In Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, technology gets smart, runs amok, and talks like Johnny Depp.

As the title suggests, there’s no shortage of bears in the latest DisneyNature documentary, brought to life in part by John C. Reilly’s narration.

The curator of the infamous Icelandic Phallological Museum is looking for a human penis to round out his collection. In this funny, surprisingly moving documentary, two very different men compete for this strange legacy. 

The closing of a three-star restaurant in Spain sounds like Big Night revisited, but Roger Gual’s undercooked, overstuffed romantic comedy only caters to the broadest of palates.

24 co-creator Joel Surnow strikes out into indie filmmaking by evoking the world of used-car salesmen much as a TV show would, but Christopher Meloni’s lead performance moves the lemon off the lot. 

In Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, technology gets smart, runs amok, and talks like Johnny Depp.

As the title suggests, there’s no shortage of bears in the latest DisneyNature documentary, brought to life in part by John C. Reilly’s narration.

The curator of the infamous Icelandic Phallological Museum is looking for a human penis to round out his collection. In this funny, surprisingly moving documentary, two very different men compete for this strange legacy. 

The closing of a three-star restaurant in Spain sounds like Big Night revisited, but Roger Gual’s undercooked, overstuffed romantic comedy only caters to the broadest of palates.

24 co-creator Joel Surnow strikes out into indie filmmaking by evoking the world of used-car salesmen much as a TV show would, but Christopher Meloni’s lead performance moves the lemon off the lot. 

Faced with a neglectful, alcoholic mother (Mira Sorvino) and her abusive new boyfriend, two high-school-age sisters (Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley) take drastic steps to change the situation in this uneven mix of melodrama and “dark quirk.”

This film’s rare genre hybrid, the horror-musical, shows how important it is for any wannabe Sweeney Todds to balance both halves of the equation.

Picking up where Volume I left off, Lars von Trier’s arresting opus follows Charlotte Gainsbourg’s protagonist as she becomes desensitized to sex and resorts to desperate measures to get any kind of feeling back.

Despite the boundless promise of Billy Zane’s hood-cloaked head spiraling across the screen, this Greek zombie thriller adds little more than derivative ideas and cheap gore to an overplayed genre. 

Music and science fiction come together when a DJ in search of a fresh sound finds it in the form of a “Tesla Scope” that emits a mesmerizing electronic beat while connection with extraterrestrial life forms. 

A year after winning an Oscar for From Here To Eternity, Frank Sinatra continued his film-career revival by playing a sad, self-deprecating musician in Gordon Douglas’ domestic drama. 

Czech animator Jan Svankmajer mixes live-action, puppetry, and stop-motion animation in his surreal 1988 adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, turning the children’s classic into a hypnotic nightmare. 

A transitional Lars von Trier film found the director between two styles, and drawing from both—while also discovering the dramatic power of putting female characters in torment.

Wallace Beery earned an Oscar nomination for his role as an alternately childlike and psychotic inmate in George Hill’s social drama about men crammed into a fortress-like prison under appalling conditions. 

Despite the title, knives are the weapon of choice in this mildly entertaining spy comedy, which stars Tony Randall as a vacationing oilman who stumbles onto a ring of secret agents in Morocco. 

A recent batch of films using surreptitious techniques have some elements in common with reality TV, yet end up saying more about what’s real.

In the star-packed 2007 road comedy, would-be bikers played by John Travolta, William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence, and Tim Allen discover freedom isn’t really worth the bother.

American Psycho star Christian Bale has been in movies for nearly 30 years now, but he remains tough to pin down, maybe tougher than ever.

From Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis, the Coens have offered an often funny, but always bleak, view of how the world works.

An exhaustive look at Bill Murray’s career traces his journey from comedy star to respected actor—and finds his two talents have long been intertwined.

A filmography defined by long odds and improbable victories has made the man who was—and continues to be—Rocky Balboa one of cinema’s greatest survivors. But survival comes at a price.

Only Lovers Left Alive has us thinking about our favorite bloodsuckers: The movies that do vampires differently, the movies that don’t, and why the vampire trope is as undying as the creatures themselves.

For all its singular qualities, Under The Skin is also part of a trend of films that could be ushering in a science-fiction renaissance.

