An impassioned documentary about a damaged American family, includes moments that seem to cross the line of what is emotionally acceptable to show onscreen.

It’s mostly delightful; a fun movie that successfully hits the reset button for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It's a documentary that invites viewers inside its story to groove along with a genre that's changing the past, present and future of contemporary music.

It should come as no surprise that Jonathan Hensleigh's script was not originally written as a "Die Hard" film. The blend of "Die Hard" and "With a Vengeance" is sometimes smooth but never complete. It's as if "Die Hard" were wearing a rented tux.

A harsh and thoroughly unromantic examination of the scarring effects of war.

A solid piece of filmmaking, from subtle beginning to the excessive end.

Funny, heart-tugging, intermittently awesome and a loving if ambivalent homage to the heyday of martial arts cinema, writer-director Larry Yang’s film may not blend tones as seamlessly as Chan’s best work from the 1980s and ’90s did. But “Ride On” is moving and thrilling enough to be a worthy capper to the Chan canon.

For almost half of the movie, you might wonder why Nicole Kidman chose to take such a lackluster role. The answer: Just wait — and brace yourself. Kidman is never happier than when she gets to go to extremes, and by that measure, Queen Gudrun is one of her happiest roles.

Steel City makes a valiant attempt to add some new tweaks to the genre best described as life-sucks-growing-up-in-a-mill-town.

The landscape against which a mother and her son try to find each other is stunningly realized.

Not a stirring piece of drama, and it does not altogether work in the ways it was intended to. But in its own shambling, elliptical way it's an entertaining, memorable movie whose 2 1/2 hours go by without strain.

The movie is really a sexy, emotionally true portrait of a handful of people wrestling with their impulses and trying to find their way to happiness.

Freed from the burden of contemporary relevance, “Masters of the Universe” succeeds by doing something refreshingly straightforward: telling a rousing fantasy adventure with conviction, humor and heart.

Comes closer than any other recent animated film to the Looney Tunes ideal. Just as Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny entertained without either condescending to kids or lobbing adult jokes over their heads.

Writing and directing her first feature, Jenkins mines her life for nug gets everyone can relate to.

A history lesson about the Holocaust well worth teaching.

A humongous animation event that ratchets up the level of the computer art that Hollywood is swooning over these days.

Part road trip, part music lesson, follows virtuoso musician Béla Fleck on a trip through Africa to reclaim the banjo's roots. It's an entertaining journey, and director Sascha Paladino injects humor and pathos into the musical sequences.

Writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore find a nice balance between the over-the-top high jinks and an emotional core, which unexpectedly crystallizes relatively late in the movie.

The film's emotional complexities don't allow for much of the canned sentiment that normally gets dished out in romantic dramas; what emerges instead, over several reels, is endearingly tender and complicated.

Till confirms Chukwu as an actor’s director and should establish Deadwyler as a major presence in movies.

Raunchy coming-of-age comedies that satirize religious hypocrisy don’t usually leave you going, “Aw, that was so sweet and innocent.” But director Karen Maine’s first feature, Yes, God, Yes, pulls off that neat trick in a surprising yet natural way.

There's nothing too small about Nolte's performance. He's the perfect companion for a rookie feature film director looking to make a good first impression.

Rocket Science has the makings of either a tragedy or a crowd-pleasing underdog story, but writer-director Jeffrey Blitz instead takes the movie on a different, and ultimately more rewarding, direction.

While the movie may not get the overall music business as right as it could have, Carney sure can cut the beast where it hurts. His blend of ruthless, observant Irish humor and admirably restrained vein of sentimentality doesn’t make for the cuddliest cinematic singalong, but it delivers a message every daydream rock star ought to hear.

Engrossing documentary.

It's a delicate, intelligent movie about modern parenthood and the pressures that children face, and it features a cast of talented actors who were clearly committed to the movie's message.

Centuries ago, the heath lands of Denmark were rough-hewn, expansive and notoriously unforgiving. In the new Danish film “The Promised Land,” those words could also describe the face of its star, Mads Mikkelsen. One of the great visages in movies, it has a landscape all its own.