Jackie Potts

Girls Town is a volatile little urban drama spiked with a dose of feminist outrage. [20 Sep 1996, p.6G]

How to quadruple your fun: stay home. [17 July 1996, p.2D]

Mild and unassuming, the movie gleans its modest charm from Clooney and Pfeiffer's chaste flirtation, much like Doris Day and Rock Hudson did 40 years ago: There are no hot-blooded boudoir scenes here. Like its sensible co-stars, One Fine Day has both feet firmly planted on terra firma. [20 Dec 1996, p.6G]

With Little Buddha, Bertolucci moves from political themes to religious phenomena. But despite his obvious care and moments of great visceral beauty, Little Buddha never quite captivates your imagination. It's a pretty but hollow bauble. [25 May 1994, p.E2]

Your basic, humdrum love story, Hollywood-style...The movie's soundtrack provides the most entertainment. Classic Elvis tunes such as Love Me Tender, Are You Lonesome Tonight and (You're the) Devil in Disguise plus others sung by Billy Joel, Amy Grant, Bryan Ferry, Dwight Yoakam and other contemporary pop and country stars keep the film groovin' -- but not enough to make this a Honeymoon worth remembering. [28 Aug 1992, p.G5]

It's cultural fast food delivered in a quick, painless package for the shrinking attention span of the MTV generation. [17 Aug 1992, p.C6]

But like Burton's films, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm also has a distinctly dark, lurid feel to it. Consider a love scene in which a playful wrestling match between Bruce and Andrea turns to open-mouthed smooching and then cuts to a satisfied- looking Andrea, wearing Bruce's shirt and little else. We've seen this gimmick before, although here it seems even more desperate.Could Batmania have finally run its course? [31 Dec 1993, p.G5]

In chronicling Sutcliffe's story, Backbeat smashingly re- creates the Beatles' embryonic years. [04 Feb 1994, p.G19]

A marvelous feature-length cartoon with handsome illustrations and sweeping musical numbers that rival Disney's own, it's a promising debut from Rich Animation Studios, founded by former Disney director Richard Rich (The Fox and the Hound) and a team of Mouse Factory refugees. [18 Nov 1994, p.4]

The Best Intentions is more plodding than Bergman's earlier works, but its characters are sympathetically and richly drawn. It succeeds as a macabre family portrait. [02 Oct 1992, p.G4]

Writer-director E. Max Frye (Something Wild) strives for social satire but clogs his script with dopey characters and old Archie Bunker one-liners. [06 Mar 1993, p.E3]

As summer fare goes, Fluke is a shaggy surprise -- the most winning dog-meets-girl love story yet. [02 Jun 1995, p.4G]

Derivative and lead-footed, Trapped in Paradise is another addle-brained comedy that portrays small-town folk as inbred, backwoods hillbillies who wear funny hats with ear flaps. Writer-director George Gallo, who penned Midnight Run and Wise Guys, tries to shoehorn holiday cheer into the formula, with stifling results. [02 Dec 1994, p.G5]

Stupid and exploitive, the movie is loaded with cartoonish gunplay, car chases and strange allusions to The Godfather. This is an offer you'll gladly refuse. [06 Nov 1996, p.5D]

Sorry, folks, but he just looks too much like one of the Fruit-of-the-Loom guys. [7 June 1996, p.7G]

Sommersby simply lacks momentum and sense. [05 Feb 1993, p.G5]

Like most epics, it's vast, preposterously ambitious and destined for greatness -- a sort of Chinese Gone With the Wind. [29 Oct 1993, p.G5]

Wisely, this fast-paced movie has enough colorful characters and rollicking gags to keep the tykes from getting bored. [10 Apr 1995, p.5C]

From this, we can safely assume that Schaeffer is a nag and a pest, though after two films we still have little proof that he's a capable director. [8 March 1996, p.7G]

Spooky and intricately detailed. [10 Nov 1993, p.E1]

Wood's disarmingly funny performance paired with Reiner's irreverent gags make North a fun, harmless trip. [22 Jul 1994, p.G4]