A moving tale with wryly funny moments.

A wonderful throwback about a flawed figure who took on a hostile era in Hollywood with choice words and major chutzpah.

A cinematic experience that is dazzlingly different from anything currently in theaters, March of the Penguins captivates with its straightforward but powerful story of dogged determination, survival against harsh odds and sacrifice.

A beautiful and brutal headtrip exploring the positives and negatives inherent in mankind's evolution, with characters struggling against losing themselves to something alien.

A strong first half has Jill Clayburgh oozing bile when weasel husband Michael Murphy dumps her. Writer/director Paul Mazursky's sexual-political screen landmark wobbles some when she takes up with artist Alan Bates. [13 Jan 2006, p.14D]

This is one movie in which you don't feel the long-ish running time, in part because there always seems to be a surprise (as well as a new street guerrilla) around every corner.

The film's resolution is uplifting but not unrealistic, and Pariah exercises restraint by not tying up every loose end.

Emerges as an African version of "Schindler's List."

The three-hour dramatics are occasionally stilted, but here's the real non-CGI deal. [01 Feb 2008, p.6D]

This is the definitive cinematic Cyrano; only the pickiest critics or peasants will dare or care to thumb their noses at it. [16 Nov 1990, p.4D]

Majidi tells his simple story with dazzling vision.

Isn't all that romantic and is only half as funny as it thinks it is.

Vanessa Redgrave nimbly plays Coriolanus' mother, Volumnia, a blend of formidable stage mother and a puppeteering power behind the throne.

Grimly dark humor and spot-on production design buttress the captivating story and heighten the unnerving atmosphere...Gone Girl will leave you breathless and haunted.

Linney is a match for Neeson, and the only thing that might keep Lithgow from getting a supporting-Oscar nomination is the brevity of the part.

Flowers is smartly observational -- but a little screen heat would be worth a bouquet.

For the most part a no-frills, almost sedate affair, the drama finds its real power in two strong lead performances.

One of the deeper and most thoughtful projects in Scorsese’s career. It feels as though his entire Hollywood career has culminated in this grand quest, which while excessively long, effectively explores the brutal costs of unbending faith.

Writer/director Philippe Claudel knows just how to structure a character study of this sort, so that key elements and important secrets are revealed over time, piquing our interest. The film is almost like a novel or short story, so one's curiosity is satisfied slowly.

It is one of the year's best films and perhaps the finest modern film about World War II.

With its almost stream-of-consciousness style, Reprise offers a fresh and compelling look at the vagaries of friendship and creativity.

In the movie's high point, (Jeremy) Northam conducts an antagonistic interview with the boy, who eludes well-placed lawyerly traps.

[Del Toro's] wonderful new take on the classic tale is the most essential adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s novel since Walt Disney’s 1940 cartoon masterpiece, with a practically perfect mix of tragedy, comedy, adventure, parental worries, societal expectations, childhood precociousness and antiwar leanings.

Director Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two bests his first 2021 epic, based on the classic Frank Herbert novels, in every significant way.

[A] socially conscious sprawler... Sayles' latest never bores during its 21/4-hour unreeling. But neither does it soar, despite finessing a complex flashback narrative set in 1957 and present-day. [21 June 1996, p.3D]

The look is artfully stylized, influenced by classic film noir; the mood is dark; the performances nuanced; and the story unnervingly exciting.

Visionary director David O. Russell so deftly weaves the family's story that we, too, are initially seduced by Dicky.

A long-on-video 1993 release now restored to its original Cantonese with different music and more audio pop.

It is one of the year's most intriguing dramas, with a quartet of powerful performances.

Iron Man's biggest strength is that the fantastically armored suit doesn't overpower the intriguingly flawed character encased within.

For those who puzzled over the "Twilight" hoopla here are Adam and Eve, the artiest, most sophisticated pair of vampires to hit screens in a long time.

Forman finesses the story's grimmer aspects as he did in "Cuckoo's Nest," and his ability to switch moods on a dime remains unsurpassed.

A clever, likable comedy that sends up sexism, satirizes Hollywood, examines family ties and features a surprisingly tender romance at its core.

A deeply moving film, it's a powerful reminder of a time not so long ago when, for a large group of Americans, attempting to register to vote could result in a serious threat to their lives.

The movie is a unicorn of sorts, a pure and perfect action flick with post-apocalyptic hot rods, gorgeous demolition-derby carnage and demented confidence.

