Though the story teeters on easy sentimentality, it doesn't succumb. Though unabashedly emotional, it isn't maudlin. Tsotsi's story feels believable. It is made all the more engaging by a wonderful soundtrack of African Kwaito music.

Brews up an enticing murder mystery and gives Shane Black — who directed and co-wrote the script — another hit on-screen pairing.

In its own way, the film is as smugly self-satisfied preaching to its left-of-center converted as the more over-the-top speakers were at the recent Republican convention. [04 Sep 1992, p.5D]

Worth seeing just for the superb prosthetic makeup and seamless computer-generated effects in which Pitt's head is digitally imposed onto older bodies.

A coming-of-age tale that truly floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

There are some effectively suspenseful moments in the movie, particularly during the gambling sequences, but one longs for more context and probing into the psyche of an ordinary man with an extraordinary compulsion.

This sleeper never caught on with the masses but became a cult movie after making a lot of the year's 10-best lists. [19 Sept 1997, p.13D]

Yet because this adaptation of Franz Lidz's childhood memoir is odd enough and even stylish enough to attract a small following, you might want to weigh my ingrained dyspepsia before electing not to see it. [15 Sep 1995]

Colossal is as refreshingly different a monster movie as it is a clever, timely take on bullying, domestic abuse and toxic masculinity.

Though Roger & Me's editing plays somewhat fast and loose with the juxtaposition of real-life events, it qualifies as an event itself. For once, have-nots get to lambaste haves in a documentary likely to be seen. [20 Dec 1989, p.5D]

It's the first film to include both a cameo appearance by Jesus and a full-frontal nude shot of Harvey Keitel dancing in a drugged stupor. [20 Nov 1992, Life, p.4D]

The stellar acting and assorted songs boost much of the familiar elements in "Emilia Pérez,” creating something inventively original and never, ever bland.

In his directorial debut “Monkey Man,” Dev Patel gifts action-movie fans with a multilayered, hyperviolent narrative. Sure, he pulls off a deep dive into Indian mythology, yet he's pretty darn good at attacking goons with fireworks, platform shoes and all manner of sharp objects too.

While Ant-Man's technically “the star,” this is most definitely the Wasp’s movie to own, and the smirking, enjoyably no-nonsense role fits Lilly well.

An often breathlessly exciting action thriller told with humor and intelligence.

Perhaps Nichols and May's greatest accomplishment is capturing perfectly on film the mysterious, complex, compromised relationship the public has with today's political leaders.

While the attractive cast is willing, the translation into '90s teen culture is weak -- like a clueless adult's notion of cool.

The most powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas; indeed, it's tough to recall the last such drama that packed as much emotional clout.

The goofiest, giddiest and, yes, grooviest animated trip since Aladdin unbottled its genie.

It all adds up to belly laughs aplenty and a rollicking good time.

Joyeux Noël is gritty and disturbing with its extended scenes of war and destruction. It also is emotional, even a touch sentimental.

Their performances may not get touted on many year-end movie lists, but the Kemp brothers - Gary and Martin - are the make-or-break element of the spotty but often gripping The Krays. In this case, happily, it's make. [09 Nov 1990, p.4D]

Cronenberg can create alternative worlds like few other filmmakers, and that's a real achievement. If he learns to make us care about them, he'll really have something. [23 April 1999, Life, p.8E]

As coldly calculating and infuriating as it can be, the film and its production design are stunning. But characters' actions and motivations are beyond comprehension.

The Curse of the Golden Flower is the year's most operatic and visually lavish film.

Alongside the bullets and the one-liners, “Mike & Nick” doesn’t completely make the most of its time-travel premise. But it’s forgivable considering a story full of colorful personalities and the sneakily heartwarming theme of finding empathy and understanding.

The look of the film is dazzling, even hallucinatory, and the concept is beyond quirky as conceived by Gondry, a talented visual stylist, in his first film based on his own script. The story is compelling, unconventional and diverting in its blurring of reality and fantasy.

By eloquently probing the state of uncertainty and its accompanying discomfort and confusion, Doubt compels viewers to examine their own assumptions as they become caught up in this fascinating tale.