Lynn Shelton's My Effortless Brilliance is at its best in moments of awkward, intelligent and quirky humor. The precision with the sophomore feature helmer crafts her comic punches hits with such astounding realism that it's only natural to empathize with the sometimes trivial, sometimes dire plights of her much flawed characters. What undermines Shelton's gift for comedy, however, is her penchant for sentiment that rambles itself out into tedium.

At one point in Scott Hicks' Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts, the composer jokes that by blending Western and Eastern sensibilities in music he was creating work so radical that he was often mistaken for an idiot, and in fact at times still is. As Glass laughs off the comment, Hicks' quietly enthralling biodoc blooms into a penetrating study of one man's very specific, very intimate creative process. In thorough although not belabored vignettes, Glass catalogues the composer's identity as child, student, father, husband, collaborator and spiritual seeker. All the parts make up the fabric of his work, and yet each is distinct, even as they interweave.

Read the double review of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski's morally and metaphysically disturbing stop-motion animation Madame Tutli Putli. "The film dives into an existential realm where confusion and curiosity are the force pushing Madame Tutli Putli into an adventure that starts in her mind."

When it comes to film, 'cute' usually reads as derogative, that polite way of saying, "Rent it later." In the case of Pierre Salvadori's peppy romantic-comedy Priceless, 'cute' really is meant as a compliment. With his smart, uplifting tale of gold digger Irène (a fantastically beautiful but horrifying thin Audrey Tautou) and innocent, doe-eyed hotel clerk Jean (Gad Elmaleh), Salvadori hits the funny, sweet chords in a heartwarming and utterly engaging way. Script by Salvadori and Benoît Graffin moves in perfect rhythm, its love story development both comfortable and yet absolutely and joyously suprising.