Writer-director Andre Techine, who's been on a recent roll with Wild Reeds and Ma Saison Preferee (also with Deneuve and Auteuil), is in even better form here. [23 Dec 1996]

It's a provocative sci-fi action film with dynamite special effects, a powerful humanistic theme with echoes of real-life social conflicts, and a truly wondrous performance by Serkis.

Williams is impressively restrained as well as funny, so fans need not fret. It only means that instead of Good Morning, Preppies, we're given a bittersweet, even eerie Goodbye, Mr. Hip. [2 June 1989, Life, p.1D]

The sometimes fatiguing slow flow in hour one is worth the labor because the power in this 2-hour triumph reveals itself gradually.

Proves there are Holocaust stories still to be told.

James Coburn plays father in what may be the best performance of his career. [30 December 1998, Life, p.3D]

Amazingly, the film grows monotonous because Heller and Schmiderer can do nothing, via archival footage or even novel camera placements, to vary the program.

Hustlers is empathetic and understanding in the way it looks at sex workers as also single moms and women just trying to get by in a world where the rich seemingly only get richer. It also works as an enjoyable, empowering extravaganza of physical humor, clever script writing, exquisite fashion and scantily clad underdogs.

A spectacular high-seas epic that employs technology brilliantly and underscores the power of a vividly told story.

Let Me In is going to lure and please fans of the original; like the first, the remake is graphically violent but as tense as good horror gets.

Washington has put together a troupe that crafts a retro story that’s still completely relatable, no matter one’s race, and brilliantly plays a protagonist that finds the sweetest spot between lovable and loathsome.

The thriller is both a thought-provoking investigation into real-life themes and human flaws but also an undoubtedly entertaining exercise, one where the simple act of dropping off ballots becomes a crucial aspect of a scintillating, white-knuckle affair.

The film does what it can to dramatize the bond, but Richter has a disproportionate acting load because his co-star's emoting is below the water line. Happily, he carries it. [16 Jul 1993 Pg. 08.D]

A musical detective story, this enthralling documentary focuses on a little-known American musician whose haunting voice and poetic lyrics were essentially unknown in his own country, but had a massive impact across the globe.

Sing Street is a wholly appealing genesis of teenage romance and music-group therapy for one Irish boy and a instant retro classic for those still hungry like the wolf.

This is the rare movie that blends long scenes of meticulous research with a sweeping story and sustains a feeling of riveting suspense. Zodiac grips you by the throat and doesn't let go.

The most provocative miscarried-justice movie ever. [26 Aug 1988]

“Elvis” is zippy and energetic while Priscilla is methodical, bordering on sedate. However, the biggest sin with Priscilla is Coppola never really digs into her wants and desires apart from Elvis.

To induce a state of dread and mesmerize with beauty is a rare, paradoxical achievement.

Leisen's direction here is more than smooth. [02 May 2008, p.6E]

Clint Eastwood remains a competent, rather than distinctive, film maker, but he obviously respects the material. Bird is essentially factual, and we come to understand why so many other musicians thought shooting heroin might enable them to transfer [Charlie Parker]'s genius to themselves. [26 Sept 1988, p. 4D]

It's clever, farcical and offers wry social commentary. With its heartfelt performances, intelligent writing and subtle humor, this is easily one of the most perceptive and engaging movies of the year.

While the ending loses steam as “Different Man” gets in its own bizarre head, the film maintains a certain heady, psychological trippiness.

Relentlessly grim and grisly, 28 Weeks Later is not for the faint of heart. But its provocative post-apocalyptic theme makes for a smart and deeply unsettling film.

A perfect fit between filmmaker (Memento's Christopher Nolan) and material (Norway's same-name psycho-chiller from 1997), this remake gets all there is to get out of a peculiar premise with promise.

Terence Davies' deliberately paced, earnest adaptation of Edith Wharton's breakthrough novel quietly captures the grim complexities of New York's social world nearly a century ago.

A touching and illuminating documentary.

As insanely cool as the aerial dogfight scenes were in the original, the sequel’s action sequences levels them up with unreal camera angles and nonstop tension.

We are slowly and mightily drawn into this intimate story, which is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally moving.

A must-see for animation fans.

A contender for the year's best film.

