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.

Despite the high drama of the financial crisis, this documentary, which is full of talking heads, could have been as dry as a balance sheet. It's quite the reverse: funny, sardonic, investigative and gripping.

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.

It is the boy's tough exterior and lack of self-pity that binds the narrative together, making this one of the Dardennes' most appealing undertakings.

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.

The soul of the movie is Mia Wasikowska, a radiant young actress who captures with quiet precision the quandary of a bookish "good girl" suddenly roused to wider personal and experiential possibilities, and to their potential cost.

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.

James keeps viewer attention the whole time, despite forcing unnecessarily sentimental music on his footage and chopping his scenes down to dramatic highlights rather than letting them play at length.

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.