ORLANDO, Fla. - All those years since "Ice Age" and "Robots," you'd figure Chris Wedge had retired on the "Scrat" bucks he and Blue Sky Animation pulled in from that saber-toothed squirrel.

There's a school of writing that holds that even the most ordinary lives, deeply and thoughtfully observed, can be rendered into art. Another theory suggests that some movies so defy convention as to be graded on the curve as far as things like dialogue and incident and actual drama are concerned.

American movies are faring well this year in Cannes, with the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" holding on to the No. 1 spot in the competition for the Palme d'Or, according to a poll of critics compiled by Screen International. Set in 1960s Greenwich Village, "Davis" focuses on a struggling folk singer who's a predecessor of Bob Dylan.

DETROIT - What did the stars of "The Hangover Part III" do with their free time on the set? Just your average sarcasm-driven male bonding, according to Zach Galifianakis.

The line between "cute" and "cutesy" is violated, repeatedly, in the sometimes funny, often cloying comedy "The English Teacher." We're treated to the rare talents of Julianne Moore in a gently predictable "dark" comedy sprinkled with the most adorably heavy handed flourishes.

What is the statute of limitations on "Planet of the Apes?"

ORLANDO, Fla. - Normally, you work your way into the off-the-wall questions with movie stars. But with Josh Hutcherson, the big one is just hanging there, demanding to be asked:

Everywhere in the culture, there's another monologuist or filmmaker placing herself at the center of a question, or a series of questions: What's up with my family? How did I get here? How can one charismatic family member hold so many secrets?

"Black Rock" pits three women, camping on a remote island off the coast of Maine, against a trio of U.S. Army veterans back from messed-up tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is where we find ourselves with the legacy of America's Iraq invasion: Apparently enough years have passed, coinciding with the proper quota of well-meaning screen portrayals of psychologically and / or physically damaged military personnel, so that a movie just out for a jolt or two can go the "crazed Vietnam vet" route with impunity. But with a more recent war.

MINNEAPOLIS - Michael Shannon has quietly become one of the most interesting and original actors of his era. Climbing a ladder of indie gems, he's established himself as the natural heir to Christopher Walken, but with a jolt of broad-shouldered menace. He can take your head off in roles as diverse as Ashley Judd's deranged lover in "Bug" or glam-rock enfant terrible Kim Fowley in "The Runaways."

The protagonist of "Simon Killer" wanders the streets of Paris alone, often shot from the back so we see what he sees, the City of Lights never having looked this seedy and dangerous and menacing. Simon (Brady Corbet) has just graduated from college and broken up with his longtime girlfriend, so he decides to take a European vacation and clear his head. France is his first stop. He'll stay there a lot longer than he anticipated.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Few personal documentaries can boast of the sort of notices the Canadian actress / director Sarah Polley has earned for her film "Stories We Tell." This dissection of her family history - her actor father, the actress / casting director mother who died when Sarah was 11, the secret that they kept from her - plays like "a mystery uncovered like a detective story, wrapped in a love letter," raves The New York Daily News, a film informed by Polley's own "deep sense of personal ethics." (New York Times).

Everywhere in the culture, there's another monologuist or filmmaker placing herself at the center of a question, or a series of questions: What's up with my family? How did I get here? How can one charismatic family member hold so many secrets?

Well, at least the credits to "Black Rock" showed promise.

Just once, it'd be nice if the couple fleeing from a trigger-happy hit man through, say, a crowded hospital, would yell out - "Run for your lives!" And if the hospital's in Belgium, say, it'd be nice for them to yell it in French.

ORLANDO, Fla. - At some point as she was hitching up her fishnet stockings and having her lips painted bee-sting bright to play the working class tart Myrtle in "The Great Gatsby," Isla Fisher had an attack of conscience.

Canadian actress ("Splice") turned director ("Away From Her") Sarah Polley engages in a bout of navel gazing with her new documentary, "Stories We Tell." It's about her late mother, and she assembles her siblings and other relatives and family friends for "an interrogation," as they recollect their memories of her in building a sometimes contradictory portrait of a woman who died when Sarah was a child.

ADMISSION 2 1/2 stars. Tina Fey stars as a Princeton admissions officer, Paul Rudd is a hippie-dippie progressive school head lobbying for one of his students, in this odd mix of romantic comedy, improbable soap and Ivy League satire. 1 hr. 57 PG-13 (sex, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea

Director J.J. Abrams proved with 2009's "Star Trek" that it is OK to boldly go where others had gone before, as long as the journey is exciting, original, entertaining and respectful to legions of loyal fans. His film, which found the balance between reprising and reimagining, was a direct hit.