Sir! No Sir! doesn't make a lot of sense, but it does have some fascinating footage of Jane Fonda, both as a dippy young protester and today, when she remains dazzled by her own legend.

Heavy-handed, predictable and almost completely unbelievable.

This movie depicts an unlikely intersection of sports and leadership in ways that manage to be inspiring and insightful without ever becoming schmaltzy or preachy.

Big Hero 6 even has a title that sounds like a product ordered off the takeout menu of the type of restaurant that recombines a few elements in many ways. That could work fine, if any of the ingredients were particularly flavorful.

Played with enormous charm by Samuel Lange Zambrano, Junior is a handsome kid.

At heart, The Italian is a Dickensian tale that paints a vivid portrait of post-Glasnost Russia en route to a four-handkerchief ending.

In the poignant, symmetrical end, Touré leaves the idea that the real yearning of these people is for a fair shake in their own home.

Dolan embraces passion and melodrama to a refreshing degree, and Dorval and Clément are terrific. But Mommy can be exhausting; the structure and plot rhythms are all over everywhere. A montage to “Wonderwall” (every last note of it) seems to sum up the movie; too much, but exhilarating all the same.

Jacques Rivette's film is full of painstaking historical detail, but the behavior of the two nonlovers is mired in inaction and emotionally incomprehensible.

Jane's friendship with Sadie is the one thing that cuts through the numbness - though the film's so low-key, even emotional revelations feel pretty muted.

While Campillo does graceful work — the way he draws focus in a scene is a pleasure — the script drags and the pseudo-romance is hard to believe, especially when one plot point concerns Daniel asking for a bulk-purchase sex rate. Eastern Boys never quite fulfills the promise of those first few minutes.

Struggles to maintain a sober, evenhanded tone about an utterly ridiculous story.

The only possible interest the movie will inspire in anyone comes when Paltrow flashes a breast toward the end, far too late to pump any excitement into an aggressively boring film that gurgles with self-indulgence.

This loopy absurdist comedy is the final work of Andrzej Zulawski, the famed Polish filmmaker who died in February.

This is noir on steroids, cartoonishly ultra-violent and drawing inspiration from Mickey Spillane novels and E.C. comics of the '50s.

The nicest thing I can think of to say about the doc Neil Young Journeys is that at least it isn't in 3-D.

While Rentheads and Broadway fans will certainly connect to it on a deeper level than those who only know Idina Menzel as Elphaba, not Maureen, Tick, Tick is a terrific, moving, propulsive film on its own terms. It’s about New York, art, life and love.

Even on that happy 2005 election day, which was so successful that it led to a December round of elections in which the Sunnis did participate, Poitras takes a break to show us a close-up of someone slitting the neck of a rooster.

Directed by Maria Schrader, the film that’s part of one of the most reliably galvanizing genres — newspaper reporters doggedly chasing down a tough story — is a disappointing, sleepy metronome with made-for-TV diminutiveness.

Instructive, cathartic or just too painful? You decide.

There are also food scenes that will whet your appetite. But somehow a satisfying climax never makes it out of the oven.

An unusually well-written and satisfying multilayered drama that conveys the feel of urban India with more vivid accuracy than anything made in the subcontinent in recent years.

Comes as close to perfect as any movie I've seen lately.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That about sums up the amazing story of Edith Hahn Beer, an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust by passing herself off as Aryan.

Metallica brought back the rights and funded the project, and it's their honesty and willingness to front the cameras, warts and all, that makes this well-edited, often very funny, documentary so compelling.

A fun ride of a sci-fi thriller with terrific romantic chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan.

David Gordon Green’s Joe largely succeeds in immersing us in a rural world of cruelty, ugliness, decay, neglect and aggression, but if there is a point to it all, I couldn’t find it.

As usual with Majidi, the cinematography is super (best scene shows Karim, disguised as an ostrich, in pursuit of an escaped bird) and the acting is realistic and low-key.

