With a performance that is wide-ranging by necessity, Kazan makes Ruby immensely likable (as well as clingy, manic, sad, happy and whatever else Calvin wants her to be).

Reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred. And if you want to enjoy Dark Horse, you're just going to have to go with it.

The Queen of Versailles is funny, sad, infuriating, instructive. It's the American Dream inflated to ridiculous extremes, until it bursts.

As creepy as it is fun, and it's plenty of both, ParaNorman will delight fans of old-time horror movies.

It is a tremendous performance by Jones, who co-wrote the script with her own ex-boyfriend Will McCormick, who appears as a drug-dealing friend with surprisingly grounded advice for just about anything.

As Kumaré plays out, both Gandhi and the film become something else, something much more thoughtful and moving. It is, as he puts it, the biggest lie he has ever told and the greatest truth he has ever known.

It's all a seedy, sordid mess, and it only gets worse -- and more and more intriguing. Layton engages in re-enactments of some parts of the story, a tactic that is either helpful or annoying, depending on your appetite for such things.

It is intended for an audience that is willing to take a journey without knowing the destination.

This is a movie that's just out there, beyond our normal experience in a theater. You may walk away impressed or offended by Killer Joe, but Friedkin and McConaughey make sure you won't walk away indifferent.

Malik Bendjelloul really knows how to spin a yarn.

Lawless is one of those movies that feels like it's trying to say something more important than it really is. It could have been better, but with Hardy and Pearce on board, it's plenty good enough.

This is director Jake Schreier's first feature, and, working from a script by Christopher D. Ford, he creates an inviting world.

The perfect movie for fans of "The Daily Show" who actually stick around for the second-half interview. A cinematic memoir based on the one-man show by Mike Birbiglia, it is the aesthetic intersection of Comedy Central and public radio.

It's a style of storytelling that leaves the audience guessing, but it also gives the actors room to breathe, to inhabit their characters without having to explain them away in terms of biography or pop psychology.

Surprisingly entertaining, probably because it uses Wall Street shenanigans and schadenfreude as the backdrop to a crime drama.

The action and the chemistry is stronger than the story, because Gyllenhaal and Peña are good. In that respect End of Watch works better as a series of vignettes held together somewhat loosely by a larger story.

Gordon-Levitt has been so terrific for a while now that he's become a magnetic presence; Willis is also on a nice streak, not as strong here as in "Moonrise Kingdom," but still quite good.

There is an honesty to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a genuineness of experience that makes the movie soar when it just as easily could have stumbled.

It's this simple: If you like movies, you need to see Side by Side.

It's an engaging, accessible documentary that explores the (truly) eternal questions, "Does hell exist? If so, who ends up there, and why?"

It's all brutal good fun, with laughs scattered generously throughout the bloodshed.

For less patient viewers, the film might play out like an endurance test, a two-hour documentary on wind. But as unforgiving as the glacially paced film is, it's nonetheless utterly absorbing - a cool pink tongue flicking against an open wound. [18 Oct 2012]

Now this is a scary movie. And, given that it's a horror film, that means it's a good one. [18 Oct 2012]

Everyone in the film is good. Offerman and Megan Mullally (as the principal at Kate's school) do well in more-dramatic roles than we're used to seeing them in. Mary Kay Place is harrowing without meaning to be as Kate's mother. [25 Oct 2012]

It's a movie that should be seen, a throwback to a looser, freer cinema. Wake in Fright has a tremendous '70s vibe to it, a "they-don't-make-them-like-this-anymore" feel that is as welcome as a cold beer in the Outback. [25 Oct 2012]

[Washington's is] a tremendous performance. It's when he is on-screen (most of the time) that Zemeckis' film really, if you'll excuse the expression, takes flight.

If you're willing to let a movie wash over you and work at what it might mean, you'll love "Holy Motors," Leos Carax's surreal ode to … identity? Movies? Performance?

It's hard to imagine sitting through the film without Penn in the role of Cheyenne. But there he is, in all his intense, bizarre glory, almost daring us to come along for the ride and rewarding us with a compelling trip when we accept.

