The Interpreter bristles with the smart, steadily engrossing tension that marked such 1970s goodies as "All the President's Men," "The Parallax View" and Pollack's own "Three Days of the Condor."

Sinfully funny.

It's a mouthful of a title for a rowdy, ramshackle funfest that flies by on its spirited humor and surprising heart.

His (Chase) ardent, acutely observed debut makes him, at 67, a filmmaker to watch.

You wind up caring deeply about the affair that began in the 1950s between American teenager Don Bachardy and three-decades-older Christopher Isherwood, the noted British author whose "Berlin Stories" inspired "Cabaret."

Is this vulnerable Madonna the real thing or a ploy to ingratiate herself with film audiences who’ve found her chilly and strident? You be the judge. But there’s no denying that Truth or Dare is at its raunchy best when Madonna is kicking ass instead of kissing it.

British actor Harris Dickinson gives a smashing breakthrough performance in Beach Rats.

Clearly a passion project for Jolie. Her adopted son Maddox, 16, was born in Cambodia and served as executive producer on the film. If there is such a thing as a cinematic labor of love, this is it.

Buscemi does not act in Lonesome Jim, but his sly humor and keen eye for nuance resonate in every frame. I can't recall having a better time at a movie about depression.

Olmos is unsparing in depicting the dark side of human behavior. His in-your-face style stresses the urgency of a situation most of us choose to ignore. Though powerful, the film is sometimes preachy; there's a sense that information is being disseminated instead of dramatized. But it's hard to believe anyone will remain unmoved by American Me or its final shattering image of human desolation.

It's scarier than "The Amityville Horror," as scandalous as "Fahrenheit 9/11" and loaded with more conspiracies than "The Interpreter."

Eastwood hasn't had this much fun with a role in years, and his joy is contagious.

O'Toole gives a staggering performance -- fearless, defiantly untamed and in its own way a work of art.

Schumacher could have exploited those tabloid headlines about solid citizens going berserk. Instead, the timely, gripping Falling Down puts a human face on a cold statistic and then dares us to look away.

Near the end, when Griet puts on that earring and Johansson magically morphs into the figure on that canvas, you'll be knocked for a loop.

Like Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit," set half a century ago, Chon's Gook uses the past to speak to a tumultuous present. Chon has created a hardass yet hypnotically beautiful film that snarls and sparks to incite, not a fever in the blood, but an urgent conversation about what makes us human. Godspeed.

Even when the script slips into sermonizing -- a Swoff voice-over informs us that we're all still "in the desert" -- Mendes keeps invading us with emotions. The jolt of Jarhead is undeniable, and it comes when you least expect it.

Despite grim doings involving sexual hysteria and chopped-up body parts (don't ask), Ramsay and Morton fill this character study with poetic force and buoyant feeling.

It's Hanson's astute directing that makes the film's life lessons go down painlessly, turning the smartly entertaining In Her Shoes into a comfy fit for both sexes.

For some folks, such retrograde pleasures have lost their bloody-knuckled charm. If this is still your bag all these years later and you wish the 1990s had never ended, however, then everyone wins.

No laugh in this doc – and there are plenty – goes out without a sting in its tail.

Stylishly shot on the high-def cheap, runs 77 potently sexless minutes. Its subject isn't erotica, it's commodities trading.

This Burt Reynolds offering is a look at both prison life and the sport, and offers two hallmarks of classic 70's cinema: gritty, no holds barred action – and Reynolds' chest hair.

Does Carey go too far? Duh. But why gripe when you can't stop laughing?

If you want to see explosive acting, just watch Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett ignite in this film version of Zoe Heller's 2003 novel.

There are valid criticisms of Wonder Wheel as a film that feels more like a stage play – its claustrophobic atmosphere can be stifling. But even covering familiar ground, Allen finds the blunt truth at its core. As Ginny is stripped of her fantasies and exposed to the harsh glare of reality, Winslet stands her ground, as if to say attention must be paid. It should be. Her performance is absolutely astounding.

What saves director Ted Demme's comic talkfest from sitcom slickness is a quirky script by Scott Rosenberg and an appealing cast.

