R. Leeper) CAPSULE: An American girl from Ohio gets an opportunity to study at a prestigious dance academy in Germany. She jumps at the prospect in spite of being told that the women who

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: A new comedy-drama from Israel is set in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, and it pits the patriarchal, male-dominated traditions against rising

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This film tells the story of writer/journalist/ playwright Stefan Zweig who was a German writer second only to Hermann Hesse in the 1920s and 1930s. The film is a

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This is the story of the lives of a Hollywood couple, Lillian and Harold Michelson, who were the barely-sung heroes of the Hollywood film industry for six decades

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: A woman rescues three young girls from a Cambodian brothel. Police and thugs chase her and the girls across country as she tries to find each child's home and

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This film contains three stories of love and callousness, in each a Greek having a romantic relationship with somebody from another country. The three stories

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This is a film of psychological and paranormal horror. A woman who had a painful childhood years before and who suffers from scary visions returns to live in the house

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Mysterious goings-on go on at an all-girl Catholic school over winter break. The film is shot with an excess of style that got in the way of the coherence. The freezing

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Bringing up memories of the more engaging THE QUIET EARTH (1985), this film concerns a young (American?) couple Jenai and Riley, vacationing in Iceland when nearly

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Teenager Jake is wracked with guilt about her part in the accidental death of her brother Sean. She believes she would do just about anything to get him back. Then

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Dr. Bassem Youssef was a heart surgeon in Cairo who was fascinated by "The Daily Show" and its host Jon Stewart. He quit medicine and started his own satirical

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: KONG: SKULL ISLAND has its share of excitement and effective acting, but the film does not fit with any other Kong film ever made as prequel, sequel or coquel. The

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: ATOMICA is a science fiction mystery set in the near future and involving the last nuclear power plant and two men who operate it. When its communications go off-

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Told in four chapters, this is the grim and painful story of a woman dominated by men on the American frontier. The story is presented in Grand Guignol style with a

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: A company of performers revives the fun and slightly naughty atmosphere of the old burlesque that died about 1940. Theirs is a neo-Burlesque that is having a healthy

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Two friends, recently reunited after years apart, take a road trip to bury a dead woman, currently in the trunk of their car. On the way they come across some really

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: With this Australian production, stage director Simon Stone directs his first feature film, adapting his own modernization and re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen's

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This is a compact little blackmail thriller set in Northern Ireland. Like JD Salinger, Sandy Duffy's reputation is based on one single novel that he wrote decades

R. Leeper) Spoiler alert: The plot cannot be told without a fundamental spoiler. CAPSULE: CLAIRE IN MOTION is a story not really in motion. It might more accurately be labeled CLAIRE

R. Leeper) Let me start out by saying that this year I have not been in a position to see several of the major films. Some of the best of the year I am happy to say are still in my future and not

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This is the story of the early days of the Rebel Alliance that first appeared in the original 1977 Star Wars film. A new young hero is introduced, Jyn Erso (played by

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Desmond Doss was brutally mis-treated in the WWII army because as a religious contentious objector he refused to even touch a gun. He became a medic and then was the

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: To all appearances this is not so much a film as it is a stunt to set a legal precedent. An entire animated film has only fragments of rock songs comprising its audio

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: This is a very low budget dark comedy and science fiction film with some good writing, and a keen sense of irony. It has just basic production values to call attention

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team of Los Angeles is one of only two exclusively animal rescue units in the world and the only one in the United States. Founded

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Jewish-American Deborah Lipstadt accuses Holocaust denier David Irving of lying about the Holocaust and is sued for libel. In spite of some very good acting the

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Twelve alien craft land at apparently random locations on the Earth's surface. This creates a dangerous situation that could lead to a third world war. A linguist

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Bryan Bertino directs a suspenseful horror film about a mother and daughter stranded at night on a deserted road. Their car is besieged by what might be a wounded

R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Japan assesses its relation to the rest of the world and its relation to itself and its culture in a reboot of the classic Japanese series. This is the most serious

R. Leeper) [Note: this review contains minor spoilers.] CAPSULE: Eight or so tourists, each flawed, take the same one-day sightseeing excursion from Amsterdam. When the bus breaks