Twisty enough to please many arthouse patrons, though some will be rolling their eyes by the end.

More than the film that surrounds him, Jack Black is worth the price of admission in Bernie, an oddball May-December true life crime story that would have profited from being a whole lot darker and full-bodied than it is.

Aesthetically, it's desultory. Talking-heads rants and ruminations are further stultified by the amateurish aesthetics. Visually, zooms, pans and filler moments enervate the message. Most annoying, the dour music grates throughout; its hollow grinding, we'd guess, is an attempt to impart profundity.

Whedon and his cohorts have managed to stir all the personalities and ingredients together so that the resulting dish, however familiar, is irresistibly tasty again.

Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel's latest collaboration offers a more relatable rom-com scenario while generating laughs that should still satisfy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" fans.

While Downtown Express suffers from a derivative storyline, it offers enough musical authenticity to provide ample compensations.

Meryl Streep narrates a heartwarming documentary for an up close look at Arctic wildlife.

Subject matter this powerfully charged shouldn't feel like a study aid.

Serves as an amusing itinerary of dining, drinking and sexual dalliance that beguilingly plays with narrative time.

Embalming the simple and simplistic yarn in an amber glow that is all but suffocating and banishing from it any traces of humor and spontaneity, director Scott Hicks serves up this treacly tale with absolutely no trace of self-consciousness about the material's cliches or simple-mindedness.

Some privileged nature footage from the African rain forest is dishonored by deeply silly narration in Chimpanzee.

So bloated that it's forever on the verge of bursting – a sentiment reflected by the film's overindulgence in ear-splitting pyrotechnics.

Suspenseless, uninvolving and underdeveloped, it wastes the talents of an almost entirely distaff cast that deserves much stronger material.

Marley is sure to become the definitive documentary on the much beloved king of reggae.

Amusing but scattered and unconvincing comedy.

Arthouse audiences could drink this down like a glass of Chardonnay.

While superbly acted, the dramedy plays out like a tepid "Big Chill" at best.

It's a good thing that forgiveness is a predominant theme of Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day, because viewers will have to look deep into their hearts to forgive this kidnapping drama for its heavy-handed melodrama and tawdry plot elements.

As executed by an appealing ensemble of smooth operators, this adaptation often hits its amusing marks, but with a weighty running time of two hours, it often feels more like a lecture than an intended romp.

Emotions run raw in this behind-the-scenes look at drummer Patty Schemel and her drug-fuelled run with the 90s grunge rock band, Hole.

Stars Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso and Sean Hayes are on the money as Moe, Curly and Larry in a film containing more plot and sentiment than the boys' shorts ever had.

Those looking for big, loud sci-fi action will find plenty to like here as director Peter Berg (Hancock, Friday Night Lights) pumps up the volume on clashing military hardware and flag-waving heroics.

Moves at an absurd pace and dares anyone above 25 to keep up, yet the stream of genre-hopping jokes and sight gags makes the movie an entertaining ride.

The fascinating human portrait that emerges should draw appreciative if limited audiences.

Directors Stephen St. Leger and James Mather fill the film's obvious narrative gaps with enough witty banter and tongue-in-cheek humor for audiences to overlook the subpar special effects used throughout.

There's certainly an audience for this sort of slick, self-absorbed comedy and the appealing casting augurs well for a brief theatrical run. But the film will most likely find its real home on the small screen, with attentive viewers curled up on the couch with a dish of ice cream.

As with so many films of this ilk, plot holes and inconsistencies abound, with audiences likely to express in loudly vocal fashion their opinions about what the characters should or shouldn't be doing.

Despite the filmmaker's obvious good intentions in trying to impart valuable life lessons to younger viewers, We the Party suffers from any number of problems, including uneven acting (talent isn't always hereditary); stereotypical characters and situations; and a manic visual style featuring the sort of split-screen obsession that felt outdated decades ago.

As with many films of its ilk, Surviving Progress takes on more than it can comfortably handle, veering haphazardly from subject to subject.

Intriguing but understated.

Following up "Humpday" with another low-rent charmer, Lynn Shelton moves from two- to three-character dynamics.

The wild card in all this remains Seann William Scott's Steve Stifler, the rampaging id whose indignation at his peers' maturity provides most of the film's real laughs.

Nanni Moretti's tender, funny and timely Vatican romp entertains, but lacks the director's customary bite.

An exercise in opaque supernatural storytelling that's as frustrating as it is beguiling.

