We witness many of Stephenson's inspirational moments during class, but miles more exist behind her students' skills and execution.

Cash is a legend, and deserving of a more thoughtful portrayal than what we’re offered here.

If you’re not a fan of anime, give it try. Be open and patient.

Allen covers it all with intelligent dialogue and unexpected moments of clever visual storytelling.

While the authenticity of a television show from that era may dampen the intensity of the scares, the film is still just plain fun to watch. The effects are wonderful, with the vast majority of them being practical. The Cairnes brothers lean on fun over terror, which may irk some. But, what fun is had!

Overall, I think this documentary is perfect, even if it is a bit of Christmas propaganda.

I think what McKenzie innocently started out as a way to educate himself and the audience about cryptocurrency ends up playing out very much like a scripted movie. The film reaches a point that echoes the old saying, “You couldn’t even write this if you wanted to,” which holds true here and is what makes it so watchable.

Truly Madly Deeply is a truly, madly, deeply romantic film, and Stevenson and Rickman have a natural rapport. What distinguishes the film more than that is the uncommon intelligence with which Minghella approaches this fanciful situation.

A cross between a road movie, a documentary and a therapy session.

It seems as if all of the new animation competition has lit a fire under Disney's collective ass and they have something to prove again.

An uber-modern romance story that's powered with raw honesty and coated with wild imagination.

Eccentric and pure like its hero, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis will appall or bore many, but, a worthy piece of cultural history, it should delight devotees of the "real" reel underground.

When you get old and crotchety, you say things like, “They don’t make ’em like that anymore.” For the most part, “they” don’t. Then you see VFW and realize it’s not a nostalgia thing. It’s genuinely not done this way anymore. Thank you Joe Begos for reminding us how it should be.

Offering beauty and strength in an oppressed and marginalized world, Eileen breaks the boundaries of perceived power.

It’s a moving drama with an excellent central performance.

Overall, not a great film, but definitely worth a viewing, especially to those who have seen any other Coppola film released this decade.

The script is solid, the cast is excellent, most of the special effects are impressive too.

Those first two acts feel fresh and different. I loved Pattinson’s take. He’s not a pretty boy, he’s a conflicted human being. He’s a hero who’s not so super.

This film is definitely the Mads Mikkelsen show, and it is one of his most powerful, emotive performances to date.

There are a handful of dull moments in Definition Please, but as frustrating as they can be, they don’t drown out the brilliance of Rajan and the compelling script. I was pulled in early due both to the emotional content and the relevance to the real world.

Something of a letdown. Previous statements aside, I understand Warner Bros. has to set the table for "Half-Blood Prince" and "Deathly Hallows," but too much of Phoenix is filler. And with only two movies left, we better get to the main course in short order.

Filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, who helmed the excellent "Rana's Wedding," missed the boat on this one. He may have hoped to give a human voice to the suicide bombers, but instead he gave them a misfired movie.

Yes, there is a very palpable lesbian erotic undercurrent pervading this film. However, the reason it's so palpable is because it's so subtly and deftly handled...AND it's only one thread of the film's storyline.

With Manito's raw portrayal of its characters and stripped-down cinematography, the undercurrent of impending tragedy is palpable.

It is worth seeking out for a brutally honest, achingly realistic, and emotionally compelling look at the other side of petty crime – the slow, painful path to legitimacy.

A finely gradated study of race and masculinity in the age of Trump, Tyrel is also an engrossing portrait of the revealing power of language.

While one can detect a genuinely amusing screenplay somewhere under the flat direction and mysteriously stiff performances, the film is tediously slow.

Land falls well short of the greatness of Romero’s previous zombie efforts.

A gem of a film that explores race relations, genetic fate and the allure of family, Neo Ned is a quality feat of filmmaking.

Dark and uncomfortably funny, this work showcases a filmmaker acutely aware of the nuances of modern society.

Mogul Mowgli elegantly deals with essential issues while remaining entertaining.

Untouchable is a competently made film, there’s nothing mind-blowing about the presentation of it, but the timely subject matter makes the aesthetic weaknesses more forgivable.

This movie is all over the place. One giant discombobulated stoner trip that goes from one obscure adventure to another. And you know what? It is quite a fun, odd journey.

Aspires to a backwoods North Carolina Woody Allen quality that it often comes close to achieving. But sadly it’s just never quite funny, touching or insightful enough.

Not a film that will change your life. It instead proves that shooting your movie with cheap technology doesn't mean it can't be fun or entertaining. In the end, that's enough.

In the somewhat muted lead role, Huppert really is a marvel.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an origin story, and director Destin Daniel Cretton, working from script he wrote alongside Dave Callaham and, Andrew Lanham did a masterful job telling a story that’s not only Asian-American but a Marvel movie at the same time.

