Kenneth Turan, Film Critic

An ordinary couple with an extraordinary art collection.




The documentary focuses on the music festival 'Zaire 74' that was organized to...




Michael Mann and Johnny Depp make art of Dillinger.




In Kathryn Bigelow's hands, the tale of an Army bomb squad unit deployed in...




Michelle Pfeiffer basks in her best role in years as a French courtesan juggling...




The film academy's decision to expand the best picture category may benefit...




The apocalyptic documentary crisply explains the catastrophic consequences of...



Woody Allen's sour romantic comedy starring Larry David as a bitter genius and...



Director Tony Scott crisply pieces together the hostage drama. John Travolta and...



The Film & Television Archive spent more than two years on the 1948 film's restoration.




A monk searches for the childhood reincarnation of his deceased Tibetan master.




John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph play an endearing couple at the heart of this...



Odd Horten's daily routine is in for a switch in this genial tale of serendipity...



Wolverine's back story is revealed in efficient comic book fashion.



The adaptation of Times columnist Steve Lopez's book hits all the wrong notes.



Alex Rivera's low-budget film mixes science fiction with a strong sense of...




Bertrand Normand's documentary is a beautiful snapshot of ballet life, Russian style.




She is, but are you? Norma Khouri's 'truth' gets complicated.




A young Dominican aspires to be a major league pitcher. But the film is about...




A documentary convincingly makes the case that designer Valentino's lavish...




With lesser superpowers, 'Watchmen' fails to live up to its graphic novel...




Some of us -- who simply love the movies -- don't need all this endless gossip...




Whichever of the five nominated films walks away with the academy's top prize...




3-D melds with stop-motion to create a fantastical, magical world.




Roberta Grossman's documentary tracks the tragic story of a young woman's ill-...




Terence Davies' poetic documentary looks at life, loss and Liverpool




Abdellatif Kechiche's film, which won France's Cesar for best picture, is an...




Maybe they decided there was enough doom and gloom in real life. Because buoyant...




Writer-directors Cherien Dabis and Robert Siegel have turned their experiences...




A great story fights its way through thickets of Hollywood banter and...




Clint Eastwood, at 78, shows he's still a formidable action figure.




History steps in -- in the form of the Proposition 8 battle -- to make this seem...




After the strong 'Casino Royale,' Bond gets chilly under director Marc Forster...




The bane of documentaries on creative people is that they're often little more than a fan's note, of...



Oliver Stone's film is satirical and critical but not scathing. Josh Brolin's...




Sally Hawkins stars as a thoroughly sunny, centered person -- hardly the usual...




Jonathan Demme's film weds bitter and sweet in a fraught family situation,...




A comprehensive and illustrative look at shtetl life.




'Gonzo' is stuffed with Hunter S. Thompson minutiae but shies from the tough...




A top-notch thriller so twisty you may forget to breathe.




The Will Smith vehicle is as self-destructive as its superhero.




Groundbreaking yet familiar, part romance, part sci-fi, Pixar's latest work is...




An intense actor and director make for a fiery combination in 'Blood.'




The Film harnesses the power of persuasion for social change




'American Gangster' has it -- just look at the title -- and pulls it off with...




Costars Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry do much of the stoking it.




The movie centers a delightful, Capra-esque story around a most prurient prop.




The much talked about sex scenes that earned an NC-17 rating are an important...




George Clooney has the answers in 'Michael Clayton'




The documentary details the fate of artworks during and after World War II.




Offbeat 'Sound' looks at the underbelly of the music industry.




Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck pull their weight, but the long, ambitious,...




A 'Shadow Company' of mercenaries




Father must find AWOL son, but script makes it difficult to care




The movie is rife with genre standards but delivers them with gusto.




The 1963 gangster thriller, mixes American elements into a Parisian setting, creating a stylish, gripping...




The NASA documentary is a fabulously fresh take on a special group of...




In unflinching fashion, 'Manda Bala' documents seemingly disparate aspects of violence and poverty in...




Terrifying bonds exist between a mother and her sons in this fearlessly performed French-language film...




A Donkey Kong rivalry between two obsessive competitors makes for a lively 'King of Kong.'




A horror classic is replicated again, but the result is no clone: With top...




'12:08' gives comic tone to Ceausescu's quiet fall as villagers dispute whether anyone showed at a...




Though its credibility eventually falters, the space adventure should please...




The French film is a good bet.




Marina Hands stars as the lady who can't and won't deny her feelings for a servant.




The magic is gone: As the story gets darker, the momentum get muddier.




The film is audacious and its unlikely hero is hard to resist.




