The third Guardians film assumes a strangely somber tone and a plot that features more cruelty to animals and children than audiences have any reason to expect from a wacky space yarn.
In 1970, Judy Blume published the story of one girl, at one moment, with one group of friends, who experiences early adolescence in a way particular to her. And that's what makes it compelling.
Kelly Fremon Craig's terrific adaptation of Blume's 1970 novel doesn't pretend to have all the answers. But by the end, the awkward preteen at its center has achieved her own state of grace.
Ari Aster's three-hour odyssey, featuring Joaquin Phoenix as a middle-aged man on a quest to visit his mother, is the kind of freakish jumble only a gifted filmmaker could make.
Michelle Williams plays an introverted sculptor struggling to find the time, space, money and energy to pursue her calling in Kelly Reichardt's rueful comedy.
How to Blow Up A Pipeline is a lean, sleekly made movie about a modern-day monkey-wrench gang. Although unabashedly partisan, it doesn't preach or glamorize the eco-saboteurs.
Ben Affleck directs the story of how a small athletic shoe maker cracked the big time in 1984 by introducing a shoe for an untested rookie named Michael Jordan.