It is sweet, engaging, and has a great message.

At 90 or so minutes, Prey is a lean, mean machine without an ounce of fat on its muscular body. It’s a reminder that this land was populated long before we, the original predators, overtook it, a subtle treatise of “man as predator,” but mostly, a vicious, wildly entertaining flick that’s bound to become the new classic in the series.

Writer/director Maren Ade has a laid-back, almost lackadaisical style that feels breezy, lived-in, and rich.

Blends the uncanny staging of home movies with a French New Wave perspective on iconography and metaphors.

Thematically relevant and persistently moving the form forward, Searching is an emotional roller coaster, taking a familiar premise and invigorating it along with biting commentary on viral video culture.

It is a painful but important subject, to be certain, but the film dilutes its own effectiveness by devolving into a collection of talking heads who often seem to be repeating each other.

Overall, there is a lot of flip-flopping between stories, sometimes jumping back and forth more frantically than an episode of "Seinfeld."

Brilliantly scripted and full of a virtual Who's Who of familiar faces, The Big Lebowski is yet another golden hunk of totally unique celluloid from the versatile Brothers Cohen.

Catch The Fair One is a fantastic and engaging effort across the board. The direction is lean and ably brings forth the emotional truth of each scene.

The film isn't as funny as the highly publicized conflict over the sell of its distribution rights might have you believe, but does contain a series of energized and entertaining performances that stop it from being a complete failure.

While many questions and motivations are left unanswered, overall the film wins out with it's stark truths and slightly twisted pay off's along the way.

This is a decidedly hit or miss deal which, despite the current outpouring of critical praise, is destined to rank among the Coen's least memorable achievements.

Bukowski had a bunch of none too kind things to say about “Barfly" upon its release in the 80s, but, with Factotum, he'd do plenty of bitching and moaning as well, but deep down, Hank would approve.

To top everything off, Tom Cruise may just have resurrected his career with the role of Les Grossman.

The film is a stunning piece of visual poetry that will, hopefully, be remembered as one of the most important stories to be told in Australia’s film history.

It’s nowhere near the intimacy of Homecoming and Far from Home. Still, considering the heavy lifting it’s required to perform, it makes for a fitting grand finale for one of Marvel’s (and Sony’s) most enduring heroes.

Cooper who was so poignant in "Lone Star," gives an emotionally robust performance.

This film is a fascinating and dynamic investigation of American politics. It does more with the documentary form than I thought possible.

Craven eschews horror trappings and gore for a well-paced and engaging thriller that keeps the audience involved despite the fact that most of what takes place onscreen is a conversation between two people.

This documentary's narrative feels deliberately chronological, as the storyline adheres to the major steps of Trumbo's career. Nonetheless, the film realizes many great moments to make the writer's story – often reduced to a footnote – into an intriguing one.

The film is sympathetic to the underpaid players, but doesn’t shirk away from their crime. Cusack is particularly good as the player whose faith in his friends and baseball was destroyed while his life was torn asunder by circumstance.

It is that kind of “inside the life of an astronaut” angle that keeps the film reasonably engaging, even if you don’t care too much about the characters.

As it stands, Lorelei is perfectly imperfect. It demonstrates a filmmaker willing to go for broke, examine the dark recesses of our minds that others are too timid to touch.

Eternal Spring is a beautiful film about freedom. It’s also a film that is currently flying under the radar, rife with controversy but is well worth seeking out for a serious evening of cinema.

The cinematography is stunning, particularly where Matsumoto and Sawoko walk through the four seasons of life.

The whole film is an elegant inquiry into what happens when memory fails or when it just hurts so much it’s easier to try and forget. This portrait of broken people doing their best is an oblique and beautiful thing.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is a film that demands to be witnessed on the largest possible screen. Preferably at a movie theater. This is that rare cinematic bonbon that will sit in your mind palace long after you’ve watched it.

The endless loop, the anomalies, the reset — all of it connects back to who the man is and what his fundamental flaw as a person is. When the ending hits, it doesn’t explain itself. You just sit there and work backward, and then it clicks.

Learning about the old points of view can help us build better ones. Hopper/Welles is important for that reason. It’s also hilarious to hear Welles, who is never onscreen, browbeat Hopper to answer questions he doesn’t want to answer. Seriously, this film is a treat.

If you have been fiending all year for a quality drama that shares a different world, then Frybread Face and Me is what you have been waiting for. Luther’s deft screenplay ably gets across a lot of complicated family business in just a few strokes.

