The film is so gloriously absurd that we are mainly driven through the narrative by the continuous reveal of new elements in this bizarre and hilarious universe. Still, when everything does come together at the end, there are some emotional payoffs that sneak up on you like a wandering turkey.

Infinitely impractical, consistently unique and vastly imaginative.

The animals are often caught in a stare as if they, too, are looking for the tale that Anderson forgot.

An amazingly powerful piece of cinema. Actually, it's more an amazingly powerful piece of news journalism; the kind of in-depth stories told in all their complexity that such fluff American network "news" magazines as "Dateline" could only dream about telling.

Generous with its humor and spares no sacred cows, especially when it comes to the American political system.

You don’t see people like this or interactions like this in the movies unless they’re hopelessly overdone, to the point of drying out all the truth. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a special movie for this reason and too many others that shouldn’t be read about but seen with your own eyes.

Just as a movie skewed toward kids will bore adults, Soul will bore children, and it did mine. I love jazz, but I don’t think my child will add it to her Spotify playlist. In the end, Soul told a good, insightful story but was too much of a departure from the norm.

Sunday Best reminds us that Ed Sullivan’s influence went far beyond introducing legendary performers—he directly influenced the cultural fabric of America. His legacy endures as a testament to the power of television to unite people and move society forward.

American Doctor is a horrifying film to watch, but that’s the point.

You need to see Sing Sing for what it represents. It’s never too late to turn your life around. No matter where you are in life, you can be a positive impact on the world around you…no matter how small it is. Lastly, never give up on hope.

It will stick with you long after you leave the theater. It is as moving as it is possible for a film to be.

Meticulously crafted with powerfully nuanced performances, the film represents the best of what European cinema has to offer and is easily among the year’s best.

A visual triumph, and also a work of surprising warmth. No small accomplishment for a bunch of cadavers.

All in all, it’s an effective meditation on the show and the aftermath of it.

Bertelli successfully builds tension throughout each athlete’s journey, but there is no payoff or final moment of catharsis. It’s an intentional choice that leaves you wondering why someone would subject themselves to the agony required to compete. And while Agon may leave you with more questions than answers, Bertelli’s ambitious, thought-provoking, and unnerving portrait of three athletes will haunt you long after the end credits roll.

The Lighthouse becomes something that few movies can claim to be: memorable. Detractors might shrug it off as self-indulgent, artsy slop, but it’s too damn fun and aesthetics-minded for that accusation to hold much weight.

A silly comic book movie with provocative psychological overtones. Or a provocative character study with silly comic book overtones. Take your pick. Either way, it's hardly the cinematic milestone it's widely hailed as being.

Rose Plays Julie is an emotionally cathartic thriller.

It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will make you think. That doesn’t happen all that often in the same movie.

The seemingly total access and seemingly total coverage the film makers enjoy makes us forget at times that this isn't some Hollywood fabrication.

Klondike plunges you into the midst of a nightmarish life, on the brink of utter and complete collapse, leaving you wrung and dry. Not a light weekend watch, then, nor a particularly original or subtle one – but artfully produced, deeply affecting cinema nevertheless.

It is a compelling, powerful, and engaging drama that demands to be seen.

This is the film that "Shine" and A Beautiful Mind could not be, a story about schizophrenia that doesn’t neatly resolve its complex subject matter.

It’s not just one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen, it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Period.

With brother Ivan as his co-writer, Sam tosses out a delightful batch of tense, hilarious set pieces. The two are giggling behind the proceeds like the Coen brothers scripting fresh off a critical triumph.

Only for fans of the bizarre and certainly not for those with even a faintly weak stomach. But for those meeting both qualifications: Welcome to a devious little nightmare.

It’s a film that will surprise you if you give it a chance.

The Friend’s House is Here provides an instructive window into the challenges of life in Tehran, as well as an opportunity for Westerners to share these moments and empathize with the people there.

A fine character study and a solid look at a specific political movement and a certain time and place.

Yogi brings us close to Masao’s personal tragedy while at the same time pulling back to see life and death at a cosmic level. The movie delves into the cycle of life and death enough so that that audience members can understand and accept the beauty of the process.

Amazingly realistic and engaging drama about society punctuated with both humor and grittiness.