It's a frisky romantic comedy with a great title and wonderfully appealing performances.

So, you're probably asking, what kind of a movie is this? A damn fine and funny one, thanks to the way the estimable director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, The Queen) conducts the piece.

The British, Nigerian-born Oyelowo has proved himself an actor of extraordinary power in roles as diverse as Dr. Martin Luther King in "Selma" and the resentful son of a White House servant in "The Butler." As Robert, the actor radiates warm humor and quiet strength.

Spellbinding.

Thanks to Lowery's humanizing magic, Pete's Dragon is that rare family film you really can take to heart.

Amigo is combustible filmmaking, something that stays with you long after the final credits. In an entertainment universe of escapism and short attention spans, Amigo is a rousing antidote and a cause for celebration.

At its relaxed best, when it's about, well, nothing, the slyly comic Bee Movie is truly beguiling.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints offers no glib answers or smooth resolution, but there's no question that Lowery is a filmmaker with a striking future.

War Dogs is that rare contemporary comedy that knows how to make a laugh stick in your throat.

Get ready to be shaken and stirred.

The real stars here are the beasts, supposedly ugly, weird and dangerous, but paragons of FX creativity in service of genuine ideas.

Here's a fireball documentary about the 1970s, when filmmakers were stoked by sex, drugs, rock and, oh, yeah, social conscience.

Reality tv, welcome to the multiplex. If "The Hills" went back to high school and developed wit, perception and a conscience, it might play something like Nanette Burstein's wallop of a doc.

In the end, The Soloist isn't about BIG MOMENTS, it's about the grace notes, the kind that stay with you.

Truth to Power sprawls when it most needs to focus, diluting the power punch of the original with too much bobbing and weaving. But it's hard to argue that the crusade isn't still vital.

You leave the f--ked-up funhouse of Sausage Party thinking: Did I see this movie or hallucinate it? I mean that as high praise.

Macdonald sells it, the predictable and the profane, as if her life depended on it.

Even when the film trips on its tall ambitions, you can't shake it off.

Jenkins shows an innate gift for lacing laughs with the pain of experience -- Slums is based on her own life.

Winslet's fierce, unerring portrayal goes beyond acting, becoming a provocation that will keep you up nights.

Nicholas Meyer deftly mingles fish-out-of-water comedy and touching romance with discreetly gory danger.

The documentary rightly keeps coming back to the music and the band's delight in making it. Good move. It truly is a joy forever.

Acted with relish by a note-perfect cast -- a romantic comedy of true sophistication. There's a sting in every laugh.

Wilson drops the ironic smirk to give a sincerely affecting performance. His scenes with Murray provide the ballast when the script veers off into unconvincing pirate attacks and animated sea creatures.

The hugely enjoyable Rock of Ages is saved by its music, a tasty brew drawn from Def Leppard, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison and Whitesnake. It's near impossible not to rock along.

The film is a mesmerizing erotic odyssey given gravity and heart by Cruz.

Relationships are killers, and this tough, tender, deeply satisfying romantic comedy from writer-director Lynn Shelton is also bruisingly funny.

No more than a beguiling trifle. But in the dog days of summer, it's a perk to wallow in inspired silliness.

What jump-starts the film is the casting of Johnny Depp as Don Juan and Marlon Brando as his shrink. They bring a playfully romantic touch to a drama that could have been dead weight in clumsier hands.

Amid the action heroics of White Squall, Bridges creates a character of consequence.

You can be a pissed-off Tea Partier or an Occupy advocate and find something here to stoke your fat cat hatred; either way, catharsis is doled out not in a dusk-til-dawn homicidal free-for all but two harmless hours in a theater.

Richardson -- acting with her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, who plays her aunt, and her aunt Lynn Redgrave, who plays her mother -- finds the story's grieving heart. Fiennes is her match in soulful artistry.

Sounds godawful in title and concept — but which in execution is a fizzy delight.

Kingsman is all over the place, sometimes to its detriment. But you won’t want to miss the surprises it delights in springing.

