Much of “Girls Rock!,” the cheerfully raucous documentary co-directed by Shane King and Arne Johnson, is pretty cute. But this tale of a group of girls at a Portland rock ‘n’ roll summer camp is not at all about cuteness, or really even about music: It’s about female empowerment. Read more>>

Cormac McCarthy’s dark Western yarn “No Country for Old Men,” written in prose as spare as prairie grass, comes to the movies as something unexpected: a showcase for the talents of Tommy Lee Jones. Read more

In a season filled with depressing movies for adults, someone’s finally thought to give equal time to the kids. Read more

In the world of animated movies, there’s Pixar (whose “Ratatouille” may well turn up on many 10-best lists this year), and then there’s everyone else. And even when “everyone else” includes Jerry Seinfeld, it’s still second best. Read more

There’s a key casting decision in “Michael Clayton” that instantly raises this film above nearly every Hollywood thriller this year � and it isn’t George Clooney, good as he is. Read more

Unlike “3:10 to Yuma” and many Westerns, “The Assassination” isn’t about suspense; we’re told what’s going to happen in the film’s title. Rather, it’s about mood and theatricality. Read more

Daniel Karslake’s remarkable documentary boldly takes on a loaded topic � Christianity and homosexuality � and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears. Read more

It’s about how a random act of violence changes a woman who survives it; how she becomes someone darker and colder, unafraid to do what she needs to take back the night. And it’s that rarity: a violent action movie with a heart and soul. Watching it is difficult; forgetting it is more so. Read more

Ever made a cake, assembled from a delicious-sounding recipe and an array of fresh and delightful ingredients, only to find that it was a flat, unappetizing failure? Read more

Complete with a corset-wearing pirate, a witch whose beauty is only skin deep, a cranky star and a dying king, “Stardust” is a wildly crowded and sporadically entertaining fantasy adventure. Read more