Stories told in the movies are often unearthed from the bric-a-brac of our own lives, since life teems with narratives. For her first documentary, Sarah Polley lifted the veil on a family secret whose revealing caused her and her close ones much, much heartache. Polley ("Take this Waltz") is an Oscar-nominated writer, actress, and filmmaker who's made two feature films about intimate relationships and the challenges faced.

After vampires and wherewolves let us hail the return of the zombies (whether they appear in "The Walking Dead," "Warm Bodies," "28 days and weeks later," "Zombieland," or, very soon, "World War Z," zombies are pleasing to audiences--they're attention-grabbers and soon they'll probably control everything).

The Jonathan Levine-directed (PROFILE) "Warm

Since “Blue Valentine” Derek Cianfrance has paired up with Ryan Gosling again this time with the ambition of achieving "his" epic crime movie. Because who better to delve into this genre with than the hero of "Drive," currently enjoying leading-man status? The idea for “The place beyond the pines” was clever--the film, much less. Stilted by excessive determination Cianfrance delivers an imitative film that’s full of clichés and un-

When early in the forties a young Greek director called Elias Kazantzoglou showed up at a major Hollywood studio, the studio head (one imagines him sending cigar smoke the way of the hopeful visitor), advised him on a name change as a first step. “How about Cézanne?” the studio head asked. The director who would go down in film history as Elia Kazan demurred. “There already is a Cézanne,” he said. The studio head

The story of four college students on spring break (played by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine) is inevitably going to spin out of control—agreed—that’ s what the movie’s poster tells us, what the trailer confirmed, and what the dozens of similar previous films have told us before. But let’s not sweat the small stuff. What’s interesting is how effective “Breakers” is cinematically: a great, awesome thrill ride. Watch out, however, because “Breakers” could prove to be yet another of Hollywood’s

I should be describing “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” to let you know the positives and negatives of the latest Steve Carell mass-market comedy. But watching it, all I could wonder was, whatever happened to Steve Buscemi and the Coen Brothers? At one time he was arguably the foremost actor associated with the reticent Minnesota siblings, playing roles in all five of their features in the nineties. Then it suddenly stopped. Why? Obviously there wouldn’t appear to be a rift, a falling out, as he starred in their segment of “Paris, Je t’aime.” They just suddenly quit. Was it money? A desire to try new

Less than three years after “Tree of Life” and his Palme D'Or win at Cannes, Terrence Malick is back with “To the Wonder,” a film-as-poem whose secret only he knows, apparently. At some point during the time lapsed Malick’s creativity and inspiration went out the window. In fact, with this vaguely sensory, visual fog of a film, Malick, convinced of his own genius and assured of making a new masterpiece, has completely forgotten to tell a story.