August Winds is a contemplative, nearly formless depiction of rural life. Mascaro regularly hangs back, adopting an unobtrusive vantage point, letting the moments form so that his characters can live out their lives.

A landmark in animation. [12 Apr 1996, p.AE23]

One of those undeniably beautiful things. The film is, in fact, an encyclopedia of beauty -- the beauty of desire, the beauty of nostalgia, the beauty of music and clothing and smoke and pain, and, chiefly, the beauty of women.

It's a visual feast that only a crack director could provide, and it's mounted within a story and setting that, played utterly straight, might still have made a good movie.

Panic never lets you forget that Donald Sutherland can be one of America's greatest actors.

The Aviator, though, if not prime Scorsese, is the closest thing in a long time to the old Scorsese. What a splendid year-end gift!

A sense of claustrophobia emerges, increases and colonizes the film.

Sirk freighted this material with surprisingly delicate art: gorgeous photography and staging, a fluency of camera work rarely seen even in A-level movies, and an earnest tone evident in the music, dialogue and acting. [17 Oct 1999]

Herzog's drive to bring Dengler's story to a wide audience might have paradoxically caused him to do what he seems normally to abhor: compromise.

Miller's global harmonizing never feels preachy -- he's too busy cramming Happy Feet with enough entertainment for three movies.

Beautiful, thoughtful and engrossing.

A tight little thriller that recalls the good old days of "Fatal Attraction" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," back when suspicious packages appeared on the doorstep, no affair went unpunished, and the family dog was never safe.

It's also exhausting, despite an engaging premise.

Possesses a tone that wobbles masterfully between whimsy, dread, affection and horror, building on rich performances and an understated showiness to cast a queer and tingly spell.

The resulting film is a labor of love with all the strengths and weaknesses you might expect from such a designation.

The resulting documentary is a fascinating meditation on the different ways nature can be experienced, as well as a fatalistic take on the process of our planet's seemingly inevitable change in climate.

As far as a coherent, hilarious story line, as well as sheer blasphemous glee, you can't do much better than "Life of Brian."

Alexandre Dumas pere's 1844 novel has been filmed more than four dozen times, but this lavish and hilarious rendition is the pinnacle. [21 Sep 2007, p.38]

Although the plot might sound like the stuff of a soap opera, a smart script, strong performances and an ideologically determined lack of filmmaking niceties result in a shattering, deeply felt work.

While the urban texture and the unapologetic work of Basinger impart a sophisticated air to what is essentially a downtrodden-teen-makes-good film, that is, finally, just what 8 Mile is. That's not a bad thing, but it's nothing to rap home about, either.

Ferrific fun and rousing proof that there’s still vital life in an aging master filmmaker.

Baumbach loses his grip a little in the third act and gives Stiller too much babbling and ranting. The denouement at a tribute dinner for Leslie is unsatisfying for all concerned but is redeemed by a coda that assures everyone that happiness is possible in this crazy world.

It wouldn’t be surprising to hear about moviegoers demanding their money back after seeing The Dallas Buyers Club, but not because the film isn’t good. It’s actually very nearly great.

If film is an art, it's because it's possible for somebody to make films like this.

The film does leave you with the lingering regret that you missed a hell of a good party. It is, as the kids used to say, a trip.

Director Bart Layton's film takes us to such strange and emotionally-charged places that we cannot believe that what we're seeing is real, even though it demonstrably is.

Built around Firth’s fine work, A Single Man is a handsome film that, like its slender source novel, is stylish, quiet and sure.

The only scenes that felt "actorly" come when the pair drunkenly crash an ex-girlfriend's wedding party. Otherwise, The Messenger has a verisimilitude rare in films tackling this subject matter.

You wouldn't want to be Daniel Johnston, or even know him too well. But see this film and you won't forget him.

The cinematic gloss serves to heighten our involvement in the tale, and to mark Fukunaga as a talent to be reckoned with.

In all that empty space, the film gets a bit lost.

Throw in an unbearably gloomy plot involving overbearing or grieving parents and a pointed commentary on the corrupt, classist nature of modern Romania, and you're in for a downbeat evening. "The Lego Movie," this isn't.

