The Iron Lady is an example of an actress being so much better than the film she's in.

Meryl Streep, as Margaret Thatcher, presides with grand humanity, over a film that is pretty much a shambles.

The "Rainbow Connection" is reconnected in 2011. It's a dazzling reunion.

The Muppets is a joyful mix of the nostalgic past and a vibrant present. It tops the list of family movies for the holidays.

People Magazine picked Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as, "The Best Film of the Year!" At least that's what the ads blare.

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol was was made for IMAX. Be sure to see it on the huge screen.

David Fincher's American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a powerhouse of a picture.

If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy had been released last February, it probably would be forgotten by now.

Who are Chris Foggin and Liam Lock?

They were third assistant directors on My Week with Marilyn.

Shame is a noxious porridge of porn and pointlessness. It's a penis in search of a plot.

Its protagonist is a masturbating cipher.

The Artist shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully.

Hugo is a love affair -- palpable and personal -- between director Marty Scorsese and cinema. It sputters, floats, and soars.

Calling Chevy Chase. George Clooney has taken your role.

The Descendants calls out for Clark Griswold and his brood -- The Griswolds in Hawaii.

This time around George Clooney plays the clueless dad.

At times I'm a believer in Dwight Macdonald's dictum that a reviewer tells what the audience thinks, and a critic tells what he thinks.

J. Edgar is not arresting.

It's more like a lengthy, failed stakeout. It doesn't deliver enough authentic evidence, and the subject of the scrutiny is pretty dull most of the time.

On rare occasions, a movie comes along that does genuine honor to Alfred Hitchcock.

Take Shelter is such a movie. It could be subtitled "Take Shelter with Hitch."

Margin Call puts human faces behind the masks of Big Business.

Although one character says, "This is not a prison" -- in many ways the business monoliths on Wall Street can be related to prisons.

Who is the target audience for The Mighty Macs -- 70-year old women?

The Way is real, personal cinema.

It's an Estevez family project. But it's not a vanity project -- it is a spiritual legacy.

Love Crime is a slick French cinema croissant filled with sweet and sour revenge.

Part way through, you wonder what is going on. You simply aren't sure where it's going.

The Ides of March is like the Obama administration -- it doesn't deliver.

50/50 is a movie in which the protagonist is very human, and his best friend is obnoxious.

It's also an apt study in acting. One actor is human; the other is obnoxious.

Moneyball is an impelling triple. It's smart, agile, and effective.

But it's anti-climactic, as though the runner is stranded on third base.

If Sam Peckinpah were alive today and read that director Ron Lurie had remade his Straw Dogs, he would have scowled his famous scowl.

Don't touch that computer screen!

You don't know where it's been -- or who has coughed on it. Or who has made contact with it.

Life, Above All is 100 minutes of grief and courage.

The Guard is a vulgar, Irish treat.

You may not understand Gaelic, but if you understand Familiar-Usage-Concerning-Kilkarney, you'll at least understand every other word in The Guard.

Sarah's Key is elevated by luminous performances by two actresses -- veteran Kristin Scott Thomas and 10-year old Melusine Mayance.

Fortunately their talent often is able to transcend the contrivances that mar the plot.

Films about bringing vile Nazi doctors to justice usually are serious dramatic and psychological explorations. But every once in a while, hokum overwhelms the subject.

Such is the case with The Debt.

Of Gods and Men is a tribute to intelligent faith.

In a world in which faith and ignorance are often yoked together, Of Gods and Men lifts faith from just the throbbing heart to the thinking mind as well.

The Help is Mississippi-lite. It's certainly not Mississippi Burning (1988); it's Mississippi on Low Heat.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a gripping test of anxiety.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a 30,000-year leap of faith.

"Hot damn!"

One of the characters says this in Cowboys & Aliens, and he's right -- hot damn right.

Page One: Inside the New York Times is a sometimes fascinating, unsettling, and informative look at a venerable institution that has to cope with a rapidly changing world.

A Better Life is steeped in decency.

But how does decency survive in an indecent world?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 is bursting with dark fury.

Boy, Beginners was a movie I was hoping and planning to like.

It had Christopher Plummer in a role that had to be tours de force and probably even Oscar worthy. It had Ewan McGregor, who is a solid talent.

