You have never seen a concert film like U2 3D, and it may change your expectations for the rest of your rocking years.

All this frenzy, all these "quotes" from other movies, and yet Vol. 2 is strangely static - a dulling experience that can safely be admired from afar without it ever engaging the senses.

A marvel of character-driven drama that no serious filmgoer should miss.

There’s atmosphere here, but nothing else.

You don’t have to be a sports fan or a Cold War buff to relish the compelling political investigation and fierce rink action in this brisk, terrific movie.

True, sometimes director Steven Spielberg lays it on so thick you think he has a trowel. Inspiring scenes are flooded with sunshine. John Williams’ score swells and kvells. (Of course, Spielberg didn’t become America's most popular director by being its subtlest.)

Ultimately, this is not a film about one specific event but about human nature - most notably, the instincts toward denial and delusion, acceptance and forgiveness. From start to finish, revelations abound.

The whole system was sadistic and indefensible, and the church, looking the other way as long as profits rolled in from the laundries, deserves the scorn that Mullan and his fine cast heap on it.

The result is an often-anguished monologue built on pride, despair and self-defense. Accuracy aside, Tyson does work hard to analyze his own, clearly complex character. So while we only get half the picture, it makes for consistently compelling viewing.

But the look of a movie is not as important as how it feels. The Sting feels like a cold shower. One dashes into it primarily because of its superior cast.

The first must-see adult film of the young fall.

Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal utilize the footage Kim and Scott Roberts had taken throughout the disaster, showing how residents suffered, survived and came together to help when official assistance let them down.

Jack and Sam share a wonderful scene when performance and real life blur, which is the whole point of the movie.

Depp may not be a trained singer, but his voice is more than passable, and his presence - his Sweeney is Edward Scissorhands gone bad - is perfect. Bonham Carter sings well, too, and young Ed Sanders, as the pie shop's Dickensian apprentice, is a delight.

The actors are solid at every position, but Broderick, who seems to get better with each performance, is especially good at playing the impulsively self-destructive yet sympathetic loser.

One of the most original and ultimately confounding mind games to reach the screen since "The Usual Suspects."

Creed packs a mighty punch.

Seeing the splendid new version of Pride & Prejudice can be hazardous to your health: There's a very real danger of swooning.

Falarde, in adapting a play, has a sweet, humanistic approach reminiscent of Bill Forsyth's '80s dramedies that lets "Lazhar's" protagonist and his class shine.

The direction is excellent and Freed is to be congratulated on the production as a whole, as the story is presented in an original and enticing manner.

Peter O'Toole, looking frail beyond his 74 years, gives what may be his farewell performance as a leading movie actor in Roger Michell's Venus. It's one for the books - and maybe the Oscars, too.

A lyrical, subtle, chaste and nearly wordless romance.

But don't worry if you miss some details; this is the kind of movie that rewards a second viewing.

Once Franco's on his own, everything is played across this terrific actor's deceptively goofy face.

If this lovely tribute sends viewers in search of the real thing, that would be a neat trick indeed.

Weisz's meticulously crafted turn is certainly touching, but it lacks the immediacy of, say, Celia Johnson's in 1945's "Brief Encounter."

One of the best movies of the year.

Is a movie worthwhile if it makes you sick? Absolutely, in the case of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

A remarkable and moving account of a part of the French experience that needs more remembering and less forgetting.

The cast is all top-notch. Harrelson can peel and eat scenery like a bunch of bananas, but he’s mostly in control here. Andy Serkis is beautifully intense as Caesar, and Steve Zahn a welcome addition as the scaredy-cat Bad Ape.

The same audience that loves "March of the Penguins" will eat up this beautifully told, gorgeously shot story of a grieving boy trying to return his pet cheetah to the wilds of South Africa.

A slick, fast-paced production with first-rate performances and an emotional punch you won't soon forget.

Short Term 12 wraps up with one of the most touchingly memorable last moments of any film this year. Despite a title that’s hard to recall, this brief but resonant movie sticks with you.

Don't let the slow, deliberate pace fool you. A lot is going on in David Cronenberg's masterful A History of Violence, and you'll miss it if you blink.

