About a ‘Boy’ with a past
As its ex-con protagonist with a notorious past experiences the everyday blips and occasional bangs of a constructive new life in a society that deems him evil, “Boy A” tells a story too compellingly human to be anything but engrossing. But plot contrivances and an excessive attempt to reap sympathy for the title character significantly weaken this Brit-gritty drama.

Serviceable ‘X-Files’ stands alone
Even in the estimation of its ardent followers, “The X-Files” has rarely been a model of consistency, if only because creator Chris Carter’s vision is so audaciously complex that it sometimes collapses beneath the weight of its own ambition.

Reviews: ‘Brideshead Revisited’ not worth return trip
“Brideshead Revisited,” the 1945 Evelyn Waugh opus that inspired the memorable 1981 miniseries, is now a feature film — a fine idea if only it had done something broader, bolder or deeper with Waugh’s story about class, freedom, duty, faith and the alluring nature of messed-up rich folk.

Streep saves ‘Mamma Mia!’
In the dippy warp of anti-renaissance that was the 1970s, ABBA thrived, and, via fare such as “Mamma Mia!” — a new movie based on the play — the defunct pop supergroup continues to unleash its too-catchy songs on the world. Shift your mind-set into fluff mode, and this film should mildly satisfy. But an unoriginal, uneven presentation of the songbook and the sunshine hampers things considerably.

A thrilling ‘Dark Knight’
Even if “The Dark Knight” didn’t represent Heath Ledger’s swan song, it would mark a high point in the late actor’s career. Ledger’s accent has sometimes sounded geographically challenged when he’s been asked to abandon his native Australian one, but here he reinvents himself entirely, trading in his authoritative baritone for a nasal snarl worthy of a sadistic jester.