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Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed in Wild. Anne Marie Fox/Fox Searchlight Pictures hide caption

itoggle caption Anne Marie Fox/Fox Searchlight Pictures

A 'Wild' Trek Made A Bit Too Neatly

December 5, 2014 • The film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail takes Reese Witherspoon into new territory but never quite achieves the fierceness to which it aspires.

Prayers And Holy Water Can't Exorcise The Terrifying 'Babadook'

December 5, 2014 • In the Australian chiller, a bogeyman announces himself in a rhyming, pop-up book on a 7-year-old's shelf. But the real horror is that the boy's mom, a grieving widow, is battling psychic demons.

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Richie (Shawn Christensen) and Sophia (Fatima Ptacek) in Before I Disappear. Charlotte Jardat/Dear Vista Inc./IFC Films hide caption

itoggle caption Charlotte Jardat/Dear Vista Inc./IFC Films

'Before I Disappear': A Long Night's Tale Without A Short Film's Charm

December 5, 2014 • A man struggles through an evening of dark thoughts in Shawn Christensen's feature-length adaptation of his Oscar-winning live-action short.

Nicolas Cage stars as rogue CIA agent Evan Lake in the spy thriller Dying of the Light. Lionsgate hide caption

itoggle caption Lionsgate

'Dying Of The Light': A Disputed Production, A Disappointing Product

December 5, 2014 • The film, disavowed by its director and writer Paul Schrader after clashes with the studio, stars Nicolas Cage as a CIA officer who believes the agency has lost its moral direction.

Aksel Hennie and Wes Bentley star as offshore divers in Pioneer. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

itoggle caption Magnolia Pictures

A Claustrophobic 'Pioneer' From A Land Suddenly Grown Rich

December 4, 2014 • The Norwegian thriller follows divers deep beneath the sea, where powerful forces above drive those trapped together to question nearly every aspect of their experience.

Mathematician's Story Is Dramatic Enough For The Big Screen

November 28, 2014 • The new movie The Imitation Game is about British mathematician Alan Turing and his attempts to crack Germany's Enigma Code during World War Two.

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Christine Powell in Antarctica: A Year On Ice. Music Box Films hide caption

itoggle caption Music Box Films

In A Weekend Or A Year, Remoteness Is Captured On Film

November 27, 2014 • Documentaries Remote Area Medical, about the operation of a pop-up medical clinic, and Antarctica: A Year On Ice have the extremes of human life in common, but their methods and tone differ vastly.

Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman in The Babadook. Matt Nettheim/Brigade Marketing hide caption

itoggle caption Matt Nettheim/Brigade Marketing

In 'The Babadook,' A Mother's Sacrifices And A Monster's Roar

November 27, 2014 • Jennifer Kent's genre-bending horror film gives brave voice to the fury of many mothers and continues a tradition of Australian women unafraid of explorations of fear.

Keira Knightley, Matthew Beard, Matthew Goode, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Allen Leech in The Imitation Game. Jack English/The Weinstein Company hide caption

itoggle caption Jack English/The Weinstein Company

Benedict Cumberbatch Lifts Above Biopic Formula In 'Imitation Game'

November 25, 2014 • Cumberbatch stars as British mathematician and World War II code breaker Alan Turing in a film directed by Morten Tyldum and co-staring Keira Knightley as Turing's comrade in arms.

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'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' Opens Where 'Catching Fire' Ended

November 21, 2014 • The final novel of the trilogy has been cut into two pictures. This one is a placeholder film. It exists to smooth the transition from its successful predecessors to a glorious concluding part.

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Pulp bandmates Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, and Mark Webber. Oscilloscope hide caption

itoggle caption Oscilloscope

A Concert Film Without Much Concert Film, 'Pulp' Sketches A Hometown

November 20, 2014 • The documentary Pulp: A Film About Life, Death And Supermarkets is not much about any of those things, but it does try to take a closer look at the band's singer-songwriter and the town he left.

Nicholas Vreeland in Naples, Italy. Kino Lorber, Inc. hide caption

itoggle caption Kino Lorber, Inc.

A Frustrating Love Letter In 'Monk With A Camera'

November 20, 2014 • The documentary Monk With A Camera follows Nicholas Vreeland, born to New York socialites, who has been a Buddhist monk for decades.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. Murray Close/Lions Gate hide caption

itoggle caption Murray Close/Lions Gate

It's Getting Serious In Panem As 'Mockingjay' Goes Dark

November 20, 2014 • The first half of the last third of the Hunger Games trilogy — really — dismisses much of the colorful action of the first two films and draws focus to a dangerous propaganda war.

Steve Carell ditches any pretense of comedy in Foxcatcher. Scott Garfield/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

itoggle caption Scott Garfield/Sony Pictures Classics

Satirists Go Serious in 'Foxcatcher' And 'Rosewater' — And It Works

November 14, 2014 • NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews two serious films based on real-life events — Foxcatcher, which stars comedian Steve Carrell, and Rosewater, directed by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.

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'Foxcatcher': A Bloated True-Crime Story Based On Wealthy Heir John du Pont

November 14, 2014 • The film is based on du Pont's fraught relationship with two Olympic wrestlers. Wealth isn't enough — his identity hinges on winning. It's a fascinating case study, but as drama, it's one sick joke.

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Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater': The Serious Side Of Comedy

November 14, 2014 • Written and directed by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, the film tells the true story of an American journalist covering Iran's 2009 election, who was detained and tortured by Iranian authorities.

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Gael Garcia Bernal plays Maziar Bahari in Rosewater, Jon Stewart's directorial debut. Kautg Al-Majali/Open Road Films hide caption

itoggle caption Kautg Al-Majali/Open Road Films

Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater' Reach Exceeds His Grasp

November 13, 2014 • Daily Show host Jon Stewart directs Rosewater, the story of a journalist who appeared on The Daily Show and was later imprisoned in Iran for months in 2009 while covering protests there.

Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones in The Homesman. Dawn Jones/Roadside Attractions hide caption

itoggle caption Dawn Jones/Roadside Attractions

In 'The Homesman,' A Most Unromantic American West

November 13, 2014 • Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones play two very different people taking a dangerous trip across the arid plains in a beautifully photographed film.

Steve Carell plays John du Pont in Foxcatcher. Scott Garfield/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

itoggle caption Scott Garfield/Sony Pictures Classics

The Slow-Talking 'Foxcatcher' Goes Long And Comes Up Short

November 13, 2014 • Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum star in a bizarre tale of wrestling, wealth and talking very slowly while surrounded by mist.

Eddie Redmayne plays astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Liam Daniel/Focus Features hide caption

itoggle caption Liam Daniel/Focus Features

In 'The Theory Of Everything,' Science Takes A Back Seat

November 8, 2014 • The new Stephen Hawking biographical film The Theory Of Everything takes such a starry-eyed view of love and life that it seems to be from another era.

A jaded politician plays hooky in Viva La Libertà, so his campaign replaces him with his identical twin brother. You know where this is going, right? Courtesy of Distrib Films US hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Distrib Films US