One of Pixar’s most charming achievements.

The intersex movement is about living fully without fear, shame or trauma, to live life on one’s own terms, and the brightness and vigor that Cohen applies to the tone follows the energy of the activists themselves.

There’s less a sense of hitting plot points than of capturing life on the fly, and Mendelsohn and Reynolds ride that vibe brilliantly.

Iowa-native Gurira has had roles in TV’s “Treme” and “The Walking Dead,” but Mother of George should be the birth of a brilliant film career.

With an incredible eye for nature, both its landscape and its particulars, and a wonderful script, Ballard has crafted a movie that dignifies the lowly goose and tells a remarkable story about family at the same time. [13 Sep 1996, p.3E]

In recording the timeless traditions of Jewry, he created a new one: the identity crisis that rides on the back of laughter.

The success of the three, separately screened films -- the first set in 1974, the second in 1980 and the concluding segment in 1983 -- depends not on their specifics, but on their ability to sustain an atmosphere that's appropriate to the dark but haunting story.

About the only shocking thing about Personal Shopper is its perverse lack of thrills.

As an exercise in craft, it's surprisingly successful, thanks to the strong cast and the vivid depiction of a modern leader's security apparatus. But as a political statement or personal drama, The Ghost Writer is nearly invisible.

The vocal performances are spot-on, with Murray a standout as the slyly manipulative but ultimately courageous Baloo.

Only an artist at the midpoint between the maypole and maturity could concoct a comedy as potent as While We’re Young.

At once a fascinating character study and a scathing indictment of the role of the medical-pharmaceutical complex in exacerbating the AIDS crisis, the fact-based Dallas Buyers Club is one of the best films of the year.

One of the best films of the year.

In a movie of murky surfaces and deep loneliness, the redemptive surprise of A Single Man is how it becomes a clear endorsement of the Buddy System.

The Messenger is the debut film of writer and director Oren Moverman, but it's worldly wise, with two well-rounded characters.

An ideal showcase for Tomlin, who brings to the film a winning blend of contrariness and effervescence.

Mostly the movie is about process and perspective. Through the documentary lens, Richter's enigmatic paintings speak to us.

Ruby in Paradise is a fine, quietly moving look at a young woman's voyage of discovery. It is most memorable for the feature-film debut of Ashley Judd in the title role, but the rest of the cast is excellent, as well, and Gregory Nunez (Gal Young 'Un) directs from his own script with heartfelt clarity. [26 Nov 1993, p.3F]

Chi-Raq is a mess — tonally inconsistent, overbearing in its earnestness and badly in need of editing. But it’s also director Spike Lee’s most passionate film since “25th Hour” (2002).

Gleeson is great as the troubled, conscientious priest, but until an abruptly shocking finale, his fatalism turns the ticking clock into a congested hourglass.

Just when this black-and-white, microbudget movie seems poised to spring an indictment of the Dickensian social order, it ends, but in a redemptive ray of color.

Duvall is a powerful actor, and this folksy fable could have been a career-capping feat, but the movie is toothless and slow.

The Immigrant is not unlike a Prohibition-era “Taxi Driver,” with Cotillard as the apprentice hooker, Phoenix as the sweet-talking pimp and Jeremy Renner (playing the theater’s magician, Orlando) as the would-be savior.

Despite the melancholy background of Scandinavia, the repressive work ethic, the class struggle, this is a beautiful love story. [14 Aug 1992, p.3G]

The film is hard to watch, but its timeliness is impossible to ignore. Still, a case could be made that Bigelow dwells on the violence a bit too obsessively.

One of the pleasures of Edge of Seventeen is it makes you nostalgic for high school yet so relieved it’s over.

Logan isn’t the typical superhero flick. It’s more like a Western, with Jackman turning in a performance that’s reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in his Man With No Name days.

An artfully observant and unexpectedly moving documentary.