In one of his best roles, Hawke is galvanizing as a man who has lost his way and is desperately searching for meaning in his life. And as Mary, Seyfried turns in a poignant and beautifully nuanced performance. Provocative and mesmerizing, First Reformed is a film that demands to be seen.

Baby Driver zooms onto the screen with an exhilarating combination of smarts and style.

A cinematic miracle, a film that carves out a vivid space that has nothing to do with wizards or extraterrestrials, but quite a lot to say about the fantastical creatures that roam through the humanity in us all.

Like the previous seven movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 obliviates the line between art and craft, but the witchcraft conjured for this satisfying finale is uniquely generous.

Shannon's powerfully imploded performance ignites one of the best films of the year.

The film offers insights into Iranian society while also subtly making a case that human foibles are universal.

Both arduous and artful, City of Life and Death is the best imaginable movie about the genocidal siege that's now called the Rape of Nanking. Anything more explicit would be unwatchable; anything more contemplative would be a betrayal of the sustained suffering.

This Robert Altman film offers a good look at the life of a professional gambler. [15 Mar 2005, p.E1]

The combination of a literate script, an adroit cast and an economical style is simple addition that achieves an alchemical feat: the best film of the year.

Although Lebanon is to be congratulated for its bold visual strategy and strong antiwar stance, the film becomes claustrophobic after a while.

The kind of film that’s capable of eliciting wildly different reactions. Art-film aficionados would be impressed with its atmospheric storytelling and emphasis on character. Devotees of mainstream cinema would likely complain that “nothing happened.”

For a public that's been bullied by the tastemakers, the mystery is a gift. Once we exit this fun house, the only giant left to obey is ourselves.

Yes, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is often hard to follow, perhaps overestimating the audience's ability to keep track of what's going on and why. But it's a well-crafted film that wears its old-fashionedness with pride.

Vincere, which translates as the battle cry "Win!" is like invisible ink on the ledger of war, a secret record of love and loss.

There are a few beguiling moments in Holy Motors, particularly a martial-arts sequence and an erotic dance while Mr. Oscar is dressed in a motion-capture body suit, but the road between those moments is so strewn with stalled ideas that audiences who care about character and plot are liable to take the exit to a movie that makes sense.

The tale of Jake and his pals is something of a time capsule — and the kind of film from which sociologists decades from now might glean extremely useful information about American culture.

The Tree of Life is a religious experience. Overtly. Audaciously. Unashamedly. No film has ever reached as high toward the face of God and, in our commodified future, few are likely to try.

If you're looking for a political message, either for or against U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, this is not your movie. The directors were satisfied with telling us about a group of courageous, honorable young soldiers - a salute these men richly deserve.

Rogers has been criticized by conservative pundits and parodied by comedian Eddie Murphy. But those backhanded acknowledgments only confirmed his status as a force to be reckoned with.

Notwithstanding exquisite images that evoke Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven," city-slicker audiences may find themselves getting saddle sore. But those with the courage to explore uncharted territory will be rewarded with a rough gem of a movie.

Fruitvale Station has all the impact of a thoroughly researched, well-argued documentary. But Coogler made the right choice in going with drama.

The Last Days manages to accomplish something even those other esteemed works do not: It melds meticulous historical accuracy and rare film footage with an achingly human spirit provided by five survivors. And all this is delivered in a fresh, concise manner. [12 Mar 1999, p.E3]

It sustains a palpable fatalism in such recurring details as a whirring buzz saw and the cry of a loon, while the static camera and lack of musical cues enable some unforeseeable plot twists.

The whining reaches new heights in Husbands and Wives, and it was one of the things that bothered me. Another was the over-jerky camera movement as he tried to give the film the look of a documentary but only made it look like a bad home movie. A third was his use of characters looking straight at the camera and talking to an off-screen person, perhaps a psychiatrist. I think that's a phony device. On the other hand, I found more Allen humor along the way than in several of his recent movies, and he kept it brighter than the depressing tone the subject matter would seem to allow. When he didn't whine, Allen was excellent, and so was Sydney Pollack as his friend Jack. [27 Sept 1992, p.6C]

The best film of the year and perhaps the purest love story in cinematic history.

Farewell My Concubine is a work of passion and compassion, another great work by one of the so-called fifth-generation of directors who are making the Chinese cinema one of the best in the world. [29 Oct 1993, p.3F]

With exquisitely simple images and minimal dialogue, Seraphine is both haunting and humane.

A stark, contemplative and hauntingly brilliant film.

