A fantastical romp that proves every bit as transporting as that movie about the blue people of Pandora, his "Alice" is more than just a gorgeous 3D sight to behold.

Anderson has created a world as stylized and inventive as anything he's done... "Fox" is a visual delight.

This is one helluva good movie that craves the eyeballs of as many American high schoolers as it can possibly get.

Bright Star may not be a joy forever but it will do until the next joy comes along.

Woody, Buzz and playmates make a thoroughly engaging, emotionally satisfying return.

A superb murder mystery, with twists coming thick and fast yet always at the right moments.

Topped by a fine cast, a first-rate script by Nick Hornby and tight direction by Lone Scherfig, the film is a smart, moving but not inaccessible entry in the coming-of-age canon.

The intensity of observation reminds one of Bergman's "Scenes From a Marriage," though of course played in a much more benign key. For the patient, the deliberate pacing is perfect, as each additional layer is quietly and subtly put in place.

This is strikingly talented cinema from a notable international filmmaker.

What this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity.

Three superb performances by Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy should have Oscar handicappers drooling.

A gem whose intelligent, gentle, deadpan humor is entirely irresistible.

Hugely entertaining documentary challenges conventional concepts of legitimate art and the creative process.

A riveting Argentine thriller spiked with witty dialogue and poignant love stories.

What "Winged Migration" did for birds, Oceans does for all sorts of strange sea creatures in an ambitious, impressively filmed documentary.

The performances are excellent all around, with Scott mesmerizing as the emotionally volatile Laevsky and the gorgeous Glascott making vividly clear why her character drives all the surrounding men to distraction.

Very funny and a bit sentimental, it's naturalistic comedy of the highest order, with Evets and Henshaw standouts among a terrific cast.

Salt moves ever forward -- pushing, pushing, pushing its heroine to greater feats every minute. It doesn't stop for martinis, either shaken or stirred, or any other detours. The movie is lean and muscular, looking for action even in situations where a little sleight of hand might have done the trick.

In a summer of remakes, reboots and sequels comes Inception, easily the most original movie idea in ages.

What makes "Ecstasy" essential viewing for any pop-music fan and any student of celebrity pathology is the interview itself. Spector, despite his immodest comparisons of himself to Bach, da Vinci and Galileo, is surprisingly entertaining company, not simply the mad recluse with crazy hair that was his shocking image during the trials.

By keeping his (Daly) focus on the two remarkable youngsters without an ounce of sentimentality he succeeds in making something true and satisfying.

"Dream" brings together so much history, sheer adventure and terrifying moments.

Taut, superbly executed and consistently engrossing, The Disappearance of Alice Creed marks an auspicious feature debut for writer-director J Blakeson.

Noir never has been this dark.

A satisfying comic gem.

That rare sequel that took its time -- 23 years -- so it not only advances a story but also has something new to say.

Most impressively, it makes it understandable to those of us who don't know much at all about economics.

It is a tremendous achievement that shines a light on the way many countries use criminals to further their domestic and international goals. Politically informative, it also offers great drama with excitement and suspense, and no little tragedy.

All of the key creative personnel contribute to the movie's nail-biting tension and unexpectedly moving finale. Jon Harris's editing is matchless, and Rahman's score effectively heightens the emotion. Ultimately, however, it is the talents of Boyle and Franco that sock this movie home.

A fiendishly entertaining Christmas yarn rooted in Northern European legend and lore, complete with a not-so-jolly old St. Nick informed more by the Brothers Grimm than Norman Rockwell.

The best blue collar action movie in who knows how long, this tense, narrowly focused thriller about a runaway freight train has a lean and pure simplicity to it that is satisfying in and of itself.

Biutiful has a strong, linear narrative drive. Nevertheless, and most of all, it's a gorgeous, melancholy tone poem about love, fatherhood and guilt.

Chen's direction is his most staid yet, but the riveting story speaks for itself.

Most exceptional is the visual style, which makes even the best animated 3D look like a poor cousin.

The cinematography and editing are as superb as the film's feline stars are photogenic and heroic.

Although the film runs more than two hours, the story is so compelling and the production so beautifully controlled that we are gripped by the characters' quest right up to the shocking end of the story.

To call this movie fascinating is akin to calling the Grand Canyon large.

Darius Khondji's cinematography evokes to the hilt the gorgeously inviting Paris of so many people's imaginations (while conveniently ignoring the rest), and the film has the concision and snappy pace of Allen's best work.

Brandishing an ambition it's likely no film, including this one, could entirely fulfill, The Tree of Life is nonetheless a singular work, an impressionistic metaphysical inquiry into mankind's place in the grand scheme of things that releases waves of insights amid its narrative imprecisions.

It all moves along briskly, with a degree of visual grace and a solid feel for 3D.

All the movie's playfulness rubs off on the actors. Scenes crackle with life. The chemistry among all the actors is terrific.

The best science fiction tells stories about people in extraordinary environments or situations that serve to open up the vast, still largely unexplored terrain of the human heart. Mike Cahill's Another Earth is science fiction at its best.

