Justin Chang

In Chris Rock’s film, Rosalind Eleazar gives a tremendous performance as a fast-fading TV veteran with a talent for acting, singing, and self-sabotage.

In Cristian Mungiu’s drama, a family of conservative Christian immigrants in Norway collide with the progressive values of the European welfare state.

In Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s conceptually elaborate apocalyptic farce, hectoring satire and visual sublimity fight to a draw.

A dazzling, wolfish performance from Robert Pattinson anchors Lance Oppenheim’s period piece about the rise and fall of a reality-TV host.

In Paul Greengrass’s dramatization of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the imperatives of historical re-creation and hyperkinetic action filmmaking fight each other to a draw.

In Na Hong-jin’s monster movie, violent small-town comedy and big-budget Hollywood imperialism collide.

In David Robert Mitchell’s film, starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, a family is endangered not only by dinosaurs but also by the director’s penchant for Spielbergian nostalgia.

Dave Green’s film about Wile E. Coyote’s quest for compensation sounds a note of zany triumph, having escaped, Road Runner-like, Warner’s attempt to cancel it.

The protagonists of two films, an Anthony Bourdain bio-pic and a drama about a neglected poet, find themselves struggling with their writerly destinies.

In Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s historical drama, a series of puzzling crimes at a besieged fortress yields even more confounding questions about faith, war, and leadership.

In Gregg Araki’s film, a B.D.S.M. workplace relationship opens up a cross-generational debate about carnal mores.