Unsettling yet mesmerizing, The Witch is more of an art film than a horror flick.

While Looper lacks the heft of a classic, this wayback machine is worth taking for a spin.

In a first-rate cast, Titieni turns in a brilliant performance as a man who sacrifices long-held values to bow to the expediency of the moment.

Working from his own screenplay, director David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”) delivers a risky, challenging film that unfolds with a spellbinding momentum. Just what it all means is left to the viewer to contemplate.

An Oscar-ready collaboration between a great director and a star at the peak of his powers, but at its heart is a message in a bottle reading: "Trapped in paradise. Please send help."

Wilder consistently infused his films with wit and intelligence, offering comedy in his dramas and drama in his comedies. And Stalag 17 is a shining example. [28 Mar 2006, p.E1]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has more than enough action, humor and stuff blowing up to thoroughly satisfy fans of the long-running franchise.

If what you seek from a samurai film is the friction between communal duty and personal honor, join the orderly queue to see 13 Assassins. But if what you seek is action, spend the talky first hour at a sushi bar before barging into the theater for the bloody good finale.

What makes this low-key movie memorable are the pitch-perfect performances.

Typically lovely to look at, with big-eyed young people espousing high ideals amid natural splendor. But outside of their bubble, a prickly history looms, and Miyazaki’s dubious attitude toward the wartime role of his hero makes the movie a mixed blessing.

Most of all, it’s a magical feat, one that turns puppets into personalities and an English meadow into Anderson’s world.

It's often obscenely funny, but it tickles more than it stings.

There's so much higher intelligence in Project Nim that simply digesting it feels like evolutionary progress.

For better or worse, this is a straightforward performance film.

Titanic technical achievement.

20th Century Women doesn’t have much of a plot — if it has one at all. But the film beautifully evokes the era just before Ronald Reagan entered the Oval Office.

The result, Pina, is the most spirited and spectacular film about dance since Robert Altman's "The Company."

All of the performances are skilled, and yet it's Weaver (a veteran screen, television and stage actress in Australia) who, in a smaller role, creates the character who stays with you.

For cinematic sojourners, Hugo is a trip to the moon.

A marvelous piece of work.

Garcia’s performance, which won the best actress award at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival, is a marvel of self-effacing artistry.

The movie is more of a character study than a biography, as Bernstein dispenses his gentle wit and wisdom for the camera and for an elite class of student.

Up in the Air may not end up as the best picture -- that will be decided by the Academy -- but it has landed in the middle of the discussion because it's laser-focused and right on time.

A timely docudrama about the role of the press in holding politicians accountable. But in the hands of director Steven Spielberg, the film plays more like a thriller than a history lesson.

The Holocaust must never be forgotten, but like many well-intentioned documentaries, The Flat derives more power from the implicit strength of the subject than from the explicit choices of the director.

Footnote is faintly comic, and director Joseph Cedar mines dark humor from the humiliations of identity checks and pecking orders.

Often, extending a film franchise signifies a lack of imagination. But Creed is a knockout.

Until a devastatingly effective finale, Monsieur Lazhar is an exercise in delicacy, carried by Fallag's gentle performance and a fine cast of kid actors.

Ajami is neither a puzzle nor a polemic. It's an admirably even-handed portrait of life in an occupied ghetto that is bounded by checkpoints. Everyone we meet is a more or less honorably motivated victim of circumstance. That the circumstances were inscribed centuries ago makes Ajami a tragedy of biblical proportions.

The Illusionist has surprises up its sleeve that are unusually nuanced for an animated movie.

An offbeat and fascinating film.

Because Short Term 12 is a small movie about a challenging subject, you may have to accept my word that actress Brie Larson and director Destin Cretton are bright discoveries, but it shouldn’t be long before the wider world can see these talents with the naked eye.

Despite a couple of drawbacks, The Empire Strikes Back is an immense amount of fun — big and splashy and breathtaking in its display of cinematic genius by a huge group of marvelously talented people.

Hogancamp's alliance with director Jeff Malmberg in this artful and poignant film marks a victory in the war against the self.

If you’re open to embracing a film that declines to pander to expectations, you should definitely make a date with The Lobster.

In the hands of some Eastern European masters, stop-motion animation has created some fine adult animated films, like Jan Svankmajer's spooky version of "Alice in Wonderland." But The Nightmare Before Christmas is basically a charmless and muddled tale that aims at a target somewhere in the vast gulf between Franz Kafka and Walt Disney and hits nothing. [22 Oct 1993, p.3E]

If you’re looking for a film that will keep you thrillingly off-balance, this is the place.