Set in 18th-century Denmark, it's an intellectual costume drama. It's a romance involving big ideas, the biggest ideas. It's long, it's serious, it's a lot of fun.

The look of the film is jaw-dropping at times, beautiful to behold. If the story... can't quite keep pace with the look of the film (and, alas, it can't) it will take you awhile to notice.

We aren't used to comedies that make us squirm like this. That doesn't mean they aren't worth our time. This Is 40 is.

A satisfying story of yearning and, eventually, satisfaction.

Whatever you like or hate, or like and hate, about Quentin Tarantino's movies, is in full display here. It's long (too long) and bloody, profane and gleeful, with movie-genre references stuffed so tightly into each scene they practically spill out onto the theater floor. Restraint is not his strong suit...Entertainment is, and Django has plenty of that.

Hoffman wisely gives his actors plenty of room to maneuver, and that they do. It's surprisingly fun to watch them play against each other. It's not as if you're going to learn anything new from Quartet. It's too straightforward for that. But that doesn't mean you won't enjoy seeing old pros at work. And you won't be exhausted by the end of it.

Sound City is a music geek's dream, a rollicking look at a dumpy California studio where a lot of musicians found magic. It's also a bit of a mess, like all good rock and roll ought to be.

There isn't a cynical bone in this film's achingly sincere body. And it's not really a horror movie, unless the "horror" in question is the all-consuming awkwardness of young love.

Beautiful Creatures rises above the rabble thanks to an eminently watchable cast and a sharp screenplay by writer-director Richard LaGravenese.

One reason it works so well: The film always looks believable, and it’s easy to get wrapped into Singer’s fairy-tale world.

Herzog’s longing for the ideological purity in which these lives are lived, free of paperwork and bureaucracy, taxes and technology, drives the film, which lacks an overall story arc. And that longing makes the title’s veracity a little suspect.

Like Someone in Love is not a complicated story, but in Kiarostami’s telling, it is a rich one, and a rewarding one, too.

Brutal, sadistic yet well-made statement about how violence is portrayed in media and our reaction to it.

Fanning is nearly perfect as Ginger navigates choppier waters than most teens have to. There is not a false note in her performance; no matter how melodramatic things become, everything about Ginger remains genuine.

It’s nearly impossible to sit through The Sapphires without a smile on your face. It’s a little shallow, sure, but, as with the girls’ troubles, when they open their mouths to sing everything feels like it’s going to be all right.

One would expect a film about French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir to look beautiful, to be shot in warm, sumptuous colors. And one would not be disappointed in Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir.

The story is intriguing enough to make Mud a good movie. Led by Sheridan and McConaughey, the performances make it something more.

By the end of the ride, we’ll see glimpse of happiness, sadness, joy, heartbreak, maybe even tragedy, if cell phone-shot recollections are to be believed. All bases are covered, in other words, in one late-afternoon ride, a ride Gondry and his cast will make you want to take.

The film is anchored by a searing, incredibly intense performance by Michael Shannon, whose remorselessness as a hit man is as relentless as Shannon’s portrayal of him.

Even if its stunted ambitions come as a disappointment, Pieta nevertheless is an expertly crafted thriller and a fine addition to East Asian revenge cinema.

Where Assayas’ film really shines is in capturing that feeling, when adolescence is stumbling awkwardly toward adulthood, that the most important thing in the history of the world is the thing that is occupying your thoughts and emotions at this particular moment.

Daybreakers isn't a great film, but it's a good one, and in a market oddly lousy with vampire tales, it's an original.

Its over-the-top violence is cartoonish at times, menacing at others - which is a good thing. And truly, if one must wander a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape with somebody, who better to wander with than Denzel Washington?

Writer and director Ti West accesses all the hot buttons for fans of the genre in a manner that doesn't make fun of it (and its followers) in a "Scary Movie" way, but instead treats it with the appropriate amount of respect. (Key word: appropriate.)

Both the film and television project were directed by Martin Campbell. He creates a nice level of tension throughout, and there are a couple of legitimate shocks (including one jaw-dropper).

