The alliances of the characters are a tad confusing at the beginning, but you don’t have to be an expert in geopolitics to appreciate the finer points of director Zaza Urushadze’s intimate film, which was nominated for a best foreign film Oscar.

Torok juggles plenty of characters and themes — guilt, greed, Russian meddling, the Holocaust, justice — but he always remains firmly in control of his story. Every frame is meticulously crafted.

As for Murray, it’s just a shame he can’t make a Sofia Coppola movie every year. As in “Lost in Translation,” Coppola brings out all of Murray’s many colors, sometimes all at once — his flippancy, his authority, his warmth, his isolation, his expressiveness, his inability to say everything he wants to say.

Though not flawless, this is a compelling study, in Dogme style, of a wounded young woman who spends her working life spying on others.

This particular package has a lived-in quality that doesn’t just counterpoint the set piece mutilations but complements the franchise’s premise that death — or here, the never-seen personification Death — can come from anywhere, anytime.

Palm Trees and Power Lines feels like an honest story about grooming, which is not only valuable in and of itself but kind of crucial at a time when hate-mongers have perverted the concept for political ends. But then, why see a movie that’s good-for-you important and profoundly uncomfortable? Because its humanity and artistry never falter.

A big leap forward for Penn as a director and deserves to be one of the most talked about films of the season.

Miss Juneteenth, a Texas-shot film appropriately made available to stream on Friday, June 19 — the date of Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States — is a rich story of broken dreams, family struggle and emotional triumph that puts black Texas women in the center of the frame.

Shot in a glossy, appealing black-and-white and filmed in a single location, The Party generates a pressure-cooker atmosphere.

The visual style and lethargic pace can be frustrating -- at least if you're sober -- but the animated tragedy is still a success.

This isn't just a good throwback satanic thriller - it looks as if it was made during the era of satanist paranoia.

The picture, written and directed by Francis Veber, the screenwriter of "La Cage Aux Folles,'' is a complete success.

No, you don’t have to be a fan of fake wrestling to appreciate “Iron Claw.” A love for classic Greek tragedy wouldn’t be misplaced, though.

Anyone who enjoys stylized hyper-violence should be enthralled by this long, sweeping, murderously vivid dramatization of ancient Chinese warfare, circa A.D. 208.

A first-rate crime thriller and further proof that Soderbergh is one of our great contemporary film stylists.

A powerful allegory.

When the movie starts, its main characters seem outside the norm, unusual, “wierdos,” in the description of David himself. By its end, you see nothing at all of that; they’re just people.

A tough movie about tough people for a tough audience. So prepare to get roughed up a little.

The film is dazzling and bewildering in equal measure.

Eye in the Sky is refreshing in its lack of a political message. Mirren is chilling as the cold-blooded colonel.

A joyful film -- and hopefully one that will not slip away unnoticed.

This new film is exceptional and one of Ozon’s best.

The Val Kilmer we meet has been in the arena, realizes he has been lucky despite the hard knocks, and has now achieved what we hope is a lasting peace. His physical voice might be gone, but his inner voice still has much to say.

It’s a well-made film in many ways but also frustratingly skin-deep for a news junkie like me.

Requires some patience. Once you get into its rhythm -- including the long flashbacks and intermittent use of the screen as an Internet chat room -- the movie becomes a heady experience.

Robin’s Wish, of course, can’t lessen the tragedy of Williams’ death, but it helps us better reconcile the suicide of such a joyous, irrepressible soul.

Opens up a world of words.

The director takes an unpromising premise - the switched-at-birth plot - and gives us something that's touching and unexpected.