The September Issue, RJ Cutler, 2009

Cutler's is an intimate and well-made, if not altogether fascinating, look at the fashion industry as conceived by high priestess Anna Wintour.

Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), Catherine Breillat, 2009

In what feels like a decidedly minor work from the director, Breillat nonetheless fills her fairy tale with striking, opulent compositions that, almost in and of themselves, make the film worthwhile.

Io sono l'amore (I Am Love), Luca Guadagnino, 2009

Guadagnino's domestic tragedy is at once familiar and endlessly refreshing. Working within the well established framework of a large, monied European family, the director subsumes a barrage of influences (from Ophuls to Roeg to Chabrol) amongst others, into a vision that is, in the end, wholly and masterfully his.

Inception, Christopher Nolan, 2010

Nolan's high concept fantasia is long on dime store philosophy and nerdy sci-fi mechanics, and is admittedly a well made mouse trap. The film is also, however, damningly short on character, narrative, and most every other hallmark of authenticity.

[REC], Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza, 2007

Balaguero and Plaza follow closely the now familiar roadmap set forth by countless "found footage" horror films, most specifically George Romero's recent 'Diary of the Dead.' The result is a workmanlike but modestly successful execution of epidemic/zombie horror tropes.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, John Krasinski, 2009

Krasinski's adaptation of David Foster Wallace's work is an uneven and pretentious exercise. Julianne Nicholson, little seen since her excellent turn in Tully, is the film's most consistent and engaging (if underwritten) presence.

Cyrus, Mark and Jay Duplass, 2010

The Duplass Brothers' domestic dramedy falls maddeningly short of success, trading the smart, well-crafted characters of its first act for too-broad comedy and an overly weepy resolution.