To pretend that the film doesn't make a political statement is silly. Of course it does. It wouldn't be effective at all if it didn't.

It does give Cera a chance to play at being a bad boy. But it's just that - playing at it.

Percy Jackson isn't a great movie, but it's a good one, trotting out kernels of Greek mythology like so many Disney Channel references. For the most part, it works.

A lot of fun for horror fans, a nice little jaunt through paranoia and conspiracy theories.

As formula films go, The Bounty Hunter is more enjoyable than most, even if it packs in as many cliches as any.

There's plenty of gross-out humor and lots of sex jokes, some of them absurd, some really funny. But what elevates She's Out of My League - it doesn't turn a 5 into a 10, but it helps - is heart, of which its characters have a surprising plenty.

There's no hard-and-fast rule that says you have to like the main character in a movie. It's more a custom, really - a custom that Ben Stiller stretches nearly to the breaking point in Greenberg.

The Runaways broke new ground. And if "The Runaways" doesn't, it's still a movie worth watching - and listening to.

It is a question that has vexed lovers of fine cinema for years: What if you made a teen sex comedy with grown-ups? And now, thanks to Hot Tub Time Machine, we have our answer: It would be pretty cool.

Baruchel is outstanding, giving Hiccup just the right amount of confidence buried several layers beneath the shame he feels in not continuing the family business. Butler's a head-banger from way back, so he's convincing. And Ferrera gets the grrl-power vibe just right.

Barber uses various stylistic devices - hand-held cameras, cellphone cameras, etc. - that make a somewhat slow story seem to move at a brisker pace.

Bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor, Iron Man 2 is still a lot of fun.

Scott's epic - and it's hard to think of anything this big, this elaborate and, no doubt, this expensive as anything but - is very much an origination story, a prequel, if you will.

Eventually, all of the stories will come together in a somewhat contrived way. The film's parts are greater than the whole. But the parts are worth the effort.

If you are a stickler for movies that follow the laws of, say, physics, nature and common sense, The A-Team might not be for you. If, on the other hand, you get a kick out of exchanges like this - "Are they trying to shoot down that other drone?" "No. They're trying to fly that tank" - then you're in for a treat.

How you feel about Knight and Day will depend largely on your feelings about Cruise. If you can't divorce his performance from his off-screen antics, well, that's a problem, here and elsewhere. If you're willing to watch what's on-screen and leave it at that, there's fun to be had.

Settles for simply being goofy good fun.

A surprising, laugh-out-loud take on the old buddy-cop genre. It's sneaky and smartly funny, offering an almost perfect balance of action and comedy. That's the good news. Then there's the matter of the movie's disheartening final 25 minutes.

The results of her work are predictable yet pleasantly played out.

The Last Exorcism is a good movie that could have been - SHOULD have been - a great one.

The American is a very . . . patient movie, the inverse of an action thriller to an almost comic degree. With Clooney it's an interesting project. Without him, it would simply be boring.

Machete is insanely violent, insanely over-the-top. It's pretty much flat-out insane.

It's effective, entertaining in a remarkably uncomfortable way but entertaining all the same.

A technically fascinating film that's best when it's angry, less good when romance rears its head.

It's a tired genre, one that would be greatly improved if, ironically, far younger actors showed the energy and command these two old hands do.

Secretariat was such a commanding presence, the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, a Time magazine coverboy, the focus of the public's imagination during his pursuit, that any excuse to relive that excitement is worthwhile, and Secretariat gives us one.

Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and, especially, Zach Galifianakis, give affecting performances, but they are ultimately let down by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's screenplay.

Swank and Rockwell, both typically great in almost everything they do, act as if their lives depended on it - their lives, not their characters'.

It's not a bad movie, but it is very much a transitional one.

If you're a fan of provocative, offbeat films such as "My Own Private Idaho" or "The Crying Game," you might want to give "Phillip Morris" a chance.

Four Lions is a comedy about terrorism. No, not a thoughtful, intellectual take on the absurdities of suicide bombing. It's slapstick. Actually, it's the Three Stooges of Jihad.

A flawed script prevents Welcome to the Rileys from being the effective meditation on grief and healing it wants to be.