It’s a more somber companion to Marjane Satrapi’s 2007 film “Persepolis,” which explored life under the Iranian Revolution with dark humor: Here, the laughter’s mostly a prelude to tears.

Blame It on Fidel doesn't aim for the profundity of Costa-Gavras films like "State of Siege" and "Z" - but who's complaining?

Waititi emerges triumphant, but it’s a nail-biter.

The animation, supervised by director Timothy Bjorkland, is deliberately crude, but it complements the wacky story line just as well as the excellent musical numbers, one of which is a spot-on homage/parody of Sondheim.

You know a performance has to be special when a Palestinian wins Israel's version of the Best Actress Oscar. But why should politics detract from a stunning performance?

Matsoukas also finds two first-rate performances in Kaluuya and Turner-Smith. Theirs is one of the more carefully paced romances in recent memory, and the subtle way their tension switches from fear to desire is masterful.

A vivacious film that is a treat for eyes and ears.

Though it's being dumped in the wastelands in February, Breach is better than many of the pack of so-called prestige movies that were released at the end of last year.

German guilt gets a vigorous workout in the penetrating and symbolically important documentary Two or Three Things I Know About Him.

Delightfully quirky.

A yawn-provoking little farm melodrama.

In place of elaborate sets, clever filmmaking gives the impression of a central London emptied of people and cars, to eerie effect - and this opening reel is nothing short of magnificent.

Snoozy and unconvincing.

The documentary takes no sides, but its bleak message is all too clear.

Holy moly, Melissa Leo makes a scary Mother Superior.

Pace and mood are equally glum, and so much information is withheld that the twisty relationship can’t build much tension.

Ivo’s farmhouse looks leftover from another century, which gives a timeless feeling, as does the regal bearing of Ulfsak and the dry humor of the script. The film telegraphs its pacifist message early on, but it’s still deeply affecting.

What any of us wouldn’t give for a spontaneous night of rule breaking and lounge hopping with a genuine NY character, like Murray’s, again. Coppola’s funny and slyly emotional film, which should be cherished, is the closest we’ll get to that for a while.

Dickie is intense in her screen debut, which requires her to be in nearly every scene. The supporting cast is strong, and Robbie Ryan's handheld camera provides gritty ambiance for this taut thriller.

A gorgeously photographed and less intermittently fascinating 2 1/2-hour film.

It’s the most touching dramedy about young women battling over a sash since “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Doesn't quite live up to the promise of its opening sequence, but it's still an audacious offering during a season of brain-dead blockbusters.

On several levels, this film is a real-life horror story that puts most Hollywood movies to shame.

Classic shipboard romantic dramedy involving a condemned prisoner (William Powell) who hooks up with a dying woman (Kay Francis). Excellent support by Frank McHugh and Aline MacMahon as a pair of con artists. [31 Jan 2010, p.6]

Although the payoff is creepy, it takes a little too long to arrive -- and when it does, it's about as worn-out as the movie's title.

Watching “The Iron Claw” can feel like getting slammed with a metal folding chair over and over again. So bludgeoning are the true and tragic circumstances that befell the famous Von Erich wresting family during the 1980s and ’90s, which director Sean Durkin’s film depicts.

A scrumptious war movie.

Unusual and utterly disarming documentary.

It's clever, cool fun and it looks great.

A gorgeously photographed, sun-baked fable.

Gripping and thoughtful.

Its portrait of adolescence seems so authentic that it puts most Hollywood products to shame.

The visual effects are amazing, but they don't make up for acting that is restrained to an uninsightful fault.

What is Inland Empire - which Lynch is understandably distributing himself - about? What is it trying to say? If you figure that out, let me know.

South African director Gavin Hood (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine’’) pulls off some really tricky tonal shifts.

Kicks into high gear in its final 45 minutes, when the singer's fans descend on one of her concerts. It's worth the wait.

As someone who has never completed a crossword puzzle, I was surprised how engaged I was by Wordplay.