You could point a camera just about anywhere at Comic-Con and record something weird, amazing, funny, stupid or all of the above.

Vuorensola's sci-fi comedy is uneven, its humor never quite matching the luster of its visuals.

Highbrow campus-comedy from long-lost Whit Stillman is a flawed but frequently hilarious comeback.

Amateurish vampire/musical mashup begs for a wooden stake.

Despite a talented cast lead by Halle Berry, director John Stockwell fails to take more than a bite out of this lackluster shark thriller.

Filmmaker Alan Govenar misses the mark in his attempt to document the historical French dwelling of once famous beatniks.

This is a movie drowning in flamboyant design elements and in need of a stiff shot of enchantment.

Benasra's documentary purports to be a sociological examination of the intimate relationship between women and their shoes. But God Save My Shoes also displays a creepily fetishistic feel.

A natural, light and convincing rom com very similar to the original Hong Kong hit.

An intimate reflection on the bullying epidemic that makes its points quietly and succinctly.

This is a relentlessly mechanical piece of work that will not or cannot take the imaginative leaps to yield even fleeting moments of awe, wonder or charm.

A delightful romp whose varied pleasures should please kids all along the age spectrum.

Where the film falls apart is in trying to steer this nightmare out of dark fantasy into the cold light of logic.

One of the things making Goon so enjoyable is its fairy-tale suggestion that all humanity's violent impulses can be exorcized in a Zamboni-groomed ice rink.

Lightweight but likeably uncynical.

The filmmakers, longtime music video veterans, have delivered a technically polished production that belies the film's low budget. They've also elicited mostly strong performances.

Filmmaker Julia Haslett lacks focus in her ode to the French philosopher.

The "Dexter" star gives it his all in this indie comedy about a 35-year-old unemployed man coping with various romantic and life crises, but by the end of this terminally cute effort you'll wish that he just stop moping and kill somebody already.

Informative and lively if low on cinematic value, the documentary will play well on the small screen.

As intensely personal and deeply felt as it is, however, Davies' attempt to breathe new life into Rattigan's 1952 play is a rather bloodless, suffocating thing, lent tragic passion more by its use of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto than by anything achieved by his star Rachel Weisz and her leading man.

In his 4:44 Last Day on Earth, the auteur imagines the apocalypse from an aging NYC hipster's perspective, hitting melancholy notes that may ring true for a small segment of the art-house audience but, without the compelling presence of Willem Dafoe, would have little hope at the box office.

As she did in her breakthrough film Winter's Bone, Jennifer Lawrence anchors this futuristic and politicized elaboration of The Most Dangerous Game with impressive gravity and presence, while director Gary Ross gets enough of what matters in the book up on the screen to satisfy its legions of fans worldwide.

A flat-footed and seriously unsexy romantic dramedy.

As cartoonish as much of this is, Pickering's story is refreshing in its refusal to paint all Christians with the same brush,

Kindness is evident in even the most hurt or exasperated moments of de France's lovely performance as Samantha. But then, kindness couched in unblinking social realism is an intrinsic part of how these supremely gifted filmmakers view the world.

Worth a look, though it's unfortunately a far too academic affair that never surges with the suspense of many a WWII drama.

Adrien Brody, delivering his finest performance since "The Pianist," plays the central role of the disaffected Henry Barthes.

Neither the script's conspiracies nor Nicolas Cage's performance is weird enough to trump the film's generic feel.

This Spanish-lingo farce plays very much like an SNL sketch. The only problem is that it packs about as many laughs into its 85 minutes as a good skit does in eight or 10.

A bland romantic comedy in the Richard Curtis style, The Decoy Bride is mainly notable for its proof, if any was needed after "Boardwalk Empire," that Kelly Macdonald is a major talent.

Effects work is slick, and Goddard keeps his foot on the accelerator with help from David Julyan's suspense-building score. It's just too bad the movie is never much more than a hollow exercise in self-reflexive cleverness that's not nearly as ingenious as it seems to think.

The formulaic script by Steve Koren doesn't manage to exploit the absurd premise with any discernible wit or invention, and the star is left floundering.

A short and sweet outing pairing the Duplass brothers with mismatched screen siblings Jason Segel and Ed Helms, Jeff Who Lives at Home pulls back from the comedy of Cyrus in favor of character-defining vignettes and moments of grace.

Director Andrew Stanton's Disney extravaganza is a rather charming pastiche.

