Young filmmaker Ti West has spent the past few years carving out a niche in the world of low budget horror films. In 2009, his 1980s set thriller “House of the Devil” was a mostly successful return to old school slow building satanic horror films, a la “Rosemary’s Baby.” This time around, he seems to be aiming for a more light-hearted and fun jab at the horror genre with “The Innkeepers,” which screened at last year's L.A. Film Festival. The result is an occasionally fun ghost story set in a haunted hotel that doesn’t always hit the mark.

“Declaration of War” (“La guerre est declare”) is the story of a young couple who are suddenly forced to confront a serious illness in their infant son when the child is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The film, directed by Valérie Donzelli, is the personal story of Donzelli, who plays Juliette, and co-writer and co-star Jérémie Elkaïm, who plays Romeo. It is not, however, the film that the filmmakers think they’ve made.

The first few minutes of director Oren Moverman's mature character study, "Rampart," is a jump-cut collage of police officer Dave Brown's taut face scanning Los Angeles from his patrol car (reminiscent of Travis Bickle in Scorsese's "Taxi Driver"). This cop is intense, alert, and readily available for altercations with undesirables. The man lives for a good bloody street fight. He's unrelenting and driven by the possibilities of his vocation.

Everything about Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” was constructed for the awards season. Big names? How about Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock? Character idiosyncrasies? One character does not speak and another may have Asperger Syndrome. Heavy topics? The child protagonist’s father died in the World Trade Center. And yet, the movie falls just shy of such decoration, largely due to some story weaknesses.

“The Ides of March” is a testosterone packed political thriller starring Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. Clooney plays Ohio governor Mike Morris, an ambitious family man and politician who has hired Stephen (Gosling) to be his wunderkind media manager, helping him win the top prize: the White House.

Early on in “Contraband,” the forgettable action “thriller” featuring Mark Wahlberg, you can’t help but notice how much Wahlberg (and his movie wife Kate Beckinsdale) stand out from the rest of the seedy-looking cast. This is a bad thing. We are meant to think that Wahlberg was once the ringleader of a Central American smuggling operation, yet somehow avoided scars, addictions, local eccentricities, and the police? Such dissonance occupies much of this remake of “Reykjavik-Rotterdam,” a 2009 Icelandic film starring “Contraband” director Baltasar Kormákur.

It would usually seem unfair to compare two siblings who are working in the same craft. However, when it comes to the McDonagh brothers and screenwriting, comparisons are hard to avoid. Celebrated playwright and Oscar winner (for the live action short “Six Shooter”) Martin McDonagh made his feature film debut a few years ago with the underrated dark comedy “In Bruges.” His brother, John Michael McDonagh, has now made his first foray into writing and directing with “The Guard,” which played at the L.A. Film Festival. Though their respective films certainly have plenty of differences, there is an undeniable knack for witty dialogue and dark humor that is shared by the brothers in their writing style.

In "My Week with Marilyn,” director Simon Curtis attempts what many before him have tried as well: to capture the “real” Marilyn Monroe, an American icon who remains a fascinatingly elusive phantom some 40 years after her death. Curtis turns in a nuanced film that shows Monroe in a whole new light—not only as the sexy yet innocent, coy yet truthful image she usually represented onscreen, but also as a woman who strived to be a great actress and not just a star.

The Hollywood version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” has been one of the most hotly anticipated movies based on adult pop literature since “The Da Vinci Code.” Director David Fincher, known for past grisly triumphs such as “Se7en” and “Fight Club,” takes on the first entry of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy with unflinching aplomb but struggles a little bit managing the wide cast of suspects surrounding the mystery of a girl who disappeared 40 years ago.

With "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen delivers one of his best films in years, having made a beguiling homage to the City of Lights and the literary greats that lived there in the 1920s.

In "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” it is clear that the team of Robert Downey Jr., Guy Ritchie and producer Joel Silver have completely taken over the playground, delivering an impeccably timed, fun joyride employing equal parts wit and action.

Cult filmmaker, director and mentor of such talents as Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, and Peter Bogdanovich - Roger Corman, is the intoxicating main subject of “Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel,” directed by Alex Stapleton. Stapleton’s ode to the gentleman who made not-so-gentle films such as “Gas-s-s-s,” “The Terror,” “The Raven,” and “Creature from theHaunted Sea” – is simultaneously affectionate and convincing.

At first glance, "Bag It" seems anachronistic: Who doesn’t already know that we shouldn’t use plastic bags? Within minutes, however, we find ourselves falling down the rabbit hole into a world in which plastic is not only far more pervasive than previously suspected but is the number one consumer item in the world.

True objectivity nuanced by inspired artistry can and often does yield illuminating results. Any subject rendered without judgement is allowed its dignity and therefore, regardless of suspect content, elevated. Werner Herzog's wonderful “documentaries” display a spirit and bravery that most filmmakers shy away from. Herzog appears to make his own rules while eschewing conventional narrative. This kind of craftsmanship inevitably sculpts completely unique moments in time.

