Top Shop Movies

In a genre crowded with quality films, director Robert Bresson's POW drama has become legendary, in part because it strips down the experience of a man desperate to escape to the essentials. That's in keeping with the approach Bresson took with all of his films. The filmmaker, who spent a year in a German prison camp during World War II, based this story on the experiences of Andre Devigny, a French Resistance fighter sent in 1943 to the infamous prison in Lyons, where 7,000 of the 10,000 prisoners housed there died either by natural means or by execution. Lt. Fontaine (Francois Leterrier) is certain that execution awaits him, and he almost immediately begins planning his escape, using homemade tools and an ingenuity for detecting the few weaknesses in the prison's structure and routine. For a time, he goes it alone, then takes on a partner, but only reluctantly. Fontaine does get some help from a couple of prisoners allowed to stroll in the exercise yard, but for the most part he is a figure in isolation. For Bresson, the process of escape is all, and in simplifying his narrative he ratchets up the tension, creating a film story of survival that many feel is without peer. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

This freewheeling surrealist outing from France attempts to dispense almost completely with conventional narrative structure; instead, it offers a series of absurdist sketches with scarcely any discernible connection between them. The film opens on a character played by director Leos Carax known only as "Le Dormeur." After waking up one morning, he somehow locates and opens a secret door in his apartment, and wanders into a packed movie house where an audience watches King Vidor's classic The Crowd and a giant dog wanders up and down the aisles. Meanwhile, Oscar (Denis Lavant) rides to work in a white limousine driven by his close friend and associate Céline (Edith Scob); Oscar's job, it seems, involves using makeup, elaborate costumes, and props to carry out a number of complex and unusual scenarios. Of these, one has the actor performing an action sequence and simulated sex with an actress on a soundstage while he's filmed by an off-camera director. The second sequence puts him in a sewer with Monsieur Merde, a character who first appeared in Carax's segment in the omnibus picture Tokyo!; here, Merde falls in love with a beautiful model (Eva Mendes) who accompanies him on a jaunt through a cemetery. Subsequent episodes cast Oscar in a deathbed melodrama, a gangster film, a musical alongside pop star Kylie Minogue, and much more. At one point in the picture, Carax implies that Oscar may be acting these scenes out for hidden cameras, which are webcasting the episodes for Internet surfers. An intriguing footnote: Movie buffs may experience some déjà vu while watching Scob in this film, as she's deliberately used to invoke her characterization from Georges Franju's 1960 horror classic Eyes without a Face, and at one point, even wears a facial mask similar to the one she donned in that picture. Holy Motors marked Carax's first feature since the 1999 Pola X. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A young woman discovers how hard it can be to move past the joy and pain of her first serious romance in this drama from writer and director Mia Hansen-Love. Camille (Lola Creton) was a naïve 15-year-old when she first met Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky), a handsome young man of 19. Camille immediately fell deeply in love with Sullivan and she was convinced she'd found the relationship of her lifetime. However, while Sullivan cared for Camille, he wasn't ready to spend the rest of his life with her and he broke up the relationship to spend the better part of a year exploring South America. A heartbroken Camille suffered a nervous breakdown, and for years afterwards she found it hard to fully commit herself to a man. Eventually, a more mature Camille falls for Lorenz (Magne-Havard Brekke), a college professor she meets while studying architecture. With Lorenz, Camille finds herself in a satisfying relationship with a man who respects her, but her happiness proves short-lived when Sullivan reenters her life. Un Amour de Jeunesse (aka Goodbye First Love) received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Steven Spielberg helms his long-in-the-making biopic of Abraham Lincoln for DreamWorks and Touchstone Pictures. Daniel Day-Lewis portrays the former head of state in the Tony Kushner-penned adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals, which chronicles the President's time in office between 1861 and 1865 as he dealt with personal demons and politics during the Civil War. Sally Field leads a co-starring cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Yann Martel's ponderous adventure novel gets the big-screen treatment with this Fox 2000 adaptation helmed by director Ang Lee. The coming-of-age story surrounds the son of a zookeeper who survives a shipwreck by stowing away on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. Suraj Sharma heads up the cast as the young boy, with Gérard Depardieu, Adil Hussain, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, and Bollywood actress Tabu also starring. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

