Colin Farrell brings a charged thrill to Peter Weir's epic drama about a group of prisoners who escape from a Siberian gulag and walk 4,000 miles to India to secure their freedom. Grade: B.  

Director Ivan Reitman beats 'Friends With Benefits' to the punch, but this Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy fails to connect the dots to create a meaningful picture of life and love in the new social network. Grade: D.  

Channeling the post-slacker comic stylings of Seth Rogen into a heroic fantasy would seem far-fetched even in an alternative reality, and Michel Gondry’s precious indie vision clashes wildly with the CGI-dominated frames of most of the current crop of comic book and graphic novel translations. But it is in these contradictions that 'The Green Hornet' finds its groove. Grade: B.  

The most historic Academy Awards ceremony might well be the one in 1968. The Oscars that year — for the best picture of 1967 — were, in their way, as revealing about the changes sweeping America as the Chicago Democratic Convention. The nominees were two radical takes on American culture, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, as well as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and Doctor Dolittle.  

Movies as cultural events are rapidly becoming relics of the past. It's rare when a new movie can even come close to generating the enthusiasm that greeted old-school epics like 'Gone with the Wind' or relatively new-school blockbusters like 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars.' Home viewing has forever changed the way we watch movies. The essential big-screen theatrical experience has been compromised for the comforts of the couch or the portability of an iPod.  

Each year, the multiplexes offer more translations from page to screen. A quick glance at 2008's literary screen gems features entries from the comic and graphic novel frames ('The Dark Knight'), breezy mass-market reads ('The Ruins') and more serious literary tomes ('Snow Angels'). The resulting films offer audiences the chance to feel like they’ve broadened their horizons, and the meaty roles attract top-notch performers seeking golden gifts from the Hollywood magi.  

The answers aren't all that simple: Everyone wanted to design something in Montreal around the time of Expo '67, and it turns out Mies' colleagues did most of the work. But it's also a beautiful building.  

Richard Jenkins should work more ... or at least be in more films like "The Visitor," a compelling but sometimes preachy look at the hot-button issue of immigration and deportation.  

Were the most recent nominees for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language really the best of the best? At last, the populace at-large can answer that question as said films trickle into the general marketplace. Recently released on DVD, the nominated film from Israel, "Beaufort," details the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Beaufort Castle.  

Ahh, the fall — the temperature is cooler, the air is crisper and the films are better. Several films have already gotten the ball rolling with early Oscar buzz, while others have yet to be tested in the awards season frenzy. Here’s a sampling of what this year’s final months have to offer.