James Berardinelli

An engaging and powerful motion picture, every bit the equal of Merchant Ivory's best work, and certainly the most emotionally-wrenching tale they have brought to the screen.

Room is honest and challenging but it’s more uplifting than one might expect from a film with such a horrific backstory.

The strength of Anatomy of a Fall comes from its willingness to embrace ambiguity and a lack of closure in ways that intrigue (rather than frustrate) the viewer.

Nebraska is a rambling affair. It's about characters and dialogue. There's not much of a narrative to speak of - this is even more minimalist than "About Schmidt" or "Sideways."

Odd, playful, and sweet. It equates the boiling point of water for hot chocolate with the height of passion. With occasional surrealistic fantasy sequences interspersed between the commonplace goings-on of regular lives, the film weaves a subtle spell of enchantment -- until a disappointing conclusion.

Whatever social statement Ordinary People was making about its time has evaporated during the intervening years, leaving behind an open, honest drama lacking the emotional punch that would make it unforgettable today. Ordinary People should be devastating, but it's not. By any standards, it's still a good movie, but three decades have stripped away any pretense of greatness. [21 Feb 1999]

Co-writers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller bring their trademarked unconventional approach to the story and that helps the movie stand-out in what is quickly becoming a wasteland of superhero sameness. But it’s tough to call Across the Spider-Verse “great” without seeing whether the final chapter sticks the landing or falls on its sword.

Revealed in unforgettable fashion by a capable director, the events that unfold in this film are not easily forgotten.

While this curious clash between a near-modern setting and the much older source material might seem confounding, it actually serves to energize the play, as well as making it more palatable to present-day audiences.

One of my problems with Black Narcissus is that I never found the characters credible. I didn’t believe any of them and their interpersonal conflicts contrived and artificial.

It is a rich and challenging motion picture that both affirms life and emphasizes its fragility. Eastwood touches our hearts and energizes our minds without resorting to overt manipulation.

This isn’t a “big picture” movie in that doesn’t seek to answer questions that are beyond its limited scope but, within the parameters established by Kennedy and his writers, it leaves few stones unturned.

With Rebecca, he (Hitchcock) illustrates an aptitude for crafting not only psychological terror but drama and romance.

Isn't just an expose of the porn industry -- it's a provocative and involving character study, as well.

Cholodenko, whose previous features include the pretentious "High Art" and the sudsy "Laurel Canyon," pitches The Kids Are All Right at right level - there's enough light comedy to leaven the melodrama and keep it from becoming overbearing.

The Big Sleep remains one of Hollywood's most intriguing and enduring examples of film noir. It's a movie that every film student should study and every movie lover should watch at least once.

The narrative is presented in a straightforward manner; Soderbergh doesn't employ any unusual chronologies. His style is frank, not quirky, and lends itself to a number of powerful images.

Carrie is just a bad movie, with only Spacek's performance making significant portions of it watchable. And the film has not improved with age. It looks just as cheap, cheesy, and ineptly made today as it did when it was first released.

Lacking even a line of dialogue and using hand-drawn images, The Red Turtle is more about feel and look than narrative. The story is a means to convey illustrations and emotions.

In his long and distinguished career, only his Oscar-winning performance in 1983's “Tender Mercies” was this raw. Duvall becomes Sonny. The energy and passion of a preacher are all present.

This movie is no masterpiece, but it is an electric, colorful production that roasts the media and those obsessed by it over an open flame.

Nobody's Fool is about as sublime a motion picture as is likely to come out of Hollywood. With a structure that contravenes the norm, this film concentrates on character first, letting the plot fall naturally into place. Situations are forced on neither the film's inhabitants nor on those in the audience.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is in fine form as a man teetering on the edge.

There is something special about the production, with its brash, vivid style, indelible performances by movie icons, and bold mixture of violence and comedy, romance and tragedy.

Represents a brave and effective fusion of serious and fantasy elements, and offers two and one-half hours of solid entertainment. Admittedly, there are times when West Side Story strikes a campy or discordant note, but those instances are overbalanced by the more frequent moments when it offers its own brand of cinematic magic.

Has all the right ingredients: a smart script, a likable hero, a dash of romance, more than a touch of comedy, and a lot of fast-paced action.

With Deliver Us from Evil, Berg has been uncompromising in the picture she paints. She pulls no punches and makes no apologies.