Practically omnipresent and infinitely versatile, Malcolm McDowell has played, among others, a rebellious private school student, a futuristic sociopath, a degenerate emperor, Michael Myer's nemesis, and the killer of Captain Kirk.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the second entry in the toy-based franchise, featuring Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, and Ray Stevenson facing off the baddies of Cobra in order to make the world safe for... Not sure. Other toys, possibly?

It would be much too easy to dismiss this chatty little flick as a silly study in crackpot speculation. Rather, its well-crafted eloquence succeeds in raising poignant questions that are pertinent to understanding human behavior.

Ostensibly a documentary, it's meant as an eye-opening deconstruction of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Director Rodney Ascher lets a group of obsessives spout off about their theories of what Kubrick really meant. The only thing they don't suggest is that Kubrick is talking to them over the radio.

It was the spring of 1975 and Robert Altman arrived in London with a print of Nashville. The audience was filled with the major players of the British film community.

It was late and chilly on Wardour Street, a good three miles to the flat I was renting in St. John's Wood, yet I desperately needed that walk to get a grasp on the emotions churned up by the film I had just screened.

While The Master, like 2001, has meditative and metaphysical leanings -- areas that tend to unnerve audiences -- it was greeted, unlike 2001, by many rapturous reviews describing its wondrous surprises and consummate craftsmanship.

As a production designer, Sir Ken Adam consistently pushed his imagination to the limits, creating movie sets, each different, as thrilling to look at as the action unfolding up on the screen.

The exhibition has been making the worldwide rounds, from Rome to Melbourne to Hollywood, and the show is always a variation on a theme (for the most part) with the brother and sister involved every step of the way.

David Cronenberg's latest film is Cosmopolis, starring Robert Pattinson and Paul Giamatti: a cautionary tale of 21st-century capitalism, excess, violence, and spiritual lethargy.

For his part, director Paul Verhoeven joyously showcases ultra-violence in Total Recall, sticking it in the audience's face. Indeed, the entire milieu of the film is as downbeat as it is shot through with glee.