A discussion of Darren Aronofsky’s films finds they have a lot in common whether they focus on ballerinas, wrestlers, or Biblical patriarchs.

Robert Altman didn’t seem like a logical directorial choice for a big-budget, family-friendly musical adaptation of Popeye, but the film still fits snugly into his career.

Michael Mann’s debut, Thief, helped set a tone for a career marked by stylish grit. But with this sophomore effort—filled with Nazi villains and an evil, imprisoned entity—he attempted work on a bigger scale.

When filmmakers from abroad visit America, they tend to find angles on the country that native directors would never consider. Michelangelo Antonioni’s sole film made on American soil is no exception.

In the star-packed 2007 road comedy, would-be bikers played by John Travolta, William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence, and Tim Allen discover freedom isn’t really worth the bother.

There was a time when Gibson could coast on charm through a breezy romantic comedy. This is a relic of that time.

2004’s Shark Tale traffics in lazy gags and lazier characters that reduce celebrities to cartoons in more ways than one.

An alternate poster for Her uses a blurred image to see the film more clearly.

Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond The Hills gets a poster inspired by rolling landscapes, a Belgian illustrator, and ambiguity.

Graphic designer Sam Smith creates a new image for his favorite film of 2013 and lists this year’s 10 best movie posters.

In the years before computers became commonplace, films like Alphaville, Colossus: The Forbin Project, and Demon Seed projected our worst fears on them.

Long before Jurassic Park restored Michael Crichton to ascendancy, he dominated the 1970s with films like The Andromeda Strain, Westworld, and The Terminal Man, which considered the human cost of progress.

After Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, filmmakers redefined the Apes franchise with each successive entry, while maintaining its daring central premise.

Ever since American Psycho hit the screen, fans have questioned whether the killings at its core are real or imaginary. There’s evidence for both—but the ambiguity is more interesting.

Our Movie Of The Week forum considers how Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner dove into a Bret Easton Ellis novel widely considered unfilmable, and turned it into their own distinct statement. 

Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel captures the full monstrousness of Patrick Bateman’s world by standing outside of it.

1954 saw plenty of great performances, but only one that changed the nature of screen acting.

Jessica Lange was up for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress trophies in 1982. She took home what some viewed as a consolation prize, though it rewarded some of her best work.

Michael Caine took home a well-deserved Oscar in 1999. But that year’s Best Supporting Actor field included some magnificent work—some of which never even got nominated.

Thanks to legal finagling, the rights to make Easy Rider sequels landed in the lap of Ohio lawyer Phil Pitzer, who decided there was no one better to write and star in the film than—Phil Pitzer.

Welcome Home Brother Charles is a giant-killer-penis movie with a social conscience.

After a string of action roles, 2008’s The Other Man could have been a chance for star Liam Neeson to get back to his dramatic roots. Instead, it seems intent on boring him and his audience to death.

On this week’s podcast, we celebrate the start of baseball season with a discussion of the transcendent sports-movie moments we hope for, talk to the author of a new book about Network, and play a very confusing game.

This week, we determine just how upset we should be over the continued convergence of film and TV, learn about the forgotten history of five wartime directors, and play a strongly suggestive round of Parental Guidance Suggested.

This week we share our expectations for actors-turned-directors and crowd-funded films like the new Veronica Mars movie, and play a game based on a 50/50 question that’s harder than it seems.

 This week, we share our wildest Oscar hopes and dreams, box ourselves into a conversation about the art of the claustrophobia film, and try to distinguish between the two big comet-about-to-smash-Earth blockbusters of 1998.

On this week’s podcast, we celebrate the start of baseball season with a discussion of the transcendent sports-movie moments we hope for, talk to the author of a new book about Network, and play a very confusing game.

This week, we determine just how upset we should be over the continued convergence of film and TV, learn about the forgotten history of five wartime directors, and play a strongly suggestive round of Parental Guidance Suggested.

This week we share our expectations for actors-turned-directors and crowd-funded films like the new Veronica Mars movie, and play a game based on a 50/50 question that’s harder than it seems.

 This week, we share our wildest Oscar hopes and dreams, box ourselves into a conversation about the art of the claustrophobia film, and try to distinguish between the two big comet-about-to-smash-Earth blockbusters of 1998.