The action is entertaining enough, and it's kind of fun to follow the intricate plotting and planning of the jobs.

The voices are outstanding; the story demands British accents, and with such people as Caine and Smith providing them, so much the better.

What he (Fukunaga) doesn't deliver, however, is a fresh take on an often-told love story.

Strongman is a documentary Diane Arbus might have made: These are the wretched of the Earth, and our peeking into their lives feels intrusive.

No blood, no gore, no hacked-off arms and legs, but plenty of creepy set pieces, quick cuts and blasts of music that will have you both squirming in your seat and jumping out of it. Until the bone-headed part kicks in.

Overall, Kill the Irishman is an entertaining look at a brutal time in an ugly place.

It's oddly emotionally detached, easier to admire than to become involved in.

Can we ever get innocence back once it's lost? The ending suggests that we can. But at enormous cost.

A funny, if slight, documentary.

Maybe Rubber is an homage, maybe it's a statement on horror films and their audiences, maybe it's a total goof.

Depending on your own relationship with food, the pro-vegetarian documentary Forks Over Knives may be an inspiring call to action, a tedious bit of propaganda or a 90-minute guilt trip.

Gibson's performance, at times subtle, at times showy and never less than remarkable, is what makes The Beaver worth seeing.

X-Men: First Class isn't anywhere close to being a genre classic like "Spider-Man 2" or "The Dark Knight," but it is good enough to rejuvenate a franchise stuck on idle.

An unapologetic love letter to the popular board game. It's also almost - but not quite - something more.

What Sheen and Bello provide, however, is searing acting. Their performances - genuine, awkward, difficult - are not always easy to watch but never are less than tremendous.

A beautifully made, glorious mess.

If there is a common thread, it's that for all these people life is not a passive activity. They live their lives, largely in the ways they've wanted to, and don't just wait around to see what's next.

Queen to Play falls somewhat into the "Pygmalion" template, but watching Bonnaire's Helene find herself makes it worthy in its own right.

Let's not pretend otherwise: The comedy here is profane, juvenile, silly. Fine by me, because some of it also is hilarious.

Exactly what it sounds like: a cowboy movie and an alien movie thrown together, a genre mash-up that's more fun than good, but pretty good nonetheless.

Stone is becoming a dependable go-to choice for comedies, brimming with charisma.

Once you see that ape, named Caesar, riding a galloping horse in triumph, it's awfully hard not to get sucked in. It's not dumb fun, exactly. It's smart dumb fun.

One of the things that pushes Jig beyond what it might have been otherwise is that not everything works out as you might have liked.

The acting is uniformly excellent, and the cause - dragging the beginnings of civil rights into Jackson, Miss., at great risk - couldn't be nobler. What the film lacks is a strong point of view.

It's a somewhat goofy movie that also manages some real scares. Best of all, it makes excellent use of an element of vampire stories effective since Count Dracula confronted Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's novel: I know that you know, and I also know there is nothing you can do about it.

As cinema, Crime After Crime is nothing special. It would be perfect for a PBS "Frontline" entry. But it reminds us, once again, that little can be quite so riveting as a well-told story from a compelling talking head.

It's always entertaining, and it boasts a terrific performance from Sara Forestier.

It's a sometimes-hilarious send-up of slasher movies that buries a surprising amount of sweetness under buckets of gore.

The Big Year is better when it is examining the obsession of the birders, and Martin, Black and Wilson are enjoyable in toned-down mode.

More of the same, using the found-footage tricks the first two films employed to try to shock the audience. But man, are those some good tricks.

A surprisingly delightful adventure romp.

You also get drinking. Lots and lots of drinking. By the time the movie is half over, you'll feel hungover.

You can't help leaving the film with the following thought: Man, it's good to see Murphy being funny again.

It is flawed but ultimately captivating.

Intense people behave in intense fashion, and that's that. No guns, no bombs, no noises louder than an argument or a father who likes to drink.

For the most part the film is an interesting, and occasionally fascinating, look at getting older and taking on responsibility.

