A thoughtful drama about guys who have a moment in the big time before returning home to an odd reflected glory.

More deft than it first appears, director John Crowley's gentle-but-not-sappy drama features another late-day masterpiece-in-miniature from Michael Caine.

As a virtual tour of what Earth Day is about, kids ought to be entranced. If it helps them get greener, even better.

A quiet, oddly serene movie with a curious soul.

Something of a traffic jam--even with his usual restraint, Lee couldn't recount a key moment of the '60s without a blurry parade of personalities--and also lullingly dull.

Whether the young ensemble attains it remains to be seen. The standouts, though, are Naughton, Pennie and Perez De Tagle.

Director Nimrod Antal’s grungy gang-of-thieves pic is tough and, for this genre, surprisingly ethical.

You see the spark of 'this is cool!,' but you don't sense a purpose. The underconceived Public Enemies suffers from that lack of drive, though Johnny Depp is so urgent and charismatic as John Dillinger, he provides enough firepower to make the film legit.

Hey, Michael: It's the robots, stupid. Despite all the mechanical mayhem, none of the Transformers stand out.

For the first time since "The Nutty Professor," Eddie Murphy successfully mixes his adult and kid-film personas -- imagine that.

Fascinating and, when you see Afghan versions of Simon Cowell and Co. reacting to tryouts, a reminder of how fame and the thirst for it is the same in any language.

The action-comedy Zombieland works because it's played with an emphasis on the living, not the undead.

Has two aces going for it: Soderbergh's poking at the maze­like holes in American business and Damon's whirling dervish performance.

Trippy in the right way, and wholly enchanting.

Zombie walks the walk, you can't deny it. And he's found the medium where he can let his freak flag fly highest. Now, he can proudly put that battered old William Shatner Halloween mask on a stick, too, and let it rip.

Part of the problem with "P&F" is that Tiana and Naveen's connection feels superficial.

Challenging and thoughtful, but is also, like its characters, a prisoner of its own anger.

What's cool and always kicky is seeing a country's irreverent movie trash being treated with such, well, reverence.

Giamatti is one of the few guys who could take a joke about a chickpea-sized soul and make a meal of it.

Even with all the inconvenient truths exposed, Stone's film is still, sadly, inescapably crucial.

Sturgess is solid and Kingsley predictably sneaky, but the atmosphere -- scurries through the Catholic/Protestant border, tense stand-offs, spontaneous riots -- is what's genuinely gripping.

The movie is filled with fun '50s Americana.

Once it's high-concept plot kicks in, Gervais' hilariously self-deprecating persona is really all that keeps it grounded.

Avatar clears the hurdle in terms of being optical candy. Its story, though, is pure cheese.

A snapshot of several New York eras that coincide with the Internet's growing pains, We Live in Public focuses on entrepreneur, party-thrower and dot.com bubble participant Josh Harris.

It's about watching two always-fine actors do a lot with very little.

A "Blair Witch"-y creepshow that owes a lot to Japanese horror.

A little more variation in the script, though, might have yielded something truly great.

Writer-director James Mottern's drama has a lived-in feel, but is notable mainly for Michelle Monaghan's glam-less turn as Diane.

Like a dime-store holiday card, this Christmas Carol is well-crafted but artless, detailed but lacking soul.

Tries to capture that moment -- complete with air guitar-playing deejays -- and unapologetically rides a wave of nostalgia, but ultimately sinks due to a bloated, watery script.

If you're going to pick the werewolf as your favorite monster, there's a lot to appreciate in the shaggy, imperfect but still fun new version of The Wolf Man.

Overlong but ambitious, Woo proves he's as good at tactical maneuvers as he is at close-quarters combat.

Haneke's superb cast provide beautifully measured hints at the disconnect between the ribbon's symbolism and the entire town's unspoken atrocities.

The film isn't easy to watch, but its portrait of perseverance and ecological commitment is enlightening.

As a misanthropic guy in a dead-end job, Matthew Broderick is more engaging than when he has to be perky.

There’s visual poetry here and haunted performances from Mezzogiorno and Timi -- who plays two roles, and is especially gripping as Dalser’s grown son.

