Things escalate nicely over the course of the film, and there is a creeping sense of dread that is carefully calibrated.

Leonetti doesn't seem to have any particular knack for the staging of suspense or fear.

Gone Girl is not Fincher's best film, nor is it the most conventionally satisfying of them, but it feels like this is a movie that represents the very best that Hollywood craft can offer at the moment.

Beautifully shot, impeccably paced, and with a voice cast that nails it in every role, large or small, "The Lego Movie" is a genuine delight.

Intermittently playful, consistently confounding, finally petrified, it's a film of fussy, cultivated austerity.

Gabe Polsky has made a smart and incisive film about an important moment in the history of a now-fallen empire, and he happened to make it wildly entertaining as well. No easy feat.

With the Outback desert a pretty indomitable (not to mention indomitably pretty) presence from the outset, Tracks seems a woman-versus-land story only until it emerges that the land is a reflection of the woman herself.

Wes Ball's background is in animation and effects, and he certainly has an eye for composition. Thankfully, he doesn't just lean on visual flash in his debut feature, the adaptation of the first of James Dashner's four books, and his skills allow him to build a convincing world around his appealing cast without losing them in it completely.

The film is at its best when it simply focuses on this strange dynamic between the two couples and the way they are each looking for something from the other that they don't dare articulate for fear of having to grapple with these weaknesses or flaws in themselves.

Top Five is, above everything else, really entertaining. It is a successful sophisticated spin on Hollywood formula, and it feels like Chris Rock finally finding a filmmaking voice that is just as limber and funny and sharply satirical and angry and even romantic as Rock's stand-up.

Many moviegoers may think they already know a good deal about Hawking’s achievements, but they would do themselves a disservice to miss out on Redmayne’s almost perfect performance.

The film lives and dies on Moore’s portrayal. She succeeds smashingly.

Niccol is working in a very stripped down and direct mode, and I think overall, it works. Good Kill is unsettling, and the entire cast does spare, unsentimental work.

As a biopic for Fischer, Pawn Sacrifice can certainly encourage viewers to research more about him. It’s just unfortunate Zwick couldn’t bring a slightly more understated approach to the entire endeavor.

Ferrara is openly inviting comparison with Pasolini’s work in this ambitious but messy and flawed piece, where reality bends and stretches and sensation rules.

The film plays with tension beautifully, and there are a few set pieces that I think are all-timers.

The problem is there is just too much going on here for Reitman to pull that off and after an auspicious start, it all just, sadly, falls flat.

In essence, we get to study Brian's break with sanity and his eventual healing, but by keeping the focus tight on these two moments, the film becomes emotionally exhilarating.

A Little Chaos earns one compliment, but it's unfortunately a backhanded one: it’s watchable.

Jackie & Ryan is, in the final analysis, perfectly serviceable cotton candy.

There isn't a sense in the film of this tragedy as a systematic, organized atrocity affecting millions.

Mostly thanks to Barnz's direction and Aniston's performance it all starts to gel.

Its sweet nature combined with its strong messages about responsibility and empathy make it feel like something family audiences in particular should enjoy.

There is a glee to the filmmaking that is matched by a greater sense of control than I've seen from Smith before, and while I think the film is wildly uneven at times, I think that's also the point.

The film is often quite funny, and just real enough that we may recognize ourselves in some small way in this family.

Mbatha-Raw is shockingly good in creating both the "Noni" public persona and the real Noni.

It's a dull film.

This may not be his signature work, but it’s Murray at the top of his game in the type of role audiences want to see him in.