Anyone planning to see The Empire Strikes Back should be warned right away that it is done as a two-hour chapter and ends in a cliffhanger, which is likely to leave an unsatisfied feeling, unlike “Star Wars,” which can be taken as a self-contained unit. This acknowledged, the movie nevertheless is a spectacular piece of work that carries the new “Star Wars” tradition forward.

A thoughtful drama about guys who have a moment in the big time before returning home to an odd reflected glory.

Beautifully shot, both in darkened homes and on the misty green Irish landscape by Loach's frequent cinematographer Barry Aykroyd, "Wind" has a you-are-there intensity and intimacy about it that make it nearly overwhelming. But for all its violence and subsequent sadness, it's a movie of extraordinary importance.

The Lobster is a love story for the unloved. Dark-hearted and brutally sour - and imaginative, and sometimes very funny - it's set in an alternative world where relationships are mandatory.

One of the most emotionally devastating movies of the decade.

Breathtaking.

A great divorce movie. It's also one of the canniest comedies ever made about a certain kind of literary pretension.

School of Rock may be to Black what "The Nutty Professor" was to Jerry Lewis, or "Groundhog Day" was to Bill Murray - that rare, perfectly tailored opportunity to play against one's broadest impulses. Not to neutralize them, necessarily, but to tame them and turn them into something very human and charming.

The new Star Trek is more than a coat of paint on a space-age wagon train. It's an exciting, stellar-yet-earthy blast that successfully blends the hip and the classic.

This may be a sci-fi fantasy about giant man-eating bugs, but it’s grounded in human facts and folly. Little here is safe. Nothing is predictable. It’s surprising how effectively the silence increases the scares, too.

The Namesake is suffused with radiant grace, and manages to be old-fashioned yet immediate, epic and intimate.

Aiming for lightness but landing with a thud, Frances Ha is a well-meaning blunder. Director Noah Baumbach’s ode to Brooklyn twentysomething life is a flibbertigibbet fable that, like a self-absorbed flirt you meet at a party, grates on the nerves despite being easy on the eyes.

A richly inventive, slightly eerie animated movie from Japan.

An emotionally devastating drama that isn't for the squeamish.

Another excellent example of how Iranian cinema uses deceptively simple techniques to decode devastating truths about human nature.

Alternately funny, sad and outrageous, Sacha Gervasi's terrific documentary feels like the lost sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap” -- and everyone involved seems to know it, except the leads.

As smart as it is side-splittingly silly.

It is a sentimental, heart-warming, simple story of a couple of ugly ducklings who find compensation for their lack of good looks in each other's love.

An entrancing experience for Potter fans. It's a carefully crafted, dreamy immersion in a world that feels snugly familiar even when evil intrudes.

La Promesse believes that decency is an innate human quality that can surface from any rubble. [16 May 1997, p.47]

Tony Gilroy, co-author of the superb Jason Bourne film trilogy, makes a stunning directorial debut with Michael Clayton, an out-of-courtroom drama that helps solidify George Clooney's acting bona fides.

The very thought of humanizing Hitler makes me queasy. If he had a good side, I don't want to know about it.

The focus in James Ponsoldt’s affecting, intelligent drama is a pair of teenagers, and in them is so much complexity and heart that this casually paced gem feels rich in scope. They’re two of the most carefully created figures on screen this year, and yet their normalness takes us by surprise.

Alfredson makes the most of every detail, carefully crafting an atmosphere of haunting alienation. These two lost souls may come together under unusual circumstances, but their connection feels universally human.

Alex Gibney's forceful documentary starts with a single tragedy: the torture of an Afghani prisoner at Bagram Air Base. By the time it's over, he's broadened his focus into a documentary so damning of the U.S. government, it's hard to believe he even got it made.

Like the play by Jordan Harrison it’s based on, writer-director Michael Almereyda’s film is small in scale, but pulls us in close with its provocative setup.

Though the course of the movie, viewers learns a lot about the star's generosity, sense of justice and power in Jamaica, but also about his naivete.

Simpson and Yates give a good idea why individuals are drawn to extreme sports.

