Much of Words and Pictures is second-rate. A subplot involving a sexual harassment case is clumsily handled and a talented supporting cast, particularly Bruce Davison and Amy Brenneman, is underused.

Liman stages the chaotic action scenes, including several iterations of the beach assault, with clarity, precision, and wit. This is his best movie since 2002's "The Bourne Identity."

A fair amount of traumatic stuff happens in 2 Autumns, 3 Winters... But writer/director Sébastien Betbeder's French seriocomic romance still feels light (or emotionally distant, depending), thanks to the film's fusillade of stylistic tics.

A moderately enchanting, sometimes thought-provoking corrective to the flaws in the story that inspired it.

While Shepard just does his grim, weathered, Sam Shepard shtick, and Hall seems oddly miscast as the tense, prickly Dale, Johnson's easy, gritty charm is a much-needed buffer between their colliding obsessions.

Palo Alto is "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" without the wit; "River's Edge" without the depth. It's like reading a first novel by a talented writer who has something to say but isn't yet sure how to say it.

A little slapstick, a sexy twist, and we're all happy.

There are plenty of very funny jokes in the movie, but near-fatal lulls whenever it tries to make MacFarlane into a romantic lead or a genuinely inspiring hero — in other words, whenever it tries to make us like him.

He plays it so low-key there's nothing much for him to do, apart from the clueless-dad shtick and some awkward comedy with an ostrich. The big laughs never come.

It's not clear that Ayoade has anything new to say about these time-worn themes, but he has fun creating the world of the film.

It turns out to be a delight, funny and insightful in a sideways way.

Favreau's a big man who knows how to wield a chef's knife and shoots the food truck scenes with a hectic good nature that's infectious.

You can almost feel Depp restraining himself from saying "Tell me more about Hunter," again and again, but his enthusiasm and appreciation are real, and that's a pretty good reason for this movie to exist.

Hold onto your hats, True Believers! This one's got the most massive, momentous montage of Marvel's merry mutants ever mashed into one movie!

What's best about Belle is the performance of Ebatha-Raw.

The potentially huge audience for Million Dollar Arm deserves a better movie, less derivative and cynical and more like something real.

The worry regarding 2014's Godzilla was that it would seem like a retread of recent big-budget monster mashes "Cloverfield" or "Pacific Rim," or, worse yet, that it would sink to the depths of the 1998 American reboot. Happily, though, this one can stand on its own two enormous three-toed feet.

It's a fascinating instance of a filmmaker working with self-imposed rules, but never forgetting that those restrictions are only worthwhile to the extent that they serve character and story. It's a ride well worth taking.

With evocative performances, especially from the two women, and a nicely modulated sense of nostalgia, Ilo Ilo marks the emergence of a promising new cinematic voice.

Next Goal Wins isn't the most slickly made documentary, and its chronology can be confusing at times. But, despite a bit of salty language, it's an inspiring, never-say-die chronicle for all ages.

Everything feels flat and listless, like an August afternoon in the city with no air conditioning. Hoffman shambles through his scenes, no spark in his eyes, getting it done without the energy and spirit that was his stock in trade.

What's unusual about DamNation isn't its politics but its production and distribution. It was financed by Patagonia and its chairman, Yvon Chouinard, and will be screened in Patagonia stores.

Neighbors makes "Animal House" look like "Remembrances of Things Past."

A surprisingly in-depth and confrontational examination into the obesity epidemic among Americans, especially children, over the last 30 years.

So lame and tasteless that it's hard to know what possessed Turturro to write it and anyone to finance it.

With strong performances, the gorgeously overwhelming environment (the sounds of wind and flies are practically supporting characters), and at least one agonizingly long close-up, Age of Uprising unsettles as it raises troubling questions about the price, morality and flexibility of a "principled stand."

ASM 2 makes too many of the same mistakes that have brought other superhero movies low (including Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3"). It tries to pack in too many characters and plot lines, for one.

Even if her turn in Bright Days Ahead feels overly familiar, especially after Deneuve's recent "On My Way," Ardant is still possessed of the same Gallic poise and presence, and generally a joy to watch.