That truthfulness, along with the movie's emotional honesty and narrative polish, help tag this NY-grown indie as one to seek out.

Watch for a cameo by young animator Tim Burton.

The scope of director Peter Chan's military drama is impressive, though this sometimes-rousing depiction of strategy and loyalty in mid-1800s China pales next to recent, similar historical epics like "Red Cliff" and "Mongol."

The trouble is, too much of director Shawn Levy's '80s-ish lark is filled with noise, when it really needed more quietly silly stuff.

Though there's too much movie-style self-deception, Sheridan is excellent, and his scenes with the consistently engaging, criminally underemployed Campbell Scott are subtle and serene.

Here's a rough-and-tumble British drama that, despite a strong spine, ought to be more like its title character: quiet and deadly -- and less showy.

The problem with Russell Crowe's new take on the legend is that it has one muddy boot in history and the other in fantasy. The middling result is far from a bull's-eye.

The cast is uniformly appealing in out-of-left-field ways, but writer-director Brooks Branch lets the story amble lazily, which -- like Gabriel and almost every character like him you've ever seen -- gets a little tiring.

Eisenberg - seemingly in every other movie nowadays - gives his best performance since 2005's "The Squid and the Whale" in a film that dramatizes a fascinating New York story.

Michael Douglas in Solitary Man, has all the tools of the man who plays him at his disposal. At times in this often engaging, occasionally meandering movie, that's enough to score.

Where the film fails, ironically, is in the central love affair. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is undeniably gifted, but his Stravinsky is a blank, stoic presence only comfortable at a piano.

If you're looking for an incisive portrait of self-generated stardom, you won't do better than this.

Amid all the hokey hill stuff, Lawrence's hard eyes and manner draw us in.

Even after experiencing the film, what they've gone through - and how they deal with it - deliberately remains a mystery.

A frenetic, overstuffed but imaginative fantasy.

This absorbing film isn't an apology or an explanation, but it nonetheless holds plenty of answers - including an amusing dissection of that infamously wiry hair-bear 'fro from the man who wore it.

Their mundane meetings underscore how easily secrets are leaked, but unfortunately, scenes of meetings between Presidents Reagan (Fred Ward) and Mitterrand seem hollow and naive. Kusturica and Canet are strong, though, as is Willem Dafoe as an American intel officer.

Writer-director Ruba Nadda's film is ultimately like a summertime flirtation that never quite comes to anything.

Director Samuel Maoz's gripping you-are-there feel does for tanks what "Das Boot" did for submarines, and that chokehold only gets tighter as this taut drama about the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese war goes on.

Talk about style over substance: The sheer volume of musical, comic-strip and video-game influences, riffs and licks in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" can get exhausting, but they also are what lift this romantic coming-of-age tale from this world to someplace totally ... else.

Peepli Live may not consistently hit the mark, but it's savvy and humane, which goes a long way.

A movie with no clear narrative. It pushes boundaries and feels like one man's fever dream. But all those traits would certainly make Allen Ginsberg happy.

The rhythms of this comedy-drama may be familiar, but besides its fratty title, it's surprisingly sophisticated.

Wallace layers on some era-specific meaning to Chenery, who seems to be simply following her lineage, thanks to Lane's quietly dignified performance. Malkovich is more fun, though Laurin isn't as outrageous as the movie thinks he is.

Based on a true story, the movie's best scenes involve its heroine breaking down barriers by force of will as much as by legal wrangling.

Without giving anything away, much of the excruciatingly teased-out tension here echoes the first movie without upping the ante.

The film awkwardly mixes political, social and medical issues and ends up being less than the sum of its parts.

Wiseman films it all without comment, letting the rhythm of the place tell the story.

Spottiswoode relays this tragic story with respect and sadness. But Michael Donovan's script is stuffed with clichés, and Dupuis is unable to convey the depth of Dallaire's emotions.

Without excessive emotion or drama, director Javier Fuentes-León's film - and Mercado's performance - gently captures the power of emotions whose silent rattle is even stronger than reality.