Like Father, Like Son has earned its right to reduce a person to a sobbing wreck.

Sometimes, it’s enough to walk out of a film with your heart warmed — even if your brain’s still craving a little something more.

Viewers in Gotham will be perplexed, frightened, disgusted - and, mostly, entertained.

Bob Dylan would probably love I'm Not There, which may be all a Dylanist needs to know before seeing it. Non-devotees are in for puzzlement, if not exasperation.

We hold Pixar to a higher standard because of the true art it has achieved over the past – gulp – 30 years. If “Inside Out 2” doesn’t quite reach those heights, it is still a promising step on the studio’s difficult quest to rediscover its own sense of self.

The result puts a human face on Derrida, and makes one of the great minds of our times interesting and accessible to people who normally couldn't care less.

Despite pitch-perfect performances, the craft of Moretti's direction and his honorable intentions, The Son's Room was not especially moving.

One of the most beautiful movies you're likely to see this year. And the cast members, all amateurs, are first-rate.

Despite its visual brilliance, its all-round cleverness, and the way it demonstrates a profound understanding of genre, the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There doesn't quite come off.

The static, claustrophobic movie is very much a filmed play.

The strapping Damon's lived-in performance makes us happy to follow Bourne wherever he may go.

The quality of the acting, Cave's hellfire score and the heavy atmospherics of the directing merely dress up a cliché: Violence leads to more violence.

This film is narratively inert (we spend a lot of time listening to the same questions being asked over and over) and, like virtually all docs in its genre, less than vigorous in its pursuit of truth.

The core problem facing the rather annoying new movie “The Fall Guy” — starring Ryan Gosling as a professional daredevil — is that we can’t believe. Never for a second does the viewer buy that goofy Gosling is an in-demand stunt person who sets aside his ego for the betterment of a project.

Brilliant star Michael B. Jordan does double-duty in “III,” returning to play Adonis Creed and directing a film for the first time — the man is a champ at both athletics and aesthetics.

Even after nearly three hours of sitting, I didn’t feel as though I’d gotten to know the characters very well.

The political intrigue behind the documentary would make for a great movie of its own.

In a time when climate news is near-uniformly depressing, this is a nature documentary that pays loving and hopeful tribute to the complex web of life — and it won’t scare your kids.

At nearly three hours, it’s entirely too long, needlessly padded out with an intrusive interview-framing device.

Elegantly photographed family saga that brims with period detail. Unfortunately, the underlying story is less than compelling,

It’s mainly instructive in that it shows how liberals believe the end always justifies the means.

This atmospheric, cool-looking but gimpy thriller based on a John le Carré novel makes “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” look like “22 Jump Street.”

Every episode of "Law & Order" I've ever seen has a more complicated and plausible plot, punchier dialogue and more New York authenticity, all in less than half the time consumed by this poky would-be finance thriller.

Showcases a brilliantly realistic performance by Abbie Cornish as Heidi. She's a provocative mix of naivete and ripe, unbridled sexuality.

Bluebeard revisits themes often found in Breillat's films -- sibling rivalry, pedophilia, gender conflict -- but it remains fresh and new.

Overall, the film is not quite up to "Aladdin" and "The Little Mermaid" from the same directing team of Ron Clements and John Musker, not to mention the recent string of masterpieces from Pixar.

This engaging, funny documentary catches up with Beltracchi as he and his wife are serving time in an “open” prison in Europe.

More than just a musical primer. It's also a valentine to the city on the Bosporus, the strait that separates Istanbul's Asian and European sides.

I'm not sure why it took 50 years for Araya to reach New York, but let us be thankful to Milestone Films for giving life to this forgotten film.

Well-done documentary.

An absorbing documentary.

Dark, morbidly funny and quite violent movie, which plays with audience members' heads in ways many people will find quite disturbing.

A challenging experimental film that will never play in a commercial movie theater and is settling in for a two-week run at the ever-venturesome Film Forum.