To really pull off Greenberg would require a lead performance from a master actor. The actor it stars is . . . Ben Stiller.

Ach, Klaus, das ist funny! But Beerfest goes on too long. Take out 20 minutes of nonfunctioning jokes, and it would have given you a comedy buzz like four tankards of Lowenbrau.

Mirai is somewhat mired in outdated gender roles, with Cho’s character hopelessly clumsy as caregiver while his wife goes back to work. But the biggest pitfall I found with Mirai, which may be more of a selling point to new parents and children struggling with sibling rivalry, is that Kun spends half the film in tears, shrieking or whining.

An uneven quasi-weepie.

The sex is the main thing that makes Kiss of the Damned worthwhile.

Alan Taylor ("Palookaville"), an American, directs with a playful touch, and Denmark's Hjejle is far more assured acting in English here than she was in "High Fidelity."

The gags vary - a tattooed-breast mystery kinda sags - but there are lots of laughs.

This enigma-delivery system from a sharp mind has enthralling moments but becomes a bit enervating in its self-seriousness. By the end, the whole thing feels more academic than mind-bending.

Phoenix, who was so subtle in “Her” and brilliantly tortured in “The Master,” has lapsed back into the shouty bombast style of his “Gladiator” days, but his efforts to make the character seem layered are to little avail, especially given that Gray waits until the end to try to make him a tragic figure instead of merely a sleazy one.

The audio design of Little Joe is meant to be unsettling, but it may be for naught if audiences can hardly bear to sit through it.

Smarter than your average serial-killer movie, thanks to unusually fleshed-out characters inhabited by a high- pedigree cast.

La La Land deserves credit for high spirits even if it’s essentially a collection of glamorous throwback music videos for so-so songs.

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

The very effectiveness of After the Life's depiction of its main characters makes its immediate predecessor seem that much more of a waste.

This is a useful primer on what went wrong — and right — in 2008.

Even when scary, Murray is somehow funny, too, and he steals the show as always.

Rookie filmmaker Michael Maren’s script isn’t deep, but it’s heartfelt without being sticky, suggesting that the best way to deal with aging parents is to savor every tender frustration while you can.

Really, “Small Player” is a great movie until it abruptly isn’t.

Writer-director Greg Jardin’s seductive — if occasionally difficult to follow — movie is a wicked spin on a familiar tale: a group of friends spending a dramatic drunken evening in a big, luxe house.

A tad too long, and takes its sweet time to get to the point. But its twisted heart is in the right place.

As a spooky midnight movie, The Wolfman is worth curling up with.

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.

Some documentaries are a fervent search for truth; others are a fervent search for snickers. This one is the latter, providing via interviews and old film clips a Greatest Hits for Bush haters.

It is hard to dislike such a wholesome, well-meaning movie, which has some very funny moments and a lovable cast.

If you can handle the glacial pacing and lack of dialogue, there is a certain squirmy satisfaction to watching this well-worn story of love, cruelty and madness play out minus the long-winded speeches and romantic catharsis.

The paranoia is as thick and luscious as that Reddi-wip, and it's served from both left and right.

While it is interesting to witness the conflict from the Palestinian side, Longley's film lacks balance (there's nothing from the Israeli perspective) and fails to put the struggle into meaningful historical context.

The addition of Glover and Danny DeVito keeps Jumanji: The Next Level afloat, even with barely the whisper of a plot.