'Arrietty': Good Things, Small Packages()  

Small Wonder: Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler) is an inches-tall Borrower whose family lives within the walls of a human household.

February 17, 2012 In a Borrowers adaptation from Japanese animators Studio Ghibli, a spirited, inches-tall girl and her family negotiate the hurdles and hazards of the oversized human world. Critic Bob Mondello says in an age of hyperactive kid flicks, this gentle, imaginative and visually lush film deserves a look.

Summary

In Love And 'War,' All's Fairly Wretched()  

Gods Of Carnage: CIA agents FDR (Chris Pine, left) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) suit up to complete a covert mission. Their friendship is strained when they fall for the same woman.

February 16, 2012 Two CIA-agent buddies (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) use their spy skills to vie for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Critic Ian Buckwalter says despite game performances from its trio of stars, the movie is nonsensical, inept and, at worst, unfunny.

Summary

'On The Ice': Boys With A Secret, And A Chill Inside()  

In isolated Barrow, Alaska, a fight between three boys over a girl turns violent, leaving Aivaaq (Frank Qutuq Irelan, left) and Qalli (Josiah Patkotak) with a secret that tests the bonds of their friendship.

February 16, 2012 In Barrow, Alaska, three young men get into a squabble over a girl — and for one of them, it goes badly wrong. Critic Ella Taylor says Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's debut feature tells a hopeful story without resorting to sentimental wallowing.

Summary

'Bullhead': 'Roid Rage And Murder Among The Herds()  

Cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) boxes with unseen demons in the Oscar-nominated Bullhead.

February 16, 2012 Belgium's Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film is a noir thriller exploring the brutal underbelly of the cattle industry — and an intense character study of an aggressive, troubled farmer who is shooting up for his own reasons.

Summary

'Michael': A Deliberate Study In Horrific Routine()  

Insurance agent and bourgeois pedophile Michael (Michael Fuith) takes Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger), the 10-year-old boy he's holding captive, on a rare trip outside.

February 16, 2012 A quiet Austrian pedophile keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. Critic Mark Jenkins says the film from German director Markus Schleinzer achieves some subtlety but can't wrest itself from tipping toward melodrama.

Summary

'Chico And Rita' And All That Jazz()  

Havana Heat: The title characters meet cute and swing hard in Chico and Rita, an animated love story with an infectious Latin groove.

February 9, 2012 An animated Oscar contender follows one on-and-off romance — and traces the development of some of the world's most infectious musical styles.

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A Spy On The Run, But Playing It Too 'Safe'()  

Cold and Calculating: Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a deadly CIA operative turned one-man army, placidly waits for trouble to come to him in Safe House.

February 9, 2012 In South Africa, a rookie CIA field agent (Ryan Reynolds) shepherds a dangerous rogue operative (Denzel Washington) who's turned himself in to U.S. authorities. Critic Ian Buckwalter says the stars' effective performances can't save this tiresome, by-the-numbers effort.

Summary

'The Turin Horse': The Abyss Gazes Implacably Back()  

A rural farmer (Janos Derzsi) sits in the void-like darkness of his single-room farmhouse in The Turin Horse.

February 9, 2012 In Hungarian director Bela Tarr's latest (and possibly last) film, a man and a woman in a barren landscape go about their routines as the world unravels. Critic Mark Jenkins says the film oppresses relentlessly, but Tarr presents a vision that is absolute, singular — and compelling. (Recommended)

Summary

A Veteran's 'Return' To The Front Lines Of Home()  

Linda Cardellini plays a vet who returns from overseas with no way to make sense of where she was and what it meant in director Liza Johnson's new drama Return.

February 17, 2012 In Liza Johnson's drama, Return, Linda Cardellini plays a vet who returns from her time overseas with no way to make sense of where she was and what it meant. Critic David Edelstein says the film's lack of a traditional story arc makes it seem even more real.

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In War And 'In Darkness,' Our Worst And Best Emerge()  

Sewage worker Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz, right) and Krystyna Chiger (Milla Bankowicz) peek from their underground hideaway in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland.

February 9, 2012 Poland's official Oscar entry is a Holocaust drama about a sewage worker who hides a small group of Jews from Nazi occupiers. Critic Ella Taylor says the movie depicts its grim subject with beauty — and a dose of reality. (Recommended)

Summary

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About Movie Reviews

Opinions on current offerings at the cinema from a slate of reviewers, including Fresh Air contributor David Edelstein, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Bob Mondello.

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