Last Train Home ****

Every year 130 million Chinese migrant factory workers embark on a journey to their home villages for the New Year's holiday, trips that are crushingly crowded, and often long. Director / cinematographer / editor Lixin Fan, maker of the beautiful and haunting documentary "Up the Yangtze," here turns his camera on the faces of this huge annual migration, reportedly the largest on earth. As with his previous work on the changing landscape and human toll of the Three Gorges Dam (once again, the largest on earth), Fan concentrated for several years on a single family to tell the story.

Here we have a couple who left their two children more than 10 years ago in the care of a grandmother on their small farm in the hinterland in order to make money in a factory. Their daily life and struggles in a society with no social safety net, and their rebellious now teenage daughter and more studious younger son give us a perspective that is both micro and macro.

As a Canadian Chinese, and as an uncommonly talented cinematographer and story teller, Fan is uniquely equipped to capture this story and present it to us. With China overtaking the U.S. in so many areas, "Last Train Home" provides us with some timely and personal understanding of this emerging superpower.

Not rated. 85 minutes. In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. Lixin Fan - Director / Cinematographer / Editor, Mila Aung-Thwin - Producer, Daniel Cross - Producer, Olivier Alary - Composer, Yung Chang - Editor, Mary Stephen - Editor, Marry Stephens - Editor. Distributed in the U.S. by Zeitgeist Films.

Principal subjects: Changhua Zhang, Yang Zhang, Suqin Chen, Qin Zhang.

Easy A ****

What a funny, charming, smart surprise. This is a high school movie that might be wasted on its core audience, since I suspect adults will get more of a charge from this film than the action movie fan boys and the swooning Twilight-struck pubescent girls who normally populate the mall cineplex. Emma Stone, as the student who augments her status in high school with some salacious (untrue) confessions, and then suffers the consequences, moves up to Emerging Star in "Easy A." With a dead on script, fluid direction, and one of the best supporting ensembles in memory, this is a movie to enjoy, and not just smile, but laugh out loud. I'd see it again.

Rated PG-13. 92 minutes. Will Gluck - Director / Producer, Bert V. Royal - Writer, Zanne Devine - Producer, Michael Grady - Cinematographer, Brad Segal - Composer, Marcia Hinds - Production Designer, Susan Littenberg - Editor. Distributed by Screen Gems.

Principal actors: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Hayden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Fred Armisen.

Life As We Know It **

A mildly amusing, if totally predictable, romantic comedy, with two attractive stars. Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel headline as two single friends of friends whose sudden demise gives them joint custody of the surviving baby. Heigl and Duhamel do have good chemistry on screen, and Duhamel is surprisingly loose and totally charming as the TV sports director matched with Heigl's driven chef and small business owner. There's not much remarkable about the picture, although it's nice to see a movie set in Atlanta that's not by Tyler Perry, even if this movie is as lily white as Perry's are not. The title seems to refer to the change a baby brings, as in life as we know it - is over.

Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Greg Berlanti - Director, Ian Deitchman - Writer, Kristin Rusk Robinson - Writer, Paul Brooks - Producer, Barry Josephson - Producer, Andrew Dunn - Cinematographer, Blake Neely - Composer, Maher Ahmad - Production Designer, Jim Page - Editor. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Principal actors: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas, Christina Hendricks.

The Social Network *****

A superb movie, with outstanding everything, this story of the founding and early years of Facebook is one of the very best of the year. Just remember that this is a work of art, not history, and characters and situations may be altered in the interest of drama. This version is based on Ben Mezrich's book, "The Accidental Billionaires." For another view of what happened, from someone who had full access to the principals, read David Kirkpatrick's "The Facebook Effect."

But back to the movie. The story is framed around depositions of various lawsuits brought by former associates, with flashbacks. Here we have a taut script that tries not to take sides, masterful directing, and uniformly excellent performances. Jesse Eisenberg perfectly embodies the focused but supposedly socially inept (oh, the irony!) super-smart founder/programmer Mark Zuckerberg. You know that there is a lot going on in his head, but he is not afraid to freeze his face to show his distance and lack of connection.

Andrew Garfield, as the friend Eduardo Saverin, whose fault was thinking too small, convincingly captures the frustration of separation and the narrow viewpoint of someone who ultimately didn't get it. But the best of the supporting actors is the surprising Justin Timberlake, whose portrayal of the twice burned founder of Napster, Sean Parker, gives Zuckerberg timely and sage advice about keeping control of his company, but whose lifestyle proves ultimately to be a liability.