If I were a young colt, I'd sure try to keep my distance from Buck Brannaman.

Brannaman is the main figure in the documentary Buck, about a horse teacher who is able to accomplish wonders with difficult young horses.

Animator Chuck Jones was a brilliant master of comic destruction. It had wit, style, and grace.

Director Michael Bay is a master of destruction. It is witless, styleless, and graceless.

Cars 2 runs out of gas. It's on fumes -- and some of them pretty noxious.

Bad Teacher should be held back for bad comedy.

Like Silly Putty, Super 8 is silly fun.

It stretches, snaps, and bounces. It's as elastic as pubescent imagination.

Incendies is a grueling, harrowing trek in search of identity.

In French and Arabic, it was a Canadian nominee for the Best Foreign-Language Oscar. Director Denis Villaneuve based the movie on a play by Wajdi Mouawad.

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is a luminous gambol of imagination and memory through the flickering City of Light. It's a pleasant dream.

On the surface, prequels may seem to be the final attempt to drain the last dregs from a franchise.

But, on occasion, a prequel can not only revive a franchise; in some cases, it can enhance it.

Some movies try to solve the mystery of life. The Hangover Part 2 only tries to solve the mystery of the binge. It reaches that easily reachable bar.

Everything Must Go is not a bad movie, but saying in the credits that it's "based on" a story by Raymond Carver is a blunder. It may even be a fraud.

"My name is Terry, and I'm a cinemaholic."

"Hi, Terry."

"My sponsor is Michael Cimino."

"Terry, your new movie recently got booed at Cannes. Terry? Terry?"

Occasionally a movie gets scattershot reviews that leave one with a misleading impression. Given the early reactions to Hesher, I expected a dark, grim movie about a repellant character. I expected a tiresome slog.

Thor is a spectacular hodgepodge.

A replacement director and a squad of misbegotten writers try to dodge the impressive special effects.

Winter in Wartime (2008) is an evocative Dutch movie about a youthful adolescent coming of age in Nazi-occupied Holland in January 1945.

How does a pacifist prevail in an ugly, hostile world? How do children grow up in a world of isolation, alienation, grief, and bullying?

Born to be Wild is a 40-minute return to innocence.

The documentary is so engaging and affirmative, the viewer may have a smile on his or her face for the entire showing.

Tom McCarthy takes his time.

Only three feature movies that he wrote and directed have been released. The first two were serious contenders for top-ten-of-the-year lists.

The Conspirator marks a return for Robert Redford as a director. If not triumphant, at least serious.

Ah, product placement.

It's obviously a reason to take a train ride over and over.

Paul is E.T.'s crude twin.

Paul smokes, jokes, and pokes. He's the antithesis of naivete.

In Limitless, Bradley Cooper becomes a full-fledged movie star -- or at least half-fledged. He nails it. Fly, Bradley, fly.

Cooper took over the leading role from Shia LaBeouf, who was originally cast.

Occasionally a movie succeeds simply on the persevering talent of its star.

The Lincoln Lawyer is such a movie.

Matthew McConaughey carries The Lincoln Lawyer with sheer credible willpower and personality.

The Adjustment Bureau should be titled The Demolition Bureau. It takes Philip K. Dick's story and blows it up.

Unknown turns Hitchcock into Hitchschlock.

Barney's Version is not Mordecai's version.

It is Paulie's version.

Paul Giamatti said he didn't even read the novel by Mordecai Richler when he portrayed Richler's Barney Panofsky.

The Eagle is what an action-adventure should be -- gripping, literate, and entertaining.

The major challenge in making a movie about ennui is how do you keep it from being dull?

Biutiful is a harrowing, battering experience at the movies. Although titled with a word scrawled by a child on her drawing, the movie is steeped in ugliness.

Pathetic women are not really my cup of tea. British or otherwise. Alcoholic, pathetic women are not my cup of anything.

I thought only flies liked piles of dung, but hornets must, too.

Maybe that's the reason for the evacuated pile titled The Green Hornet.

Every year I hope to find at least one or two movies that I can personally recommend to everyone.

Casino Jack is as erratic as a floating craps game.

Part comedy, part character study, part satire, part fantasy, part violence, it has a heady run before crapping out.