Film Reviews

Zoolander 2 is a dud glitter bomb...

Like the high desert that provides its main setting, Mojave is dry, often windy and full of hot air...

Joe Morgenstern remembers British actor Alan Rickman, who died this week at 69. His voice made him instantly recognizable; his iconic roles and acting prowess made him memorable.

Anomalisa takes its title from combining "anomaly" -- something that deviates from the standard -- and Lisa, the name of the woebegone anti-heroine.

The Star Wars franchise has roared back with full force.

What gives The Big Short its surprising resonance is the breadth of its comic vision, which makes room for collateral tragedy.

The Lady in the Van is wonderfully funny, terribly touching and a vehicle -- with comically dilapidated vehicles -- for the boundless gifts of Maggie Smith.  Like Paolo Sorrentino's previous film, The Great Beauty, Youth is full of Fellini-esque flourishes, plus glib existentialism juxtaposed with synthetic optimism.

In Pixar's newest feature, the Old West is a home where the dinosaurs still roam.

The Hunger Games series has come to a sporadically stirring climax with Mockingjay, Part 2.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: By the Sea takes place sometime during the mid-1970's in a coastal village in the south of France.

Spotlight is the year's best movie so far, and a rarity among all those dramatizations that claim to be based on actual events. Remarkably, the movie and its flawless ensemble cast have captured their subject in all its richness and complexity.

Our Brand Is Crisis is meant to be a fictional version of Rachel Boynton's 2005 documentary of the same name...

Nasty Baby is alive with random energy that sets up a surprise ending without blowing the surprise. Rock the Kasbah is a two-bit Ishtar that might play better on a phone.

Although its derivations are anything but poetic -- notorious cases of real-life imprisonment and abuse, Room is as beautifully wrought as any film that's come our way in a very long while.

Knowing the premise of The Martian won't prepare you for the remarkable variety and complexity of Ridley Scott's sci-fi extravaganza.