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.