In any case, The Girl Who Played with Fire works well as a stand-alone feature, though it's more fun if you've seen the first film.

What really distinguishes Captain from the other superhero movies of 2011 (and quite frankly, the majority of the others released in the last several years) is a romance that feels like an integral - not incidental - component of the plot.

Parents will want to stay for this one.

Warm, broad and uneven, City Island almost thrives in the lite entertainment zone where ethnic family dramedy meets mildly raucous farce.

He's either daring you not to laugh or daring you not to care, but either way, you'll laugh, care and worry about the consequences in Dark Horse.

Features some of the most exhilarating action sequences the screen has seen in years.

A cleverly daft meta-romp that will be best remembered for its quotes, Seven Psychopaths is a game and garishly shot production that's elegant in its own seedy way.

A lawman seeking redemption can't seem to escape sin in Ed Gass-Donnelly's haunting, rural drama.

Gingerly pieced together, The Woman with the 5 Elephants has a delicacy and indirectness that's alluring and provocative at the same time.

Spurlock is at his trouble making best throughout the film, especially when he persuades longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader by offering him a free pair of Merrell shoes.

With the nation’s unemployment rate hovering around 10% and home foreclosure numbers stubbornly high, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher’s haunting documentary of multigenerational troubles is either a case of great timing or, possibly, the worst timing ever.

Carancho's noir vibe stems from the scenario itself, plus claustrophobic cinematography and art direction.

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.

A clever movie premise based on an obscure comic book has been turned into, okay we’ll say it, a fanboy’s kick-ass wet dream of a movie that could be a surprise Spring smash.

The message is nearly as slight as the presentation and just as hard to pin down, but even when tackling something as sharp edged and soft bellied as exclusion Littlerock is not without its pleasures.

Not only is the film a slog, the main focus is on the band's arguably inferior last decade.

What I can say is if you're flesh and blood, and have ever suffered a substantial loss, you will be moved by Another Earth. And also renewed.

Fiennes' technique is extraordinary in its simplicity, balancing a literal prowl throughout his immense sculptural environs with a respectful observational distance.

Meet the new face of superheroes: Marc Webb's totally teenage and totally fun take on the Spider-Man franchise.

Premium Rush has a rewarding relentlessness and a payoff that suggests that whirring city that surrounds us in is full of supporters who see past the system.

Stake Land is the movie "The Road" should have been.

Despite Brody and Polley's reasonable efforts, they can't compensate for a script that undermines its curiosity about humanity.

A grueling, stunningly photographed story.

It's a wonderfully moving meditation on the capacity of animals to inspire our imaginations and something applicable to educational markets as well as regular documentary audiences.

Abolishing obvious innuendo and employing a deft handling of script and character, the film has all the fixings to play like a sleeper in arthouses.

Rebel Wilson is the peroxided Aussi who stole scenes as Kristen Wiig's roommate in "Bridesmaids," and this is the role that will turn her into a star.

Deftly veering from comedy to drama, director David Frankel (who also guided Streep to one of her 17 Oscar nominations in "The Devil Wears Prada") never loses sight of the humanity and universality of the situation.

This is a film of warmth, humor, suspense and surprising grace.

The best parts of Sparling's script play like an absurdist snuff film.

Instead of a topic documentary, If a Tree Falls becomes the personal story of a well-intentioned man whose passion for the environment leads to serious consequences.

It is a dark drama to be sure and it does carry with it a whiff of disease-of-the-week melodrama, yet there is also transcendence in the tale; as bleak as the film is, it is not without hope.

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

The results are so funny and irresistible audiences are bound to be swept away into this kitty's universe.

It is America's oldest and most prestigious high school science competition. Over two thousand students begin each year vying for slots; 40 are chosen as finalist. For high school science and math geeks this is a big deal.

It takes from American gangster classics ("White Heat" and both "Scarface" films come to mind) but its unique setting and underlying themes give it distinction.

Circumstance demonstrates raw talent and a taste for big ideas.

Far from a perfect movie, but there are moments when it comes about as close to catching the visceral kick of the pre-iPod rock experience as any film I've ever seen.

Along the way Göran and Sven suffer the standard indignities of a Gay couple in an idyllic Swedish neighborhood. Which, as it turns out, are all the same indignities a Gay couple suffers living in an idyllic American neighborhood.

The results are perfunctory, lugubrious and historically questionable.

In a crackerjack and very lean 100 minutes, the lithe and physically dynamic Jolie burns up the screen and shows the boys how it's done.

What the film does well, however, is grasp the tone and rhythm of the original comic books.

Dazzling turns by stars Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton; unrelenting suspense; and a wealth of black humor will appeal to an arthouse crowd, though the violence and other unsavory aspects of the story will turn off some.

It's difficult to imagine a more fascinating case of sociopathic, obsessive-compulsive behavior, or a more disciplined, engrossing study of it. And yet a vital ingredient is missing.

Resnais' storytelling is in top form. Turning 88 this June, he's an inspiration to us all.

What transpires gives fresh meaning to ‘sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.'

Great as it is, this is not a ticket buying kind of movie.

A darker and more ambitious meditation on impermanence, Samsara relies on blunt force and unforgettable imagery, overcoming the hazy logic of Fricke's editing to earn your awe.

The beauty of the film and what ultimately makes it more timeless than trenchant, is the way it side-steps the entire issue of Hanna's sex.