Yes, it's that sappy, in between the F-bomb barrage. But Hill brings an infectious confidence to his performance, even when he's supposedly down and out.

There is nothing erotic about it, nothing sexy, nothing but a brutish satisfying of carnal desires. Without an astounding performance from Michael Fassbender, it would be almost too painful to watch (and at times, too boring). With him, it's not exactly easy.

Busy, busy. That's The Adventures of Tintin boiled down to its essence.

Where In the Land of Blood and Honey falls short, then, is in the story itself. Too many coincidences and, ultimately, too narrow a focus. But it is a genuinely noble effort, a worthy attempt to make some sense of the inexplicable.

The performances, by Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté, are outstanding.

In truth, the story isn't much. Just betrayal and revenge, basically. But a couple of things make Haywire a lot of fun to watch. One is the cast.

Luckily, Horn is so good -- as is Max von Sydow, in a wordless role -- that the film resonates in spite of the tear-jerking strings Daldry pulls.

Perhaps the movie's most surprising feat? Somehow, the darned thing mostly works, probably because its heart is in the right place.

Don't be mistaken -- this isn't an artsy thriller. It is still, at heart, men vs. wolves, and the wolves definitely have the home-court advantage.

It works, both as a character study and a BOO! made-you-jump exercise in horror.

Chronicle plays like an extended episode of "The X-Files" might; DeHaan in particular comes off like one of the series' more-memorable characters. That's a compliment. It isn't a great movie, but one could imagine -- and hope -- that it becomes a cult favorite, outlasting other films of its ilk.

It's an entertaining film and a deceptively gritty thriller, and Kinnear conveys Mickey's mounting desperation in winning fashion.

Beyond the shooting and running around, the film works because Beattie never loses the perspective of Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey), through whose eyes the story is told.

It's an interesting premise, if a bit far-fetched for anyone who has spent long nights washing sheets and pillowcases that kids have thrown up on.

Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller get nearly everything -- the tone, the self-referential nods to the shoe and the dead-solid-perfect surprises -- just right.

The story is gripping, compelling. One wonders what De Niro might have done with such a role 30, 35 years ago. De Niro -- whatever happened to him?

Lawrence is a tremendous talent, and she is what makes The Hunger Games ultimately worth spending time with. She doesn't elevate the film to the heights to which one might have wanted, but she takes it a lot higher than it would have otherwise risen.

Far-fetched? Yes. A little sugary? Also yes, especially if Thomas were removed from the equation. Happily, she is not, and that, combined with the performances of McGregor, Blunt and Waked, makes Salmon Fishing in the Yemen a charming little movie.

An improvement. Not a gigantic leap forward for cinema but, armed with a new director, a new story and the return of a trying-harder Worthington and good ol' Liam Neeson as a put-upon Zeus, a marked upgrade in quality.

If you like martial-arts films, it's well worth your while, a non-stop orgy of brilliantly choreographed fight scenes. Eventually it's all too much, a blur of fists, blades and snapped bones that run together. Still, it's a wild ride.

It's true that the language in the film can be harsh -- but it's also very obvious that kids are hearing this kind of language in schools every day, much of it directed at them.

Fothergill and Linfield capture plenty of humor and drama.

Statham probably isn't going to be doing Shakespeare anytime soon. But everybody ought to be good at something, and when it comes to this kind of thing, Statham is very good, indeed.

So no points for originality. Madden tries to make up for this with sheer British acting personality and nearly succeeds.

It's a little too obvious -- interesting, sometimes kind of fun but, ultimately, not as satisfying as it might have been.

Yam Laranas doesn't leave it at that. In his low-budget, creepy thriller, he spells out why and how this particular path is so deadly, as well as what led to the crimes and supernatural horror that seem to frequent the place.

Never quite delivers on its promise -- a dark retelling of the fairy tale in which women hold the true power, good and evil -- but it certainly is an attractive misfire.

There are plenty of reasons not to like The Intouchables, but Omar Sy's terrific performance blows right past them.

You won't find a lot of jaw-dropping elements in Brave. But what you will find is really well-done.

Skeptical at first, perhaps a little embarrassed, but before you know it, you're having a blast.

