The result is smart, gruesome and inventive enough to more than please niche genre fans who are likely to spread the word to fellow admirers of gallows humor.

Adult actors pretty much let the youngsters upstage them. The two leads, Bennett and Vanier, do a nice job holding the center of gravity while the film goes nuts around them. Best of all, Shorts is short, finishing before you can truly get tired of all those wishes gone wrong.

It's a low-wattage film about a high-wattage event. Which is somewhat disappointing, though you do get a thoughtful, playful, often amusing film about what happened backstage at one of the '60s' great happenings.

Consistent with her ice queen reputation, Wintour is often disconcertingly direct and frequently unfeeling, though not without a dry sense of humor.

Gabbert and Schein keep the focus on their subjects, interpreting their struggles through the ups and downs in the couple's relationship as they grapple with increasingly difficult issues. This character-driven approach draws viewers into the couple's struggle and prompts consideration of similar lifestyle changes.

Do Quentin and Antoine represent ego and alter-ego? Or two warring desires inside the individual? This is the kind of hazy film open to almost any interpretation.

Writer/director Vincenzo Natali takes his tale in some truly icky directions, not quite making it into Cronenbergland but going far enough to elicit solid 'ewww' laughs from the crowd.

(Untitled) assembles a collection of vivid character-types, sometimes a breath short of caricature. But for all its sharp comic angles, Jonathan Parker's film takes its central questions seriously and avoids the pat follow-your-bliss answers Hollywood prefers.

This is a typical Moore oeuvre: funny, often over the top and of dubious documentation, but with strongly made points that leave viewers much to ponder and debate after they walk out of the theater.

For both the parents and the filmmakers, the journey of The Horse Boy was tough and utterly unpredictable, but their act of faith has produced a film that's surprisingly upbeat, evenhanded and imbued with wonder.

Entertaining and substantive enough to be interesting even for those completely unfamiliar with weaves and relaxers.

Neither earth-shaking nor profound, but it has considerable charm, thanks to an appealing cast and some sharply witty observations about the pressures of child-rearing in Manhattan.

A smart and well-observed entry in the genre, is a cut above the usual hijinks.

Compelling portrait of famed radical lawyer by his daughters.

Overall, "Moonlight" is a nuttily engaging tale of betrayal and, perhaps, redemption.

Reveals writer-director Lee Toland Krieger as a talent worth watching.

Overall, the film is somber, gripping and at times achieves an epic sweep as a dark chapter on the Chinese diaspora.

Frozen delivers enough thrills and gory chills to satisfy the horror film crowd, but is not written, directed or acted well enough to be a first-rate thriller.

Part zombie movie, part apocalyptic bioterror, part military conspiracy thriller, the refit hybrid doesn't stint on the visceral kicks demanded by contemporary audiences while remaining reasonably true to those Romero roots.

Four terrific performances make the transition to a U.S. setting go smoothly for British director Udayan Prasad.

The emotional detonations prove minor but movingly resonant in The Exploding Girl, an indie character study built four-square round Zoe Kazan's persuasive performance.

What threatened to be yet another routine exercise in raunchiness instead turns out to be a sweet, charming, hilariously funny love story that could emerge as a sleeper hit.

The scenes between Pattinson and de Ravin exude genuine charm.

A likable movie for kids that will make adults chuckle as well because of the movie's key ingredient -- wit.

The result is a character-driven mystery of considerable emotional power, often harrowing and always compelling.

While winning no points for originality, Baumbach and his co-conspirator in the script, Jennifer Jason Leigh -- have created an all-too-convincing portrait of a 40-year-old man in emotional freefall.

The vigor and pace is electric, and the movie features three showy performances by Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon.

Moore and Neeson beautifully underplay their roles, lending screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson's ("Secretary") dialogue an unexpected, palpable poignancy.