NPR People: Mark Jenkins

In Mother, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho turns in a taut mystery about a woman who takes it upon herself to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in the effort to prove her son's innocence — and ends up uncovering much more than she bargained for.

Stolen is a small-time mystery-thriller about two men who struggle to find out the truth about their kidnapped sons. First-time director Anders Anderson tells a heartfelt tale, but critic Mark Jenkins says it feels inauthentic.

Filmmaker Kimberly Reed — born Paul McKerrow — documents her return to the Montana town she grew up in, and the estranged adopted brother she left behind. Prodigal Sons chronicles Reed's reunion with the friends who once knew her as Paul, but the focus is on her effort to reconnect with her brother — and on his own extraordinary transformations.

An Indian melodrama set mostly in the U.S., My Name Is Khan transplants Bollywood's audacious style and brazen sentimentality to Hollywood's America. The movie features a hero who could have ambled out of Forrest Gump, and even takes "We Shall Overcome" as its musical theme.

Think werewolves are sweet, sexy protectors? Think again, gentle Twilight fan: The Wolfman wants to rip your throat out. Critic Mark Jenkins says Joe Johnston's retro-horror spectacular has some old-school strengths — and a few glaring weaknesses.

Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times — and set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to Watergate, a president's resignation and an end to the war in Vietnam. Filmmakers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith explain why they were drawn to him for their Oscar-nominated documentary.

In their Oscar-nominated feature, documentarians Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich explore the anti-war awakening of Daniel Ellsberg, the former Marine and military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Critic Mark Jenkins says it's an unexpectedly gripping account of a pivotal episode in an explosive era.

The greedy French ruling class gets a good thrashing in District 13: Ultimatum, a gravity-taunting sequel to Pierre Morel's 2004 actioner District B13. But as anyone who saw the first movie would expect, the physical kicks are a lot more convincing than the political jabs.

A Palestinian suicide bomber becomes just another outcast in a shabby Tel Aviv neighborhood in this Israeli fable of cross-cultural empathy. Director Dror Zahavi doesn't go so far as to contrive a happy ending — but he does put an awfully cheerful spin on conflicts that don't usually inspire much optimism.

Avery Klein-Cloud doesn't come from your typical American family, which is probably why director Nicole Opper made a documentary about it. Distanced from her African-American heritage and drawing away from her Jewish adoptive moms, the track star spirals into an identity crisis — which ultimately raises more questions than Opper's film answers.

A young Parisian's report of an anti-Semitic attack snarls her family and friends in a web of lies and public outrage. Critic Mark Jenkins says Andre Techine's film, based on an actual event, is a freewheeling, expansive take on the many ways people miscommunicate. (Recommended)

Dusty, dark and with its fair share of firearms, the Denzel Washington vehicle follows a lonesome pilgrim on a holy quest. But for all its Old Testament dread, it's finally just another Hollywood hymn to a loner and his guns.

Hollywood's dweeb prince plays against type in Youth in Revolt, a deadpan comedy based on a cult novel. But because his nebbishy character invents a bad-boy alter ego to get the girl, Cera also plays the type he usually plays against — and Youth becomes a dual-role showcase with a divided soul, half Juno cute, half Year One dumb.

Something is amiss in the German village of Eichwald, and the problem isn't an isolated one: The White Ribbon is a film from Cache director Michael Haneke, so the something that's wrong is, well, everything. (Recommended)

If our storytelling styles suggest the way we see the world, Terry Gilliam's view is a true blur of fantasy and reality. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus leads audiences through a cramped contemporary London and into worlds of open, crystalline fantasy, and if the narrative gets a little knotty, Gilliam's eye-teasing, mind-tickling tale is worth the wild ride.