“The Descendants,” the latest film from Alexander Payne (“Sideways”), is a subtly drawn portrait of the ambiguities which make up real life. Beautifully acted, it doesn’t opt for easy answers and leaves the viewer with at least a few questions.

 J.J. Abrams has made a successful career out of sci-fi and suspense, slating such works as the TV series “Lost” and 2009’s hit “Star Trek,” but in his latest venture, “Super 8,” he pays homage to mentor and producer Steven Spielberg and creates a very memorable and exciting hybrid of “E.T.” and “Cloverfield.” The line between the two very different types of films, however, occasionally has a hard time meshing throughout the 112 minute runtime.

As the indie film circuit grows in popularity, so does the amount of films that feel like they were penned by screenwriters trying to channel their inner film undergrad. While enjoyable, “The Art of Getting By” feels like its title, as the characters never really go any deeper than what is expected of them and the story becomes extremely predictable by the halfway mark.

“30 Minutes or Less” begins with a beat up old Mustang flying through the streets of Grand Rapids with driving that might have made Steve McQueen proud. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie would probably have made him wish he was locked back up in the prison camp from “The Great Escape.”

                              There are times when what is offered up in the title of film, or even its trailer, is nothing more than an illusionist’s trick on audiences. Such is the case with “Another Earth,” a film that had such a unique initial premise, but then becomes a dull, pedantic attempt at character study. What could have been something amazing devolves into a hapless piece regarding emotion and resolve.

Martin Scorsese wants you to love movies and moviemaking like he does, and that is the point of “Hugo,” a meandering film about an orphan who lives in a 1930s French train station. Unfortunately, he also wants you to heap adoration on underappreciated filmmakers, for which he was Exhibit A for 20 years. The latter ultimately makes what is an excellent technical film a self-aggrandizing and wandering story.

The list of filmmakers actively pushing the medium forward is quite short, and continues to slim down as many indie auteurs use their success to hang their hats on predictable studio fare. With “Melancholia,” director Lars von Trier stakes his claim as possibly the most exciting, innovative director of his generation, and he’s just hitting his stride. Casual filmgoers may only know von Trier from the widely quoted Nazi-themed remarks he made at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which saw him banned for life from the fest that launched his career, while he vowed never to do another interview. Here’s hoping that filmgoers soon know him for this film instead, a visually stunning, emotionally arresting masterwork with solid commercial aspirations.

Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, “The Skin I Live In,” is another of his tightly scripted, beautifully shot, brilliantly acted kaleidoscope rides and anyone who loves film and filmmaking should see it.

Imagine watching one of your best high school mates live out your grandest dreams while your life spirals towards obscurity and oblivion. This was the case for Neil McCormick, a talented but ego driven Dublin youth desperate for the success his pal Bono found, and the result is the bittersweet “Killing Bono”, a solid translation of his memoir. Like a bad car wreck, you know how it ends, but the endearing characters and wholly deserved ascension U2 achieved keep you from looking away.

It may be hard to fathom that Brett Ratner, director of the loud and explosion filled “Rush Hour” films and “X-Men: The Last Stand,” could possibly be linked with current world events, but it has happened in his latest action-comedy, “Tower Heist.” That being said, it is certainly mere coincidence that this fast-paced and somewhat entertaining movie could be released during the Occupy Wall Street movement rather than prescience.

"Crazy Stupid Love" is a hilariously funny film that is both smart and wise, in which first-rate actors are given a top shelf script and allowed to do what they do best.

"Is this movie true?” an audience member bellowed during the end credit sequence in Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous,” an Elizabethan costume drama that speculates on an issue that has intrigued academics and writers for centuries, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? And the answer to that question is a resounding…Who knows? Much like many other conspiracy theories there is certainly compelling evidence to build a case, but no one really knows for sure.

                                                                                 The chilly relationship between Russia and the U.S. fed a slew of spy movies through the years, until the toppling of the Berlin Wall and our focus on the Middle East turned our attentions elsewhere. “The Double”, the directorial debut of accomplished screenwriter Michael Brandt starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace does its level best to restoke those fires, with regrettably lukewarm results.

“Rum Diary” is the highly anticipated film adaptation of the novel written by the much worshipped, or at least repeatedly “toasted/toked,” counter-culture journalist/novelist Hunter S. Thompson. Fans of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” will be pleased with the over-the-top, yet inventive, substance abuse antics of its characters and those viewers used to a more conventional plot will be able to follow pleasantly, and coherently, along with its narrative structure.

“This is a true story. Only the facts have been changed.” So opens “The Big Year,” a comedy from David Frankel, director of “Marley & Me” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” If only the tone of the story had been changed as well.

In today’s fiscally challenging times, personal film projects are risky. And, yet, the present creates the perfect timing for films that focus less on big budgets and more so on craftsmanship. Audience segmentation keeps breaking down into cultural microcosms, which means tailoring films for the people who will love your film most makes a great deal of sense. Especially if it’s a quality project like “The Way.”