A smart, ardent, profound movie.

It never comes to much more than an atmospheric head-scratcher.

Burrell doesn’t quite capture the wry deadpan of the original, but then, neither does the movie. That’s okay.

Chow’s movies are always as sweet as they are silly, a combination he once again balances — alongside cool effects — with typically deft irreverence.

We see brief, graphic shots of naked actors performing sexual acts. But it’s the conversations about what those depictions represent that truly provoke.

There’s lots of mixed film stock and screeches on the soundtrack (as in the credits for “Seven”), but this gets annoying, as do the predictable twists.

“The Wire” meets the West Bank in this searing drama loaded with action and nuanced characters.

The final “beams” are the most exciting depictions of science on film since “Apollo 13.”

When people complain about movies glutting the market, this moronic “Black Swan”-meets-“Phone Booth” thriller is what they mean.

The only saving grace is Green, the reigning witch-queen of cinema. The smoky-eyed French actress, best known for “Casino Royale,” “The Golden Compass” and “Dark Shadows,” throws her all into the performance, going bare-chested at times, bared-teeth at others. She’s like Elizabeth Taylor’s "Cleopatra" possessed by a succubus — which is a good thing. Without her, 300: Rise of an Empire would be bloodless and brainless.

The result is a film almost too reliant on its players to push it through.

Early potential fizzles away too quickly in this underachieving buddy comedy, which just barely skids along on the charm of its co-stars.

So do the minutes. They stretch on as one tiresomely quirky sadist after another appears. Cusack is typically likable and De Niro is amusing in his brief scenes. But unlike Jack, you’re too smart to make big sacrifices for so little return.

It’s worth seeing Robert May’s vital judicial expose — not only to learn about the titular scandal, but also to appreciate both the highs and lows of human resilience.

The second film from Enid Zentelis (“Evergreen”) comes across as a heavy-handed message movie. And its presence in theaters can only be explained by the participation of Oscar-winning lead Melissa Leo.

Director Christopher Spencer’s biblical yarn lacks the complex rigor of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” and the fury of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” leaving its star, Diogo Morgado, stuck in a film that’s stiff and earnest.

The best twist is how Neeson’s growly presence makes a bumpy ride enjoyable.

Karasawa captures the flinty, ferocious nature of her subject, Elaine Stritch, with just the right amount of clear-eyed respect.

This ill-advised romance from director Andrew Fleming is the sort of indie lark that nearly drowns in its own whimsy. Wade in at your own risk.

Stephanie Riggs never manages to develop her debut documentary about Broadway performers into a satisfying feature. But the stories alone ought to be appreciated by theater fans and, especially, aspiring actors.

Bill Carey’s uneven first film, centered on an isolated Texas teen named Vallie Sue (AJ Michalka), has some offbeat charms. They are not, however, strong enough to carry such a heavy load of cliches.

The movie grips us partly because Bakri’s performance is alternately casual and calculated.

The movie creates its own tightening vice grip.

Some of the locations and scenes of indigenous musicians make this trip a tiny bit worthwhile. But only a bit.

It only comes alive when the star briefly shows the casual looseness that once was his calling card.

It’s impossible to find anything that grabs you in Pompeii. This lumpen adventure with a misguided romance buries anything in the disaster-flick genre that might have been a blast.

What do we do about a movie that is half compelling and half unwatchable? Director Charlie Stratton seems to be onto something at the start of his period drama In Secret. Then it all slips through his fingers.

Intellectually intriguing but sadly dull biopic.