New York Film Festival — A–Z of films

One of this year's must-see films, this is not simply a worthy tribute of a subject too often ignored by Hollywood; it's also a remarkable piece of cinema in its own right.

This is complete hand-waving trash - he's an ignorant, privileged cocky arsehole and good things happen to him. Pass the sick bucket.

Breillat shows from her own experience with having suffered a stroke and the camera tells of the hospital and the patient's progress in a tone that is unsentimental, poignant, free.

The film trundles along quite merrily without much plot, easily driven by the tension of the original premise.

It's a courageous performance in more ways than one.

Hogg has been praised for her bravery in making films about the contemporary middle class and she has certainly succeeded again here, sedately unfolding a web of universal issues with a deceptive simplicity.

The precision of Claire Denis' perplexities, the ardent blows that fire at the heart and the head, are unequaled in her film Bastards (Les Salauds).

A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

The premise questions our storytelling conventions.

As Hector, Lucio Gimenez Cacho embodies the three primary desires of any teenage boy: getting one's way, getting one's end away, and potato chips.

Poignant and robustly entertaining.

The scripting is loose and Albertine - best known as the former guitarist with punk group The Slits - and real-life conceptual artist Gillick have the rawness that comes with first-time acting.

Gloria has the instincts of an eagle and the courage to fly.

It is in these details, the small objects Jonze provides us with in his film of disembodied desires, that essences become distilled.

The pace may seem deliberate but the Coens obviously want us to uncover the character's layers gently rather than him being delivered ready-made.

The film suffers from a profusion of good taste

Jealousy is a carefully constructed film with plenty of family ties for the director.

Del Toro and Amalric with contrasting acting styles make a magnetic duo yet the ponderous detail of the therapy occasionally bogs down the film, so much so that even the two actors cannot surmount it completely.

The film with all its large time leaps gives the impression not of something alien, long dead, but very pertinent to the now.

Shuttling back and forth between the families, Like Father, Like Son scrutinises words, deeds, allegiances.

The film, like the cable car, is suspended and moving constantly between two points - not the embarkment station, which gives way to the lives of the present or the exit gateway to the temple of the past - but a continuum of fact and construction.

Conversations are awkwardly stilted and lacking in the rhythms of natural speech.

Behind the surface simplicity of a father and son road trip lurks a sharp and bitter-sweet odyssey with a strong sense of satire.

This apparently meandering, unfocused story conceals an acutely observed portrait of a society in flux.

What is so disarming about Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a scarce sense of appreciation - of the vampire couple for each other and the appreciation by both of them for what is great in the world.

He takes the antihero into areas of sad you never knew you wanted to avoid.

As a reflection of the mood and struggles of those seeking democratic change it is immersive and visceral even if its up close and personal approach means that the political sphere is rendered in broad brushstroke terms.

The investigation has a surreal aspect to it that stretches credulity while the final resolution seems unsatisfactorily far-fetched.

An object lesson in less is more, it makes an absolute virtue of its small cast and diminutive budget.

Brings a sense of immediacy to events now far away in time.

Is Porumboiu simply seeing how much he can get away with? How far does this artistic experiment extend beyond the screen?

Silver may succeed in pushing emotional buttons but its people's heads that need to be engaged in tackling this complex issue, not just their hearts.

Miyazaki's films linger for a long time, they can't be pinned down, their meaning won't dissolve on the horizon.

Likely to strike the strongest chord with couples who understand there's a double meaning to enduring love.