Whether or not The Magician rises to the level of its cinematic predecessors may be up for debate, but thanks to a smart, cleverly constructed screenplay and a compelling lead performance, Ryan’s film displays a flair for storytelling that’s notably lacking in many first-time features. It’s a great addition to the Blue Tongue catalogue, and it’ll be interesting to see where Ryan turns up next.

This film exists only for its glamorous visuals, gorgeous Gershwin music, and the dancing choreographed by Astaire and Eugene Loring.

Perhaps Kenji Mizoguchi's greatest achievement, SANSHO THE BAILIFF is a visually mesmerizing picture that pays great and careful attention to the smallest details of nature and environment, highlighted by Mizoguchi's use of the long take and deep-focus shots.

Excellent, but nasty stuff.

The film’s only flaw is a minor one: Some of the stylistic devices, such as the rapid-fire montages of vile and depraved images, have aged poorly. But that in no way detracts from the visceral power of the backslide into the abyss that we experience along with the central character.

Deliberately theatrical but nevertheless greatly indebted to French poetic realism, Children of Paradise is lovingly handled by director Carne. The entire film is crammed with incident and an intoxicating eye for detail.

Director Morita does an exemplary job of bringing a Japanese graphic novel to the screen.

The filmmaking is a bit crude at times but it packs an emotional wallop.

It's a defining true crime story for the Internet age.

The 'Burbs offers a delightfully complicated portrait of suburban voyeurism, a portrait taken to its absurd extreme by Dante's introduction of foreign elements among his xenophobic characters, in a devastating satire of suburban values.

The Innocents manipulates the viewer's imagination as few films can, with Kerr and Redgrave doing a masterful job of creating a sense of repressed hysteria.

This sequel may be a bit thin on plot, but who cares when Jackie Chan is at his daredevil best?

The result is a raucously funny and poignant love letter to standup comics.

The good news is that it comes closer than any of its predecessors, hitting the mark or coming close to it on almost all fronts. With "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" being split into two films, the final installment stands an excellent chance of getting it right.

With Bruno, Baron Cohen essentially turns a carnival mirror on society, and some people simply aren't going to like what they see. This is satire at its most confrontational and incisive.

The movie does open up a lot of heretofore vacuum-sealed cans of worms. Does sex represent a sort of grand completeness that men secretly yearn for in their friendships?

For people who loved "Heat," this is a tour de force.

If you enjoyed the robo-spastic ride the first time, then you should be happy with this movie, too. And if you complained that the first movie was trite and lacking in character development, then you probably shouldn’t even be reading this.

While director Tony Scott's brash and boisterous take on the material may lack that certain '70s quirkiness, it gets just about everything else exactly right.

By no means a landmark, but it is a remarkably pleasant surprise -- so few movies aimed for the whole family show an understanding of why it's actually healthy to pretend.

Moon is a small-scale film, but, thanks in no small part to Rockwell, its mix of thematic grandeur and human drama makes it a worthy successor to those 1970s science fiction films that inspired it.

So if you're looking for the next stop on the Shockingly Experimental Comedy train, don't get off here -- this ride is strictly for laughs.

Like "Juno" or "Little Miss Sunshine," Away We Go is a small film, the kind of gem that's easy to crush with hype or overpraise. But, the fact is that few movies deal with feelings this profound with as much restraint as Mendes and his crew display here.

You get the feeling that, had Pixar been in business 25 years ago, Steven Spielberg might have made this movie for them as a follow-up to "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

A popcorn film that aims to entertain -- nothing more, nothing less -- and it achieves that goal admirably.

Stands among the best of Soderbergh's many "little" films, where he recharges his artistic batteries and tries out new techniques before jumping back into the world of big budgets and superstars.

It fulfills its promise of rebooting the series while leaving us wanting more, and it does so with style and energy to spare. Now that's an origins tale that truly delivers.

The good news is that Battle for Terra's moments of unbalance ultimately right themselves into a surprisingly earnest, engaging film.

This kind of movie quickly falls apart if the actors overplay the inherent sadness of the situation, and thankfully the stellar cast never makes that mistake.

The overall tone of the film is absolutely appropriate for all ages, and it's never too early to learn the importance of preserving our planet.

The movie is thoroughly engrossing from the opening frame to the end credits, and it’s a beautiful viewing experience.