Watching Garfield swinging through New York or toying with criminals after he captures them is reason enough to welcome another telling of the tale.

It presents Perry as a likable, hard-working artist, someone you root for, even if she's not on your iPod.

As cultural criticism, this commentary on life in the age of TMZ and the "Real Housewives" is hardly insightful, but it is executed to dizzying, Fellini-esque perfection, a miniature masterpiece amidst more modest amusements.

Unlike, say, Val Kilmer's Jim Morrison in "The Doors," Thomas makes no attempt to create a convincing facsimile of Hank Williams, which is just as well, since he bears little resemblance to the sinewy singer.

Marvel at the audacity of Nørgaard and his cast, of how far they are willing to go for a laugh. It's a bumpy ride, but for those with the stomach for it, it's an entertaining one.

A charming film. Not a great one, but a good one.

Sparkle is pure melodrama, but it's a high-powered, well-acted, entertaining melodrama. You may not always believe it, but you won't be bored.

Just slam the pedal to the floor, blast on past the weaknesses in the plot, and enjoy the ride.

Cosmopolis is frustrating, funny, thought-provoking, weird, maddening, worthwhile. It isn't a great movie. Sometimes it's not a good one. Sometimes it is. Ultimately, it is one worth working through, a valuable exercise if you're willing to make the effort.

It's a somewhat formulaic romp, but it's an utterly winning one.

This breathless science-fiction thriller isn't just gory. It practically revels in graphic violence, with several scenes shot in excruciating slow motion.

A surprisingly enjoyable movie.

Granted, the film lacks the kicky element of surprise that made the first movie so enjoyable, but it's hard to gripe too much. Taken 2 aims to be a fast-paced, workmanlike sequel that shows off its charismatic leading man, and that's exactly what it does.

Surprisingly, character actor Sam Anderson winds up stealing a lot of the film as Bruce and Frank's dad. He can take a line as innocuous as "We don't have cars right now. Bruce stole them for drugs" and turn it into something hilarious.

The bigger issue is that the film is more a slice of life than a real journey. It's an intriguing slice, but the real depth is in the performances, not the story. [18 Oct 2012]

It's a small movie but an effective one, using found footage as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. More like it would be a welcome trend.

There is a sad sweetness to the whole affair, for lack of a better term. Or maybe it's a sweet sadness. But O'Brien's outlook on life (he thinks his use-by date may be approaching), and Hawkes' portrayal of it, elevates the film beyond what's on the page, making what's on the screen a lot more satisfying.

Despite its emotional coldness, the film still manages to end on a note of something like hope.

It's not that the artificiality doesn't work sometimes. It does, as some of the scenes are gorgeous to look at. But too often it serves as more of a distraction than an effective tool for telling the story.

Hitchcock is, well, fun. More fun than good, really. It feels weird to call it a disappointment, because it is entertaining. But you can't help feeling a little shortchanged on the deep-thinking front.

One of those movies that's good, but leaves you with the nagging feeling that it could have been better.

Solid, enjoyable, good, but not great.

Barsky’s film is light on biographical detail before Koch’s first term began, in 1978. That’s probably fitting. Koch obviously lived for the job.

As an analysis of the causes of migration, it is one-dimensional and unconvincing. But as a social history of Latinos in America, it is provocative and fascinating. And as an indictment of decades of economic injustice and covert military action committed in the name of freedom, it is devastating.

Dominik Moll downplays the overtly scandalous nature of the story, at least for a while, with a leisurely pace heavy on imagery. He’s made a beautiful-looking film that portends disaster. And disaster arrives, eventually. It just takes its time getting there.

There is something immensely rewarding about being in the hands of a director whose confidence is such that he can lead us to uncomfortable places and we’ll go eagerly along for the ride, just to see where it leads.

What stays with you is Franco, one of the more enigmatic actors around, going way over the top yet grounding his performance in … something. Whatever it is, it’s more interesting than all the wet T-shirt contests in the world, and it makes Spring Breakers worth watching.

The risk of telling three distinct-but-related stories is that all may not be of equal quality. That’s the case here, as the movie starts strong but gets progressively weaker, particularly in the third act.

