The well-honed dramedic performances by endearingly mock-cranky Hanks and quirky, cryin' Ryan add just enough weight to what might otherwise float away...

I'm not sure there's anyone alive that believes the 1951 film lives up to Lewis Carroll's deathless 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but the animated feature remains a perfectly decent slice of kid-friendly surrealism...

Tati’s masterful mime easily inspires an animated treatment, recapturing his graceful comic body language and 'no subtitles required' international appeal.

Say this for Never Let Me Go, the new film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's celebrated novel: you haven't seen anything like it at the movies this year.

Conviction may not much tease the intellect, but one would have to be a rock to be unmoved by the true story’s dramatic arc, well played by Swank and Rockwell.

In achieving a credible realism, Leigh and his actors refreshingly avoid the tidy and obvious.

Hughes shows chops in setting a mood and carrying out the grisly business of shotgun showdowns and torturous mano a mano sessions...

(To the tune of “Mister Ed”:)
We’ve had us a film about a horse.
Seabiscuit got Oscar nods, of course.
So another race horse on us they’ll force: Secretariat!

Stars four Oscar-winning actors. It’s not every day that you’re able to use 'Helen Mirren' and 'heavy artillery' in the same sentence, but Red gives you the opportunity.

Since Barney’s Version is nothing if not a character study, Giamatti is the surly, sarcastic selling point.

Hoffman’s actorly sensibility allows the film’s best moments, expressed in gestures and non-verbal signifiers...

By looking at the small-screen picture...[Brooks] provocatively suggests that America's socio-political problems are pretty much the same as the personal problems of its citizens.

Justified shares Leonard's love of character, dialogue, and situation drama, and nicely evokes its master's voice.

Blood, sweat and oil...the only thing worse than the dark, hellish, odorous claustrophobia of the tank's innards is the tunnel vision afforded by the gun-sight...

Spews noxious gas and obnoxious patter.

Melville outlines the valorous and dirty deeds of heroes in taut action sequences that reach unusually existential heights.

Though the carpe diem theme comes as something of a surprise, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps makes its political points, with 'moral hazard'—the dark side of second chances—the film’s punny refrain.

Biutiful doesn’t seem to have much to say about all this sadness, except that death, like love, makes us want to be better people.

Has it really been over twenty years since Spaceballs? And yet the Star Wars parody business is still booming.

The girl with the strength of a man, and the man with a sensitive heart (albeit under layers of crust). The calculated softening of Wayne's macho persona at long last won him the Oscar.

Chan...can make something out of nothing, while Ratner's chief skills seem to be talking himself into the director's chair and hiring the right people.

Makes a choice to eschew fun in favor of pitch-black tonality...but kudos to Harcourt and Martin for their ambition in adding new dimension to an old story.

Incredibly stupid in just about every way. And yet, it had what may have been my favorite scene at the movies this year...

It's about what makes these particular personalities tick, what draws them to the madness of theater, and the eternal conflict of art and commerce.

Despite being a moving reminder to support our troops, Restrepo cannot help but be "Exhibit A" in the case against the unwinnable "War on Terror."

Frantic without bringing the fun.

The film’s impeccable emotional truth and delicate touches of black humor owe in equal part to screenwriter, director and stars.

Somewhere feels like it’s made by the grandchild of Antonioni (and, in an artistic sense, perhaps it is). It’ll drive at least half the audience crazy, while the rest will walk out with a light buzz.

Big in scope, but not necessarily in a good way.

Momentarily exciting but utter nonsense, a Burmese Tiger Pit built over a gaping plot hole.

As a pure popcorn, dreams-writ-large, kiss-kiss-bang-bang, globetrotting romp, Knight and Day delivers.

Now that the Shrek franchise has come to a close, it's time for the definitive collection on home video.

It’s funny because it’s true. That’s the idea behind the mad-love story I Love You Phillip Morris, which gets its kicks by being much stranger than fiction.

The creator of Amélie returns to the black comedy of Delicatessen with Micmacs, a goofy satire on the wages of the war machine.

The simplest way to sum up the greatness of Inception is to identify it as a new classic of science-fiction cinema (and, for that matter, the heist genre).

Picturesque photography, amped-up action, borrowed poetry, and age-old romance have The Twilight Saga on its surest footing yet—that is, until the youngsters grow up and realize True Blood tells the same story so much better.

Though Fantasia didn’t perform as well as Walt Disney had hoped, it remains a testament to his exceptional cinematic genius.

The raison d’être of Going the Distance is exploring long-distance relationships. What a shame, then, that it has nothing much to say on the subject that isn’t completely obvious.

The performances by Gable and Tone hold up as fine star and character turns, respectively, but it's Laughton's Bligh that proves unforgettable.

Gathers a starry group to bow down to the beloved musical-theatre auteur.

Vienna. The 1920s. Albert Einstein sings...a world of proto-Nazi space-ranger rats led by a nasty, singing Andy Warhol rodent. But I don’t have to tell you the beloved story of The Nutcracker...

This PG-rated Jerry Bruckheimer production is slick as an oiled weasel: larded with fancy special effects, canned romance, corny humor and a general lack of sophistication.

Seven important American films from the fabled period when unconventional, independent-minded filmmaking was regarded not only as art but as a marketable asset.

Call me a Scrooge, but I'll pass on this synthetic version of that most humanistic of tales.

Audiences may roll an eye here or there, but they're unlikely to lose interest in John's efforts.

Respectable but rather soggy.

With its one-track premise, Unstoppable derails thrills.

What is 'the Twilight Zone'? ...The edge of reason: the border of belief and disbelief, sanity and insanity, past and present, dream and reality...

Succeeds in giving a vivid impression of the nature of this theater's combat, creating a venue for both powerful emotions and thoughtful consideration of provocative questions...

Ask yourself, would you rather show your kids Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Marmaduke? I don't want to live in a world where the answer is the latter.