Sometimes, love can feel like hate or annoyance — it is, as the title states, strange. But sometimes, more often than not, it can be a wonderful thing.

Late Marriage's stiffness is unlikely to demonstrate the emotional clout to sweep U.S. viewers off their feet.

Gripping, made more intense by the knowledge that all is true.

Not for those with limited attention spans, though there's never a dull moment.

In Captain Phillips, director Paul Greengrass pulls off the same remarkable feat he accomplished with "United 93": He takes a true story in which the outcome is already known and transforms it into a gripping, wrenching, devastating thriller.

Impossible to resist.

See The Killer for its sheer, gushing exuberance -- if you think you can take it. [26 Apr 1991, p.13]

Blancanieves is funny, inventive and daring enough to change the story’s ending, going out on a note of bittersweet, unexpected melancholy.

The movie is filled with graphic sex scenes that leave nothing to the imagination — this film would make even John Waters blush — but there’s more at work here than shock value and sensationalism.

There's a timelessness to her character that makes her real even today. And in Devos' intense portrayal, she's a woman you admire.

It's just as voyeuristically enjoyable as those VH-1 has-been bios but without the soft-focus star shots and with far more edge, energy and originality.

The sound never loses its urgency, its sense of immediate danger, straight through to the closing shot of the film.

A script that deftly fleshes out characters and mimics reality shockingly well.

An exuberant, disarming entertainment.

A fascinating look at events mostly unknown to outsiders.

More of a warm breeze than a great gust, but its simple, smart pleasures carry the force of a hurricane.

Unlike previous urban thrillers, such as the harrowing Menace II Society or the heavy-handed Boyz 'N the Hood, Fresh excels because of its delicate handling and gentle pace. It's a movie fueled by hope, not rage. [31 Aug 1994, p.E1]

The best science fiction leaves you with questions and ideas to ponder. Arrival is the sort of superficially profound movie that initially seems deep and weighty but stops making sense the moment you put down the bong.

Juno comes on all wisecracking and aren't-we-clever, but don't be surprised if you find yourself getting choked up -- with happy tears -- by the end.

There isn't a moment in the entire film that doesn't feel genuine.

Chocolat is as beautiful as it is solemn. It's a meditation on memory and on the nature of innocence in the face of great, irresistible change, but its glory is in the quiet development of its several characters. [12 May 1989, p.5]

What makes Master and Commander so bracing and transporting -- what makes the movie feel unlike any adventure film you've seen before -- is the precise detail and care with which Weir places us aboard the HMS Surprise.

This lovely movie, impeccably made in nearly every way, has entirely too much right about it to be resisted. [21 Feb 1986, p.D1]

The Secret of Kells manages to feel simultaneously old-fashioned and mesmerizingly modern,and the slight story at its center has the emotional weight of a classic fable: A boy's wild, fantastical adventure, simply told.

The first half of the movie, which alternates between hilariously vulgar, gross gags and some electric improvs and riffs by Rock and his cast of all-stars, has the crackle and pop of a live performance — it energizes you.

The movie kicks off with a wonderful setpiece that shows off Spielberg’s ability to tell a story primarily through visuals — is there any other filmmaker working today better at this?

Driving Miss Daisy unfolds at a leisurely pace, with great attention to period detail and character-aging makeup effects....It's occasionally quite funny, and relentlessly good-hearted. And never, ever does it whack you over the head with its theme. [12 Jan. 1990, p.G5]

This is more of a poignant, haunting study of well-intentioned but doomed folly, embodied by a heroine whose bravery renders her blind to the world that is crumbling around her.