The Story: Surely, you know the story by now. The Lowdown: Deadly dull, emotionally empty, woefully miscast, indifferently directed and just plain not good.

The Story: Documentary about the way economics work — and don't work. The Lowdown: Sure to be divisive, which is to say that people who believe the rich should be taxed less will hate it. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich proves an engaging personality as he explains how the economy relies on a prosperous middle…

The Story: Machete is back in another outrageous exploitation action picture — this time saving the world from mad Mel Gibson. The Lowdown: It's not high art and it's not quite as good as the first film, but it's pretty safe to say that if you liked Machete you'll enjoy Machete Kills. I had a…

The Story: A collection of four music-oriented films: music documentaries, concert films and even a mockumentary. The Lowdown: The first week of a two week mini festival of music movies. The first week features excellent films on Anvil and Green Day, an unseen Metallica concert movie and the ever-popular This Is Spinal Tap. It's a…

In Brief: Effortlessly charming musical comedy about a young man who tries to save the family shoe business by focusing on the drag queen niche market — with shoes that exude sexiness but can withstand the weight of a man. Calling on the aid of a drag queen to help design the shoes — a…

The Story: A bored and sexually neglected wife decides to spice up her love by becoming a part-time call girl. The Lowdown: An unusual -- and unusually quiet -- marital drama in which it is almost incidental that the couple are lesbians. Intelligent, thought-provoking, and altogether realistic without being boring about it.

In Brief: Robert Altman's penultimate feature, The Company, is a disappointment any way you slice it (thank goodness he went out with A Prairie Home Companion). It is, in fact, the only Altman film I've seen that came close to boring me. That it didn't is a testament to Altman as a filmmaker, because this…

In Brief: Playful, gorgeous to look at, cinematically brilliant and finally heartbreakingly sad, Vincent Paronaud and Marjane Satrapi's 2011 film is one of those movies that ought to have played here, but didn't. It's a kind of fairy tale that tells the story of a great violinist (Mathieu Amalric) who becomes so distraught over the…

In Brief: Lumbering, overlong WWI picture that boasts some truly stunning flying scenes and solid production values (only somewhat marred by process work). German fighter pilot George Peppard (the only person in the film with an American accent) tries to play social climber by winning the coveted military decoration of the film's title. The story…

The Story: Two astronauts accidentally set adrift in space must find a way to survive and make it back to earth. The Lowdown: Brilliantly made, impeccably acted, visually impressive and undeniably intense in its suspense. Gravity is a fine film, but is maybe too efficient for its own good.

The Story: A young woman in 1958 France is a lousy secretary but a whiz at typing, which causes her employer to train her as a champion in typing competitions. The Lowdown: An unusual subject, gorgeous period detail and a terrific cast raise this romantic comedy (with subtitles, yes) to the level of something very…

In Brief: Follow the Fleet (1936) is the fifth of the Astaire-Rogers pictures, and as a movie, it's perhaps the weakest so far (there are weaker ones to come). Its plot is no great shakes — centering not on Fred and Ginger, but on the rather colorless romance of Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard. It…

In Brief: The Mexican film The Violin (2005) is one of those movies that comes with a raft of awards from film festivals, largely enthusiastic reviews and almost no promotion. Its much lauded director, Francisco Vargas, has yet to make another film, and it seems to be one of those dead-end projects destined to obscurity.…

In Brief: Wildly entertaining and utterly preposterous serial-like film, Chandu the Magician (1932) was adapted from a popular radio show of the same name. Beautifully designed by co-director William Cameron Menzies, the film looks spectacular, but its plot ... well, it's arrant nonsense about a madman named Roxor (Bela Lugosi) trying to get the secret…

The Story: A family in disarray has a nightmarish experience at Disney World. The Lowdown: It sounds a lot more daring and subversive than it actually is. That it was made on Disney's own turf without permission is more interesting than the film itself, which is confused, unfocused and even a little silly. But it's…

The Story: A very wayward kind of romantic comedy about a guy who tries to change his ways, especially his proclivity for porn, for a woman he thinks is his dream girl. The Lowdown: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's writing-directing debut is a remarkably assured affair that is also unusually blunt in terms of dealing with sex and…

In Brief: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou star in Stephen Frears' 2003 thriller Dirty Pretty Things. It's a story about the seedy underside of London as experienced by illegal and barely legal immigrants who work at a posh but very unsavory hotel, one that serves as a center for criminal activities. This ranges from sketchy…

The Story: Fact-based drama about the 1970s rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The Lowdown: Very slick, nice-looking racing story with solid lead performances. Entertaining enough, but hardly a great movie.

In Brief: Wolfgang Becker's 2004 film remains a beguiling comedy-drama about a young man (Daniel Brühl) charged with the seemingly impossible task of keeping his ailing mother from discovering that communism has fallen, and that East and West Germany have been reunified. He believes the discovery of this change will bring on a fatal heart…

The Story: A look into the lives of some young social workers and their charges in a foster care center. The Lowdown: Disarming in its honesty and simplicity, Short Term 12 arrives on the local film scene with little fanfare, which is too bad because it's a little gem of a movie.