Gerwig makes us want to believe that in a city where anything is possible, Francis Ha has the last laugh.

Director Lindholm is a graduate of the Dogma school, and he is able to maintain tension with a documentary camera technique, virtually no music and minimal on-screen theatrics.

When the two men compare impersonations of Michael Caine or Sean Connery, Brydon's version is always slightly better - and Coogan knows it.

This slice of life is heartening because of its humanity; utter honesty doesn't have to be depressing. [12 Aug 1955, p.3D]

There’s much to appreciate here. Like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which had a stronger sense of its place in the world, this coming-of-age movie should appeal to smart, sensitive young people who haven’t been exposed to the better examples of the genre.

Although the film has elements of a puzzler by Michelangelo Antonioni and a psychodrama by Ingmar Bergman, it never becomes compellingly intellectual or unnervingly emotional.

As original and risk-taking as its subject, Steve Jobs will make you think differently about an American icon.

Marley is thus a valuable history project but not a definitive or analytical one. For that, we await a film that's less "One Love" and more "Stir It Up."

If the film is a bit too slow-paced, it’s also uniquely mesmerizing, with performances that perfectly complement the episodic narrative.

The film is not only hilariously entertaining, but also firmly in the tradition of such political parables as George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

Certain Women requires patience from the viewer and isn’t for anyone, but it’s a film of quiet and lingering beauty.

What makes Love Is Strange so special is that the challenges the couple face are more mundane than menacing.

Despite the obvious mismatches involved, this isn’t a simplistic smackdown. Freighted with weighty issues, Captain Phillips is a film worth debating.

Ordinarily, one decries the violence in the streets, in life or art - or rationalizes that violence on the screen is a healthy outlet for man's inhumanity to man. But there's no such highfalutin psychology in The Killer. The film is just plain outlandish - and anyone who doesn't get the hyberbole should have a 99-year lease on The Farm for the Bewildered. [16 Aug 1991, p.3F]

The kind of working-class, character-driven drama that few American directors would dare to make. It's tough and unsentimental, with a documentary aesthetic that belies the craft of the calibrated tension.

Brightly narrated by Kristen Bell, the documentary illustrates the challenges of saving the endangered animals with the story of one bear born in the captive breeding program at Chengdu Panda Base in China.

Far from being just another crime story, Sicario is cinema at its most ambitious.

This humane movie is an ode to joy, albeit of the mature sort.

Director Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”) delivers a moody, visually stunning celebration of existential angst. Not that he skimps on the kind of mayhem that’s de rigueur these days, but you have to wait for it — and wait for it. But when it does arrive, it’s awesome.

Two things that the British know that most Americans don't: Michael Sheen is the best actor in the English-speaking world; and soccer is the only football that matters.

Fresh is a brilliant first feature by young writer-director Boaz Yakin. It works superbly on at least three levels: as a portrait of the sad toll that ghetto life takes on promising children, as a story of the tenacious moral bonds that can hold a family together, and as a down and dirty thriller. [02 Sep 1994, p.3H]

Arrival is science fiction in the classic sense and a film of otherworldly ambition.

It's true that the movie is both emotionally violent and sexually explicit. Yet these scenes from a marriage are crafted with such attention to detail and overarching honesty that Blue Valentine touches the heart.

With Top Five, Rock has finally made the transition to true movie stardom.

Living in Oblivion is a hip, funny, at times oddly sweet little movie that suggests Tom DiCillo has a bright future. [11 Aug 1995, p.3E]

The colorful visuals are matched with lively music, especially de la Cruz’s signature song, “Remember Me.”

As the deeply principled Donovan, Hanks deftly balances earnestness and humor. And Rylance’s spirited performance is almost certain to yield an Oscar nomination.

This is Daisy's story, and Hoke's story. It's a beautiful story, filled with warmth and compassion. It was a glorious evening of theater when I saw it, and it's just as glorious on the screen. [12 Jan. 1990, p.3F]

Unhurried in its storytelling but unshakable in its impact.

If you don’t know the true story, we won’t spoil it for you except to say that it’s not the expected outcome. But if you’re willing to be thrown for a loop, you’re in good hands with this medal-worthy cast and crew.

A lovably quirky comedy-drama with a rhythm all its own.

What animates this dramatically constrained film are the lively words and the vitality of nature. An image of butterflies blooming in a bedroom is Keats' worldview in miniature.

Portman is simply brilliant, getting to the essence of Jackie without resorting to a mere impersonation.