Grandma is a movie that, for what it's worth, gets an A+ on the Bechdel test. Writer-director Paul Weitz may still be cashing residual checks for the "American Pie" movies, but this is his most heartfelt, successful effort since 2002's "About a Boy."

Frustrating, tedious and yet often compelling.

It's inconsistent fun, and it's a little too layered with self-congratulatory irony to be truly transporting.

For a movie with such a brisk pace -- it clocks in at just 76 minutes -- Caesar Must Die has surprising depth, particularly when it comes to the strong performances by the actors, many of them Mafiosi serving time for drug trafficking and murder.

In the end it may amount to little more than an exotic fable, but it is a particularly conscious, wise fable.

The edited footage has an intensity and immediacy you won't find on cable news networks.

Moving and suspenseful.

A Band Called Death is more effective as a chronicle of the intensely close relationship between three musically ambitious brothers than as proto-punk archaeology.

Ruby in Paradise has small flaws. But it also has enough small pleasures to make it a warm-hearted, well-intentioned alternative to noisier Hollywood fare. [11 Nov 1993, p.B08]

It doesn't all work. The energy and the performances by Cannon, Parris and Hudson can't carry a movie that careens from camp to tragedy to farce without taking a breath. Several scenes could have been cut, particularly a long, dumb take on sex and the Civil War that ends with a horny old goat in Stars-and-Bars skivvies.

This film could serve as a potent tool for those trying to change 40 years of public policy.

The only danger with a movie like this is the inevitably disappointing return to more humdrum reality once it ends.

It’s a harrowing and impressive accomplishment (especially considering potential government censorship), and it shows how, in its mad rush toward modernity, China has become a land of haves and have-nots, where income inequality and lack of opportunity have made a mockery of the nation’s purported ideals. Sound familiar?

The film is still a wonderful lark filled with an ingredient most summer blockbusters lack -- likability.

Among the film's highlights are an interview with Grand Wizard Theodore, who is generally uncontested in his claim to have invented the idea of scratching vinyl.

With understated skill and absolute authenticity, the film builds with enough layers that by its powerful ending, you'll feel as if you have been kicked in the stomach.

Gets its hooks into you in ways that are hard to explain or to ignore.

Effective, fact-based melodrama that packs an unexpected emotional wallop.

A winning, grown-up film that benefits from fine, homey performances, a steady directorial hand, and the sense that everyone involved was invested in the story and not just the job.

There are strange variations in the mood of Three Burials that may strike some viewers as flippant. As gritty and real as the business of toting a corpse at gunpoint gets, the tone occasionally veers into farce. But it's never too long before the focus returns to Jones' weathered eyes.

Best Intentions should be engaging for those unfamiliar with Bergman -- and at three hours, it had better be engaging. To Bergman buffs, it is fascinating -- a lively, clever drama of opposites powerfully attracted. [14 Aug 1992, p.17]

It is provocative, smartly made and truly independent.

The film is somewhat scattered in construction, but it's an eye-opener.

Gives just enough to forgive any of its initial flaws and eventually grows on you.

Often-brilliant, often-reverent documentary deconstructs Bukowski's bad-boy literary persona, finds a fascinatingly messed-up guy behind the words.

Even with this curiously limp resolution, I Stand Alone is unforgettable moviemaking, more muscular than anything seen since Jean-Luc Godard still had some spit and vinegar in him. It may not be palatable, but it's played with convincing fury. [08 Oct 1999]

This genuinely irreverent film is one of the few to dabble in theological humor. It's wicked, but only up to PG-level heresy and impiety. [03 Apr 1998, p.38]

Like its 2010 predecessor, it's one of the most gorgeous computer-animated kids' films you'll come across, and one of the few that uses 3-D smartly and effectively.

It's a teeming, steaming, bubbling stew, a tremendous good time, a rich entertainment and a heck of a lesson in music, human etiquette and the politics of making it (or not) in show biz.

In Almodóvar and Cruz we have a real collaboration of artist and inspiration that only seems to improve and deepen over time.

The Dardennes are talents, clearly. Watching Rosetta is like watching them flip you the bird.

The director manages to maintain a steady streak of grim humor. Extreme repression can be bleakly funny in its idiocy, when viewed from a distance.

Even more impressive is young Tequan Richmond (TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris”) as the quiet, intense Malvo, a kid so desperate for a father figure in his life that he becomes putty in the hands of a killer.

