The latest portrait of glorified visionary painter Rembrant van Rijn and his masterpiece “Night Watch” leaves the preeminent master shrouded in as much gloom as his painting, which was discovered dim and defaced after his death, yet it frames the mystery behind how each is recognized as a blockbuster of the artsy world.

“Pathology” is a nasty, naughty little film, a delightfully disagreeable horror-thriller about a group of medical students who engage in unusual extracurricular activities.

Whatever happened to Al Pacino? In “The Godfather,” at the age of 32, he dominated with a glare, a stare and a buttoned lip.

“Vantage Point” is proof that a good pulp idea can overcome a multitude of sins, but not all of them. Initially intriguing and energetic, this film ends up demonstrating that a good script needs to be more than a clever concept and fine direction must be more than moving things fast.

The most arresting and informative moment in “The Kingdom” comes early — during the opening credits. A breathless series of high-contrast and highly stylized graphics relates the history of Saudi Arabia from its inception in 1932 to its modern-day role as the world’s leading producer of oil and religious extremists.

Ang Lee’s Chinese-language erotic espionage thriller “Lust, Caution” takes place in backrooms and bedrooms. Much of the action unfolds around the mahjong table and consists of stolen glances, innuendo-laden dialogue and significant pauses. This goes on for well over two hours, with the pace varying from slow to slower.

Better doesn’t mean good. So just because “Resident Evil: Extinction,” the third and purportedly last installment in the videogame film franchise, marks a major improvement upon the last outing, don’t go rushing to theaters just yet.

Just in case you missed this month’s “Rogue Assassin” and “Death Sentence,” both slick but ultimately shallow revenge fantasies that ran up the body count to prove the point that violence begets more violence, along comes “The Brave One” to reiterate the lesson with all the subtlety of a bullet to the head.

The story behind the making of “The Invasion” provides more thrills and contains more twists and turns than the finished product. According to press reports, this reworking of the seminal science-fiction novel “The Body Snatchers” suffered through rewrites and casting woes before it even started lensing and then, after the picture wrapped, its original director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, got the boot and was replaced by a hired gun, who proceeded to reshoot many of the scenes.

A suburbanite’s innermost fears — that the next door neighbor has something to hide and that someone, somewhere is watching — are realized in “Disturbia,” a deft, topical thriller that does a better than average job at delivering the goods.