Director Stephan Elliott uncorks a rare vintage of laughs tinged with heartache.

Listen to me: trash can surprise you. So don't get all elitist about the so-called cheap thrills in Mr. Brooks.

Maybe this redo didn’t need so many bells and whistles, but Mangold brings it home.

The laughs hurt so good, and the guests at this shindig treat each other like dartboards for 71 minutes. Yes, that's short for a movie, but your nerves couldn’t take more.

It works enough of the time to deliver on the promise of bad dreams.

Bridge of Spies may be a snooze to the ADD crowd allergic to historical drama, but it's dished out by experts.

You'll have major fun at this movie. But what makes it something special is the way Kasdan laces the laughs with a sting.

Alive draws considerable power from staying more human than heroic.

Margin Call is an explosive drama that speaks lucidly and scarily to the times we live in.

Trouble enters only when the script overcomplicates things in the end. Until then, especially in a growling dogfight, director Francis Lawrence (Constantine) keeps you squirming.

The suspense is killer as military minds in the US and the UK come together only to lock horns on a drone operation in Nairobi.

Here's a vampire movie for people who don’t like vampire movies. What We Do in the Shadows is packed with laughs, almost all of them are intentional.

Thanks to Stiller's prodigious gifts at blending comedy and drama, it's hard not to see ourselves in Brad's besieged humanity. That's the thing with Stiller and White – they make you laugh till it hurts.

It's really inventive and bizarre and marvelously entertaining.

Any cornball contrivances in the plot dissipate in watching the knockout talent of Williams, a performance artist with the exhilarating fire that only the best actors possess.

What makes The Conjuring 2 play deeper and darker than a warmed-over version of The Exorcist is director James Wan (Saw, Insidious, Furious 7). This Malaysian-born filmmaker can make his camera do terrifying tricks that are almost supernatural.

Among the recent spate of comic-book movies, from "Spider-Man" to the "X-Men," The Punisher is unique.

Page One is a vital, indispensable hell-raiser.

Holmes nails every laugh without missing the dramatic nuances. She makes April and her movie well worth knowing.

This movie and Hardy's electrifying performance will knock you for a loop.

Solondz likes to put the screws to moral hypocrisy. As always, he goes too far. As always, you don't want to look away.

Blanchett burns on a high flame, and Redford finds the wounded dignity in Rather.

The dialogue is clunky, the A-list actors are slumming and, yeah, you've seen it all before. But Kong: Skull Island is a creature feature that's damn near irresistible.

Refreshingly naughty and nice.

The film, quite rightly, is a tour de force for Bardem.

If their contribution to the man-vs-nature genre isn't exactly top-tier, Walking Out still hits its marks in terms of father-son melodrama with an uncanny precision.

Messed up as it is, you can't tear your eyes away from this explosion of brutal sounds and images.

300 is a movie blood-drunk on its own artful excess. Guys of all ages and sexes won't be able to resist it.

Avengers: Infinity War leaves viewers up in the air, feeling exhilarated and cheated at the same time, aching for a closure that never comes ... at least not yet.

Prepare to be scared senseless, and then, when you think you have it figured, your certainty will be shaken by scenes built to scare you even more.

Owen, in a heartfelt, award-caliber performance, never goes soft. It's his core of toughness that makes the movie so funny, touching and vital.

In a movie with more subtext than "Rosemary's Baby," nearly everyone, including Tim Roth as Dahlia's lawyer, harbors secrets. Salles unleashes a torrent of suspense for one purpose: to plumb the violence of the mind.

The mischief Thornton does make adds up to wild, rowdy fun.

The effects here run the gamut from grandiose to goofy, but watch the upside-down ballroom sequence again. It's a set piece of pure destructive bliss, set to a symphony of screaming and breaking glass. Awesome.

Haden Church gives the movie the joyous kick it needs. His flirty thrust-and-parry with Collette is beautifully played.

There's more palm-sweating suspense in one minute of this baby than in all of "The Omen."

You won't feel too much like a jerk watching this rock & roll hostage comedy. There are laugh licks and spirited performances. It's fluff done with flair