IFC Films

CHICAGO – In “Liberal Arts,” the magical new film written and directed by Josh Radnor, characters have conversations that are actually worth listening to about subjects that are actually worth discussing. It reminds viewers of just how flat and perfunctory movie dialogue can become when it only serves to move along the plot.

CHICAGO – The comedian with the tough-to-pronounce name, Mike Birbiglia, hits the next stage with a new film based on his one man show, “Sleepwalk with Me.” Produced and co-written by Ira Glass of “This American Life,” the story of the serious subject of a sleepwalking disorder creates both mordant laughs and poignant moments.

CHICAGO – It’s exciting to witness a breakthrough with a new film artist. The comedian Mike Birbiglia has adapted his one-man show, “Sleepwalk with Me,” into a movie, and the result is a naturalistic performance piece that plays both like a documentary and Woody Allen’s during the “Annie Hall” period. Birbiglia gets a little help from some friends like Lauren Ambrose, Kirsten Schaal, Wyatt Cenac and Amy Schumer.

CHICAGO – Sarah Bolger is a truly lovely actress. She delivered one of the best child performances of all time in Jim Sheridan’s 2002 family drama, “In America,” and over the last decade, has blossomed into a real screen beauty. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time before the actress starts getting offered projects more worthy of her abilities. No one this lovely should be sentenced to a film as dreary as “The Moth Diaries.”

CHICAGO – Graphic violence is a double-edged sword. It can shock viewers into acknowledging the tragic nature of carnage so often belittled in mainstream cinema, yet it can also repel viewers straight out of the theater before the end credits roll. Ben Wheatley’s “Kill List” is far from the most violent film in recent memory, but its few instances of onscreen bloodshed are unbearably savage.

CHICAGO – The art of the confinement thriller is tricky to perfect. If it’s done right, the audience will feel trapped within the suffocating confines of a prison, while their heart rate will move at the same pace as that of the onscreen victim. Yet since the world of the film is limited to such a small space, one misstep will cause the entire experience to crumble in an instant.

CHICAGO – Apocalyptic dramas are a dime a dozen these days, and it’s not difficult to determine why. While the Mayan calendar has singled out the specific day of our demise, record-breaking temperatures have caused some to worry that the planet has indeed reached its final act. Neither of these theories may be true, but that hasn’t stopped them from permeating our collective consciousness.

CHICAGO – Transitions are one of the juiciest themes to have in a film, as a character or circumstance takes a path from one way-of-life to another. Director Michael Winterbottom has created “Trishna,” a story based on a 19th Century British novel, but woven into the present day India. Frieda Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”) stars as the title character.

CHICAGO – The characters in a Lynn Shelton movie live relatively content lives until an unexpected event ruptures their sense of self. A self-absorbed writer awakens to the fact that he’s been a terrible friend in “My Effortless Brilliance.” Two heterosexual buddies test the boundaries of their relationship by attempting to film a porno together in “Humpday.”

CHICAGO – Jane Fonda portraying an aging hippie seems like a slam dunk. She was a 1960s hippie at one time, right? Well, it’s obvious she wasn’t the type of hippie personified in “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding,” co-starring Catherine Keener and Elizabeth Olsen. Nobody was that type of of hippie.