At its best, this beautiful, off-the-cuff comedy-drama recalls John Cassavetes' shaggiest, most honest work.

It's all compelling, in the way reading trashy gossip usually is. But without any new perspectives, what's the point?

Dunye's salvation is her sense of humor. She's good at creating light, bantering dialogue, and there are a couple of sharp, satirical scenes.

Sokolinski, a French pop singer better known at home as Soko, is fully in tune with Winocour’s sharp vision. Her intense, almost accusatory turn feels like the opposing image of Keira Knightley’s intellectual neurosis in 2011’s similarly themed “A Dangerous Method.” Where that film found some lightness within the dark, this one drags an historic darkness into the light.

Burton's extraordinary powers of imagination are in dazzling bloom, from the gorgeous stop-motion animation to the goofy, homemade horror movies the children direct.

For those who've become increasingly conscious of the connections between strangers sharing a city, it's a challenge that's hard to resist.

What we need to remember, what Black Hawk Down reminds us, is that there are no safe missions when you're chasing bad guys. Especially when you have to chase them down a hole.

Suleiman isn't much for words, but when he's ready for action, there's no hiding his anger.

What makes Southside With You work so beautifully is that it could be a romantic comedy about two strangers, but because the characters are based on two people we feel we know pretty well, it adds another layer to the unfolding relationship drama.

Exhilarating.

You may admire Witherspoon’s solid performance, but you won’t forget you’re watching a star.

One of the best indie films of the year, Humpday is a lighter descendant of "sex lies and videotape," yet burrows just as deep into the male psyche and the human capacity for self-deceit.

The mere fact that Shakespeare can teach hardened criminals to search their souls gives hope that forgiveness and redemption are possible.

Oliver! is a timeless classic that will be as lovable in 10 or 20 years as it is today.

If you're the type who unwinds by watching "The Wire" or "Law & Order: SVU," you might appreciate this grim procedural drama from French actress Maïwenn. There's no denying its power: It took home the Jury Prize at Cannes last year. But for most, Polisse will be tough going.

Based on a true story, the movie has abundant humor and uplift - but it's a heartbreaker of extraordinary dimension.

The suspense is as tingly as jalapenos on the tongue.

It doesn't dip much below the surface, but Tamra Davis' biography of her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died in 1988, offers an informative introduction to one of contemporary art's most complex figures.

This computer-animated feature rivals "Cars" for the year's most visually exciting cartoon, but watch your step - most of the movie takes place in the London sewers, where the script may have been conceived.

If you’re only a casual observer of Bergman, you’ll find this documentary as inaccessible as his densest works.

The segments are introduced with little clichés or homilies, like "Ignorance Is Bliss," but the fierce intelligence of the script reminds us that sometimes a cliché is the only way to express the ineffable.

It's about the kind of kids who could never sit still enough, unfortunately, for a movie that perfectly captures the frustrations, longings, obsessions and torments of the awkward years before manhood.

When was the last time you had your mind blown by a movie? Because when Inception ends and the lights come up, you'll be sitting in your seat, staring at the screen, wondering what the hell just happened.

While it's a geek's paradise from scene one, newcomers are likely to feel left out until they get their bearings. Fortunately, Whedon's characteristic humanity, coupled with the slyest sense of humor in Hollywood, greatly eases the transition.

Better to stick with his slightly weird, ultra-focused nerds, who toil away on something strange and special, simply for the beauty of it.

The story is fanciful, with grotesquely improbable twists involving the fictional Garrigan (James McAvoy) and one of the dictator's three wives (Kerry Washington). But as Amin, Forest Whitaker's command of the screen is so thorough, so frightening, so ripe with malice that you won't move in your seat for fear of catching his eye.

The island phase of Hanks' performance is simply amazing.

Though Jessica Sanders' rambling documentary about the damaged lives of wrongfully imprisoned men would have made a better subject for an hour-long "Dateline" special, it's still a powerful indictment of a judicial system too anxious to close cases, and then close ranks when someone tries to reopen them.

Its young heroine is proud to be herself; there's just not much for her to do beyond that.

Their mundane meetings underscore how easily secrets are leaked, but unfortunately, scenes of meetings between Presidents Reagan (Fred Ward) and Mitterrand seem hollow and naive. Kusturica and Canet are strong, though, as is Willem Dafoe as an American intel officer.

