Excellent film reviews

Thanks to the heated news and awards attention it has received in recent weeks, it's unlikely that anyone will find themselves watching Foxcatcher without a working knowledge of its headline-grabbing background.

Editor's note: Because "Foxcatcher" is based on a real murder case with details that are public record, this review discusses those events in detail. "Foxcatcher" is a heartfelt, intelligent, deadly serious drama based on a real murder case in which a wealthy patron hired two wrestler brothers, tried to seduce and control one of them, and ended up murdering the other.

Mark Kermode reviews Foxcatcher. The tale of an unlikely relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers. Starring Steve Carell. Please tell us what you think of the film -- or Mark's review of the film below. We love to include your views on the show every Friday.

It's a cold and hostile film - at times, Greig Fraser's breath-catching cinematography almost seems to be fringed with frost - and you find yourself clinging to the warm dogginess of that early, brotherly scene for heat.

A daring film crew, armed with crucifixes and guarantees of safety, sets out to record the daily lives of four vampire housemates in "What We Do in the Shadows," a goofily amusing mockumentary from the New Zealand comedians and actors Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

Opens on Friday in Manhattan. Directed by Cullen Hoback 1 hour 19 minutes; not rated The title of "Terms and Conditions May Apply" is unlikely to excite, but the content of this quietly blistering documentary should rile even the most passive viewer.

Do not go to "Birdman" to relax. It stars Michael Keaton, who has always behaved onscreen as if he knew that there was a raging mosquito bite somewhere on his person but could not quite locate it.

From the outside looking in, a movie is just a collection of scenes that are tied together. So the anatomy of a scene is what separates the great films-the ones that are embedded in our collective consciousness-from the forgettable ones? Several things elevate a movie into being memorable: a great concept, a great cast, and ultimately, a great screenplay.

There's a reason Ava DuVernay's sober and moving account of the months between the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church by white supremacists and Congress' 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act is titled Selma and not, say, Dr. King. DuVernay's film, which opens in limited release Christmas Day, doesn't...

Director: Richard Linklater; starring: Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Marco Perella, Steven Chester Prince, Jamie Howard. 15 certificate, 166 minutes. Boyhood, the new film from Richard Linklater, took 12 years to make. It may well take another 12 years to appreciate fully.