Flicks w/ The Film Snob

Paul Thomas Anderson stages a collision between a broken man (Joaquin Phoenix) ruled by his basest instincts, and a domineering American guru (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to portray a mid-century moment of crisis, in the darkly ironic and beautiful constructed film The Master.

Discovering Jacques Tati's unique sense of humor is best achieved by viewing his second feature, in which the eccentric Monsieur Hulot goes on a summer vacation.

Takashi Miike presents an unexpectedly dignified and moving work of art, a samurai story that attacks the cruel traditions of the warrior class.

Benoit Jacquot's new film captures a vivid sense of the 18th century, telling of the beginning of Marie Antoinette's fall from power, from the point of view of one of her ladies in waiting.

David Cronenberg meets dystopian novelist Don DeLillo in this mesmerizing tale of a young billionaire (Robert Pattinson) trying to control the world, and his life, from his seat in a white stretch limo.

The most independent of the classic Hollywood directors, Howard Hawks excelled in every genre of film.

Henri-George Clouzot's 1953 edge-of-your-seat thriller is also a very dark commentary on the human condition.

An inspiring documentary about the life of the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous reveals the man behind the myth.

Benh Zeitlin's Sundance-winning film is truly something different: a story of loss and survival set in a semi-mythical bayou, and told through the point of view of a tough six-year-old girl.

Michelle Williams brings her special kind of magic to this wistful tale of a young married woman who yearns for something more.

A powerful documentary exposes the indifference of the military establishment to a decades-long epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the armed forces.

A new Russian film about an aging woman with conflicting loyalties catches the viewer by surprise with its chilling vision of relationships.

Wes Anderson's best film yet tells of two kids on an island, finding love as they run away from home, and it's told with Anderson's distinctive visual style.

Eric Rohmer specialized in wrly observant films about relationships. Here he offers a story of a husband toying with the idea of an affair with a highly intelligent "other" woman.

Hirokazu Koreeda's new film is a beautiful evocation of childhood and the power of wishes.