To fill out the full-length documentary, Herzog interviewed a variety of oddball characters, including a pelt-wearing, bone-flute-playing enthusiast named Wulf Hein (left). Marc Valesella/IFC Films hide caption
Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.
Movie Reviews
Thursday
Honor among 'Assassins': A one-time student (Tsuyoshi Ihara, left) and a young warrior-in-training (Masataka Kubota) join the former's teacher, Shinzaemon, in a quest to rid 19th-century Japan of a sadistic warlord. Magnet Releasing hide caption
Small fish, big pond: Stan Herd (John Hawkes) arrives in Manhattan ready to win over Donald Trump's company, literally mortgaging his future to build an "earthwork" on a plot of Trump-owned land. Shadow Distribution hide caption
To Russia With Kvetching: Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal faced a bevy of cultural obstacles — including a live audience barred from laughing — when he tried to adapt his show's brand of middle-class humor for Russian television. Nicholas Weissman/Samuel Goldwyn Films hide caption
Forever Young: Although he wears a smirk borrowed from notable screen punks, Jesse (Thomas McDonell) shows his romantic colors after warming up to resident perfectionist Nova (Aimee Teegarden). Richard Foreman Jr./Walt Disney Pictures hide caption
Friday
Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin plays Jeanne Marwan, a math instructor who goes on a grim scavenger hunt to piece together her mother's life, in director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the play Incendies by Quebec writer Wajdi Mouawad. Sabrik Hakeem/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption
Thursday
Trainer Wreck: A bereaved circus veterinarian (Robert Pattinson) and a performer (Reese Witherspoon) with an abusive husband are brought closer by their shared affection for an animal colleague in Water for Elephants. David James/20th Century Fox hide caption
Peter Pandemonium: As Sino-Japanese tensions escalate after World War I, Donnie Yen's Chen Zhen flies (and kicks, and rolls) in the face of many a peril in Legend of the Fist. Variance Films hide caption
The Secret Lives Of Mothers: After the death of the widowed Nawal Marwan (Lubna Azabal), her adult children slowly discover the bitterness of her childhood in a country plagued by endless cycles of violence. Sony Pictures Classics hide caption
Twilight, It's Not: Martin (Connor Paolo) struggles to survive after his family is massacred by vampires, but he soon learns that other predators — including a religious fundamentalist cult — may be more dangerous in the wild. IFC Films hide caption
Triggermen: Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe, right) and Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch) are two of the four combat photographers who made a name for themselves as the Bang Bang Club. Marcus Cruz/Tribeca Film hide caption
Wednesday
Chile's Atacama Desert — the driest place on Earth, and home to both sophisticated observatories and the sober memories of a military regime's abuses — is both subject and setting in Nostalgia for the Light. Icarus Films hide caption
Thursday
Until proven guilty: Charged with treason and tried by a military tribunal in the Lincoln assassination plot, Confederate sympathizer Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) is defended in court by former Union soldier Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy). Claudette Barius/Roadside Attractions hide caption
Dating Game: Marie (Melanie Thierry) is doe to the stags of three French noblemen who vie for her affection — even after her father marries her off to a fourth suitor. Etienne George/IFC Films hide caption
Life was 'Beautiful': A carefree mother (Micaela Ramazzotti, center), an angry father and the string of men who succeed him make for a chaotic childhood for Bruno (Giacomo Bibbiani, right) and his sister Valeria (Aurora Frasca). Palisades Tartan hide caption