Author:   Scott Douglas

The Story: A widower searches for his missing daughter by delving into her digital life to retrace her steps before she disappeared. The Lowdown: Yet another entry in the "takes place entirely on a computer screen" genre, somewhat slight in the character and story departments and hamstrung by its gimmick but more suspenseful and affective than one…

The Story: Historic drama recounting the 1960 Mossad operation to capture former SS officer Adolph Eichmann, who had been living under an assumed identity in Argentina. The Lowdown: A disappointing dramatization of a fascinating subject that benefits from the strong performances of Ben Kingsley and Oscar Isaac, but ultimately fails to settle on a cohesive narrative strategy.

In Brief: Have you ever wondered what would happen if the husband-and-wife screenwriting team that penned the scripts for American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Howard the Duck decided to co-write, produce and direct a movie about cannibalistic ghoul vampires inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and George Romero? Well they did, and…

The Story: A look at the life, work and untimely death of transgressive fashion designer Alexander McQueen. The Lowdown: A deeply personal documentary with a stunning visual aesthetic that will leave even deliberate anti-fashionistas moved and affected.

The Story: A young girl is sent to a Christian conversion camp that seeks to rid her of her same-sex attraction. The Lowdown: A compelling story hamstrung by poor execution and a tendency to sugarcoat its deeply disturbing subject.

The Story: In a world in which puppets and humans coexist, a grizzled private investigator teams up with his ex-partner to solve a series of violent murders. The Lowdown: Almost unfathomably dumb, undeniably offensive and more fun than it has any right to be.

In Brief: Few things could seem so incongruous as writer/director/star Nadine Labaki's 2008 feature debut Caramel, not because of its relatively standard plot surrounding a group of women who patronize a beauty parlor, but because this light romantic dramedy is set in previously war-torn Beirut. Labaki avoids dealing with the religious and political turmoil that engulfed much of Lebanon…

The Story:  Somewhere in Europe, circa 18,000 B.C., a young hunter-gatherer must find his way home with the help of an unlikely friend — the first wolf to enter into a symbiotic relationship with humans. The Lowdown: This loosely structured story of the domestication of Canis lupus is a visually spectacular adventure tale that, while clearly geared toward younger…

The Story: A jaded lawyer uncovers a web of conflicting stories and motivations as he tries to keep a convicted murderer — who has confessed to a third killing — off death row. The Lowdown: A decent film were it to come from an average director, but a disappointing miss for acclaimed Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda.

The Story: An Asian-American economics professor meets her boyfriend's family only to discover that he has hidden their extravagant wealth from her, leading to conflict with his disapproving mother and competitors vying for his hand. The Lowdown: A film that makes great strides toward mainstream cinematic inclusivity for ethnically diverse casts and crews while rehashing a tired rom-com…

The Story: A black detective cons his way into the good graces of the KKK with the help of a white frontman, dealing a devastating blow to the white supremacist terror organization. The Lowdown: Spike Lee's best film in years is potentially his most cogent commentary on contemporary race relations, striking both a delicate balance between comedy and drama…

The Story: A retired rescue diver runs afoul of a giant prehistoric shark. The Lowdown: The Meh.

The Story: In her last days of eighth grade, a quiet wallflower grapples with anxiety and insecurity. The Lowdown: An impressive debut from writer/director Bo Burnham that packs a surprisingly big heart and a wickedly sardonic wit into classic adolescent cringe-comedy format.

The Story: Japanese composer and activist Ryûichi Sakamoto lives through his music even as throat cancer threatens to terminate his career prematurely. The Lowdown: Documentarian Stephen Nomura Schible presents a compelling portrait of Sakamoto that favors evocative imagery at the expense of biographical detail.

The Story: An adult Christopher Robin tries to reconnect with his wife and young daughter — as well as his inner child — with the help of his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood. The Lowdown: Either an incredibly tepid and ill-considered case of nostalgia exploitation or a fascinating glimpse into Christopher Robin's psychotic break. Probably the…

In Brief: My disdain for musicals is well-documented, and I would count Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals particularly high on the list of my most objectionable experiences in that arena. Still, even I can't deny that The King and I (1956) is a classic. Sure, the score is overblown, Ernest Lehman's script doesn't measure up to his work on…

The Story: Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt must recover stolen plutonium before a shadowy organization of religiously inclined terrorists use it to detonate a nuclear weapon for some reason or another. The Lowdown: Brazen spectacle for its own sake, mindless entertainment that overstays its welcome but never fully disappoints.

The Story: A black man in his last days of probation tries to stay out of trouble with the law, even as his white ne'er-do-well best friend and a racially motivated police shooting threaten to draw him back in. The Lowdown: An impressive —  if occasionally imperfect —  film that aptly explores hot-button social issues while struggling to balance…

The Story: Robin, tired of being viewed as nothing more than Batman's sidekick, enlists his fellow Teen Titans to help him prove his heroism in the hopes of landing a movie deal. The Lowdown: Alternately funny and exhausting, this musical superhero satire will appeal to bored children, die-hard fans of the titular DC comics or the shows they…

In Brief: The winning feature from this year's 24th annual Twin Rivers Media Fest is a real showstopper, a twisty little psychological horror-thriller that grabs the audience by the throat and never lets go. Spanish writer/director Ángel González's Compulsión is a tense, tightly wound story of a woman who suspects her live-in boyfriend of cheating but discovers he's…

The Story: Triplets separated at birth rediscover each other  — and unearth a shocking secret about the circumstances of their respective adoptions. The Lowdown: An absolutely astounding story that deserves a better documentary treatment than it receives.