Their drugs are Cigarettes, Television, and Hostess Cup Cakes. In the end, if I am ever reincarnated and I have my choice between hating my White Trash Mom or hating my movie star Mom. I'm picking the movie star Mom every time.

One of those films where, even though you're pretty sure you know where it's going, it's still fun to get there.

McGrath's new film offers a treat for fans of Dickens and moviegoers who love to see a fairly large cast ham it up with delirious abandon.

The pacing is perfect and there’s no shortage of interesting revelations, and let’s face it, there aren’t many more subjects under the sun that are more interesting than serial killers. Consider "Aileen" to be an essential viewing companion to its dramatic narrative counterpart.

Waldo On Weed does a fantastic job following Waldo’s adventure of healing and convincing audiences on the benefits of medical marijuana. What sets this film apart from other documentaries on the same subject is the personal battles the Dwyer’s would go through.

A Quiet Place: Part II offers another round of impressively staged set pieces, a few cheap (but damn effective) “gotcha” jumpscares, and a heavier dose of those spindly, flower-headed aliens.

An uplifting and inspiring tale.

Taylor’s mission with this film—to answer the unanswerable—is brave. Where it shines most is in how concise, clear and comprehensive each main idea is relayed.

Gilford’s National Anthem offers a sense of beauty to behold and accept. It is visually stunning and a complete story everyone can understand, with great drag performances and other spectacles that make this film memorable.

Steal This Story, Please! is not just an important film but a great one. It will entertain, inform, and might even change your views about the world and the kind of person you can become.

The film has good action set pieces, but without a story that has something to say or connects with audiences beyond the surface, it’s just another standard sci-fi action film.

Even if Horton's world can't shine like Whoville, this movie's visuals keeps things vivid, while digital animation is so often crisp, precise, and cold.

The drama is a mostly compelling watch, but we’re left wanting more from a film with such an impressive assemblage of individual pieces.

For being a period piece, Emma is not stodgy at all. The lightning-paced repartee is incredibly funny, and the tit for tat dialogue is full of fierce wit thanks to Elanor Catton’s script, and obviously Jane Austen.

The Disappearance of My Mother is rife with grand philosophical questions about beauty, capitalism, love, life, and death, while still maintaining the intimacy of a family connection.

Disco Boy is not your average war drama, or sociopolitical study, or character dissection, or psychedelic trip. It’s all of those things, and Giacomo Abbruzzese wouldn’t have it any other way.

Deadline contributes reason and passion to the ongoing debate about whether civilized nations should employ the ultimate punishment and how justly it is administered.

Amir Agha’ee shines as the film’s lead. His portrayal of grief and guilt is heartfelt and his emotional performance is perfect.

Watchmen: Chapter 1 is a delight for fans, and great follow up for those who enjoyed the comics and want to see more. Future chapters promise to be just as amazing.

Ms. Purple was an honest love note to the flawed amalgamation of dreams and nightmares that Angelenos call home. It is also another promising piece from Chon that has us on notice.

Under the veneer of a blood-curdling horror venture with heightened narrative beats, Disappear Completely is a thrilling film about unchecked ambition.

There is certainly an issue here worth isolating and examining: that of veterans finding their oaths at odds with the state. How the movie considers this theme is dangerous and confusing. It’s an out-of-touch and partisan documentary, wasting its talents to stir mud.

His film captures the wonderment of dreaming - and the reality of waking.

Uproarious. Disturbing. Melancholic. Shrewd. All adjectives that the marketing teams behind Andrew Gaynord’s terrific dark comedy All My Friends Hate Me are welcome to use for promotional purposes.

Those individual, deeply felt, beautiful moments sadly fail to add up to a deeply felt, beautiful whole. As such, Revoir Paris gets a B- for effort.

What may have seemed energetic and innovative four decades ago is fairly enervated today, and only the most rabid Godard fanatics will find reason to seek out its new theatrical re-release.

A large, magnificent cast brings this story vividly to life, supported by superb art direction and technical contributions. Capped by Babenco's vigorous, often ferocious direction, the film is a towering achievement, offering an unforgettable portrayal of the lives and plight of the forgotten.

After a solid hour and a half, the climax almost seems to have come from a different movie. Collateral is still a hell of a ride, but could've used a smoother landing.

The filmmaker confidently guides us to a conclusion that really isn’t a conclusion at all but a new beginning. These men may not be all that wild, but Daneskov’s film is just loopy and daring enough to qualify as such in the best way possible.

Mayfair’s The Third Wife is a powerful reminder that the oppression of women is not strictly a Western problem and everyone—women or men—want to be free to choose their own path in life.

Exceptional performances and unexpected twists of plot keep the story from descending into overwrought melodrama.