Treads an awfully thin line between the provocative and the exploitative.

Winterbottom's bold film, its gritty visuals offset by Dario Marianelli's lavish score, makes real the desperate lengths that refugees -- those running from poverty as well as dange -- will go to.

An insightful time capsule.

With its endless takes of characters silently waiting, say, or getting out of bed, this is the kind of film that can be seen only after a full night's sleep. But it is also clever, funny and sometimes moving.

While This Film Is Not Yet Rated does not suggest an alternative to the ratings board, it does expose this Tinseltown sham to some well-deserved public ridicule.

You might be reminded of Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 thriller "Diva," which also involves crooked cops and Metro chases. But you need never have seen "Diva" to be captivated by the exhilarating Point Blank.

There isn’t a lot here about her films, or great performances, but this is two hours of Ingrid Bergman, much of it rarely seen before. I’m not about to complain.

In her directorial debut, Venditti does her best to keep a distance between herself and her subjects. But you have to wonder how much of the Billy we see on-screen is affected by the presence of Venditti's camera.

The story, based on a best-selling novel, has familiar overtones; but Kormakur overcomes them with stylish direction - Iceland's natural beauty looks great - and a gripping performance by Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson.

Dynamite actually — sometimes cheesily — is a lot like 1990s and aughts disaster flicks, except there is not much suspense as to whether or not the nuclear bomb will land, even though Bigelow casually tries to create some.

Bong Joon-ho directed one of the best dystopian thrillers in recent years — 2013’s “Snowpiercer” — and one of the finest monster movies ever, 2006’s “The Host.” You’ll find elements of both in his chilling, subversive new Netflix film, Okja, about a girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) and her enormous pet superpig.

Omar eventually becomes a sun-scorched neo-noir — and the fade-out is an unforgettable jolter.

Neither bad enough to be a complete waste of time nor good enough to remember past next Tuesday, the film co-written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie staples together one routine action piece after another with cutesy dialogue and lots of merciless pounding away at iPad screens.

A great big snowy pleasure with an emotionally gripping core, brilliant Broadway-style songs and a crafty plot.

Koteas and Ribisi, as two very different brothers, give realistic performances, and play off the differences brilliantly.

A lovely, intelligent film from Spain about recognizable human beings with real-life problems.

Though On the Run is a welcome reminder that effective thrillers don't have to be noisy or dumb, the film does contain slightly jarring moments of inadvertent humor.

Man's inhumanity to man is gruesomely detailed in S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine.

Life, Animated oversimplifies the situation, contriving to use endless clips from Disney movies to make a case that movie magic really can better people’s lives. Unfortunately, by the end of the movie it’s clear that Disney can’t help Owen negotiate sex, breakups or many other challenges he faces as an adult.

Basically, this tale of a pregnant waitress looking for a way out of an unhappy marriage is a funny and touching riff on Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," not to mention its better-known sitcom spinoff, "Alice."

Finally, a post-“Bridesmaids” film that lets Kristen Wiig shine — and brilliantly taps into co-star Bill Hader’s vulnerable side, too.

The actors are charmingly low-key, and the lensing, by Jorgen Johansson, adds to the offbeat aura. Whatever you do, don't miss the booze-guzzling showdown.

The second half offers shot after shot of the people who sat opposite Abramovi - an unexpectedly enthralling record of reactions that range from stark agony to rather phony amusement.

The film flawlessly glides along as bodies start piling up. The finale brings to mind another Hitchcock film, "Psycho."

A funny, hip, touching and utterly irresistible comedy-drama.

The movie is trying to do far too much and doesn't do anything well. "Ambitious" isn't the word here; "random" is more like it.

Directed by C. Scott Willis, this beautifully shot documentary blends Francesca's work -- photos, videos and passages from her diary -- with interviews.

The silliness of Moore's oeuvre is so self-evident that being able to spot it is not liberal or conservative, either; it's a basic intelligence test, like the ability to match square peg with square hole. His documentaries are political slapstick that could have been made by a third Farrelly brother or a fourth Stooge.