David Edelstein

How bad is this teacher? Director Jake Kasdan stuffs ineptness and inappropriateness into the lesson plan in equal measure. But critic David Edelstein says that the film's moral turpitude is also the source of its charm.

Cindy Meehl's documentary Buck tells the story of the horse trainer who overcame years of abuse to become the inspiration for the book and movie The Horse Whisperer. Critic David Edelstein says he's never seen a film that so vividly depicts the "link between a trauma and its transmutation."

J.J. Abrams' science-fiction thriller Super 8 was inspired, in part, by Steven Spielberg's earliest works. Critic David Edelstein says the film hits home in a way more impersonal franchise pictures don't.

Ewan McGregor stars in Mike Mills' film about a young man who learns that his 75-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) is gay. Critic David Edelstein says the movie, based on Mills' own life puts the filmmaker in a category alongside Woody Allen and Charlie Kaufman.

Terrence Malick's film, part creation epic and part Oedipal family drama, recently won the Palme d'Or -- the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Critic David Edelstein says reaction to the film has been mixed, but he "recommends the experience unreservedly."

The director's latest comedy stars Owen Wilson as a time-traveling writer who winds up in Paris, in the 1920s, alongside Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Stein. Critic David Edelstein says Wilson's acting is superb -- and the film recalls Woody Allen's earliest days in film.

After six years on Saturday Night Live and many supporting film parts, Kristen Wiig has her first starring role in the romantic comedy Bridesmaids, which has been touted as a Judd Apatow movie for ladies. Critic David Edelstein says it's likely to be a hit with both women and men.

David Edelstein's friends all say they just won't see a Mel Gibson movie. But Edelstein says the actor's new film The Beaver, directed by Jodie Foster, might be worth a look -- if only for a certain cameo appearance.

A trio of rousing adventure flicks -- Fast Five, 13 Assassins and Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen -- all opened this past week. David Edelstein says each one is pretty singular, in its own way.

Incendies is a French-Canadian film that was nominated for a 2010 Academy Award. The title translates as "scorched," and the movie tells the brutal story of a woman who lived through her country's civil war. Critic David Edelstein says it's an extraordinary piece of storytelling.