Helgeland has given us an impressive introduction to one of the most important men in U.S. history. But you can’t help wanting more.

Yes, in the end, Trance is pretty manipulative. But again, with Boyle behind the camera, it’s a more satisfying experience than it might have been. If we’re going to be manipulated, it might as well be by a master.

The story probably doesn’t stand up to heavy scrutiny, and at times the effort by star and director shows. But at least the effort is there.

As cautionary tales go, Disconnect is a pretty good one, but it’s not really a whole lot more than that.

Downey is as funny as ever, if not more so. He ensures that Iron Man 3 is a solid installment in the franchise, and helps to make it seem, at least for a time, that it might be something more.

Simon Killer is a beautifully made look at ugliness and brutality, the kind of oxymoronic exercise that fascinates some and repels others.

When you watch the movie, you’ll know more about these characters than they know about each other. But Moshe, who also wrote the script, brings the truth to light in dramatically satisfying ways.

The film wraps up too neatly to be believed, not leaving questions unanswered so much as failing to ask them.

Does the movie have anything new to say, anything different from John G. Avildsen's 1984 original, with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita? Not particularly.

Slow-moving and occasionally ponderous in tone, "Creation" nonetheless is an intriguing portrait of a man and a time that changed everything.

The overall feel is one of a generic, feel-good drama, albeit one with Harrison Ford stomping around most of the time as if someone kicked him in the shins. One suspects that this is a story that deserved better.

A movie that makes little sense, is dumb when it's not being stupid and yet is still at times laugh-out-loud funny.

It's an uneven proposition, veering wildly from genuinely funny scenes directly into ridiculousness and back again. But every time Shawn Levy's movie makes that journey, it's harder to get back on solid footing.

Neeson's performance is so eerie, in a buttoned-down sort of way.

It offers Bratt maybe his best role ever as Che, a tough-guy neighborhood personality struggling to come to grips with his son's homosexuality.

His (Borte) film would have been much better had it stuck to its guns as social commentary and not lapsed into a predictable, and predictably lame, love story.

Put this title on your Netflix queue in the first place. Just give your own Mr. Right a break and don't waste your date-night dollars on the big screen.

An enjoyable movie, in many ways a beautiful movie to look at. One only wishes he'd been a little more ambitious.

Jeunet's new film, Micmacs, mixes the dark, claustrophobic world of "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children," with the happy-ending optimism of "Amélie" and "A Very Long Engagement." It isn't a convincing graft of moods.

Forget Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. I'm backing Team David, as in David Slade, the director who has finally managed to breathe some life into the "Twilight" series, heretofore a deadly dull undead undertaking.

A clever, funny movie that will entertain kids and adults.

Wild Grass retains a literary feel with the help of an unseen narrator, who offers intriguing poetic observations. And Resnais' visuals are equally lyrical. What can you say: The French sure know how to make pretty pictures.

Despite the lethal force that inevitably gets applied to poor Lisbeth, we never really fear for her safety, but we do fear for her future happiness. That is where the real drama lies.

It's hard to know whether to take it to task as a film critic or as a dance critic. It isn't that it fails on either level - it's a serviceable movie - but it neither attempts nor achieves much of value.

There are no surprises here, just a by-the-numbers comedy that's better, and funnier, than it has a right to be, thanks to the efforts of the actors in it.

Sarah Burns steals scenes as a seemingly prim social worker, and Melissa McCarthy (Sookie on "The Gilmore Girls") does the same as a pushy neighbor. The supporting cast serves up enough small moments of surprise to keep this formula flick from falling flat.

Although there are moments of humor in the film, many of them supplied by the delightful Jones, there are also long stretches of, um . . . "blah" might be the best word for it.

Doesn't attempt much, doesn't accomplish much, doesn't offer much and doesn't leave you with anything memorable to take home with you.

The best thing about the film is neither the top-notch CGI nor the shallow moral lessons but the performance of Will Poulter ("Son of Rambow") as Lucy and Edmund's insufferable cousin Eustace Scrubb.