Along the way, this funny picture does exactly what a satire should: It irritates everybody. At least it runs that risk.

More accomplished, adventurous and original. Instead of Allen's usual investigation into the nature of existence, this new film looks at the way stories are created, particularly comedies.

The resultant spoofery is nonpartisan, or at least vague - we never learn which of these flesh-pressing idiots is the Republican and which is the Democrat - and raucous in its send-ups of the moral, financial and sexual peccadilloes of the common political animal.

As a film, The Birth of a Nation is raw and ungainly, but it’s definitely alive.

A story of courage and sacrifice, as well as a moving love story that’s really three love stories in one.

A gangster movie with the capacity to surprise. People do unexpected things and for reasons we wouldn't anticipate.

Violent, disjunctive and exhausting, it's a dark fable that illustrates with startling images the strong, seductive pull of evil.

While the movie can play like one big valentine to an adolescent’s adoration of metal music culture, it also nails the most important aspect of metal music in a teen’s life: how it can provide a sense of power to misfits who often feel like they have none.

It’s a visually pleasing, vibe-rich diversion that is as enjoyable as flipping through a well-laid-out fashion magazine, or perhaps perusing through Coppola’s accompanying coffee table book on Jacobs of the same name.

As the title character in Lady Chatterley, Marina Hands does the most persuasive job of feigning sexual pleasure since Jane Fonda in "Coming Home."

For Kline's performance alone, The Extra Man is well worth seeing.

Horrible Bosses 2 is harsh and tasteless, not to mention broad and shameless, but that’s not a bad thing in this case. Softness and good taste, as well as restraint and carefulness, are the enemies of comedy, and “Horrible Bosses 2” is a very funny movie.

There’s a sweetness at the film’s core that never gets too sickly. The international angle feels right for a league that has never been more worldly. Most of all, there’s Sandler, who finds something very real in Stanley, something beaten down but still hopeful. The actor has reached a point in his career where he can summon gravitas without it feeling like a hustle.

Mercury Rising is a Bruce Willis action movie, which means that most of us know what it will be like going in, and the only question is whether it's a good one or a lousy one. Answer: This is a good one.

Leaning Into the Wind asks us to appreciate art for art’s sake, and that’s not a tough ask at all.

A serious documentary about this gloriously trashy trailblazer.

There's almost no violence in the film, which favors natural settings and, for weaponry, archery. Only one scene, when Rothbart appears as a bat, is strong enough to make kids shudder a little. The script chirps with funny interplay between the animals.

At times almost unbearably ugly, but by the time you walk out of the theater, you know you've seen something.

A remarkable cast for a small, non-mainstream effort.

In the end, that just might be the takeaway from the "Up" series, that a 28-year-old, say, has more in common with another 28-year-old than with his own incarnation at 70. Who knows? There are mysteries of life captured within the frames of this film that are eluding our grasp. We're still too close to it.

Wonder Woman achieves touching and powerful moments that are unusual for a movie of this kind.

Scott removed the adventure aspect, and some of the movie's passion was lost, too, like a dolphin caught in a tuna net. Perhaps it's for that reason that a movie that starts out with the potential to be great somehow falls short, and what seems as if it's going to be a revelation ends up, instead, simply a worthwhile, reasonably interesting variation on an old theme.

A particular strength of Alan Partridge is that the writers (Coogan among them) don't trade entirely on the audience's familiarity with the character, but rather come up with a flashy, eventful story in which Alan can be showcased in a variety of contexts.

The love people have for this city just comes tumbling out of every part of this movie.

The movie harks back to a time before state-of-the-art technology when writers and directors had to rely mostly on imagination.

Can't Hardly Wait has freshness, comic invention and an engaging romantic spirit.

A sympathetic look at what it's like to be a Brazilian transsexual prostitute working in Milan.

The exquisitely shot Demon is not gory or particularly scary, but it has its fair share of chills.