One Night in Miami will surely inspire much-needed discussions that move us closer to true equality, justice, respect, and understanding for all.

Who Will Write Our History does a good job telling this great but little known story from simple proofs of everyday life and death of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

“Volume Two” is what they call a movie-lover’s movie, in that it’s replete with references to just about everything a cinema geek would appreciate.

The film's screenplay is thick with major lapses in logic, resulting in a story that ultimately makes little sense.

Part of the problem with Moonage Daydream is that it is trying too hard.

Sirocco’s world resembles a phantasmagoric dream by Antoni Gaudí.

Though it has a tendency to leave characters undeveloped and storylines empty, the overall portrait is significant.

Thanks to Jacquelyn Mills’ direction, Geographies of Solitude is a visually remarkable documentary that explores the natural world through the eyes of someone who sees the connectivity of all living things. If only the rest of the world cared as much as Lucas and Mills to preserve the natural world.

If you’re not really interested in Mike Tyson as a boxer and a person, the film doesn't give you much to go on. This is a movie called Tyson and it is about Mike Tyson – and nothing else.

A genuinely engrossing film.

Both Glass and Clark provide enough ambiguity throughout (are we witnessing supernatural influence or the active imagination of an unreliable narrator?) to keep us engaged and marking the debut of a powerful new cinematic voice.

It’s assuredly directed with a consistent visual tone, and the cast is absolutely dynamite, especially Samberg and Milioti, who have never been better.

Driveways is short but effective. It’s more about mood than the overall plot.

I know a lot of people with no knowledge of Sondheim’s musical (much less Bond’s play) are going to buy tickets for a cute holiday movie starring that handsome Johnny Depp and end up experiencing something else entirely. Bon appétit.

Sanjuro doesn’t offer as much complexity and nuance as its predecessor, but it’s still a fun ride that shows Kurosawa’s consummate skills, even when he was simply satisfying Toho’s constant demands that he make more commercially-appealing films.

The acting is superb, and the pacing is remarkable. But most importantly, the look into women’s rights, morality, and normalized societal oppression speaks volumes about its country and the road to freedom.

The proceedings have that perfect narrative balance of a simple fairytale, leading to baffling visions and fantastic ideas.

Duvall chews up the scenery with smoldering, fire-and-brimstone orations.

The battles are bloody and gory, and the set pieces are absolutely massive in scale.

A haunting score and beautifully atmospheric cinematography by Kim Hyung-gu round out the achievements of this unique and engaging Korean thriller.

While the documentary refrains from giving family members clear direction on how to mitigate their fears and anxieties, they have each other. That familial strength is what injects this poignant documentary with so much optimism.

An acute reflection of the current refugee crisis, minimalist and poetic in its approach, Transit, unlike its protagonists, seamlessly reaches its destination: a conclusion so heartbreaking, it will resonate for weeks after.

The amazing thing about Venus is that it's brutally honest about all this but at the same time funny as hell.

It is exciting in ways you cannot imagine and must be seen to be believed.

It pulls viewers to the edge of their seats and never relents, and never stops prodding at the emotions of everyone watching.

Lacôte’s second directorial feature, Night of the Kings, is an epically ambitious undertaking, roaring along on several parallel tracks, with a dizzying number of sub-stories to track. The world inside MACA prison is a complex, layered cultural and political system.

Wrestle will completely suck you in from beginning to end.

It is an assured film, mature in its own right and poignant in its ruminations on madness, obsession, and futility; it knows the precise story it wants to tell and tells it with surgical precision.

Tell No One is a French variation on "The Fugitive," but it's a more subtle, discreet animal.

Riotsville, U.S.A. brilliantly uses the aesthetic of its archival footage to not only place us in a historical era but also to inform, to critique state power.

Paying for It is a tremendous effort that honors Brown’s source novel while digging deeper into its subtext. By further developing these characters and emphasizing the female gaze, Lee provides a compelling narrative that neither glamorizes nor denigrates the women Chester encounters. I highly recommend this film.

It’s only by understanding what went wrong that we can hope to recognize the warning signs next time.

Iranian cinema has always been very good at reminding you of your humanity, and Rasoulof’s anthology plumbs those depths perfectly.

Radu Ciorniciuc’s Acasa, My Home, is a heart-rending documentary with investigative undertones.

