The sheer volume of amazing things that del Toro is able to mine from his unconscious and render plausibly on the screen is remarkable. Hellboy II feels pretty sequel-y, as these things go, but there's a lot in it that has no precedent of any kind, anywhere, ever. That stuff makes it worthwhile.

There are laughs and moments of pain and many instances of embarrassing (and deeply human) behavior throughout, but there's also delicacy and grace.

The film is masterful in many ways, and brilliantly acted by its lead player, Eriq Ebouaney, but it's often overly dense and fast with information, background and ideas.

The results are inspiring, demonstrating that an artistic eye is an innate thing.

Only in its final moments does Breathe extend its reach beyond experiences that most, if not all, teens (and ex-teens) can relate to. When it does, it might just leave you breathless.

Anderson delivers a satisfyingly quirky, cinematically masterful valentine that contains more seeds of truth about the human heart than a hundred big fat Greek comedies.

Director Bent Hamer ("Factotum") keeps things drily amusing throughout.

Don't let its age fool you -- Wings is no rickety antique. Wellman' s aerial battle scenes remain impressive, even in the digital age. Bow is charming and terribly funny, especially when trying to rescue Rogers from a Parisian brothel. The boys are quite good, too, but their efforts pale next to a brief cameo by Gary Cooper, who positively smolders as the existential rookie who makes his own luck.

The clues keep leading to increasingly darker thickets. [27 Apr 2001]

While terrific entertainment, The Counterfeiters fails to stir the soul.

I wish Zenovich wasn't forced to skate surfaces when it comes to Polanski's perspective -- his interviews are vague and archival -- but she skillfully works around him to craft a maddening look at one of Hollywood's most infamous trials.

It's a riveting character study/soap opera.

The Dark Knight Rises is reasonably accomplished as a gigantic superhero movie; as a meditation on capital and its personal and social discontents, it's strictly from the funny pages.

A profoundly anxious picture that from its first frame holds you, clenched, never able to let go, even after its unresolved coda.

The film has visual and verbal flair, spry energy and deep wit.

This smart crime story from writer/director Jeremy Saulnier avoids wading into the waters of righteousness that drown many violent movies.

To dismiss Ex Machina as just another robot movie would be like calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground. It's one of the most original, smart, thought-provoking science fiction movies of recent years.

Startling and amazing -- a cinematic hammer to the skull.

In Morvern Callar, the subject matter may be morbid and unappealing, but the director handles it with a visual poetry and an eye for hidden beauty that marks a filmmaker of the first order.

Snipes and Sciorra give fine matched performances. They make the impulse and the complex following relationship credible so that it matters what happens to these pawns in a game beyond their grasp. [7 June 1991, p.B06]

We've seen documentaries with more daring themes, greater drama, sharper craft and timelier subject matter. But few have been as affecting as The Real Dirt on Farmer John.

By an order of magnitude --- the strongest (or at least the most mature, subtle and emotional) entry in the series thus far.

You will be surprised by the film's poignancy when the winner is announced. You may even get choked up. You will care that much.

In the rather weak ending, we aren't sure what will become of Peter and Santino.

Set entirely in a police station, the play shows both the drama and routine of police work. Kingsley made them all eloquent in a snappy-patter way. Kirk Douglas gives a powerhouse performance as the detective who is wound too tight for his own good. [26 Sep 1997, p.34]

It's a pleasant, engaging version of probably the closest thing to a sitcom the Bard ever penned.

Shot on location in New York by director Ted Tetzlaff, it's tense and fresh and, at 73 minutes, remarkably taut. [14 Sep 2012]

What's different here is the setting: Instead of modern-day misogyny, the heroine of The Last Mistress is up against its 19th-century version.