Loren King

Give credit to writer-director James DeMonaco for at least attempting to give his action thriller some heft with a plot that concerns our obsession with violence, ham-fisted as it is. But The Purge: Anarchy is still just an excuse to bombard us with high-powered weaponry, armored vehicles, vigilantes, and masked marauders in creepy Joker-like makeup.

If this blend of community service, innovative teaching, and creative approach to design and construction sounds idealistic, the film’s final scenes deliver enough stress and sweat to show that idealism takes hard work, too.

No doubt a labor of love, the result is just plain laborious for the audience.

Though perhaps more suited to PBS or classrooms than to movie screens, the documentary is engrossing and just may encourage more people to look less to pharmacology for answers and more within.

It’s a surprisingly humorous and humane film — a lyrical little oddity that stands as a welcome return to form.

That the mushroom-dwelling blue creatures still manage to be endearing even in their second big-screen extravaganza (in 3-D, no less) is about the best that can be said of The Smurfs 2.

Winton’s inspiring story deserves greater attention but this film isn’t the best representation of it.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) guarantees that the next time you hear the song at a party, you won’t think of it quite the same way. Of course, that won’t slow anyone rushing to the dance floor.

Melding history, science, and up-to-the-minute urgency, A Fierce Green Fire is a clarion call that’s passionate and provocative.

Knoller manages to make even a withdrawn character compelling, and worth rooting for as Yossi struggles to shed his shell.

You don’t have to be Jewish to love borscht belt humor, or gay to love camp, or French to love farce. But when all three are thrown into a blender with a dollop of generic family dysfunction, as is the case in Let My People Go!, oy vey doesn’t begin to address the result.

It's better to see it on the stage... a moderately enjoyable film that lacks the awe-inspiring visual and aural aplomb of Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's live shows.

Radnor's script is more bittersweet than laugh-out-loud funny.

Will your preschoolers enjoy it? Perhaps. Is it worth 88 minutes of their lives, or yours? Not in a world where "Sesame Street" is on TV every day. Not even in a world where "Sesame Street" didn't exist.

How does a filmmaker tell a Holocaust story that hasn't been told before? The Matchmaker does it by weaving fable with realism, coming-of-age innocence with adult grief, and guilt with romanticism.

Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot have assembled a straightforward documentary that uses Yoni's own words - in the form of his moving, eloquent letters and poems - to create a searing portrait of his short but meaningful life.

The story is unique and engaging enough to transcend the uplifting sports-underdog formula.

In the end, what makes Inside Hana's Suitcase so powerful is the most traditional technique of all: authentic and eloquent storytelling by memorable characters.

Unfortunately, the potential for screwball comedy is wasted because L!fe Happens never finds its thematic tone or comedic rhythm.

Once it finds its footing in old-fashioned journalism, the film packs a wallop.

Miss Bala signals the rise of a director to watch, as Naranjo offers a grim subject with neither flash nor sentiment. It is a sober film done with style.

Larysa Kondracki's impressive debut achieves its aim to shine light on an international human rights issue as well as signaling a new director to watch.

Any originality in this new movie is overwhelmed by its lazy eagerness to embrace the new standard for R-rated comedy.

An innovative hybrid of documentary, staged reading, fictional feature, and confessional, The Arbor defies categorization not merely for art's sake - although its artistry is without question - but because conventional forms seem inadequate for such a harrowing story.

The film delivers a concise history of Western eating habits, with graphs and charts punctuated by entertaining real-life experiences.

As fascinating as the material is, like so much of popular culture it doesn't hold up well out of context.

Neither the comedy nor the romance is strong enough in Immigration Tango to offer any improvement on Peter Weir's similar, and better, 1990 film "Green Card."

Circo offers a fascinating mix of backstage drama and family dynamics.