Documentarists Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet, Common Threads, et al.) try their hands at narrative film, or docudrama, or maybe just simulated documentary, showing little storytelling sense. The central action, if one can be pinpointed, is the 1957 obscenity trial of the publisher of Allen Ginsberg’s titular …

Seth Rogen and James Franco leave no “Suk,” “Poon,” or “Dong” unturned in their quest to whack North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. As a vapid entertainment talk show host, Franco fills in the blanks his with more facial tics than a barrelful of Bill Buckley’s and a wardrobe made up …

A more commendable writing and directing effort from Paul Haggis (writer only on Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers, among others) than his hokey Oscar-winner, Crash. More focussed, more concentrated, more self-contained, more consistent: an uncompromisingly mournful murder mystery, and strangled antiwar cry, about a veteran of Operation …

A showcase from director-star Ralph Fiennes, he of the fierce visage and pleading eyes. First, it is a visual marvel — the framing is now theatrical, now unobtrusive, but always masterful and appropriate. Second, it is a triumph of characterization. Nobody makes speeches; nobody has to. Fiennes plays Charles Dickens, …

While checking out an abandoned building, Eli (Myles Truitt), a 14-year-old scrap metal thief, happens across a decapitated alien (with neck-embers still aglow) clutching an intergalactic weapon the size and shape of a Casio keyboard. It’s now up to the writing-directing team of Jonathan Baker and Josh Baker to build …

A lurid dimestore novel come to life. Also a nearly perfectly orchestrated murder thriller set in the time after the internet made pornography — in this case, the gay variety — widely available, but before it made it free. Though based on a true story, it’s presented with none of …

A teenager happens upon a stash of alien hardware complete with an oversize ray gun that he's quick to point in the direction of his enemies. James Franco, Zoë Kravitz, and Dennis Quaid star.

Gus Van Sant’s celebratory biopic on Harvey Milk, the gay-rights activist and San Francisco City Supervisor martyred by assassination in 1978. However useful as pep rally or memorial service, the film comes up short as drama, relying altogether too much on Position Statements, Slogans, Bromides, primarily through the protagonist’s stump …

Two beautiful strangers of opposite sexes but equivalent hurts (she: “That must have been hurtful”; he: “I know you’re hurting”), alone at an isolated inn on the beach; an approaching storm; a walk in the sand; a roll in the hay; a hope for a new beginning. The promise of …

Insert sinking balloon joke here. James Franco mugs his way through director Sam Raimi’s candy-colored CGI wonderland as a carnival magician who finds himself called upon to rally the oppressed people of Oz to believe in him. Or at least, to believe in the power of their dreams? Anyway, belief …

Another Coppola, another troubled teen flick that begs audiences to ponder the lives of rich bored white rebels without a clue. Grandpa Francis and aunt Sofia had the good sense to rely on established best sellers for their first forays into the youth film market. Not so, Francis’ granddaughter Gia …

A buddy comedy, a stoner comedy, a crime comedy from the House of Apatow, about a user and his dealer — best friends — on the run from the mob. As the two dopers, James Franco mimics the classic symptoms with dedication, while Seth Rogen is content to be Seth …

Sitting on a shelf since 2015, this is Werner Herzog’s first narrative feature in six years. On paper, impassioned archaeologist Herzog and real-life subject Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman) — a writer, world-traveler, photographer, and all-around eloquent nomad whose heart belonged to the desert — would appear to have the makings …

Never mind James Franco, though he acquits himself reasonably well in the thankless role of a handsome super-scientist out to heal the human brain. The real star here is Caesar, the genetically tweaked chimpanzee who has to figure out who he is and where he belongs. The story of how …

Repulsively overhyped comic-book adaptation by Sam Raimi. (How would his lighter and livelier Darkman, of 1990, have been pushed a decade later?) The hype, which naturally took no notice of the actual product and its worth, is as de rigueur as the Danny Elfman musical score and the plasticky, elasticky …