'Renoir' a lovely portrait of the legendary artist

Photography - and thus filmmaking - is painting with light. The connection is illuminated in the lovely "Renoir," a twilight-years biography of the great French Impressionist.

'The Sapphires' treads lightly on plot but sparkles with fun

Among the many ways that Australia's history mirrors our own is that both nations sent native peoples to reservations and sent soldiers to fight a futile war in Vietnam. Yet those two shameful episodes Down Under are the background hum for a calculated crowd-pleaser called "The Sapphires."

'Lore' is a rich description of postwar Germany

After the horrors of World War II came the horrors of reconstruction. The occupying armies divided the spoils, redrew the borders and brought the defeated foes to justice.

Gore is leavened with wit in 'John Dies'

The body-horror genre is a niche within a niche, but the challenge of filming icky critters crawling from human bodies attracts ambitious directors.

By all means, see 'Sugar Man,' and don't research its ending

Before the Internet, shocker movies such as "Psycho" could build ad campaigns around preserving the secret of their endings.

'Sugar Man' a moving story of enigmatic US troubadour

Before the advent of the Internet, shocker movies such as "Psycho" could build ad campaigns around preserving the secret of their endings. But nowadays, even if conscientious critics invoke the term "spoiler alert," there are social-media knuckleheads who are eager to reveal that Bruce Willi…

'Farewell, My Queen' is a fresh take on the 'cake' queen

One of the shrewdest movies of the past decade was Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," which followed the French queen from girlhood to the guillotine as if she were the victim of her own privilege.

'Cat in Paris' like a brief, refreshing cartoon dream

Pixar makes fine films, but in addition to life lessons, the company and its Hollywood competitors are teaching kids that all animated movies look alike.

'Footnote' has fablelike sweetness

It's a sly joke that a pivotal scene in the Israeli film "Footnote" takes place during a performance of "Fiddler on the Roof." Two Talmudic scholars - venerable Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar-Aba) and his grown son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi) - are seated at opposite ends of a row. Uriel secretly k…

Profile of 'Jewish Mark Twain' is intriguing

If I were a rich man, I'd build a time machine so documentarians could capture footage from the era before motion pictures. Without it, many nonfiction filmmakers are forced to pan across still photographs a la Ken Burns or resort to talking-head interviews with authorities.

Images are striking, but 'Mixtape' lacks context

Fighting over the words is part of the problem. In the late '60s and early '70s, black/colored/Negro/African-American people embraced a pride/power/nationalist/separatist movement that left many of its soldiers/ spokespersons/leaders/ luminaries trapped in the Man's ghettos/prisons/tombs/suburbs.

Siren's story will titillate your inner 'Tabloid'

There are three sides to most love stories: his, hers and the truth. But on London's Fleet Street, the three sides are his, hers and the tabloids'.

Romantically, 'Bride Flight' travels light

A caravan of marriage-minded pioneers was the premise of the sitcom "Here Come the Brides" and the musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." But the Dutch film "Bride Flight" is a melodrama set in a different place and time.

3-way friendship crashes in 'Heartbeats'

Three's company and two's a crowd in "Heartbeats," a love triangle with decidedly dotty lines.

'Winter in Wartime' more than boy's tale of heroism

One of the first adventure books that captured my imagination was "Snow Treasure," a classic true story about Norwegian children who outwit Nazi occupiers to smuggle a town's gold bullion to safety. "Winter in Wartime," another story about a young hero in a frosty clime, belongs in the same class.

'Certified Copy' frustrating but has its original moments

Ordinarily, a new movie by Abbas Kiarostami ("Taste of Cherry") would be an opportunity to remind readers that Iran produces some of the finest films in the world.

James Gunn goes from 'Slither' to 'Super'

James Gunn, whose horror film "Slither" was one of the best-reviewed movies of 2006, is back in theaters this week with the vigilante satire "Super."

Goofy, ghastly mix in unsettling 'Super'

If you're skeptical about "Rainn Wilson, Romantic Hero," wait 'til you got a load of "Rainn Wilson, Psychotic Avenger."

Enigmatic thriller 'Housemaid' adds cool beauty to old truisms

The enigmatic opening scene of the South Korean drama "The Housemaid" will ring true for anyone who's ever been lost in an Asian metropolis. Above the neon welter of modern Seoul, as shoppers and kids riding scooters are distracted on their cell phones, a barefoot young woman steps out on a …

'Cedar Rapids,' a tribute to innocence, is funny yet respects heartland values

It's a question that still echoes through the small towns of the heartland: How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Cedar Rapids?

'Barney's Version' unsatisfying, but Giamatti as a jerk compels

Most men in movies are jerks. The typical Hollywood hero is drunk, disheveled and disloyal. But if he looks like Bradley Cooper, all is forgiven.

Coppola explores off-camera stardom

ST. LOUIS - With "Somewhere," a Hollywood father-and-daughter story, Sofia Coppola has directed her fourth film in 11 years. That's more prolific than, say, Terrence Malick, who has completed four films in 38 years, but the modest output is a disappointment for those who expected Coppola to …

Filmmaker's ambition fulfilled, just not much for viewers to care about

Lena Dunham surely wasn't the first college graduate whose dream was to write, direct and star in a movie based on her own life, but she may be the first to use a consumer-grade SLR camera and a cast full of family members to earn art-house screenings with paying customers.