The movie gathers momentum with a steady, assured pace, accumulating incidents, characters, secrets and lies until the rush of events is absolutely transfixing. Cinema can sometimes rival the novel in compulsive intensity and Sarah's Key is one such example.

A handsome and achingly sad period piece, a finely observed portrait of cast-aside dreams. The drama is quieter and more chaste than the similarly themed "Camille Claudel," but no less haunting.

It's a long movie that feels short: It grabs you in early scenes, intense though low-key before all hell breaks loose, then keeps you riveted to its mostly male characters.

Director David Weissman brings a rewardingly fresh and personal perspective to the subject.

An eloquently shot and closely observed documentary about a poor family in modern-day Indonesia.

A riveting genre blend of thriller, domestic drama and supernatural horror propelled by a brilliant lead performance.

Being Elmo is a rare documentary that will connect across generations and cultures to delight viewers worldwide for years to come.

Leave it to the folks who brought us "Wallace & Gromit," "Chicken Run" and "Flushed Away" to bring a delightful blast of fresh air to the conventional Christmas genre. Aardman's Arthur Christmas is that and more - an endlessly amusing 3D, CG-animated Yuletide romp with lively innovation at every turn and a dream voice cast headed by James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy.

Artist evinces unlimited love for the look and ethos of the 1920s as well for the style of the movies. The filmmakers clearly did their homework and took great pleasure in doing so, an enjoyment that is passed along in ample doses to any viewer game for their nifty little conceit.

As in all the director's work, the cast is given top consideration and their realistic acting results in unusual depth of characterization.

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's final film about the West Memphis Three demonstrates how the first two docs played a role in galvanizing national support to free the wrongly convicted men.

Danfung Dennis presents a powerful depiction of the horrors and daily violence of our ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The actor literally takes the metaphors of his bull-headed character to the limits and is never less than believable or mesmerizing.

Kindness is evident in even the most hurt or exasperated moments of de France's lovely performance as Samantha. But then, kindness couched in unblinking social realism is an intrinsic part of how these supremely gifted filmmakers view the world.

Marley is sure to become the definitive documentary on the much beloved king of reggae.

This deeply humanistic, profoundly touching work representing independent cinema at its finest should be seen by far wider audiences.

The raunchiest, funniest and most enjoyably nonjudgmental American movie about selling sex since "Boogie Nights."

A mesmerizing psychological thriller bulging with twists, turns, nasty insinuations and shocking revelations that might have leapt from the pages of a Patricia Highsmith novel, The Imposter is all the more astonishing because it actually happened.

Argo is a crackerjack political thriller told with intelligence, great period detail and a surprising amount of nutty humor for a serious look at the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81.

Cheerfully yet poignantly exposing the struggles, anxieties, disorders and obsessions of ordinary people, this is a film as odd as it is charming.

The devastating effects of head injuries in sports are detailed in Steve James' wrenching documentary.

Its sharp writing and essential credibility make this small, intimate tale fresh and involving.

Dramatically gripping while still brandishing a droll undercurrent of humor, this beautifully made film will certainly be embraced as one of the best Bonds by loyal fans worldwide and leaves you wanting the next one to turn up sooner than four years from now.

This absorbing drama provides Denzel Washington with one of his meatiest, most complex roles, and he flies with it.

With a mix of retro eye-candy for grown-ups and a thrilling, approachable storyline for the tykes, the film casts a wide and beguiling net.

A mismatched-friends drama whose overall sensitivity is belied by a couple of clumsily contrived plot points, Sean Baker's Starlet pairs story and setting perfectly.

Few will be unmoved by this film's subjects, including the great niece of Herman Goering and the daughter of concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth, as they relate the heavy burdens stemming from their fateful lineage.

Depictions of custody battles have become a cinematic staple, but few register with the heartfelt emotion of Any Day Now.

Nutty, arcane and jaw-dropping in equal measure, this is a head-first plunge down the rabbit hole of Kubrickiana from which, for some, there is evidently no return.

The director mixes moods with a playfulness that is both brazen and carefree and yet precisely modulated, yielding results that amplify the specific content of the screenplay. This makes for a film that, however cheap it was to make, is incredibly rich to watch.

Once the stardust settles and the generations of "Star Trek" fans pass in judgment, this splendid production may emerge as the best movie to date inspired by the multiple-series TV phenomenon created by the late Gene Roddenberry. [15 Nov. 1994]

Gorgeously photographed by co-director Burke in the beautiful environs of East Sussex, England, this modest but subtly powerful piece of minimalist cinema exerts a haunting spell.

A genuinely moving look at life in a group foster home that avoids most of the usual routes into viewers' hearts.

The story in itself is first-rate. However, it’s the very measured handling that makes it distinctive.

Propelled by Mads Mikkelsen’s shattering performance as the blameless man whose life threatens to be destroyed, the film is superbly acted by a cast that never strikes a false note or softens the impact with consolatory sentiment.