A shocking incident throws a seemingly healthy relationship into crisis in this drama from director Julia Loktev. Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) are a twentysomething couple who have been together for several years and enjoy traveling, taking a certain pride in their willingness to rough it rather than follow the easy path. The pair will soon be married, and to celebrate they've traveled to Eurasia to climb the Caucasus Mountains. After hiring a local guide named Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze), the couple hike through the wilderness en route to the mountains. They spend their time swapping stories and soaking in the rugged beauty of their surroundings in respectful silence, with Dato offering his own curt interjections. However, one day the hikers cross paths with a group of hunters, leading to an incident in which Alex's reaction seems either prudent or cowardly depending on one's perspective. The trio eventually pick themselves up and move on, but nothing seems the same for Alex and Nica after that. The Loneliest Planet received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Author Stephen Chbosky adapts his own best-selling novel about a withdrawn teen who attempts to remain hopeful for the future while dreading every day of the present. Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, and Logan Lerman star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

American Movie director Chris Smith makes the shift from documentary specialist to feature-film director with this Hindi-language drama concerning a young hotel employee whose obsession with an opulent swimming pool at a nearby house gradually turns his life upside down. The affluent hills of Panjim, Goa, in India are the absolute lap of luxury, and when a young boy working at a nearby hotel discovers an extravagant swimming pool, his awe is soon offset by the arrival of a mysterious family at the home. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Inspired by actual events, writer/director Craig Zobel's sophomore feature Compliance examines the complex hierarchy of authority through the experiences of a teenage fast-food restaurant clerk who falls victim to a twisted practical joke. Becky (Dreama Walker) is doing her best to get through another tough shift when a man claiming to be a police officer calls to speak with her stressed-out manager Sandra (Ann Dowd). According to the man on the phone, Becky has just stolen money from a customer, and likely still has the cash on her person. When Becky denies any wrongdoing, the man on the phone insists that Sandra detain the frightened girl in the back room of the restaurant, an action that sets into motion a shocking sequence of events. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A small-town teacher stands up to a pair of drilling representatives who are determined to exploit the local resources, and receives some unexpected support as the community rallies to drive away the persistent interlopers in this drama from director Gus Van Sant. Steve Butler (Matt Damon) is a corporate salesman with a reputation for getting results. When the company he works for draws up plans to drill for natural gas in an economically depressed farming community, Steve and his partner (Frances McDormand) attempt to convince the locals that they have an opportunity to profit from the project. At first the locals are welcoming, but when venerable teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) voices objection, concerned locals Dustin (John Krasinski) and Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt) help to launch an effective grassroots campaign against the drilling. In addition to co-producing and co-starring in Promised Land, Damon and Krasinski also collaborated on the screenplay for the film, adapted from a story by Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are, Away We Go). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Five lifelong friends look forward to spreading God's word following graduation, but struggle to deal with a devastating loss that leaves them searching for the kind of answers that only an outside source can provide in this faith-based drama featuring Eric Roberts, Erik Estrada, and Dawn Wells. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Successful family man Paul Exben (Romain Duris) gets a second shot at living the life he's always dreamed about after committing an impulsive crime of passion, assuming a new identity, and moving to a sleepy seaside community. Director Eric Lartigau teams with screenwriter Laurent de Bartillat to adapt the bestselling novel by author Douglas Kennedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A married couple find their love affair with alcohol threatening to unravel their relationship when the time comes to confront their addiction head on. Charlie (Aaron Paul) and Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) are a fun-loving couple, but their heavy drinking is starting to become a problem. As Kate constructs a series of elaborate lies to conceal her addiction from her co-workers, her relationship with her mother begins to deteriorate. Realizing that she needs to get sober in order to pull out of her downward spiral, she finds that Charlie is reluctant to join her, and starts to see their relationship in a new light. Meanwhile, once she gathers the courage to set the bottle aside, the real fight begins. Octavia L. Spencer, Nick Offerman, and Megan Mullally co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi