Almodóvar has never been shy about experimenting with plot structure, but Bad Education is the closest he's ever come to a metamovie, the sort of self-reflective, hall-of-mirrors contraption on which Charlie Kaufman has built his career.

The result is one of the most visually astonishing martial-arts fantasies ever made.

Rising above simple sentiment to explore class differences and the enduring clash between East and West with wit and wisdom.

Penn's performance is easily the best ever seen in an Allen film.

By the end, Turtles Can Fly becomes a lyrical and heartbreaking reminder of the human toll of war.

With a light, sometimes hilarious touch, Look at Me deflates the pretensions and self-obsessed nature of a group of wealthy Parisian literati, but its observations about the effects of fame and success and our natural desire to fan them as high as they can go, apply to anyone within range of reality-TV culture.

Gordon Gekko didn't disappear with the 1980s; he just became a lot more difficult to pick out from a crowd.

Smashing, supremely engrossing picture.

Murderball invokes fascination toward its protagonists, because it views them with the same confidence and acceptance they view themselves.

Saraband portrays a sad vision of aging, yet the film is never depressing. For those inclined to search for psychological twists, the film offers plenty of Freudian situations capable of provoking lengthy discussions.

Herzog himself is one of the great lunatic directors of our century, a mad genius who repeatedly attempts to challenge nature and the gods in his own films.

Hilarious and imaginatively crude with a surprising sweet and subtle aftertaste that prevents it from flopping, limp and brainless, into the sugary abyss of romantic predictability.

Campfire looks a bit drab, perhaps to show the dullness of Zionist life in the 1980s. But this doesn't take away from the poignancy of the film.

It's a punchy, straight-up genre picture, a crime drama that might have once starred Charles Bronson or Steven Seagal.

The movie implies that despite its thunderous success, the book also destroyed Capote, who crossed a line in his quest for personal glory for which he could never forgive himself -- no matter how many accolades it brought him.

The magic of the movies is never more evident than with stop-motion animation, and nobody does it better than Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park.

A wild buckle-up-and-blast-off adventure that plunges every corner of kids' favorite subject.

There's a timelessness to her character that makes her real even today. And in Devos' intense portrayal, she's a woman you admire.

Match Point begins to recall Hitchcock as it unfolds, although it wouldn't be right to call it a thriller. This is still very much a Woody Allen movie, populated by upper-class characters who chatter about literature and fine art, frequent museums and designer boutiques and accidentally run into each other on the street with uncanny regularity.

Doesn't feel so much like a movie as a glimpse into the extraordinarily messed-up life of a young man about to make the simple yet life-changing realization that actions have consequences, and that other people matter, too.

There's nothing about United 93 that qualifies as entertainment in the traditional sense: It is an unpleasant, wrenching experience, which is just as it should be.

Politics in Three Times is as subtle as the stories being told. The film is probably too slow, too silent and too long for most audiences. But look beyond the quietness, and you'll discover a three-gem jewel.

Despite its scary warnings, the film ends on an upbeat note, unless of course you happen to be Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.

A rousing and mesmerizing documentary.

The touch of sharp and edgy storytelling has returned to French master Claude Chabrol.

In House of Sand, shifting sands are not a cliché; they provide the essential emotional and visual elements that make this film memorable.

It takes some exceptionally intelligent and witty people to make a dumb comedy this funny and perceptive: Borat may be offensive (to some), infantile, low-brow or even just a stunt, but you won't hate yourself in the morning for loving it.

Ceylan examines human relationships with an eye for details and a soul for the big picture.