A strong thematic undercurrent pits bourgeois social conventions against authentic self-definition and ultimate freedom to live without shame or undue social limitations.

When Lee cooks up a stew this heady, one best recognize...the right film at the right time, Lee’s most creatively fertile and socially immediate narrative feature in years.

A Hou film and, therefore an aesthete's delight...The Assassin breathes more than it talks, patiently taking in its landscapes and its silk-curtained interiors.

All the blithe sexism and tin-eared comedy of a Michael Bay movie and none of the budget excess...gives new meaning to 'lazy.'

Yet another midlife-crisis white guy on the big screen...but it’s undeniably an artful rendering of the post-millennial man adrift, in search of any port than the one he’s made for himself.

A certain breed of film geeks will snap fingers in approval, but most viewers—having been pummeled into acknowledging the film's muscular 'greatness'—will feel little more than dazed, and ready more for a nap than a conversation.

[Nemes:] It had to be a very organic process. We wanted to rely on the imagination of the viewer.

Though everything around this resilient central figure is wan sitcom, 'Joy the Doer' provides a rooting interest potent enough to justify the film.

Elucidate[s] the fiscal rigamarole leading up to the bursting of the housing and credit bubble circa 2008, while also whipping up a palatable froth of cynicism and absurdity.

[SPOILER-FREE] Can be dimwittedly obvious and self-plagiarizing, with little of real-world consequence and less that’s new to say [but it's still] a fun-filled adventure at the movies...

For a long two hours, Sorrentino flatters old white men, devalues women, and annoys with his lush coffee-table-book photography as he plays his own 'Simple Songs' of frustrated old age and tantalizing youth...

Helgeland revels in the violence and depravity, setting a dubious tone that, in that final act, has as much of a struggle as Reggie in going straight.

Depict[s] a writer’s process of scavenging and soul-stealing...[as well as] being “in the oil business” to the exclusion of morality and ethics, and with implications for the ecosystem.

Plays not as straight hagiography but rather as a portrait of a flawed hero...Cranston gives a floridly theatrical leading performance in keeping with Trumbo’s wit...

Questionable as a film (sparring with formula), good as a movie, and brilliant as a franchise-extender. It’s shameless, near-surgically effective cross-generational corn for guys.

Even if you don’t like the film—though it’s a fair bet you will—it will prime you for a spirited discussion about the choices of its hero...who strives to sort out her best judgement from her impulses, her hope from her naivete...

One of the most creditable true-crime films ever made.

We did tons of research, interviewed the daughters, and even got to talk to Kirk Douglas before we started shooting...we tried really hard to be completely authentic...

There’s too much stilted acting here and too little psychological insight to render an interesting, or even credibly true, story of humanity in crisis.

Smart and stinging, Spotlight excels not only in depicting the stonewalling around the scandal but also the double-talk conversations from within and without the Globe that don’t say—but don’t not say—'Don’t go there

The Craig Bonds...continue...questioning the dark and destructive psychology of this masculine icon, this preternaturally skilled but insanely reckless secret agent—his greatest secrets being his own hurt and loss and loneliness.

McKellen dazzles...Mr. Holmes spins a tale about the falsely drawn lines between stories and our perceptions of real life, between celebrity image and genuine persona, and between upper and lower classes.

Like a cross between Wreck-It Ralph and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Inside Out dazzles while taking care to send positive messages about the roles of feelings and the value of recognizing and embracing them...

Its prismatic philosophical and cultural observation...offers plenty of angles on the true value of the subjective fictions and supposedly objective non-fictions some create and others consume.

Revives history we could all stand to know better, and proves most useful in clarifying both what was at stake and the rules of the game...

“The play”—since commemorated in merch aplenty, a Super Bowl ad, countless sports-TV retrospectives, and its own Wikipedia page—still makes great drama.

Depicts the teenage slacker ethic of avoiding responsibility whenever possible and clinging to youthful good times while they last. The show did the same, taking eight years (and 200 episodes) to depict [three].

Begin by imagining that a single story is being told in multiple ways throughout the film: a story of naive hopes, heartbreak, jealousy...Erotic, fear-ridden, and beautiful, Lynch's primal imagery has the abhorrent and alluring pull of death itself.

The well-nigh-irresistible 1964 film version of My Fair Lady...comedically softens Shaw's ending but nevertheless nearly single-handedly transcends the material's sexist leaning through the sheer humanism of Hepburn's deeply felt performance.

Resembles its own remarks about predictable patterns in the circuitry of arcade games: here is a series of crass caricatures, obvious setups and payoffs (not to mention a woman problem...), further suffocated by overweening commercialism...

The film's conspicuously irreverent style suggests that, blithe offenses aside, writer-directors Ron Clements and John Musker...have their heart in the right place: firmly situated in the anarchic comic tradition of Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes.

[Morgan:] Part of our desire was to give voice to the voiceless...these extraordinary working-class women.

[Fukunaga:] I'm not sure where I'm headed...I still look at all these movies as an experience to learn from.  

No movie can fully suppress the talents of Moore, Page, and Shannon, but in Ron Nyswaner’s script, every theme gets put in a character’s mouth, and every plot point gets telegraphed, mailed, emailed, and texted ahead of its arrival.

Everybody understands when we make a conventional technique—it's very direct. But I feel that's reducing the human power of observation...

It's a tricky thing...you're going to get different accounts of different instances from different people.

Perhaps the purest ode to science mainstream cinema has ever produced, a love letter to NASA and STEM education.

Effectively has it both ways, with its dark neuroses and naughty humor giving way to a sweet consideration of the rarity of unconditional love.

[De Sica was] Like a general...he said to me, 'I want to see in your eyes all the psychological passages of your emotion.'

A lavish, classy affair...But while long on beauty, Branagh's film falls short on whimsy...[and] the film's most affecting emotional moments...stand apart from the story's central conflict.

Maguire isn’t obvious casting, but he convincingly owns the role...The actor pairs an oft-fevered, disheveled aspect with the fierce impatience and unwillingness to suffer fools that attend genius.

A popular entertainment with two movie stars in likeable mode, a sunny Hollywood sheen, and a novel premise. And yet there’s something vaguely unsettling about how Myers’ mildly amusing comedy gets tangled up in political (in)correctness.

Moonrise Kingdom’s heartfelt search and rescue of a feel-good result provides a perfect, even musical counterpoint to its regimented summer camp.

Stars Depp in a performance generating awards talk, makes a complicated story coherent without dumbing it down (much), lets a bunch of strong actors do their things, and yet inspires little more than adjectives like 'efficient' and 'workmanlike.'

Honorable...deeply moving...takes a considered approach to Wilson, sound in dramatic and editorial construction and insightful in its psychological subtexts.

Though it’s hit and miss for audiences trying to forget Gere’s screen history, Moverman ably serves a slice of homeless life, dramatizing a problem we’ve contended with further back than we can remember.

For those who don’t yet know of Jobs’ dark side, Gibney’s documentary will be a useful eye-opener, but those looking to understand what made Jobs great in almost equal proportion to his nastiness will remain in the dark.

Cotillard's heartbreakingly raw work carries the day, as she fleshes out both Sandra's suffering and emotional endurance on a journey of discovery that the latter, not the former, defines her.

At times suffers from dull, dunderheaded, or dead-end plotlines [but]...There's enough here to keep hope alive that Gotham could grow into more of a weekly treat than a fanboy obligation.