The Impossible is one of the most emotionally realistic disaster movies in recent memory -- and certainly one of the most frightening in its epic re-creation of the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

While it's way behind the "Pulp Fiction" curve, Seven Psychopaths can be terrifically entertaining.

Absorbing if somewhat predictable in its dramatic trajectory, Jacques Audiard's follow-up to his powerhouse prison yarn "A Prophet" benefits from unvarnished, forthright performances from Marion Cotillard and Bullhead hunk Matthias Schoenaerts, as well as from the utterly convincing representation of the former's paraplegic state.

The film mines both the relationship issues and the Upper East Side neighborhoods of Woody Allen's best work, but could use an added dose of the Woodster's jokes to spruce up a self-serious scenario that hits the right notes about half the time.

A minimalist, image-based character study that is almost impossibly fragile and yet emotionally robust, Francine is a legitimate discovery.

In the last 15 minutes of the film, he burns up some of the credibility he established by not pushing extreme situations too far earlier on.

Not quite soaring into the heavens, but not exactly crash-landing either, Cloud Atlas is an impressively mounted, emotionally stilted adaptation of British author David Mitchell's bestselling novel.

Argo is a crackerjack political thriller told with intelligence, great period detail and a surprising amount of nutty humor for a serious look at the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81.

Hotel Transylvania checks in as an anemic example of pure concept over precious little content.

Their physical disparity notwithstanding, Gordon-Levitt and Willis both come across strongly, while Blunt effectively reveals Sara's tough and vulnerable sides.

A coming-of-middle-age comedy running on somewhat less than a full tank, Liberal Arts possesses enough comedic moments to approach crowd-pleasing status.

Dazzlingly designed and staged in a theatrical setting so as to suggest that the characters are enacting assigned roles in life, this tight and pacy telling of a 900 page-plus novel touches a number of its important bases but lacks emotional depth, moral resonance and the simple ability to allow its rich characters to experience and drink deeply of life.

Nothing about the plot is novel, but the film easily maintains a low simmer that picks up in the final act, as Miller has to fight to keep his sinking ship staffed.

Jamie Linden's minor-key serio-comedy pulls us in eventually, delivering its share of poignant insights and melancholy reflections, even if it does all feel a tad familiar.

An intelligent, visually sumptuous drama that embraces the grandeur of the Australian literary classic upon which it's based.

More impressionistic than enlightening, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's Detropia introduces us to some interesting citizens of Detroit and gives them a welcome opportunity to speak for themselves, but reveals little we don't already know.

A stiff central performance diminishes its emotional impact, but the visually alluring film's sensuality and tenderness give it a lingering spell.

The film is terribly smart in every respect, with ne'er-a-false note performances and superb craft work from top to bottom.

Pitched at the right level to please original fans, but still slick and accessible enough to attract new ones, Dredd 3D feels like a smart and muscular addition to the sci-fi action genre.

A credibly drawn central character is trapped inside a half-cooked dramatic stew in Hello I Must Be Going.

The scant character development is not enhanced by the film's directorial style.

Very much a work of its time, the documentary offers unique perspectives for fans of both the saxophonist and the pioneering filmmaker, but is unlikely to attract a broad audience beyond those camps.

If the target audience for this film were any younger, they'd be embryos.

Two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men

A tasty cast and a good share of snappy dialogue provide entertainment but can't make this pre-nuptials shindig quite the party that it might have been.

A stylish period thriller set in 1930's Shanghai, The Bullet Vanishes is one of the more striking Chinese imports.

Representing a sort of equal opportunity religious variation on an all-too-familiar theme, The Possession is a Jewish-themed "Exorcist" that, if nothing else, should discourage the practice of buying antique wooden boxes at flea markets.

It may feel like 'Borat,' but Mads Brugger's documentary is a comical look at an unfunny place.