James Berardinelli

A wonderful motion picture, even given the weaknesses of the source material.

The two most moving scenes require extraordinary performances from supporting players...Forster is as deserving of a supporting actor nomination as anyone I have seen this year.

Unfortunately, along with his determination to burrow into the lead character’s psyche, Oscar-winning Damien Chazelle (whose statuette came for "La La Land") fully embraces the shaky-cam handheld approach.

It's a rousing science fiction story that proves an on-screen adrenaline rush.

While any or all of the events related during the course of the film might seem to form the backbone of an unendurably boring motion picture, everything comes alive because of Poppy.

The acting, especially by the male leads, is superlative.

It's amazing how a lifeless, pointless remake can provoke pangs of nostalgia about a mediocre movie.

Stalag 17, despite often being labeled as one of Wilder's "lesser" films, is a bona fide classic, and an example of how an accomplished director can meld many elements into a workable whole.

This is a powerful tale of crime, guilt, and punishment -- a drama that incorporates elements of whodunit mystery/thrillers and police procedurals with a richly textured three-character play.

The single greatest pleasure of watching this film is seeing great actors reciting Mamet's lines. It's rumored that members of the cast came to the set on days when they weren't scheduled to film so they could watch their fellow stars perform.

The Last Jedi is a film of moments. There are perhaps a half-dozen of them: goose-pimple inducing, fist-pump encouraging, heart-racing bursts of cinematic satisfaction. The problem is that the narrative threads connecting them are lazily knitted and sometimes tangled or broken.

As high camp, Willard might have something going for it, but not as a horror movie.

The problem with the film has little to do with the central triangle, which is engaging enough in a formula-driven way, but with the myriad uninteresting subplots that dot the cinematic landscape and have the unfortunate effect of padding the proceedings to the point of unwieldiness.

Crazy Heart is the country music version of "The Wrestler": a grizzled veteran whose days in the spotlight are behind him struggles to keep going while seeing the world through a haze of regret and booze.

The best pure thriller of 2003 to-date.

While such a loud, brash interpretation may not go down in cinematic history as the definitive version of the play, hopefully it will open a few eyes and widen the audience willing to venture into any movie bearing the credit "based on the play by William Shakespeare."

Local Hero is a fragment of cinematic whimsy - a genial dramatic comedy that defies both our expectations and those of the characters.

The Exorcist's strength is that it places character development on the same level as the horror elements, but it is not a ground-breaking motion picture. It is also too long, with a setup that could have accomplished the job with equal effectiveness in about 2/3 the time. [2000 re-release]

To be sure, A Little Princess has a few missteps. For one thing, Miss Minchin could have been played with less villainy, but younger viewers will probably appreciate the one-dimensional nastiness. There are also a few moments of overt sweetness, but these are easily forgiven. Actually, there's very little this movie has to apologize for -- it's the rare kind of picture that can be enjoyed by viewers of eight, eighteen, and eighty.

This is not the first time Wright has shown his understanding for such things, nor is this the first occasion in which he has displayed a strong sense of comedic timing, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World feels fresher and more inspired than his previous outings, and that makes it an excellent source of late-summer entertainment.

An occasionally maddening and sometimes brilliant motion picture that varies between being insightfully sharp and insufferably self-indulgent. Regardless of whether you appreciate the movie or not, it's likely to stay with you.

It's refreshing to see an old subject dealt with in the open and original manner that The Snapper handles pregnancy. The marriage of humor and drama is admittedly imperfect, but it works well enough to occasionally spawn laughter and touch the heart.

It's a dark, dark comedy that ruthlessly skewers the news industry on a stake, then roasts it alive.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about An American in Paris is that it led directly to the production of Singin' in the Rain. Without the former, there might not have been the latter. Gene Kelly remains one of the best and brightest of the Golden Era musical stars and An American in Paris shows him in fine form. The movie should be remembered for that quality rather than for its questionable Oscar triumph.

The characters are interesting and capture our sympathy and, although there are things to criticize about the final forty-five minutes, it brings the saga to a conclusion. There's a lot to like about The Place Beyond the Pines even if it isn't the feel-good movie of the spring.

There's nothing new or unique about the story, but it is presented in a manner that reinforces its immediacy and impact.

In this impressive debut, Solonz doesn't pull any punches in conveying the side of junior high that "The Wonder Years" never depicted: the naked cruelty that some boys and girls suffer at the hands of their classmates, their teachers, and even members of their own family.

Only now can we truly step back and admire the full tapestry that it has taken George Lucas and his ILM wizards nearly three decades to weave.