Despite pockmarking racial humor, this is an appealing Fred MacMurray-Barbara Stanwyck companion piece to Double Indemnity and Douglas Sirk's There's Always Tomorrow. [29 Sep 1995, p.3D]

A fabulously enjoyable documentary from Martin Scorsese that may introduce a new generation to this incredibly sharp, often stinging, but famously unproductive writer. [22 Nov 2010, p.12B]

Edited with whiplash intensity into 92 of the movie year's tightest minutes, Room is arguably the breeziest political documentary ever. [3 Nov 1993, p.7D]

Despite its melodramatic moments, remarkable performances drive home the film's inspiring message.

Julianne Moore shoots and scores – as well as laughs, cries, smokes, drinks, flies and sings – in the quirky Gloria Bell, which minds a fine line between in-depth character study and offbeat romantic comedy.

It's one of the year's finest, most complex portrayals, in one of Allen's best films in years.

A well-crafted, albeit entirely bleak exploration of paranoia and fear.

Highly imaginative and consistently amusing without pretensions.

Sometimes -- and far too rarely -- a film will hit all the right notes, with sharp, original dialogue, brilliant casting and an absorbing story. So caught up in its spell, you dread seeing the credits roll. Please Give is that movie.

As inspiring as the story wants to be, its real drama is mired around the edges, where we get a sense of what it is really like to be born into a brothel.

Welcome to the summer's first pleasant surprise. [20 July 1990, p.1D]

John Wick: Chapter 4 delivers on the ballet of bullets and fiesta of firearms you expect while also successfully showcasing the dynamic, reluctantly unretired title hitman as a real underdog.

Things will not be a big concession-stand movie because the floating heart is our introduction to a cottage industry we hope won't catch on. It is dirtier than pretty, yet Frears finds beauty in the telling.

Despite its title, Punch-Drunk Love is never heavy-handed. The jabs it employs are short, carefully placed and dead-center.

Crystal is such a panic - and normally uptight Patinkin is so attractively relaxed as a Spanish swordsman - that Bride's charms just can't be ignored. [25 Sept 1987]

Nothing works in this over-elaborate let's-kidnap-a-kid melodrama. [24 Aug 1990]

Of all the pop-psychiatry movies from the 1940s, Spellbound survives its kitschy elements -- wallows in them, even -- to remain as fascinating as expected from a collaboration that was contentious. [04 Oct 2002]

While it's the most ambitious of the three films, it's not as mesmerizing as 2008's "The Dark Knight." The plot is occasionally murky, its archvillain lacks charismatic menace, and the last hour is belabored.

It's a hoary Chinatown knock-off wrapped in a seductively novel black-culture veneer, with a dash of Laura added for bad measure. [29 Sept 1995, p.01.D]

If the Marvel superhero movies on the whole are your favorite band’s individual albums, Avengers: Endgame is the triple-disc greatest-hits package with the really awesome cover and a slew of familiar, comforting gems inside.

Blue Ruin is the rare film that is nearly consistently tense, the suspense only temporarily subsiding about an hour into the story. It's a welcome respite.

Humphrey Bogart went out with one of the best swan songs a major star ever had in this anti-boxing screed, from a novel by On the Waterfront scripter Budd Schulberg. [12 Jul 2004]

Bernard Herrmann's great score punches up a brutal urban crime pic suddenly turned tender romance between a tough cop (Robert Ryan) and a blind woman (Ida Lupino). [21 Jul 2006, p.14D]

Alex Garland, the screenwriter of "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine," makes an auspicious directorial debut with this suspenseful mystery.

One of the series's best, with spectacular effects, nuanced performances and witty dialogue.

Its colorful residents make Zootopia a wondrous place to visit for two hours until you have to go back to real life, where Shakira isn’t a gazelle and law enforcement is a lot less furry.

This giggle does for dog shows what Rob Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap" (in which Guest plays Nigel Tufnel) did for heavy metal.

We accept the sincerity and altruistic motives of the aging loner he (Philip Baker Hall) portrays in this consciously spare Nevada-set sleeper. [13 March 1997, p. 8D]

Crisp craftsmanship has fashioned a great day at the movies from the worst day of Ralph Kramden's life. [10 Jun 1994 Pg. 01.D]

Filmed during that great early period of his career when he played heels better than anyone ever had, Kirk Douglas is the morally tortured 21st Precinct New York cop who lets unbridled hatred for street scum poison his marriage. [28 Oct 2005]

Indeed, Eve's milieu is fresh and specific enough to make even Jackson subordinate to Kasi Lemmons, the writer (and sometimes actress) who dreamed up this story for her directorial debut. [07Nov1997 Pg08.D]