This intelligent, emotional drama should resonate strongly with fans of character-driven stories and those interested in tales of American political struggle.

The film might have ended at its action-packed and ultimately moving climax, but screenwriter Steve Kloves goes one step farther. He finds the perfect cliffhanger, one that emphasizes just how dangerous young Mr. Potter's situation really is and definitely leaves the audience anxious for the next chapter.

Ondine is Injected with a heavy dose of magic and has a lot going for it: an endearing performance from star Colin Farrell, Christopher Doyle's evocative cinematography and a captivating-if thin-story.

A superficially provocative movie that tries way too hard to be memorable. Horror aficionados will be tantalized before walking away unsatisfied.

An artistically mature work with pitch perfect performances.

It has its moments, although the charmless main character Julio (played by Diego Noguera) begins to get on your nerves, as he seems incapable of extricating himself from difficult situations.

Still, the fans are lovable no matter how mixed the Comic-Con bag is, and Morgan Spurlock is precisely the doc maker to tell us about it.

Katz, however, is great with gentle moments (his most dear and haunting is the final scene), and he handles the balance of mystery and family drama quite adeptly.

The film’s warmth and heart comes from introducing us to someone born to do exactly what she’s doing.

It's a well structured, sometimes riveting piece of information gathering that proves once again that Corrie's death was unnecessary and that closure has remained intriguingly, maddeningly, sadly elusive.

Annette Bening is the most pivotal character in the movie, both angry and scared.

Call it Prosthetic Flipper, but the truly inspiring Dolphin Tale is perfect family entertainment.

The timing is right for this remarkable and riveting family drama which puts a human face on the hot-button topic of immigration in such effective and emotional terms that you may never look at the subject in the same way again.

Beneath the hype and promises, however, it's almost a letdown that the actual film is merely very good: a better-than-average 3D big-budget space tale.

The film is a twisty and playful primer that suggests the best thing to do when beset with ugly forces is to publicly laugh them off. What happens in private is your business.

With a similar brand of self-aware playfulness, retains its predecessor's sturdy narrative foundation.

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.

Killing Them Softly tries hard - and succeeds - to be a film of the now with its political parallels right in front of us. Yet it's also an invisible companion to the dirty business at hand - and it is a business.

Tirador ’s frenetic style and locale will remind many viewers of Fernando Meirelles’ much-admired City of God.

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.

Beautifully shot but more than a little sterile.

More than just a jocular account of a musical comedy revue, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is a snapshot of a unique man's psyche at a very peculiar moment.

For the most part, Olliver and Orshoski are smart enough to allow Lemmy's unique personality to come to them, as opposed to pushing a case for it.

The accessible story and fast-paced action scenes could draw a good arthouse audience, more than usual for a Romanian film.

Contrary to all of my bitter nudging, I found both sweet and charming. It's just me: I hate precocious children.

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.

It's dumb and consistently funny.

A specialty house crowd pleaser on par with their previous arthouse hit "The Visitor," and Hoffman should be prepared for another round of acclaim; except this time, admirers will be discussing his directing work.

This is admirably ambitious, but Carnahan's not nearly good enough a writer or director to pull it off: the results are portentous, muddled and not nearly as entertaining as Neeson's usual face-punching antics.

Though it fails to live up to its dynamic predecessor in almost every way, District B13: Ultimatum should still be enough to satisfy the earlier film’s small but faithful core of American fans.

Devotees and the curious may find it mildly diverting, otherwise this effort is not for the faint-headed.

Monsters is enormously satisfying in the way it combines suspense, romance and sci-fi. It heralds a bright new talent in Edwards. If he can do all this for no money, imagine what he can do with a real budget.

This documentary on one of the most universal, photographed, analyzed, opined upon and slavered over human experiences manages to astound.

On one side Lbs. deals with a subject not often handled dramatically and this alone gives it an urgency and a credibility.

There are gaps here and there, but it provides a fascinating introduction to a corner of film history that has gotten too little attention.

The most surprising courtroom drama since 1985's "Jagged Edge," The Lincoln Lawyer is a don't-miss cinematic page-turner with enough twists to fill five movies.

The result is a masterpiece of moving pieces, a dizzying and obscenely beautiful film that boils down Tolstoy's text to its most basic elements by making literal the theater of high society.

By poking fun at the cliches, director Gluck thinks he can turn an inevitability into an in-joke. Eh, it'll do.

It's scary fun and packed with comic bits that skate between sad and absurd like the best of reality TV.

Isn't very funny or much fun at all.

Audience appeal will be limited to people who see nothing silly about saying the man who invented the five-point haircut was one of the primary architects of the '60s.

For fans, this is exactly how the story of Jean Valjean's transformation from thief to saint should be delivered: smothered in bombast.

One of Hot Tub Time Machine’s only genuinely nifty moves is getting John Cusack, Dobler himself, to topline the film.

Green Zone is an exercise in commercial cowardice masquerading as a thriller about political bravery.

Leyser has done his job with this, his first feature, burnishing Burroughs' legend and making manifest the enormous shadow he still casts over writers and artists of all stripe.

Rio is the biggest and brightest animated triumph since "Toy Story 3."

Akin to a stroll through a gallery, L'amour Fou is meditative and magically eye-opening.

In a family market that's been woefully weak of late, Megamind should not only rescue Metro City but the box office, too.

Shutter Island is a bear hug to cinema while it’s also an occasionally tart valentine to genre.

An uplifting, high energy documentary.