Entertaining, inventive and old-fashioned in the best way.

The movie is so entertaining it hardly seems right to say it's susceptible to holes being picked in it, but it is.

Grumpy T'Challa may be on the throne, but it’s the women who rule. And Michael B. Jordan adds fire as Killmonger.

Both Rourke and Tomei bring a tender, lived-in honesty to their sad roles.

Maguire’s portrayal of Fischer’s volatility, disconnect and inner demons is gripping. It’s his best performance since “Wonder Boys” (2000). Schreiber hardly says anything, yet he’s gloweringly good. He acts with his jowls and brow and swept-back hair, making the sort-of rock-’n’-roll Spassky a polar opposite, but strategic equal, to Fischer. Saarsgaard is also terrific, lending a quiet air of solemnity and thoughtfulness.

A delirious, manic, push-the-limits comedy of gaudy amorality that tests the audience’s taste. But it’s a gamble that works, since you leave this adrenaline trip wasted, but invigorated.

Anyone awed by 1996's "When We Were Kings" - and really, that should be anyone who's seen it - will consider this vivid companion piece essential viewing.

Belafonte still finds ways to address injustice - and now we have over 50 years of his example to follow and his music to enjoy.

Speaking of committed: Duvall, at age 83, nearly steals the show. Always the most inscrutable of the great ’70s actors, Duvall uses his great, unassuming American face to convey pride, confusion, pain and compassion — sometimes all at once.

Gorgeously photographed, and as loosey-goosey as its hero, Captain Fantastic takes some unexpected turns. Is Ben eccentric or irresponsible? Is he raising free-thinking iconoclasts — or training a new generation of Unabombers?

A kind of historical detective story made up of haunting montages, including a theater performance featuring a heartbroken musician that's absolutely chilling.

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.

With his second film, Alvarez has mastered the tension of Hitchcock and the misdirection of a magician, proving himself to be a filmmaker of merit even when dealing with more realistic horrors.

Directed by, and starring, Don Cheadle, it's more about truth than facts. Did this all happen just the way it's laid out? Definitely not. But if the notes are wrong, the themes are right.

By the time Barney gets one final, heartbreaking chance to screw things up, this rich, satisfying film has you hooked.

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.

Washington isn't a visionary director, something he's proved before in "The Great Debaters" and "Antwone Fisher." But he is a fine actor, and if nothing else Fences preserves his career-best performance, as a loving, bullying, wounded, roaring bull of a man.

This is - allegedly - the final chapter in the series, and everyone involved appears invigorated.

The easily offended will be appalled. The rarely offended may be appalled. But they'll have to stop laughing long enough to realize it.

This is the kind of movie "Trolls" set out to be and with this kind of innovation in animation, it succeeds on far more levels as well. There are just so many laughs to be had but there's also plenty of warmth with a lot of focus put on each contestant's family.

For the uninitiated, this fun French documentary detailing the camaraderie and division between filmmakers François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard reveals a time when "the cinema" was something to get excited about and literally fight over.

This incredibly moving, touchingly honest and transcendent chronicle of how a handful of people coped after Sept. 11 is not only one of the best distillations of that day, but a monument to humanity lost and gained.

Layering his film with the songs that made his subject an icon, Tillman is aware that Biggie connected with his audience because he told stories others instantly understood. Notorious does that, too.

Rodriguez's story is almost inconceivable in an obsessively magnified, heavily hyped Internet era. Which makes it all the more important to be shared. Listen, be moved, and pass it on.

The first film in a while to have a decent heart while quickening your pulse.

The setting and themes are pure Loach, and he’s handled comic scenarios with skill before. But he and his longtime screenwriter, Paul Laverty, have added a lighthearted buoyancy — enhanced by a spirited if obvious soundtrack — that might lead some to call this a feel-good crowd-pleaser.

Every parent in New York should see this movie and then ask why, when solutions exist, our woefully broken school system has yet to be fixed.

For all its venom, “Maps” is one of the more compassionate movies from Cronenberg (“A Dangerous Method,” “Eastern Promises”). The corrosive humor and icy tone eventually give way to melancholy. No one here can be saved.