Until he was shot to death in 2000, Haitian radio journalist Jean Dominique was a lone voice for truth and freedom in his politically riven country.

No one looks at the world quite like Kaurismäki, and his deadpan sentimentality is worth discovery. This is a good place to start.

This brisk but full documentary about students at a Bronx high school taking a class that promotes literacy and poetry slams is, like its subjects, multifaceted, sometimes sad but ultimately inspiring.

Director Joe Berlinger mixes archival footage, concert scenes, interviews and present-day reunions to meld a harmonious, fair-minded, energetic and enlightening portrait of one masterpiece's moment in time.

Film enthusiasts especially will appreciate this wonky but fascinating documentary about the process of making movies.

Conventional, but intensely passionate, war movie.

Travels so deeply into the confusions of female adolescence that you'd never know this deceptively languid British film was directed by a Polish-born man.

A gritty thriller on the theme of the con man conned. It works as well as it does thanks to a captivating lead performance by Emmanuelle Devos and the superb direction of Jacques Audiard.

A haunting, melancholy work.

Anyone who doubts that a single individual can make a political impact should see Anders Østergaard’s gripping documentary.

The result is a dull, high-minded soap opera.

Director Kelly Reichardt, who made the great "Wendy and Lucy," likes stories that unfold slowly and simply. Sometimes she'll just let the camera run, making us watch the awkwardness of people who can't connect.

Has moments of honesty, but more often the barren landscape - both outside and inside - drains the emotions out of the film.

A movie that is pure escape and good, clean, unadulterated fun.

After a summer of robots, mutants and explosions, the beautifully honest, grownup Love is Strange is a treat.

Gorgeous, fascinating and surprisingly suspenseful.

Whether this smart, sexy and unsparing film is a hilarious comedy or a poignant drama is a matter of personal opinion — and experience. But if you've ever felt both baffled and blessed by your own family, this "Marriage" is one event you won't want to miss.

A gripping thriller whose terror -- unfortunately -- comes from real life.

Of them all, only McCartney looks out of place, perhaps mistaking the venue for Vegas. There in a nutshell could be the answer to why the Beatles broke up.

There are a few fight scenes, but they're as unshowy as the rest of this restrained film. If your warrior ideal is Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill," you may not have the patience this gentle story demands of its viewers.

The most gripping based-on-fact film so far this year.

A daring, teeth-grinding experience that doesn't let the viewer rest easy.

We’re not in Disney’s world. Berger knows his Grimm, and he suffuses his entrancing fairy tale with a moving sense of melancholy.

Acclaimed director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's meditative, at times maddening expression of human mystery and barren landscapes is gorgeous to look at, intriguing to think about and, at times, hard to sit through.

The humor in de Heer's script is mostly anatomical, and the performances of the nonpro cast are stiffer than bark. But you've never seen anything like it.

This is a lyrical art movie with admittedly limited commercial appeal, but worth seeing for cinematic explorers.

Silva intends to keep us guessing, and it's fair to say he takes us in unexpected directions. But don't expect any flashy Hollywood twists. The surprises come from Catalina Saavedra's intense lead performance.

It's just twice as much as we need to know about the Sex Pistols.

It's said to be an autobiography, but that pertains only in the loosest sense. It's a comedy. It's a 1920s silent movie. It is practically indescribable. And it is pure genius.

This dramatic thriller finds a spot somewhere between your brain and your stomach, and drills in.

A brilliant, thrilling, vital transference of the play to the screen.

None of the children are professionals, and their uncontrived performances lend a painfully real quality to what becomes a rather lyrical story.

The perfect haven from the cheap ironies and cruel indifference we all have to field both in life and, far too often, at the movies.

Do androids dream of electric sheep? Maybe. But science fiction-loving cinephiles have definitely been dreaming of a movie like Blade Runner 2049 for years.

The remarkable footage includes damning evidence of how the media, the people and the army were manipulated. Which leads to that eternal question - if it's not on TV, did it really happen?

The wheezy Mighty Wind can't blow out the candle of this group's first musical mockumentary, 1984's "This Is Spinal Tap."