While Lomborg is an engaging though sometimes smug subject, director Ondi Timoner allows a coterie of scientists to spend too much time puncturing Gore than propping up Lomborg - who comes off as charismatic and engaged but, ultimately, merely a contrarian.

Bridges is enjoyable as he gives the older Flynn a Zen hero quality, and even breaks through the effects to make his younger-Clu-self oddly engaging.

Director Lee Chang-dong's soulful, affecting film is as quiet as a tomb and has a disturbing, critical underside that's hard to shake off.

Here, it's all Bardem, and this great actor's careworn face and sensitive presence counts for a lot. He ultimately can't save the soul of Biutiful, but he makes the journey easier.

What emerges is a portrait of the "psychic risk," as her father says, of living a creative life - and the intense feeling that entails.

With action this strong, the script just needs to be serviceable - and that's exactly what it is.

The good-natured cast helps distract from a barely sketched plot and outrageously cheap production values.

Kekilli sensitively portrays Umay's conflicted despair, and the relationship with her son is beautifully rendered.

To use carnival lingo: Thrilling? Not quite; since Levi's film has no clear goal for Stan to reach. Spectacular? Truth be told, those skeptical of Stan's abilities may still walk out as nonbelievers. Fascinating? Absolutely, because if you take time to listen, everyone's life is a three-ring circus.

If you're able to think of characters as just air bubbles to get past, then dive in, the excitement's fine.

More mournful than alarmist, Arthus-Bertrand's film goes beyond global warming to look at life out of balance, through a lens darkly.

This rather elegant movie, like a bold new 'do, is both not what you'd expect and exactly what you feared.

Twisty, engaging thriller.

Riveting, especially since these animals' population has horrifyingly dropped from 450,000 to 20,000 in a half-century.

More serious-minded than expected, with a unique and savvy point of view.

Unfortunately, the fantasy-thriller they're in eventually falls apart, becoming a much sillier, less substantial movie than its lead actors deserve.

While not every family film can plant a flag here, the happily offbeat Mars Needs Moms turns out to be a charming, subversive, minor addition to the club.

Despite the ominous feel, this is a mystery about losing or gaining lives and unknown detours.

Often static and follows a familiar trajectory. Yet it has power, partly because Simmons does a fine job of showing how hurt Henry is that his taste didn't imprint on Gabe beyond grade school; what was their music became, simply, dad's music.

Any film as politically specific as Miral needs to be addressed on two levels, as a movie and as, from a certain viewpoint, a polemic. If a viewer can separate one from the other - and some may not - there's an intense, novelistic drama here.

Kline, who has done a lot of chewy character roles after several stage ­triumphs, is as sly and leonine as ever. His performance here obliterates that phony accent he used in "French Kiss."

Director Malcolm Venville, who made the British gangster flick "44 Inch Chest," has a strong handle on the tone, so even the familiar twists feel fresh.

The main reason this gorgeous-looking, sweet-hearted but so-so movie remains grounded is a herky-jerky, cobbled-together story that squawks when it should sing.

A streak of "Cinema Paradiso" runs through this Italian dramedy - and while it lacks that film's overflowing emotion, it's filled with its own artfulness and warmth.

Sometimes a bit of befuddlement is exactly what you need. That's the driving idea behind writer-director Steven Peros' off-kilter, off-the-beaten path comedy, which owes a lot to 1980s indie cinema.

Haroun is achingly conscious of day-to-day decisions that seem small when they're made but can suddenly loom large.

Though Bloom feels like he dropped in from another movie, it all spins on screenwriter Thornton's charismatic performance, which also accounts for the survival instinct inside the film.

Oddly engrossing, off-kilter drama.

Writer-director Michael Goldbach fills the story with too many distractions, but Dennings, known for "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," is feline and fun.

Nonetheless, if you're a Force completist, this is as crucial as a bootleg of 1978's "Star Wars Holiday Special." Which, by the way, was awesome.

Director Justin Chadwick ("The Other Boleyn Girl") shows admirable restraint bringing this true story to the screen, and Litando does much with glimmers of emotion and wells of dignity.