Has some great movie moments but also boring stretches.

An intriguing exploration of New York theater at the height of its glory.

Funny how there are fans of Jennifer Lawrence who will never see her in Serena. It’s not her best film, but it contains one of her best performances, in a role that challenges her more than any other.

Succeeds anyway, by putting a poignant human face on the struggle for equal rights.

It’s not a combination most of us would’ve thought of, but Stewart and Binoche bring out the best in each other.

Taylor's film is never boring, and it has some beautiful, thought-provoking moments. In a genre in which preaching to the choir seems to be the norm, this film is a welcome entry.

Delivers on the promise of its title. It shows us the world's most famous living painter, who turned 80 in February, at work with greater intimacy than any other film portrait of a contemporary artist provides.

Wicked Little Letters is for people who like British comedy, but also for people who think British comedies are too refined for their taste. This one isn’t. It’s crude and outrageous enough to appeal to modern American audiences.

André Øvredal's dry horror-comedy Trollhunter is successful on multiple levels, with a brisk pace, excellent location work and a strong lead performance by Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen.

An interesting film, and while it is not entirely successful (and at times most puzzling), it achieves a certain poignancy.

I don't want to damn Holofcener's efforts with faint praise, but the best way to describe Walking and Talking is to say that it's pleasant and charming.

It’s a school shooting movie for this particular moment and plays like a dispatch from the front lines. It’s past trying to figure out what these tragedies mean. It just wants to explore how a person might assimilate such a trauma and go forward in life.

There's no attempt at greatness here, just a fabulously successful attempt at a good crime movie. The Oscar-bait self-consciousness of "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator" is gone. In its place is a buoyancy, an impish delight in telling a harsh urban story in the most effective terms possible.

Powerful and moving.

With his self-deprecating demeanor and easy laugh, Glass is a congenial presence, and now and then he lets an insight drop.

Would you like a side of erotic revenge this evening? How about a nightcap of noir? If you have a taste for the savage, you might easily split the difference with Fair Play.

Like the best love stories, funny or otherwise, this movie also recognizes that being in love is an education, and that, if people are lucky, they choose the right teacher.

Coco Chanel is not the most lovable of heroines, but it's a strength of the film that director Anne Fontaine allows Tautou to make Coco as cold and ungiving as she does.

First-time feature director Rashid has made a piece of eye candy that's irresistible. The point of this film may be to embrace reality, but frankly, who needs it?

Most of life is melodramatic — emotional, involving and lacking the dignity of straight drama. 3 Hearts is life as felt from the inside.

The film is a fascinating look at how a true event can become a media event — and how courting the media can have good and bad results so mixed up that it’s hard to know where the good influence stops and the corrupting influence starts.

The result is a worthy woman's film and Jolie's best showcase to date.

It's difficult to remember a recent movie that soared so high, before plummeting with a series of bad story choices. But the end result is still a strong piece of cinema, a failure only if you dwell on what might have been.

In At Eternity’s Gate, Dafoe often works in silence, but tells us everything we need to know with his face and eyes.

The movie captures something that we missed on this side of the Atlantic. The British public’s obsession with Diana was unrelenting. Every move she made became occasion for analysis — most of it idiotic — on the endless string of talk shows they have over there.

Self-indulgent and admirable.

Visually, Bi is already a master. There are amazing shots that recall Tarkovsky (especially “Stalker,” an acknowledged influence), or early Wong Kar-Wai.

It matches up two comic actors and instead of clashing or canceling each other out, they bring in the best possible result: A comedy with twice the laughs.