Lundgren, an inexpressive actor, is perfect as a graphic cipher: his face was made to be drawn in ink and filled in with broad washes of color. Carefully tended facial stubble trimmed to give him a skull-like appearance, Lundgren is truly impressive as a character defined by emotional emptiness.

A rare treat for cinema lovers starved for the days when scruffy newspaper reporters fearlessly sniffed out corruption, State of Play delivers the kind of conspiratorial thrills that would have made Pakula proud.

This time, the adrenalized formula is even more unpredictable, with twists, turns, curves, and splurges taking the viewer on a rollercoaster ride unlike any other.

Some movies strive to give you that warm, fuzzy feeling, and some strive to make you bawl your eyes out, but Observe and Report strives to make you feel ambivalent, confused, and a little bit dirty, and whether or not you find that enjoyable, it's not something you likely feel very often.

No matter what, it's safe to say that this entirely acceptable retooling of the franchise makes for a satisfying experience for those who enjoy four-wheeled chases, hot bodies, hot cars, and a tall dose of tough-guy machismo.

Delightful because it's intensely sincere.

This is a lean 90 minutes, packed with laughs and age-appropriate thrills -- not to mention a solid lesson for girls about self-respect.

The result is a film that's comfortable and familiar, but at the same time feels fresh, fun, and original.

Tony Gilroy deserves the lion's share of credit for making such a delightful movie. His writing and direction find the perfect balance of comedy, sexiness, and tension.

Buck is a very audience-friendly film, provided that the audience is willing to let itself be taken along for a fairly manipulative ride.

Race to Witch Mountain isn't some kind of action watershed, or science-fiction milestone, but it most certainly is a finely crafted reboot of a franchise that was ripe for an updating.

It's a solid depiction of a relatable story, and it's absolutely modest about all of it, especially stylistically, where things stay remarkably reeled in.

It may not include every nuance of the graphic novel, but it captures as much as any adaptation could -- which may not satisfy the fanboys, but it's probably more than enough for everyone else.

On a narrative level, Troell seems to occasionally take on more than he can handle; from time to time he leans toward an ensemble approach, with multiple, intersecting stories, but the film lacks the length to sustain this, so we are left with fragments of substories that never fully blossom.

An unrelentingly powerful and seamless indictment of two brutal political systems.

Thankfully, Coraline is appropriately dark, and like its inspiration, is only a children's movie by the thinnest of margins.

The results are, quite surprisingly, fairly charming.

Not one to overstay its welcome, this suspenseful tale is an economic exercise in delivering the goods for those who are interested in a two-fisted Liam Neeson vehicle to soak up, bask in, and then leave behind as soon as it's over.

It has a certain Midwestern charm that settles calmly in the stomach, making the viewer feel warm, comfortable, and quick to smile.

A film that's brimming with fascinating ideas and elevated by some memorable performances.

What more could a horror fan ask for than a spook-fest that feels pure in its intentions while taking full advantage of every opportunity to scare us silly?

A Holocaust film that's light on sentimentality but high on human drama, Defiance tells one of those remarkable survival stories that's so incredible it must be true.

Indeed, all of the performers in the film truly shine, and all of them can probably thank Sam Mendes for creating an ideal environment.

Brimming with intriguing concepts and brilliant visual effects, making it a stimulating treat for both the eyes and the intellect.

A perfect fairytale, adhering to The Princess Bride's standards of fighting, fencing, torture, and true love, without the ham-fisted moral element of so many of its fairy-tale predecessors.

Satisfies the heart and engages the mind.

Reichardt is such a canny filmmaker that one could almost believe that she intentionally leaves Wendy underwritten and a bit of a cipher, because Wendy is far more effective as a bold-faced symbol of the downtrodden than as a fully realized human character.

The craftsmanship, acting, and history lesson all make it among the most satisfying films of Ron Howard's career.

Rarely have moviegoers seen such a two-fisted wrecking ball of vengeance such as the one realized here by Ray Stevenson.

Though this third installment is not quite as nuts as the second film, it's nevertheless firmly set in the same ridiculous mold.

Harvey Milk embodied the concept that "all politics is personal," and by presenting the famed Mayor of Castro Street's personal and public lives with such clarity and empathy, Van Sant has made something very rare in Hollywood -- a genuinely powerful political film that works equally well as a story of personal triumph.

