There’s a great short film nestled inside of “Killing Them Softly,” namely the two scenes between mob enforcer Jackie (Brad Pitt) and Mickey (James Gandolfini), the out-of-town hit man Jackie has hired to take care of a problem within the organization.

And while these two scenes aren’t the only parts of the movie that work, the occasional moments of brilliance are far outweighed by the constant references to 2008’s economic collapse and bank bailout. Having the radio or TV report this news once or twice to make a point about organized crime and capitalism? Fine. Shoehorning it into the film a dozen or so times?...

Everybody, relax: According to the new remake of “Red Dawn,” there will still be ample opportunities for Pepsi and Subway product-placement opportunities even after the North Koreans invade our shores.

Good thing, too, because this is a movie that requires a caffeinated audience.

The 1984 edition of “Red Dawn” played upon Cold War–era paranoia about the Soviet Union, with whom we’d never engaged on the battlefield, even though they were our national Big Bad.

That film imagined a Russian invasion of Colorado, with high-school jocks going commando and becoming freedom fighters.

It’s a little...

Hardcore art-house enthusiasts might remember the 2003 documentary “The Five Obstructions,” in which Lars von Trier has his friend and mentor Jørgen Leth remake one of Leth’s own films several times with different challenges involved. (Shoot it in Cuba with no set and no shot that lasts longer than 12 frames, film it as a cartoon, etc.)

Writer-director David O. Russell (“The Fighter,” “I Heart Huckabee’s”) returns to the big screen with “Silver Linings Playbook,” and his triumph seems all the more miraculous given a set of obstructions that even von Trier might have found excessively difficult:

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You may have never heard of Sean Baker, but he’s one of the most astute and least sentimental chroniclers of life on the fringes working in film today. His earlier films “Prince of Broadway” and “Take Out” dealt with immigrants hustling to make a living in a wintry, bustling New York City.

With “Starlet,” he shows that his aesthetic works just as well in the sun-bleached San Fernando Valley.

That’s where Florida transplant Jane (Dree Hemingway, daughter of Mariel) lives with her dog, Starlet, and two somewhat unsavory housemates, Melissa (Stella Maeve) and Mikey (James Ransone). At a yard...