A combination ghost and shaggy dog story that is so well-made and acted you can nearly overlook its murky, unsatisfying ending.

Still, with a story this weak, arguing that the illustrations look cool feels like a cheat.

Film makers Barak Goodman and Daniel Anker dig deep into the story and its ramifications, exposing how the twin evils of racism and anti-Semitism combined to foment institutional injustice, and led — if a silver lining could be found — to the triumphs of the civil-rights movement two and three decades later.

Holm is dazzling as the grubby little misfit, just a little brilliant and a little insane.

It's frightening because it's so effective in fomenting fear and because it's so easy to recruit bombers among repressed and hopeless societies.

The movie tells you right up front you're going to get what you came for: big stars, winking inside jokes and a spin on something so familiar it doesn't matter that you don't buy it for one minute. You're not meant to.

There's little to enjoy in this unsettling tale, but Doillan's unblinking depiction of manipulation and desperation stays with you long after the characters make the deals that seal their unjust fates.

A thorough, gutsy and appropriately scuzzy-looking documentary.

The movie's clever ambiguity allows a number of interpretations. Perhaps it is all a dream, a parable, or a combination of wishful thinking and reality.

Among the movie's oddball treats are Robert Downey Jr. as Grady's flamboyant editor and Rip Torn as a pedantic author and sermonizer known only as Q.

A well-conceived story that is very hard to shake.

Howard, whose previous tales of men in professional peril include the topnotch “Apollo 13” as well as “Backdraft” and “Cinderella Man,” works with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to create a style in the racing scenes that makes the most of every angle. By the time the final lap of Rush starts, we’re up for the ride.

Unfortunately, the stylistic repetition and intensely one-sided viewpoint only undermine his (Suleiman) goal.

A welcome departure from typical movies about teens, wherein their problems are external (the prom, status). Mean Creek is an adult movie that just happens to star young actors.

Incredibly enough, it seems many people still believe that bullying is just a matter of "kids being kids." Until that attitude changes, this film should be considered required viewing for every parent, teacher and teenager in America.

Every performer is tough and charismatic, especially Honglei Sun, who, as Jamukha, gives so many neck-cracks, guttural howls and conspiratorial smiles he's like a Chinese Marlon Brando.

Brilliant. [24 December 1997, p. 24]

There's no bells and whistles here, no 3-D or useless grey fluff, just Pooh as he's always been, silly and true.

The failure of a movie that is so good in so many ways leaves me to wonder if Spielberg is up to this kind of complex, multi-tasking story.

This is a family movie in the best sense; it plays to children without talking down and to their parents without pandering. Mostly, it's just good fun.

A pleasure, chock full of creatively choreographed fight scenes.

Its leisurely pace and surreal poetry won't break box-office records, but will surely serve to introduce Mendelsohn as a major new talent.

Jonathan Berman's documentary about California's famous Black Bear Ranch is a trip.

Hidden Figures is an earnest movie, but not a very exciting one. The screenplay feels as engineered as a Gemini rocket launch, with every scene and line carefully calculated.

Unfortunately, Färberböck never gives us reason enough to sit through such unremitting punishment. Though the story is based in truth, an emotionally removed Hoss feels more like a symbol than an actual person, while her detached narration keeps us at further remove.

It has the most beautiful ending of any American film in years, a coda of reconciliation and remembrance set in a gentle L.A. rain.

This would be tricky territory for the most experienced director, but I can't remember the last time I saw organized religion handled in such an even-handed, thoughtful manner.

The movie never really comes alive, and Crialese's coyness with Lucy's character is more frustrating than mysterious.

Many witnesses offer emotional recollections of the ensuing riots, but equally powerful moments come courtesy of old footage, in which anti-gay "experts" expound with a confident ignorance that sounds chillingly familiar even today.

Affleck keeps the film as fluid as the "Mystic River," and never forgets that Renner is his ace in the hole. The "Hurt Locker" star charges up every scene he's in with feral power, and is rewarded with one of the most exciting sequences seen in any action movie this decade.

Plimpton recorded many of these adventures in books that are well worth seeking out. But if you don’t have enough time to do so, Bean and Poling have assembled a delightful cheat sheet.

