Miyazaki offers a vivid, at times fantastical view of Japan between the wars, wracked by the Great Depression, a fearsome earthquake that leveled Tokyo in 1923, a tuberculosis epidemic and the rise of fascism.

A gorgeous and witty piece of stop-motion animation.

The drivel they call "reality TV" pales in comparison with the gripping big-screen documentary Bus 174.

In the Loop is certainly the smartest and funniest movie inspired by the Iraq war.

Soul amounts to more than technical wizardry and intelligent dialogue. Why artists keep pounding the pavement despite never finding commercial success is a meaty topic.

A sophisticated, stylish, fast-moving piece of work.

That it is such a powerful and indeed beautiful film is simply extraordinary.

Many of the images — and Salgado’s accounts of taking them — are as soul-shattering as they are breathtaking.

Bahrani's unsentimental film is perhaps most interesting as a look at a colorful, little-known world that has recently been targeted for urban renewal.

A love letter to a New York neighborhood that is rapidly disappearing -- a tight-knit Dominican community.

It’s a rare film that locates viciousness and kindness on both sides of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

An instant classic.

Deep, disturbing and funny.

By turns funny, sinister, haunting, historically fascinating and mythical, The Lighthouse is one of the best films of the year.

Sequels don't get much better - or smarter - than the action-, drama-, romance- and comedy-packed Spider-Man 2, which miraculously improves on the webslinger's hugely popular first screen adventure in every imaginable department.

In a film that’s often sad but not without its triumphs, director Morgan Neville smartly explores the complex role that ego and self-promotion play in this profession.

Rarely less than absorbing and never boring over its nearly three-hour length.

It’s his home movies with Love and baby — some playful, others drugged and drooling — that fans will find the most emotional viewing. As the credits roll, it’s hard not to just root for the sensitive, progressive, fiercely creative Cobain and wish that he’d lived long enough to find a little peace of mind.

Despite being set in the late 1970s, 20th Century Women feels like the perfect movie for this moment.

It's the dancing that makes Pina a visual delight. It should appeal to dance mavens, and to folks who have no idea what a pas de deux is.

The film is shaky as a procedural, and the level of official corruption seems more Moscow than Melbourne. Yet as a fable of power, vengeance and betrayal it exerts a quiet, increasingly wicked pull, equivalent to that of the wrinkly but ruthless grandma.

Young Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a boy who literally lives inside the clocks he manages in a grand Paris train station in the 1930s, embodies one problem that bedeviled even Dickens: He's boringly nice.

As cute and energetic as it is, The Lego Movie is more exhausting than fun, too unsure of itself to stick with any story thread for too long. The action scenes are enthusiastic, colorful but uninvolving, like an 8-year-old emptying a bucket of plastic blocks.

If you have the patience, its almost endless silences and extremely slow pacing eventually pay off.

Not since "300" have I seen such manly mano-a-mano-ing as the iron clash of wills in the docu mentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Drag Me to Hell is pure cheese. Goat cheese.

Despite its stomach-turning images (and maybe because of), it is a daring, provocative work by a talented helmer who gets off pushing the envelope. He should be supported, no matter how outlandish he gets.

An exploration of the power of religion -- should delight Dumont's fans. For others, it will take a bit of getting used to. The effort will prove to be worthwhile.