Inspired and inspiring, this documentary about 7- and 8-year-olds competing for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship is too fawning to be consistently gifted, but it manages to be occasionally, perhaps accidentally, profound.

Brilliantly captures the exhilaration that comes from facing death head-on. It's also an ode to joyous rivalry.

Prisoners is infused with a poetic intensity that's rare in American thrillers. The closest cinematic comparisons would be "Zodiac," "In the Bedroom" and "Mystic River."

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.

Well-written, terrifically acted and compelling. It deftly avoids sentimentality and offers a window into the lives of believable, multilayered characters.

Insidious: Chapter 2 appears to be the sum of the unusable parts from James Wan's recent haunted house feature "The Conjuring."

Self-indulgent, heavy-handed and lumbering, Jayne Mansfield's Car is not a wreck, but it's certainly a vehicle for boredom.

Not only is this a deftly crafted and superbly acted film, but Wadjda sheds a powerful light on what women face, starting in childhood, in an oppressive regime.

The Family is a fish-out-of-water/buddy comedy/Mob flick. But most of all, it's a missed opportunity.

Hell Baby is what happens when you try to parody a parody. The result is a film that's less than half as funny as its predecessor, and a sliver as clever as the original.

Populaire takes an intrinsically boring activity — typing — and makes it unusually entertaining.

Insightful gems are unearthed throughout the flawed but engrossing Salinger,a much-anticipated documentary about the author of The Catcher in the Rye.

Move along, there's nothing to see and no one to root for in this murky franchise reboot.

Winnie Mandela is a simplistic look at a complex figure.

It's misleading to call this a documentary — fan fodder is more like it.

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

It's a meandering film that prompts the viewer to anticipate characters' actions. Fortunately, they don't take predictable paths.

A car-chase clunker that can't escape its own noxious emissions.

Not only an intelligent, well-told and deftly acted story, it provides refreshing counter-programming in a season filled with noisy, uninspired sequels and mindless action movies.

It's no "Taxi Driver" or even "Open Water," but Route has enough attractions to warrant the trip.

An historical opus that is equal parts ballet and biography, though the second component pales in comparison with the first.

A film of repetition, a bloody dance consisting of three steps: stab, scream, repeat.

The premise of visiting so many pubs as a narrative device, however, bogs down the initially energetic pacing and goofiness. Piling on the mayhem renders The World's End a sometimes chaotic and uneven comedy.

Though it has flashes of promise, Bones traces the footsteps of its fantasy film predecessors too closely to blaze anything close to an original narrative.

Authentic emotion competes with manufactured sentiment for the heart of Lee Daniels' The Butler.

Kick-Ass is a prime example of a movie that never should have bothered with a sequel. Not only is its successor played-out, but it revels in carnage while lacking the visual style and gleeful humor of the original.

One thing it doesn't do is offer a revealing look at the mercurial entrepreneur. The movie that bears his name settles on a blandly superficial treatment of a deeply complex man.

It plays more like a "21 Jump Street," full of pretty people and a thumping soundtrack but offering little in the way of something to say.