The shadow of Terrence Malick falls hard across this Texas crime drama, a beautiful-looking prose poem that starts strong but winds up with nowhere to go.

This full, footage-rich documentary shows respect for the social, legal, political, religious and pugilistic battles of the former Cassius Clay.

It's a transformation as wrenching to watch as it is vital to remember.

The comedy of discomfort that runs through Cyrus is often about several things at once. But the most prevalent emotion in this quirky yet genuine movie is the awkwardness that comes with trying to fit into someone else's life.

This intelligently acted and well-paced story avoids most of the clichés.

Handsomely mounted but disappointingly slight.

Must be the smartest -- and most disturbing -- movie about parenthood in ages.

Even without much in the way of hard facts, Yu makes intuitive leaps, using animated segments to bring to life Darger's work, and therefore the man - or as much of him as it is possible to fathom.

The film barely lasts an hour-and-a-half. Maybe that’s the problem with the movie. There’s not enough movie.

Darkly hilarious.

The story is never less than gripping, but the most important questions disappear into that unbearably bleak abyss.

The movie could have gone several ways, too — and it is heartbreaking to watch this ambitious story choose the wrong one and get lost in space.

Csupo needed two very gifted leads to do this beloved story justice, and found them in AnnaSophia Robb and Josh Hutcherson.

A gripping, personal examination of a seemingly unresolvable conflict.

Genuinely touching and unquestionably sincere, the movie certainly has heart - but it could have used a little more game.

There is indeed much beauty on display, from the icy Taiga landscape to the age-old trapping techniques passed on through generations. But this does feel like a lesser Herzog project (he joined on after it was shot). For viewers who don't share his awe, a short film probably would have sufficed.

For all its folksy jocularity, the movie inspires a sense of global patriotism. In the big picture, every little dish counts.

Washington can bank on an Oscar nomination for the most forceful work of his career.

It's not just a movie about an underdog who fights the odds, it's about following one's heart -- despite the obstacles.

Both Rossi and Charlotte Rampling, as the mother of another young patient, do fine work. But the only surprises come at the end, too late to move us the way they should.

Richman's no-nonsense approach, which relies heavily on interviews with the eloquent, 98-year-old Gruber, feels more suited to a televised biography.

As a wry, knowing narrator guides us in and out of their symphonic affair, there’s no doubt the trip is worth it.

Some segments are too long, but Famous Nathan contains a unique flavor that history-loving New Yorkers should relish.

This is an unashamedly old-fashioned children's movie, and a predictable message is part of the mission. But that's okay; what the movie lacks in surprises, it makes up for in whimsical fun.

The play's most acclaimed performance - rotund Richard Griffiths as the closeted teacher Hector - is great in the movie, too.

The story feels as urgent as the latest bad news out of the Middle East.

There’s nothing here that wouldn’t have fit comfortably into an hour-long TV special, and it starts to drag after a while.

This is powerful stuff, offering us not only a new look at the past, but to the unavoidably relevant insights into the present.

The threatened catastrophe, as destructive as any H-bomb, is handled with enough realism and tension to be plenty scary. [04 Jul 1954, p.20]

Freeman is so in-tune with the former South African president's persona you can't take your eyes off him.

Director Megumi Sasaki's film feels like a cozy visit with neighbors whose insights are priceless.

Big Hero 6 was executive produced by Pixar guru John Lasseter. You can see the influence in the high quality, from the appealing 3D animation to the unusually sharp story and script (a cooperative effort credited to seven people).

There are too many familiar faces in this story, from kindhearted whores to street-urchin bullies. But even if circumstances edge toward the unlikely, Kravchuk and Spiridonov make an effective team, exploring the realities that lead to so much heartbreak for so many children.

Every moment feels human and true, from the naive optimism of the trip's sendoff to its unsparingly realistic conclusion, which trades reckless hope for quiet honor.

Boasting dynamite performances, Mommy excels as a confrontational, compassionate melodrama about the anguishing dilemmas of caretaking. It’s a revelation.

Everyone involved, from Marla's defensive parents to the cynical journalists who promoted and then turned on her, seems to have some sort of agenda.

Director James Gray is best known for hard-edged dramas like "Little Odessa," so it's surprising to find he has such a well-developed romantic side. This isn't your average date-night flick, though.