Not since Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg teamed up in "The Other Guys" has an onscreen pairing proved as comically rewarding as the inspired partnership of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.

The basic premise of this delightful comedy from Sweden is one of the most imaginative you'll ever see. It's all based on music -- raw, elemental and percussive -- out of which genuine laughs are wrung from beginning to end.

The movie has a hard time wrapping up its love story without feeling forced, however game the cast. Viewers won't be able to say they weren't given what they came for, but they might feel unsatisfied all the same.

It's torture to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi - if you are on an empty stomach. David Gelb's documentary on Jiro Ono, the 85-year-old sushi chef whose Tokyo restaurant received three Michelin stars is a paean to perfectionism and crafty bit of food porn.

Imagine a Kiwi spaghetti western filtered through the offbeat sensibilities of early Sam Raimi or the Coen brothers and you've pretty much got the picture that is Good for Nothing.

Jewish and academically inclined audiences worldwide will respond to numerous aspects of this unusual drama, although it is paradoxically both too broad and too esoteric for the general art house public.

The co-screenwriter of "Kissing Jessica Stein" goes solo as writer and director with a romantic comedy that takes time to find its groove but steadily accumulates heart and humor.

A creaky haunted house that, once the big twist is revealed, makes very little sense at all.

Despite a couple of unconvincingly upbeat tacked-on moments at the end, Project X basically reads as nihilistic, as not believing in or standing for anything. Not even fun.

Armed with a splendid voice cast and a gorgeously-rendered 3D-CG landscape, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax entertains while delivering it's pro-environmental, anti-greed message wrapped in a bright package of primary colors that truly pop.

In The Salt of Life, the actor-writer-director again plays his own alter ego, and gives us another deceptively small, vaguely autobiographical story with universal resonance, in more technically assured packaging.

Robert De Niro and writer-director Paul Weitz find the most congenial material either of them has had in quite some time in Being Flynn.

Paula van der Oest's biopic of South African poet Ingrid Jonker is conventional yet captivating thanks in large part to a terrific lead performance from Carice van Houten.

Only the truly ghoulish will find any pleasure in Snowtown, Justin Kurzel's well-crafted but hard-to-watch true-crime debut.

Audiences attuned to Tim & Eric's weird wavelength will find plenty of guffaws in the first half, but a plot this thin can't sustain comedy based on discomfort; the film is so much of a good thing one starts to wonder if the thing is good in the first place.

A thriller so fixated on red herrings that viewers may stop caring if anyone's really in danger, Gone is diverting but unlikely to linger long in theaters.

This soapy effort about a prosperous businessman having a midlife crisis finds Perry working in the heavily melodramatic mode that marks his weakest efforts.

Although the film has its undeniably immersive, convincing moments, the merging of dramatic re-creations and on-camera "performances" proves less seamlessly executed than those masterfully coordinated land, sea and air missions.

Stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston find themselves at home here, playing against a stock-raising performance by Justin Theroux as the charismatic libertine who prompts their adventure.

Australia may finally have a homegrown blockbuster on its hands with the terrifically engaging Tomorrow, When the War Began, an action-packed war film for and about teenagers.

A water-treading sequel offering just enough kooky color to keep less-discerning funnybook fans occupied, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance nudges its obscure hero's mythology forward a bit without seeming to care much how it gets there.

The filmmaker made the film on his family's tobacco farm so perhaps his own memories may filter through those of his fictional characters. Or maybe they're not fictional at all. Jess + Moss is, to put it mildly, open to interpretation.

Tanovic wisely returns to his Bosnia and Herzegovina roots, where the small but highly nuanced story, set in prewar 1991, rings with authenticity and weight.

This amusing Danish doc aimed at TV audiences portrays Masha as an ambitious, intelligent, right-wing young lady who comes fatefully into contact with a bunch of left-wing journalists and loses her bearings. The overall effect is tragi-comic, even considering the dark events that bring the film to an unexpected dramatic climax.

It's impossible not to root for these guys, or to leave Undefeated without feeling enormously moved by the experience of their joys and disappointments.

The actor literally takes the metaphors of his bull-headed character to the limits and is never less than believable or mesmerizing.

Danfung Dennis presents a powerful depiction of the horrors and daily violence of our ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Does right by both fans and subjects.

Martyn Burke's documentary hauntingly dissects the rise of media mortality in the war zone and the mental disorders that follow.

A clever twist on superpowers and hand-held filmmaking that stumbles before the ending.