Michael Moore takes withering aim at ailing healthcare system.




The actor is at his best in the implausible yet entertaining action film.




'A Mighty Heart' moves the heart and head.




'Fantastic Four' is a retro, coolly unhip sequel. And that Surfer!




'Casting About' pays tribute to audition process




The new movie surpasses 'Twelve' (not much of a feat) but lacks the elan of...




An unpretentious story out of Ireland rediscovers the charms of saying it with...




The skillfully made documentary examines bestiality as a lifestyle.




A huge budget buys more villains but not a better chapter of the franchise.




A disturbing study of marriage and motherhood




Social fissures reopen in this immediate, powerful tale.




In Jonathan Kasdan's 'In the Land of Women,' a man puts his life back together,...




Parking yourself at 'The Valet' is recommended.




Halle Berry and Bruce Willis both do what they're supposed to do in this routine...




An untold war story




This smart film captures the psyche of Clifford Irving, a man who told the world...




Three decades after it was finished, the drama still has the power to touch...




In Paul Verhoeven's film about a Jewish spy infiltrating the Nazis, heroism...




First-time director Scott Frank pulls off an enjoyable thriller thanks to his...




A woman seeks revenge on the pianist who thwarted her career in 'The Page...




Emotions run high in the Oscar-nominated film, but the talented director and...




The film by Iran's Jafar Panahi, grippingly depicts a national pastime denied to...




Mark Wahlberg gives 'Shooter' its considerable firepower.




'The Wind That Shakes the Barley' goes beyond zealotry.




'Into Great Silence' explores lives of monks.




The visually arresting '300' gets bogged down in blood and bodies.




A widowed mother strives to rebuild her life in 'Grbavica,' a story about...




A fine cast and a realistic touch give the charming farce a sweetness and...




The inspiring ‘Amazing Grace’ tells the story of William Wilberforce, who worked...




'Our Daily Bread' provides food for thought as well as the eye.




In a tense, crackling tale, Chris Cooper turns a double life into an intense...




'The Situation's' fictional tale is no match for the real-life events...




Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton are incandescent in 1964’s ‘Becket.’...




Alberto Lattuada's "Mafioso," newly restored, is a long-lost gem that deftly...




In "Pan’s Labyrinth," it’s no easy escape from Franco’s Spain through fairy tale...




A spy whose soul goes undercover. RECOMMENDED




The intense "Children of Men" is set in a near future to give us pause today....




Punch drunk and down for the count.




Clint Eastwood presents the Japanese view in the remarkable "Letters." CRITIC'S ...




The witty, timeless drama takes a poignant look at the things that matter most...




"Dreamgirls" hits high notes of emotion and adds social context in its bracing...




"Diamond" wants to be an action thriller with serious political overtones and to...




Another bloodbath, Mel Gibson’s "Apocalypto" doesn’t miss an impalement or a...




The powerful "Days of Glory" deftly tells the story of four men from North...




A society under suspicion.




A "Story" told with too much naiveté.




Beneath the average potboiler facade of "Déjà Vu" lies classic noir.




Iraq war documentary amounts to ravishing portrait.




Unusual and impressive animated film taps into issues too. RECOMMENDED




Daniel Craig rings true as "Casino Royale" shrewdly remakes 007.




Delicate "Sweet Land" is a type of American independent we don't see often...




Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe make a fine team, but this romantic comedy is too...




Photographer Diane Arbus' life is seen through a filter that distorts her...




A magical mystery tour that is well worth taking.




A film on dealings in Miami years ago makes some interesting points but is...




"Borat" will probably make you cringe as much as laugh, but you'll do a lot of...




A documentary on the mass murder-suicide, with interviews of its few survivors,...




Though unsettling, "The Bridge" is an earnest meditation on the nature of...




Derek Luke does justice to tale of wronged man.




Clint Eastwood's war drama grippingly tells the tale behind that photograph from...




They've got something up their sleeves. RECOMMENDED




Douglas McGrath’s ambitious ‘Infamous,’ which covers the same territory as...




French police investigate human complexity. CRITIC'S CHOICE




It's police spy versus mob mole as Scorsese brings it all to a boil....




The royal drama after Di's death. CRITIC'S CHOICE




Children learn to roast hot dogs and "devils" at a different sort of camp.




A complex tale of power, aims higher than others, and hits.




Documentaries continue to find fresh perspectives while focused on the different faces of a war zone.




An attraction that becomes unnervingly all-consuming.




In his "Iraq for Sale," Robert Greenwald slams U.S. companies for endangering lives while making...




A wannabe star's tale fizzles out.




