That's another thing about Carion's direction: He has an eye for unusual, atmospheric touches -- the kinds of striking little things you notice in the world and think: "Somebody should put that in a movie."

Deliberately aimed at viewers with developed attention spans. It lingers to create atmosphere, a sense of place, a sympathy with the characters, instead of rushing into cheap thrills.

The talented young leads acquit themselves well here, but this is also the kind of movie that provides the forum for not one but two of our finest character actors to deliver performances so hammy you’ll be reaching for the spicy mustard sauce.

The jaw-dropping visuals and pulse-pounding sound editing in Dennis Villeneuve’s stunningly gorgeous Dune are so awesome it makes up for the slow-moving and quite familiar storyline, which is basically the New Testament meets Mad Max meets Star Wars.

The film is extremely rich in visual inventiveness and depth of feeling — with numerous sequences that could almost pass muster as individual shorts.

There is anguish here that makes "American Beauty" pale by comparison.

Serious pianists sometimes pound out a little honky-tonk, just for fun. That's like what Steven Soderbergh is doing in Ocean's Eleven.

The most accurate movie about campus life that I can remember.

I despised the character of Alan James so sincerely that I had to haul back at one point to remind myself that, hey, I've met Rip Torn and he's a nice guy and he's only acting.

At once the most harrowing and, strangely, the most touching film I have seen about child abuse.

Rush ranks among the best movies about auto racing ever made, featuring two great performances from the leads, who capture not only the physical look of the racing legends they’re playing, but the vastly different character traits that made their rivalry, well, made for the movies.

The movie is also uncanny in what it does with its last three shots. I watched them, and could not believe so much could be implied so simply. Leave the movie before it's over, and you miss almost everything, because what Connie does at the very end of the film is necessary. It makes "Smooth Talk" the story of the process of life, instead of just a sad episode.

The final act of the film is extraordinary. How unusual it is to see kids this age in the movies seriously debating moral rights and wrongs and considering the consequences of their actions.

Bully is a sincere documentary but not a great one. We feel sympathy for the victims, and their parents or friends, but the film helplessly seems to treat bullying as a problem without a solution.

As a visual spectacle, it is all but overwhelming, putting to shame some of the recent historical epics from Hollywood. If it has a flaw, and it does, it is expressed succinctly by the wife of its hero: "All Mongols do is kill and steal."

It provides a deep spirituality, but denies the Dalai Lama humanity; he is permitted certain little human touches, but is essentially an icon, not a man.

The whole program could make a nice introduction to moviegoing for a small child.

There are times when this film feels absolutely real and lived-in, as when Paul’s extended family gathers for dinners where everyone talks at once and nobody is listening, and you can feel the tensions but also the enduring and abiding love at the table. Unfortunately, Gray’s central young character isn’t as sympathetic or likable as the talented filmmaker must have intended, and the constant lecturing about white guilt among liberals is delivered in all caps, with exclamation points.

As a thriller, Munich is efficient, absorbing, effective. As an ethical argument, it is haunting.

There’s something irresistible about the story of the former pizza guy who invented the modern concealable bulletproof vest, and Richard Davis isn’t about to let the doubts about his origin story or some of the terrible missteps he made along the way get in the way of that tale.

What makes the movie fascinating is that it doesn't settle for a soap opera resolution to this story, with Pilar as the victim, Antonio as the villain, and evil vanquished. It digs deeper and more painfully.

A family film of limitless imagination and surprising joy.

Disobedience comes across as a challenging but also deeply respectful and thoughtful meditation on traditions and mores that date back thousands of years.

Simply amazing.

If there is anything lacking in the movie, it may be a certain gusto. The director, Stephen Frears, is so happy to make this a tragicomedy of manners that he sometimes turns away from obvious payoffs.

If there is a weakness in East Is East, it's that Om Puri's character is a little too serious for the comedy surrounding him.

This is one of the best crime thrillers in recent years, with Anna Kendrick demonstrating a strong set of storytelling skills and a keen eye for period-piece visuals in her directorial debut, while also turning in one of her career-best performances as the “bachelorette” who unknowingly chooses Alcala as her “dream date.”

The director is Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot"), who is able to unwind the plot like clockwork while at the same time establishing the characters as surprisingly sympathetic.