The laughs in Adventureland aren't as outlandish as those in "Superbad," but they seem more based in experience and truth. You could want something more raucous, I suppose, but that wouldn't necessarily be an improvement.

An unexpectedly charming little film.

Brittain's life and literary output are worthy of celebration, and there's no better time that the centenary of "The War to End All Wars" to commemorate its bloody folly. It's a shame that Testament of Youth does both in such a bloodless way.

Like Someone in Love meanders with intention toward a bittersweet resolution, but then pulls the rug out from under you in a cruelly ambiguous shot.

Working with someone else's material and a story outside the mainstream of his (Lee) work, he delivers laughs, puzzles, tension and the immense gift of fine actors at their delicious, familiar best.

It's hot and sweet and made with inspiration and cheek. And it is not your children's animated fare -- which, in this case, is a recommendation.

The opening sequences of this film from director Olivier Assayas are gripping, as students flee baton-wielding police, then embark on a late-night vandalism spree at a school. But the drama becomes mired with too many characters, too many shots of pretty Italian scenery and an unfocused story.

A perfectly irreverent counterpoint to movies that take their superheroes a bit too seriously.

Shortland, whose only previous feature was 2004's coming-of-age drama "Somersault," creates a visceral, immersive environment and draws a very impressive performance from newcomer Saskia Rosendahl.

If the result doesn't make dazzling watching, it nonetheless has the power to haunt.

It's a fresh-hearted film that only frustrates when you sense how close it is to being exceptional.

Hara-Kiri is low on blood and shock, emphasizing performance and atmosphere.

A fine and sturdy picture, capable of standing alongside the many such films made when Westerns were one of our chief entertainments.

Is it dreary, stingy and strained? Well, yes: it's Jane Eyre, after all. But it's also robust and full-blooded and forceful: it's Jane Eyre, after all.

The character who emerges in the breezy, somewhat meandering Buck is plain-spoken, heartfelt, compassionate, witty, and wise. His horse-training technique is based on understanding the psychology of animals and on attuning his human and equine clients with one another.

Enjoys the weird distinction of being one of the year's funniest comedies and one of the best zombie movies ever made.

An absorbing, entertaining, amusing and wrenching film.

A gripping movie about espionage, loyalty and betrayal.

The film is gummed up by Bruno Ganz as an intelligence officer who wants not only to capture the bad guys but to understand them -- and to explain them, hand-wringingly, endlessly.

The film is like a lot like Effie: It occasionally vexes or disappoints, but -- I am telling you -- it dazzles.

The overall effect is awe and affection -- and a strange urge to get on a board and, uh, shred, dude.

What's even more amazing about the actor's absorbing, sometimes depraved performance is that while the film around him is generally cheesy and obvious, Washington is to-the-bone real.

There's a Gordon Gekko vibe to Shannon's reptilian, charismatic villain. Like Oliver Stone's "Wall Street," 99 Homes understands that people don't sell their souls because they're inherently evil — they do it because being rich is cool.

A well-acted, convincing portrait of a successful but overworked film producer.

A crowd-pleasing import that would leave only the most steadfast curmudgeon unmoved.

Moncrieff's story remains fresh despite the familiarity of its general outline. This is mostly due to the skilled performances she elicits; even when the unfolding events have been seen many times before, watching human beings react realistically never gets old.

A unique and masterful film, filled with surprises and felicities and moments of transporting visual power.

For a picture about a stalker, Chuck and Buck is rather sweet, funny and winning.

An altogether astounding testimony to the band's longevity, vitality and verve.

Without passing moral judgments on either group, Cartel Land provides a vivid illustration of the dangers inherent whenever a government fails to meet its citizens' needs to the extent that they take matters into their own hands.

It's best seen as a breezy entertainment and a reminder of how potent some of these performers -- many of whom are dead -- were in their primes.

Today, Randi's stooped, gnomish gait and expansive white beard give him the appearance of a Tolkien wizard, but the man's passion for rationality and for exposing fraud and misbelief are stronger than ever. An Honest Liar is a fitting tribute to a figure whose stamina and wit only appear to be magical.

For all its cleverness and moments of power, What's Love Got to Do With It is missing more than the question mark at the end of the title. [18 Jun 1993, p.18]