Return of a bygone force in action farce.




In this cinematic season of vacuity and ineptitude, "Half Nelson" has to be...




"Factotum" is true to the grit, poetry of Charles Bukowski.




On this East-West "Bridge," music spans global influences.




The man from La Mancha discusses the roots of his work, new and old.




Ghastly events forced into a feel-good formula — it's not the memorial...




"Never doubt," Margaret Mead famously said, "that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can...




"Talladega Nights" may skid some, but it's got Will Ferrell. Relax and enjoy the...




Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu are once again paired as old flames.




The big-screen "Miami Vice" has attitude to spare. Story and character, not so...




Preservation fest at UCLA returns in gorgeous style, with a bouquet of unusual...




New land, same guilty pleasure. "Tokyo Drift" is full of — what else? — fast...




His actions surrounding 9/11 made him a hero to many. Documentary takes a critical look at his career and...




It's the purring heart and not a load of clanking gags that gives "Cars" its...




A select sprinkling of some of the films that changed Hollywood.




Director Ron Howard's film adaptation of the bestselling book premieres at the...




Heroism through a cool, reserved eye.




"Mr. Lazarescu's" death says a lot about life.




The documentary "Sir! No Sir!" recalls how some Vietnam GIs opposed the war.




In "M:i:III," Tom Cruise tries to outrace a bad guy who's really, really good.




Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "The Child" wins the Palme d'Or.




From 'Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made'...




This genuinely sweet and determinedly inspirational family film features...




"United 93's" director went to great lengths to make the film as accurate as...




"Look Both Ways" is a fearless movie about a fearful subject, an unusually...




Cross-border nuptials are fraught with complexity in the stirring "Syrian Bride....




Skill and experience mark "The Sentinel," in which Secret Service agents clash...




Only countries under duress turn out motion pictures quite like the new Iranian film "Iron Island."




The Tibetan location brings a gritty spirit to China's "Mountain Patrol: Kekexili."




Documentary details the hush-hush truths of geopolitics and the challenges of...




"Bettie Page" gives the details of a fascinating life but renders its icon in...




Ralph Richardson's assessment of "The Fallen Idol," a 1948 Graham Greene-Carol Reed collaboration,...




A documentary about Daniel Johnston is just like the cult musician: self-...




Changing pace, "Inside Man" director Spike Lee takes the crime-film genre for...




Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's heartbreaking film follows the reprecussions of...




Aaron Eckhart's turn as a sleazy tobbaco lobbyist is the heart of this wry,...




One award-winning lazy Sunday in the lives of two 14-year-old Mexico City boys.




"Trudell" makes you sad two times over. First because of the tragic things that have happened to the...




Master animator Hayao Miyazaki takes audiences on a trip to a different magic...




Respected source. Good intentions. Yet "Jarhead" doesn't add up.




After three attempts, the latest film in the series finally captures the magic...




The musical lineup is formidable, but the comedian's ability to make people...




Made nearly 40 years ago, Richard Brooks' film version of Truman Capote's book...




Mockumentary techniques, a 'what if' historical approach and ferocious satire come together in the film...




Julia Jentsch shines as an anti-Nazi activist in "Sophie Scholl," nominated for a foreign language film...




The most successful film in its homeland, Russia's "Night" gives the dark...




It's always good to see Harrison Ford get the upper hand, but 'Firewall' is just...




One fish sparks a chain of social ills.




"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" is a concert film and something more. It's the record of a life, a musical...




One fish sparks a chain of social ills




Based on a classic work by Oscar Wilde, setting "A Good Woman" in Italy during...




In director Ang Lee's groundbreaking film, two cowboys realistically struggle...




"Munich," about the hunt for the murderers of Israeli Olympians, is a call for...




Edward R. Murrow once took a stand, and "Good Night" stands tall in his honor.




Stephen Gaghan's breathless oil-intrigue saga "Syriana" tackles real-world...




A revealing look at a man who prefers to remain out of the spotlight.




"The Boys of Baraka" is a moving, troubling documentary. Moving because of the nature of the problem it...




Dashing and romantic, "Tristan and Isolde" provides a pleasantly old-fashioned spectacle of doomed...




To come across "Classe Tous Risques" is like discovering a bottle of marvelous French wine you didn't...




The remake plays like the setup for a movie that never materializes.




Family versus fiancée: It proves engaging.




Judi Dench gives a star turn as a London theatrical matriarch during World War...




The style and charisma of Doug Liman's action comedy drolly outgun its plot...




As "The Libertine," Johnny Depp gets to (over)act to his heart's delight. Must...