysteria, action taken from movies and atrocities taken from fact, Django isn't just a movie only America could make-it's also a movie only America needs to.

Woody Allen's time-travelling comedy Midnight In Paris is a valentine to Paris and an absolute delight.

Journalist and director Allison Klayman doesn't mask her awe of the man, who comes off as a cross between a wise Buddha-figure and Santa Claus - he's made for history, and he's making it.

When a filmmaker like Guggenheim is capable of doing that with a topic as complex as the public education crisis, you know you're watching the work of an extraordinary storyteller.

Campanella has laced his story with twists and turns worthy of Hitchcock and the framing device of the novel (which forces the protagonist to sort out the whole thing through writing) is ingenious.

Norton's tale of an undetected community of tiny people is perfectly suited for a cartoon and this beautifully rendered, almost old-fashioned version is a gem.

Greenfield's fly on the wall view of obscene wealth punctured like a toy balloon is as current as a blog or a headline.

Azabal is superb, conveying Nawal's fiery presence, determination and mounting bitterness. The impressive cast includes non-professionals from Jordan, where Incendies was filmed.

Smartly emphasizing Portis' quirky dialogue and dark comic tone, the Coens show the flare that made them famous.

An investigation into Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting "The Way to Calvary," Majewski's film is a stunning piece of art in its own right.

The emotional journey is articulated with so much nuance, and such a vigorous belief in human possibility, that everything The Surrogate touches becomes its own, and is made new.

The messy uplift audiences can expect from this butterfly awakening they'll get in spades.

For the small but enthusiastic documentary crowd and the comic's diehard fans, it's a must-see.

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

Drive dynamically merges a terrific film noir plot with a cool retro look, evoking '60s classics like "Point Blank" and "Bullitt."

In its small moments, say when Walhberg sighs that his robe misspells "Micky," The Fighter feels clued-in to the very small, very tough world of a man trying to make his way out of his block-and after getting to know his family, you want to help him pack his bags.

Let Me In eclipses "Twilight" in every way, leaving you thirsty for more of this haunting, touching and unforgettable thriller.

It seems odd to call a detailed portrait of toxic romance lovely, but Keep the Lights On truly is.

With Natalie Portman dominating the action and exhibiting a screen maturity not seen from her before, this all-stops-out Grand Guignol melodrama exhibits more than enough blood, sweat and tears (emphasis on the blood) to score nicely beyond the ballet crowd.

It may take some time but Nicole Holofcener’s latest effort gradually grows on you. Partly it’s her obvious affection for her oddball collection of characters; partly it’s the performances of the likes of Keener and Oliver Platt as her wayward husband.

A fine film in a strong summer, but it lacks the spark that made its immediate predecessor a masterpiece.

The Guard may be a formula movie but McDonagh does wonders with the familiar character types and action climax.

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

It's important to note that Waste Land is not a landscape film about the landfill itself. Instead, Walker, who also premiered a second documentary at Sundance, "Countdown To Zero," about the threat of nuclear proliferation, shows that Waste Land is ultimately about the pickers, Tiaõ, Zumbi, Suelem among others, who rise up through the power of their own artistic accomplishments.

A beguiling cross between fiction and non-fiction, Alamar regards the relationship three Mexican males have with the sea.

If it is possible to watch this work as a movie rather than using it as a referendum on its maker’s guilt or innocence, the audience that craves mature, sophisticated and grown-up entertainment will find much to admire here.

Will appeal strongly to a mature audience drawn to robust characters, dry wit, and great performances.

Arguably the best creative decision Jacobs and Siskel make in the film is choosing their talented subjects.

The documentary will resonate with New York Times' readers and fans of personal stories.

Cary Joji Fukunaga's romantic thriller Jane Eyre is to 19th-century literature what "Black Swan" is to ballet: a thoroughly cinematic, occasionally exhilarating reimagining of a repertoire standard.

What makes this movie truly special is that the source of Buck's uncanny gift is actually an acute childhood sorrow.

The Father of My Children is a protean charmer just like Grégoire Canvel, the title character modeled on the late Humbert Balsan.

Sensual and romantic with a heavy dose of the supernatural and populated by indelible characters.

It's an unforgettable, moving and brilliantly acted drama that richly deserves to be seen by anyone who cherishes great filmmaking.

An auspicious, controlled and altogether droll debut film that resembles Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" without being derived from it.

An entomologist's delight, Jessica Oreck's movie about Japan's insect mania is worth watching even if you're repulsed by creepy-crawlers.

Wonderfully animated, witty and wildly imaginative.

The film can be dry and a little repetitive. For all of that, it still manages to generate a surprising measure of suspense and it produces outrage in abundance.

Listen closely, however, and amidst the zingers and world-weary chatter, Chekhov's generous humanism comes through loud and clear.

Martha Marcy May Marlene enters so richly into psychological horror it recalls those disturbing dramatizations of Jonestown that were big on TV in the '80s.

Cornish's idiomatic dialogue is hilarious and the longtime comic's sense of timing is perfect.

A film with a big heart; it's an eccentric dramedy and a crowd pleaser.

A breakthrough comedy, a four-square piece of populist fun that ranks as quite possibly the best mainstream American comedy in years-at least since "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

The holiday season just got a whole lot brighter.

A CG-steeped period-piece fantasy that weds whodunit drama and punch-and-kick mayhem.

An exciting, fun and sensationally entertaining movie for everyone.

Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, Oceans is simply amazing at times, a truly remarkable and extraordinary journey under the sea that takes us places we have never been before.