The Killing Of Kenneth Chamberlain is a well-executed if a bit stagey, dramatic thriller that illustrates exactly why “defund the police” isn’t just a rallying cry but an important call to action. The actors are stunning in their raw performances, and the story will leave audiences infuriated. And that is precisely the point.

The film is able to be a thriller, a political statement and a haunting romance all at once.

Residue is a delicately balanced film that lands its points while exploring these conversations from angles that are often unseen.

My one complaint about the film is that it is probably about half an hour too long for my liking (it’s almost 2.5 hours long). Otherwise, I thought it was one of the more honest portrayals of growing up in less than idyllic circumstances with a less than perfect family I’ve seen in quite some time.

This is definitely not your typical Cronenberg. No matter if you either love his cinematic oddities, or if you’re put off by them, watching A History of Violence would prove beneficial. It’s no doubt one of the best films of the year.

It was incredible to see what is arguably the best of the Star Wars films, on the big screen again. However, I do not believe that any of the minor changes make the film any better. [Special Edition]

Ultimately, we witness an acting community’s evolution throughout the film.

With so many thrills, Loach has completed one hell of a multi-functioning work.

Black Ice is the kind of film where you are in a different world once finishing it.

The score is appropriately ethereal. From the Paris skyline to the Great Wall of China, the film's locales on every continent are rarely less than breathtaking. Calling the camerawork stunning, of course, is an understatement.

Baumbach crams an impressive amount of characterization and humor into 82 minutes.

Anyone who loves rock music will appreciate the script's insights into the form and its history.

Star Trek is pretty damn enjoyable. By resetting the franchise to what is essentially Year One, Abrams has the luxury of...gently reshaping the core characters.

Veiel not only provides details of letters and images throughout Riefenstahl but also constructs a story of filmmaking through his own film. He conveys the emotion of “how could she” using selective footage and placement, timed interviews, behind-the-scenes actions, and subtle narration, allowing imagery to tell a story for the viewer to decide their side.

When the filmmakers focus on the artists who work there, it is moving and engaging. Despite how fun it is to see your favorite musicians in everyday life, there is not much they say that is interesting.

The Teachers’ Lounge flows very well, and the story is quite effective, leaving viewers intrigued, engaged, and as eager as its protagonist to find the truth and answers to what is happening at the school.

When The Namesake ends, one feels as though one has lived with the characters instead of just watching them.

With an authenticity rarely seen in contemporary cinema, it examines the lives of those that struggle to survive in ecosystems that function according to their own decrepit principles.

While Howl’s Moving Castle is far from perfect, it’s still a very good movie. It’s just not a great one.

While Hunger is a very brutal film, it also taps into human emotions and, in the end, asks what would we be willing to die for or, better, what could we truly not live without?

The film's overall result is a document of towering, devastating emotional impact.

Every bit enjoyable as that famed mockumentary.

If my moviegoing experience was magical in any way, it was only in that I once or twice nodded off for a spell.

Quite possibly Clooney’s best effort to date.

As Hitler, Bruno Ganz ignites the screen with every appearance.

OK, the premise may be a little hard to take, but there's plenty of good writing here, anyway.

The best fairy tales always have so much darkness in them. That's why they resonate so deeply. This is a magnificent film.

"Taxi” captures the evil that many men do under the guise of American justice. Just as Bardem's menacing Chigurh approaches his targets in "No Country," American military administrators approached Afghan detainees with shackles and convoluted policy in their pockets.

If anyone can figure out the cosmic significance of the film's omnipresent pine tree car fresheners, you're a better man than me.

Pig takes itself way too seriously, making some interesting storytelling choices.

Give Me Liberty, is one of the most sensitive, compassionate, and poignant movies of the year. Although it is officially classified as a comedy, as it is filled with hilarious and entertaining moments, it is so much more and will make you feel a whole spectrum of emotions. Give Me Liberty is a humanist film at heart with a bona fide independent spirit.

Alas, the big screen also magnifies the problems with Once Upon a Time in the West. Specifically, Leone’s insistence on style trumped the need for substance. The film is basically a B-Western stretched an agonizing 165 minutes.

Perhaps one day, gender will cease to be an object of discrimination, but that day is still far off. In the meantime, we need warriors like these brilliant composers to wage war against a stacked patriarchal system.