Will Smith stars in an Oscar-nominated performance as Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman living in poverty in San Francisco, with his son, played by Smith’s real-life son. A wonderful screenplay, based on a true story, brings this heart-breaking story of despair, homelessness and redemption to brilliant life.

Grade: A.

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In this riveting naval drama, a trigger-happy nuclear submarine captain, played by Gene Hackman, is relieved of his command by his executive officer (Denzel Washington). With palpable tension and a real sense of danger, this action thriller delivers a white knuckle ride, a brilliant cast, and a focused screenplay.

Grade: A.

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A gaggle of high school kids and other assorted miscreants fret about their lives, relationships, and social engagements in this aimless cacophony of alien abductions, freaky costume parties, and acid trips. An insane menagerie of characters engage in a dizzying variety of sexual entanglements, suicides, and otherwise completely inexplicable behaviors.

Grade: D.

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A group of Vermont Highway Patrol officers attempt to save their station from impending budget cuts by solving a crime, in competition with the local police. This hilariously irreverent comedy pits two groups of vicious pranksters against each other, each attempting to thwart the opposing side with increasingly ridiculous hijinks.

Grade: A-.

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Rose, played by Laura Dern, is a young woman sent to live with the Hillyer family to avoid falling into a life as a prostitute. Despite her sweet innocent demeanor, her raging sexuality shocks the family. This engaging picture is built on a solid script and Oscar-nominated acting performances.

Grade: B+.

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Donald Sutherland leads a star-studded cast in this drama about a school teacher caught up in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. This picture, based on a novel by André Brink, features brilliant acting performances, including sublime supporting work by Marlon Brando, against a starkly real African backdrop.

Grade: B+.

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Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter play an odd couple who can’t have a baby, so they concoct a plan to kidnap one of the members of a local quintet, the son of a business tycoon. The Coen Brothers direct this hilarious dumb criminal caper with a very well-written script.

Grade: B.

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Leo Fang, a software engineering manager, gets passed over for a promotion at work and reacts by taking his entire family on a long-promised trip to Beijing. This obscure drama explores the members of the extended family across time and culture and, despite some goofiness, delivers an understanding message.

Grade: C+.

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Jon Favreau stars in this strange thriller about an out of work actor hired to deliver a package to a cowboy in the middle of nowhere. With a real palpable sense of danger and suspense at every turn and a cast of big stars, this obscure flick is worth seeing.

Grade: B.

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This engrossing documentary chronicles the assembly of A Great Day in Harlem, an iconic photograph of jazz musicians on a sidewalk in New York City. The filmmaker got the back story from living musicians in the photograph, relatives of the photographer and late musicians from the picture, and other historians.

Grade: A-.

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