You know what an audience-friendly film is. It tells a story that engages you about characters you can like and root for. Yet those films -- movies that seek to tell a story that uplifts or inspires -- often get short shrift from critics for that reason alone.

Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" went through a number of pre-production changes, from its cast (Jeremy Renner was originally tapped to play Freddi...

One of the best films of the year, it's almost a shame to see The Master in your home rather than in gorgeous 70mm in a movie theater.

As you probably remember, Joaquin Phoenix has feelings about awards season. "I think it's bulls--t," Phoenix said to Elvis Mitchell during an inter...

These films are all very good if not great. Either they didn't quite make my 'favorite of the year' list or they aren't the kind of thing that belongs on a traditional best-of-year list (you'll see which ones I'm referring to).

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.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) handed out its 2012 awards on Sunday and "Amour" was a surprise choice for Best Picture. "The Master,...

Joaquin Phoenix is in the process of reconciling with the Academy Awards, after previously calling the race to win one "bulls--t." Phoenix, who is on ...

Five weeks ago, most Oscar experts polled by Gold Derby believed Silver Linings Playbook was out front to win Best Picture, followed by Lincoln in second place. Since then, the forecasts have changed radically.

The Avengers. Joss Whedon deserves some kind of award for turning what could have been the clunkiest superhero-supergroup spectacle since Fantastic Four into a razor-sharp, bullet-fast fun-fest, but they don't give Oscars for that.

The dividing lines have already been drawn -- and continue to be drawn -- about what should or shouldn't be among the year-end awards contenders. And the biggest line, of course, has to do with The Master.

While many want The Master to be an assault on what they see as a kooky and possibly dangerous cult, I'm not convinced that The Master is or has to be about more than its two main characters struggling and ultimately failing to make themselves whole.

The Master, while also ponderous, complex, intriguing and likely to win Oscars, stands out as a profound, artistic saga brought to seething life by performances so startling they stayed with me for days afterwards.

The director offers up some odd ensemble scene where Hoffman does a cutesy song and dance routine before a group of sycophants where most of the women are completely naked, making one wonder how they were motivated to strip while the men remain modestly clothed.

In its intelligent, chilly essence, Paul Thomas Anderson's film is an intense, eye-to-eye war between two different yet interdependent psyches.

This is not a feel-good movie. But it is a master class in acting. It is a haunting fictional story that is all too true. As with great writing, it takes us into the labyrinth of human nature, rife with emotional hunger, desperation and rage.