The fact-based Stronger is an inspiring tale of reconciliation and reinvention that sidesteps sentimentality to get to emotional truth.

Of course, there's a kind of reverse snobbery in touting cheap movies over polished ones. But if Not Quite Hollywood is not quite convincing, it is quite entertaining.

Sorry, partisans, but there’s nothing obvious about Obvious Child.

Jenison, who had never painted a thing in his life, does indeed produce a beautiful work, but we should never forget that Penn and Teller are professional bamboozlers, and their attempt to re-frame the definition of genius might be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Naysayers will no doubt argue that mother! is an incomprehensible mess. But as sheer visceral filmmaking, it’s a must-see. If you’re looking for meaning, read a book.

The central question of Trees Lounge is whether Tommy will ever get wise to himself. The movie does not exactly provide an answer to the question, but Buscemi poses it in an entertaining, insightful and humane way. [24 Oct 1996, p.4G]

Like psychoanalysis, A Dangerous Method takes its time as it circles an opening to unexplored depths. To reward our patience, Cronenberg gives us some honey-hued eye candy and rich dialogue, but if you're seeking instant gratification, I prescribe "Shame."

This wonderfully wry, painfully funny comedy about a middle-aged boy and his mother is Albert Brooks' most accessible movie. [17 Jan 1997, p.03E]

Might be mistaken for a mere soap opera. But it's actually an emotional symphony.

A provocative mood piece. Nichols, who had an art-house hit in 2011 with “Take Shelter,” has a gift for creating characters of unusual depth, and for eliciting performances of emotional resonance. With Mud, he seems to be edging closer to the mainstream, but his skills are as sharp as ever.

Gilroy vividly evokes both the LA exteriors and newsroom interiors, and the action sequences are fraught with tension.

Anderson hasn’t just delivered his best film in years — he’s also managed to capture the zeitgeist in his own unique way.

The ingredients are in place for a potent finale, but “Catching Fire” is watered down.

As an homage to an influential director, Submarine blows "Super 8" out of the water.

Marguerite is a shining star, a film that will set you laughing and thinking in equal measure.

The Lovers is the rare film that acknowledges that romance isn’t limited to people in their 20s and 30s. It’s also a smart, quirky comedy that moviegoers of any age should find eminently appealing.

Like "The Squid and the Whale," this character study pushes the definition of comedy to the breaking point, and unlike the far less successful "Margot at the Wedding," it leaves us faintly smiling after the workout.

This Swedish sensation is a magic trick that jolts the murder-mystery genre back to life.

Mistress America doesn’t quite achieve the magic of “Frances Ha.” But it’s a fresh take on the comic possibilities of friendship among the young.

Rango is iconic like a spaghetti Western, smart like a '70s conspiracy thriller and lively like a Coen brothers comedy.

Although this Swedish vehicle is thoughtfully engineered and has some vivid streaks of color, it could use a jump start to escape the vanilla ice.

While the rich people who violated a dead antagonist's wishes seem sleazy (especially when they refuse to be interviewed), transporting world-class artwork five miles to a bigger facility where more people can enjoy it hardly seems like the end of civilization as we know it.

An exciting cloak-and-dagger thriller.

Perhaps the spookiest thing in this slyly scary movie is the word-for-word way that Patrick's followers regurgitate his pablum.

He’s like a globe-trotting Richard Linklater. And with Winterbottom’s first-ever sequel, his “Trip” films now rival Linklater’s “Before” series in charting how a twosome evolves over time. Plus, they’re bloody hilarious.

The most exhilarating film of the year is also the most exhausting.

It’s an old-fashioned tale of an individual overcoming the odds — only in this case, that individual happens to be a horse.

After we hear the hit parade that poured from rural Alabama and meet the men who led it to the top of the charts, we realize that Muscle Shoals could call itself Hitsville, USA.