You know it’s been a particularly great year when choosing a top ten is this hard. 2011 was kind of a bore. My favorite movie of that year, “50/50,” wouldn’t even make my top 10 this year. It may...

After seeing “Cloud Atlas,” the new film by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, a number of people asked me what it was about, but I was at a loss for words. “Cloud Atlas” is one...