Final Account may ultimately be more important for the voices it immortalizes than for its worth as a conventional documentary.

Balances character development with plot, and that's crucial to its success.

It doesn’t break any molds but expertly crafts familiar material into an end product that will likely appeal to a wide audience.

On balance, more of the movie works than doesn't, but this isn't 140 minutes of unqualified successes.

Kids for Cash may not be inherently cinematic (a lot of the footage, after all, first appeared on television) but it is compelling.

The film is notable for continuing to expand the corporation’s reach into different cultures while displaying a welcome maturation of animation beyond the conventional American standard into something that, although no less family-friendly, is thought-provoking and stimulating.

Lucas manages to be touching, sad, thoughtful, funny, and joyous - it's a nearly-perfect portrait of the incredible highs and lows that accompany the high school journey of a square peg who doesn't fit into a round hole.

From narrative to character development to staging, every frame of Mistress America drips with artifice. It's a playground for unpleasant, self-absorbed characters - an excursion into the lifestyles of people most of us would prefer to bypass. If there's an antonym for self-awareness, it applies to nearly everyone populating this misfire.

Likely to bring a smile to your lips and a bounce to your step.

Rango is the poster child for those who are anti-3-D, and a great reminder that genuine creativity doesn't need a gimmicky crutch to appeal to audiences.

This is a fun, funny trifle that deserves to be enjoyed on its own terms – a throwback that only feels old when that serves its purposes.

The film doesn't have much of a narrative, and the ending is a little too mystical, but there's still plenty here to engage the attention of all but the most restless of movie-goers.

The end result, however, whether pruned during the scripting stage or in the editing room, is a taut and compelling piece of cinema whose release in the wake of the 2024 election may have some viewers pondering Winston Churchill’s 1948 warning: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Martha Marcy May Marlene offers a challenging, emotionally riveting experience, even if the conclusion dangles at the edge of an unresolvable cliffhanger.

It's bland as often as it is affecting, and presents little that's new or original.

It is at times serious and at times very funny. But it is always perceptive, and that quality, more than any other, is what makes it worth a recommendation.

This film is an autopsy of a family that has been sundered by the death of the father and primary care-giver.

The Wolf of Wall Street joins "After Hours" as the most openly comedic films Scorsese has made.

Whether on stage or on film, The Crucible is a powerful, thought-provoking production. This version illuminates the story's numerous strengths, resulting in a motion picture of surprising emotional and intellectual impact. By re-interpreting this classic so effectively, Hytner has assured that at least one version of "The Crucible" will become a part of film history.

Blue Velvet is David Lynch in peak form, and represents (to date) his most accomplished motion picture. It is a work of fascinating scope and power that rivals any of the most subversive films to reach the screens during the '80s.

Bridesmaids is bipolar filmmaking at its most disconcerting, with changes in tone so abrupt that they can cause whiplash. In part because of this and in part because the writing is often lazy and self-indulgent, the movie rarely works.

Fascinating, garish, and compelling even with an overlong 130-odd minute running time, Benedetta dabbles in some of Verhoeven’s career-long weaknesses while highlighting a great many of his strengths.

One of the singular pleasures of films like The Invisible Woman is the window they offer into the lives of deceased authors who are known primarily to modern audiences only through the words they committed to paper.

There are good reasons to see Tully. Theron’s performance is high on the list, as is that of Mackenzie Davis. The first 30 minutes are uncommonly good, which may be why the spike of disappointment is so acute when the film fails to maintain that level for its entire length.

It's a rousing adventure that keeps the audience involved for the entirety of the two hour running time while opening a window into the culture that gave birth to Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Francis Bacon, and William Shakespeare.

The Muppets is a rare family film likely to appeal more to parents than to their offspring.

Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill is among the best to reach the screen. With the help of makeup, Oldman immerses himself so deeply in the role that the actor disappears.

The problem with An Inconvenient Truth isn't the message; it's the messenger.