An alternately harrowing and poetic take on the fatal 1982 hunger strike of Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands, Hunger is also one of the most impressive feature directing debuts in years.

This deadpan ode to living life to its fullest could be the ultimate crowd-pleaser at this year's PIFF.

The movie, like the man, seems more interested in spreading the gospel of environmental responsibility, and in doing so it's probably the most important film of the year.

If Young at Heart were merely a cheeky presentation of codgers belting out inappropriate tunes, it would be a curiosity and nothing more. But by getting inside the lives of a few of its members, the movie ultimately paints a moving portrait of senior citizens who believe it's better to burn out than fade away.

Neither the social commentary nor the story ever overpower the other, a feat that allows this remake to stand proudly alongside the original, its equal in every way.

With a level-gazed approach to its milieu, empathetic but clear-eyed, Winter's Bone practically makes up for 40 years of "Deliverance"-style hillbilly cartoons.

For a film that consists largely of a series of talking-head interviews, The Gatekeepers is a riveting a documentary.

A keenly observed, typically high-quality family drama of the sort only the French seem capable of making anymore.

Takes on the air of a heist film as the preparations proceed, and even knowing the outcome, tension still remains.

Akin is German-born but of Turkish heritage, and his films have often been concerned with the particular clashes and conflicts between those cultures. This film, though, does so in a much more oblique way than 2004's "Head-On."

With this amoral business environment, it's not a question of if there will be another Enron, but when.

An unforgettable experience.

A joy to watch.

A haunting, melancholy fable, Tony Takitani is the kind of film that could seem tedious from a mere description. Approached with the right mind-set, however, it's a hypnotic mood piece on love and loss, one that knows -- at 75 minutes -- not to overstay its welcome.

Powerfully explores the struggles faced by those whom DNA testing has exonerated after years behind bars.

The result is a gripping film which, despite the annoying rugrat, demonstrates how part of leaving childhood behind is learning how and when to lie, and to do it well.

Throughout, Sophie exhibits the quality common to all of history's great martyrs, a preternatural calmness that perseveres despite (or perhaps because of) the inevitability of her doom.

If you're content to let dream logic take over, a lot can be gleaned from this odd, darkly funny meditation on life, death, love and revenge.

The halting dialogue, full of awkward pauses and restarts, seems improvised in the way that only carefully scripted material can.

You might not be able to picture yourself in such a life, but you'll be glad that it persists.

It's a riveting character study/soap opera.

This was a story that made front pages in its day but has been largely lost to history, and now is brought bracingly and compellingly back to life.

Reaches truly terrifying heights as it becomes clear how possible the worst outcome can be. Like "Pan's Labyrinth," this is a movie about children made very much for adults.

As numbing as the drumbeat of downbeat documentaries can be, as hard as it is to even be shocked at the depravities committed in our name, a film like this remains important, both as an indictment of the present day and as a warning to future generations that the ends don't always justify the means.

The result feels less like selling out than growing up.

In the annals of monster movies, one name stands above all the rest, way above: Godzilla.

This story could take place anywhere there are families struggling to remake themselves in the aftermath of tragedy; its universality is perhaps the most potent political message of all.

As far as a coherent, hilarious story line, as well as sheer blasphemous glee, you can't do much better than "Life of Brian."