This winning mix of exciting action, heart-tugging sentiment, and gentle character comedy makes Bolt yet another solid addition to Disney's history of family-friendly fare.

In terms of bringing the book to life, Twilight is a complete success, so much so that most of the film's flaws work within the context of the story.

Australia goes for the absolute limit in terms of scope. And let's not be coy -- size may not matter, but it still helps.

A great movie is something more than the sum total of all its parts, and here, the elements all come together to form a feature that speaks a universal form of optimism that isn't likely to get lost in translation, no matter where it screens, or who is watching.

It does consistently remain both totally nuts and totally hilarious.

It's a joy to watch soul legend Isaac Hayes in one of his final roles.

Zack & Miri stand out as Kevin Smith's most thoroughly representative film -- both for better and for worse.

It's a well-produced yearbook that will one day bring back sweet memories for the cast and fans, but probably won't be of interest to anyone who wasn't part of the scene.

Perhaps with a few more drafts, the filmmakers could have found a means of maintaining the quiet momentum displayed early on, but as it stands, Changeling is little more than a frustrating missed opportunity that's dressed to the nines, but a day late for the party.

For a movie of its type, Max Payne is a little short on excitement and heavy on pathos.

The final result is a bittersweet product closer to honey than treacle.

All that matters is if it's funny -- and it is.

The crisply photographed and edited Body of Lies reveals some ambition, for while it certainly works as pure entertainment, this tale of a good man trying to extract himself from an impossible situation offers some commentary on America's feelings about being in Iraq.

Claustrophobic, jittery at times, and electric in pace, Quarantine is a stripped-down bloody thrill ride that -- while certainly not catering to everyone's tastes -- should satisfy gore-hounds looking to step up their theatrical horror cuisine beyond the usual creepy little kid rehashes.

Davis led an unquestionably inspirational life, but The Express, however heartfelt, is uninspired.

A fun and moving family film with a subtly dark feel rarely seen in kids' movies since the '80s, City of Ember succeeds despite its shortcomings, not only because of its fun and inspiring story, but because most of its flaws are things kids won't notice anyway.

The picture as a whole benefits not merely from the excellent performances, but from its warm emotional core and its infectious love of people, topped off by a mature (though not jaded) sobriety about human limitations that thoroughly validates everything preceding it.

Fine performances from Sam Rockwell and Brad William Henke deserve some passing attention.

An entertaining road movie with a topical point: The three passengers on this cross-country trip are U.S. soldiers who've just returned from Iraq.

Rios is the glue that holds Johannesson's neither-fish-nor-fowl film together.

There's something disheartening about seeing real-life stories and their inevitable complexities put through the Hollywood sausage machine and transformed into bland parables about a privileged, wayward young bucks redeemed by wise, infinitely patient mentors and the self-abnegating spirit of team sports.

Engrossing documentary about the life and times of publisher Barney Rosset, who spent much of his career advancing the cause of free expression, is a flawless match of style and subject.

It's earnest, well-intentioned and scrupulously even-handed, in the style of made-for-TV problem movies.

Clearly a labor of love and a call to action, but it's undermined by the sheer volume of topics it tackles in addition to the main subject.

In Koepp's comedic variation on a similar theme, the dead are not just unhappy -- they're irritatingly needy.

Much of it will probably go right over the heads of kids who aren't familiar with classic movies or the naughtiness of Eddie Izzard.

What the film lacks in artistry it makes up for in commitment.

perfectly serviceable costume drama.

The film does, however, assemble an amazing array of recorded conversations and vintage newsreel, and offers up enough press conference footage to make one nostalgic for the days when an uncowed, penetrating press really did serve the public interest, and the president was a smart, inspirational and often very funny figure who could think on his feet and fearlessly take on all comers.

The brothers' dark, all-star farce about sex, lies and surveillance is pretty damned funny.

The movie belongs to the fifth-billed Bishil, a truly gutsy young actress who captures the essence of young female desire in all its adolescent confusion.

Thanks to some first-rate acting from its stars, it ranks among Perry's best.

A gripping mystery and an ever-timely reminder of the terrible power of repression and silence.

Has a certain silly, kid-friendly charm.

A solid performance by the often underrated Judith Light lends considerable weight to this melodrama's controversial subject.

At the heart of this picturesque fable is a truism so shopworn it can barely stand repeating: It's better to give than to receive.