Directed by Gavin Wiesen. Starring Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts. [...]

Directed by Chris Weitz. Starring Demian Bichir, José Julián and [...]

Directed by Michael Rapaport. Starring Michael Rapaport, Dante ‘Mos Def’ [...]

Unlike “Borat” which exploits similar stereotypes along the same leitmotiv (there’s the civilized West and then there’s everyone else), “Four Lions” manages to get several points across. In addition to lampooning jihadists for what they are, “Four Lions” pokes fun at xenophobia and chauvinism, too. And by doing so, director Chris Morris succeeds in exorcising the film of its risque subject matter far more effectively than had its story had been reduced to a one-dimensional, laugh-a-minute premise.

Iranian cinema is about to get a whole lot more interesting with Asghar Farhadi’s “Nader & Simin: A separation,” which in theory should be shown in limited release in about two months in the U.S.

Shot in semi-clandestinity in Tehran, it tells the tale of a couple, on the verge of separation, who are ripped apart by a parent’s Alzheimer’s disease and a caretaker hired to help him make it through the debilitating disease. Class differences and the slow disintegration of the couple’s life seem to be the order of the day in this narrative.

Quick Facts: won a Caméra D'Or at the Cannes Festival and the Special Jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival (both in 2011); shot in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, Calif.; alternate title: “Satisfaction.”

In an independent film scene which has been stagnant of late filmmaker Miranda July is a breath of fresh air. The Berkeley, California-born, filmmaker who reminds one of a more sprightly Michel Gondry mixed with a dash of Todd Solondz, is also a performance artist and a writer.

The film, aloof and repetitive, follows Mohammad (Gallo), an Afghani fighter from the Taliban, as he attempts to dodge the U.S. Army. The topic is news-worthy and that can help a movie nowadays (“The Hurt Locker”)—or not (“In the Valley of Elah”). But rather than provide the thrills of a hunt movie “Essential” leaves you cold--it’s as if you’re watching a video game of a hunt stuck on autoplay. And a prerequisite of hunt movies is that they desperately need you to connect with the guy being chased--otherwise the movie bombs.