At the end of the day it's director David Fincher ("Fight Club," "Se7en,""Zodiac,""The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") who puts it all together, and who, I dare say, should walk away with a golden statuette, as should quite a few of the others involved in this project.

Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. David Fincher - Director, Aaron Sorkin - Writer (screenplay), Ben Mezrich - Writer (book "The Accidental Billionaires"), Dana Brunetti - Producer, Cean Chaffin - Producer, Michael De Luca - Producer, Scott Rudin - Producer, Jeff Cronenweth - Cinematographer, Trent Reznor - Composer, Atticus Ross - Composer, Donald Graham Burt - Production Designer, Kirk Baxter -Editor, Angus Wall - Editor. Distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Principal actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara.

Animal Kingdom *****

A gripping, surprising, frightening, fantastic film, based on a true story, about a young man caught up in a crime family he was born into. Set in present day Melbourne, Australia, 17 year old Joshua (James Frecheville) is thrust back into the family when his mother, estranged from the in-laws, overdoses. Before he gets in too deeply, there is a detective, Leckie (Guy Pearce) who thinks he can save him. But the law of the family is pitiless, self-serving, and raw, and Joshua becomes more and more ensnared in its embrace. "Animal Kingdom" is a low budget Aussie gem, with excellent performances, and a standout portrayal by Jacki Weaver of the family matriarch. Its run in the U.S. is limited, so put it on your rental wait list now.

Rated R. 113 minutes. David Michod - Director / Writer (screenplay), Liz Watts - Producer, Adam Arkapaw - Cinematographer, Anthony Partos - Composer, Josephine Ford - Production Designer, Luke Doolan - Editor. Distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics.

Principal actors: Guy Pearce, James Frecheville, Joel Edgerton, Jacki Weaver.

Patrik Age 1.5 ***

I found this Swedish import about a gay couple being sent a rebellious, 15 year old homophobic teenager for adoption, rather than the 1.5 year old infant they expected (typographical errors happen) interesting, funny, cleverly done, but also a revealing look at Swedish society and attitudes. As in this year's popular fiction phenomenon, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," the remarkable thing about the Sweden we see in these works of art is how much it's like the U.S.

This is not exactly a social paradise. Rapacious corporations, prejudices against women and lesbians and gays, skateboarding teenagers, and rigid right-wing attitudes abound. And even though gay marriage was adopted in Sweden in May 2009, small-town prejudices survive, as this couple finds when they relocate for Sven's first job as the local doctor.

"Patrik Age 1.5" concentrates on the couple, Goran and Sven, and the strains the relocation and botched adoption bring. The path to the end is not easy, and the resolution that does come feels earned, rather than forced. It's a worthy effort, and worth seeing.

Not rated. 103 minutes. Ella Lemhagen - Director / Writer (writer), Michael Druker - Writer (play), Tomas Michaelsson - Producer, Marek Septimus Wieser - Cinematographer, Fredrik Emilson -Composer, Lene Willumsen - Production Designer, Thomas Lagerman - Editor. In Swedish with English subtitles. Distributed in the U.S. by here! Films.

Principal actors: Gastaf Skarsgard, Torkel Petersson, Tom Ljungman, Annika Hallin, Jacob Erickson, Anette Sevreus.

Agora ***

An interesting failure, "Agora" has the elements that should make for a relevant motion picture: a famous woman philosopher and teacher in fourth century Alexandria, Hypatia, whose death at the hands of a Christian mob, which also burned the great library, is generally considered the end of the classical era. Feminism, science versus religion, politics, murderously intolerant religious zealots, cynical politicians - it's all there for the shaping. Unfortunately, this handsome spectacle, with a reported budget of $70M, misses the mark dramatically and historically. The story, one feels, is almost there, but even the luminous Rachel Weisz cannot save this script from its inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and silliness. Still, as a spark to consider the issues raised - Christians as Taliban, anyone? - it offers a new, if ancient, perspective.

Rated R. 127 minutes. Alejandro Amenabar - Director / Writer, Mateo Gil - Writer, Alvaro Augustin - Producer, Fernando Bovaira - Producer, Xaxi Gimenez - Cinematographer, Dario Marianelli -Composer, Guy Hendrix Dyas - Production Designer, Nacho Ruiz Capillas - Editor. A Spanish production, but shot in English. Distributed in the U.S. by Newmarket Films.

Principal actors: Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac.