Kevin Thomas

As a director, Mak must have a remarkable capacity for inspiring a trust in his actors that would permit them to appear in one uninhibited scene after another; to his credit, he never makes fools of them -- and he furthermore gets terrific performances from them in the most potentially embarrassing situations.

The craftsmanship that went into the making of this film has to have been formidable, yet a key part of its enjoyment is its throwaway, unpretentious charm.

Suspenseful and ultimately unpredictable, with a sterling ensemble cast.

An exceptionally touching and provocative love story. [15 January 1999, Calendar, p. F-4]

It's hard to imagine a more serious or persuasive indictment of the horrors inflicted on children by sexual abuse than Mysterious Skin.

A fast, furious and funny fusillade of a movie.

A splendid, unjustly neglected 1973 British film in which Sean Connery, at his very best under Sidney Lumet's direction, plays a veteran police sergeant haunted by years of contact with terrible crimes and on the brink of a total breakdown. [27 May 1990, p.10]

Sprightly and engaging, it unfolds with clarity and makes excellent use of its voice talents, most notably that of Jack Palance as the villainous Rothbart; the colorful witty, familiar menace of his voice allows him to all but steal the show. [18 Nov 1994]

Director Chen Kuo-fu adds a refreshingly wry humor to this view and then deftly throws in some wrenching moments and an ultimately astounding final twist.

Amusingly subversive, thanks to sharp writing and direction, by Mandy Nelson and Francine McDougall, respectively.

A warm, embracing film of transcendent beauty and spirituality.

In regard to Franc. Reyes' engrossing and utterly uncompromising Empire let it be said right at the top that the protean John Leguizamo, last seen as Toulouse-Lautrec in "Moulin Rouge," gives one of the best performances of the year in a lead role in an American movie.

Sobrevivire has a satisfying scope and substance with an appealing blend of warmth, humor and pathos with a dash of tartness.

With his hilarious spoof Die Mommie Die! Charles Busch takes the melodramatic woman's picture of the '40s and '50s to delirious extremes.

Director Wayne Kramer and co-writer Frank Hannah pull off a sleight-of-hand trick here, playing a gritty surface reality against dark Vegas mythology and getting away with it through a combination of shrewd, witty characterization and sure-footed storytelling skills.

Mikkelsen and Kaas are up to the demands of their roles, revealing impressive range and skill.

Everything falls into place and seems exactly right: the brisk tempo, the crisp, witty performances, the slightly sooty touch.

An unalloyed delight, bright and breezy escapist fare that's pure entertainment, filled with romance, adventure, humor, action, suspense, beautiful scenery and beautiful people.

A graceful, affectionate yet clear-eyed portrait of daily Middle America small-town life in which no individuals are interviewed but instead are observed with detachment as they go about their lives.

Mysterious and original.

Desperately Seeking Susan is a lark, an exhilarating celebration of people who have the good sense to be in touch with themselves and with each other.

A stylized work of unflinching control and discipline, reflecting an artistic maturity unusual in a first film.

An infectious knockabout kung fu comedy with amusing special effects combined with breathtaking stunts.

A romantic comedy of considerable charm and humor.

Fishburne excels in his triple-threat roles as actor, director and adapter of his own play, and his cast glows under his direction.

This is a modest, thoughtful, independent production of exceptional insight and quietly devastating power.

Has too much depth, too much freshness and imagination ever to be adequately described in any of its aspects as merely "quirky" or "off the wall."

Daring and complex. At 112 minutes, it might be 15 minutes too long, but this is not enough to detract from its impact as a probing and universal contemporary drama.

There are marvelous moments from Don Rickles as Sal’s nouveau riche attorney--"Don’t murder a cop on my front lawn!” he exclaims hilariously--and from Elaine Kagan as his terror-stricken, lacquered wife. There are also plenty of unbilled cameos, a Landis trademark, along with moments from beloved old films glimpsed on TV.

Like a preliminary sketch for a vast and splendid mural, it unfolds Fellini's wonderful vision of life in all its joy and sadness, hope and fear, triumph and defeat, that emerges fully in the later movies. [20 May 2004, p.E13]

A brisk, incisive and mind-boggling -- no other phrase will work -- exposé of his native New Jersey's public education system.

Bold, vibrant and impassioned, Yes is the work of a high-risk film artist in command of her medium and gifted in propelling her actors to soaring performances.

A smart, stylish horror picture that offers a fresh twist on the ever-reliable revenge theme and affords a raft of talented young actors solid roles that show them to advantage.

The filmmakers' special triumph lies in the inspired way that in the nick of time it draws its story to a close, with Nora and Joyce struggling toward a new level of understanding.

Gregg Araki's delirious Smiley Face is an unabashed valentine to Anna Faris, an opportunity for the actress to show that she can carry a movie composed of often hilarious nonstop misadventures.

Fine escapist fare with a saving sense of humor and an underlying premise that, when revealed, proves to be arguably plausible even if a reach.

Director Rene Laloux and his co-writer, illustrator Roland Topor, in adapting Stefan Wul's science-fiction novel Oms en Serie, have created a surreal nightmare worthy of Dali, one that is filled with seemingly magical phenomena and bizarre and dangerous flora and fauna. [09 Oct 1998, p.F18]

It is consistently entertaining and frequently hilarious, the violence of the slapstick so cartoonish that it does not spoil the fun.

A film of piercing beauty and pain.

Faraldo's most engrossing and inventive script, alternately serious and comic, is beautifully realized by Binoche, Auteuil and Kusturica, all of whom reveal a nobility of spirit and stylish gallantry so cherished by the French.

This is a resolutely tough-minded, beautifully crafted film so compelling as to make bearable watching the nearly unbearable.

Foote pulls off a daring and unexpected finish for The Tavern that takes it to a rigorous, uncompromising level.

Rousing, affirmative entertainment.

A gem of a romantic crime comedy that turns out to be clever, amusing and unpredictable.

Brave and admirable for the trust that it puts in a viewer's intuition and willingness in going along with it right through to its rewarding finish.

A straightforward drama done with a maturity and conviction impressive for a first film.

For all its decadence, it moves effectively from outrageous camp humor to stark pathos and in the process manages to be oddly touching. As for Culkin, he succeeds as an adult actor in completely unexpected ways.

Insightful and thoughtful.

Smart, satisfying action entertainment that is also a perceptive work of considerable artistry.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is by far the best of the series, a superior horror picture that balances wit and gore with imagination and intelligence. It very effectively mirrors the anxieties of the teen-age audience for which it is primarily intended. [19 Aug 1988, p.17]

In its subtlety, complexity and dexterity, Requiem is a notably original work.

Minor reservations aside, The Man Without a Face is a moving and substantial achievement. [25 Aug 1993, p.1]

This handsome film is a splendid, stirring feat of the imagination.

Takes the most somber of predicaments, and makes it involving, romantic and ultimately intensely suspenseful.

Not merely affecting and illuminating; it concludes on a note of hope.

Casts a lovely spell, as warm and seductive as its summertime setting.

Elia Kazan drew from the experiences of his own uncle in this profound and exhilharating 19th-Century immigrant saga, made in 1963 and expressing passionately a love of this country. [27 Feb 1994, p.6]

Consistently inventive and surprising, Beauty in Trouble evokes human nature in all its strengths and weaknesses, contradictions and ambiguities. It is itself a beauty -- rich in imagery, deftly paced and structured.

As the film's linchpin, Falk comes across as a crummy, low-life Pied Piper with a stupefyingly irresistible charm. [18 Aug 1985, p.5]

The Haunting of Julia is an instance of the perfect blending of role and performer, with Mia Farrow cast as a young woman who may be either the victim of a ghostly possession or slowly disintegrating into madness. [26 Aug 1990, p.4]

That Irving adapted his novel to the screen himself and, even more, that Hallström directed it, makes Cider House a far better film than other film adaptations of Irving's work.

Of the many remarks Weber makes in the course of his beautifully fashioned film, none may be more significant than his observation, "We photograph things we can never be."

A beautiful period piece, set against one of the world's glorious cities, adding poignancy. Twists and turns heighten a gradually accruing effect, building to a risky moment of truth, a coup de théâtre that is as daring as it is satisfying.

Thoroughly gratifying in its consistent inventiveness and has a grasp of human nature so universal that there's no feeling of the exotic about the film and its people.

A fright show artfully designed for the whole family, a comedy that all but the most impressionable children will likely get a kick out of.

This raucously gritty and high-spirited film could scarcely be bluer in terms of the language, but from Waters it comes as a gust of fresh air.

A giddy comic fantasy, full of romance, chicanery and beguiling, sophisticated players.

The story possesses a true depth of character; there is every reason to hope that Anno’s multiple meanings become increasingly clear in the subsequent installments.

Berlanti brings a smart, witty, mainstream style to his well-crafted picture, which surely enhances its crossover appeal.

An impressively assured and confident first film and has been made with such attention to detail and mood that it's possible to regret not paying closer attention to its cleverly deceptive first part. It is ultimately unsettling in the utmost, its creepiness leavened by only the slightest touch of pitch-dark humor.

A rousing example of Bollywood-style pure escapist entertainment.

The Neon Bible is elegiac, formal and sometimes boldly stylized. The result is an extraordinary experience in which the familiar is made deeply and effectively unsettling.

This joyous film, which confronts pain, loss and transgression with love, wisdom and forgiveness amid inspired humor, has it all.

Moves from rowdy, broad comedy to shameless heart-tugging, but Romanian writer-director Radu Mihaileanu keeps this French production flowing buoyantly, skittering past all manner of improbabilities.

All of Loach's formidable strengths, which include a sense of humor, come together in the wrenching A Fond Kiss.

An outrageous and imaginative summer comedy.

Imamura's mastery of tone has always matched his capacity for compassion and acuteness of observation. [18 Sep 1998, p.F16]

The film's concluding sequence is bound to polarize audiences.

All of the film's technical and creative contributions are top-notch, but as it should be, it's the people who win us over. [11 Nov 1994 Pg. F10]

The filmmakers set themselves to the daunting task of involving us in two people they couldn't remotely ask us to like or care about. But Plummer and Reeves create two profoundly damaged and dangerous people with such wit, insight and comprehension that if you're so disposed you can actually see in them your own frustrations, anger and capacity for denial and easy rationalization.

A good example of complex Hollywood wizardry placed in the service of sharp, intelligent family entertainment.

The result is pure, unabashed and unpretentious entertainment of a sort once a staple of the movies but now rare.

The Boys is so heartfelt that it elicits a sense that complex creative relationships may ultimately elude explication, leaving Jeffrey Sherman to speculate that the friction between his father and his uncle was what brought their songs alive.

A film of rare, delicate sensibility.

Succeeds because it turns out not to be the movie it might so easily have been.

This delightfully spirited film is perfectly cast, and it's hard to imagine how Daniel Auteuil, José Garcia and Sandrine Kiberlain could possibly improve upon their irresistible, multifaceted portrayals.

Cleverly structured, with a slam-bam score and style to burn.

The remarkable script by Pierre Marton manages to be great fun while laying bare the evils of the institution of slavery. [11 Aug 1991, p.6]

A tale that's sweet-natured, funny and surprisingly touching.

Lost is consistently clever, amusing -- and scary.

The atmospheric, richly detailed La Mentale has terrific vitality with its volatile mixture of alternating camaraderie and savagery.

An outrageous, savagely comical account of the disastrous circumstances surrounding the assassination of dictatorial South Korean President Park Chung Hee in 1979.

It is astonishing to realize that the highly confident Tears of the Black Tiger marks the directorial debut of Sasanatieng, after having written two movies hugely successful in Thailand, yet in truth he belongs to a long line of first-rate filmmakers who understand the wisdom of taking big chances the first time at bat.

Very strong stuff, and Sistach has inspired such young actors as Ayala and Gutiérrez to give sustained and harrowing portrayals.

A great-looking picture that zips along with grace, light on its feet but possessed of just enough gravity to allow us to take its people rather than its old TV series premise seriously.

It is often remarked that the years between "Easy Rider" (1969) and "Star Wars" (1977) marked a second golden age in American filmmaking, and this documentary, as comprehensive as it is incisive, is a reminder of just how many terrific pictures came out during those years.

A subtle artist and a sharp observer, Martel manages a large cast with an ease that matches her skill at storytelling, within which psychological insight and social comment flow easily and implicitly.

Little Otik is too outre not to turn off some, but for those who can go the increasingly macabre distance, its sheer power to confound can be enthralling.

As tasty and nourishing as one of Martin's finest meals.

This is an undeniably gorgeous film, with tremendous sweep and a great feel for vast landscapes and glittering cityscapes. Schwartzberg has captured a sense of the country's grandeur.

Having created rich roles for his actors, Basir elicits from them inspired portrayals. Well-crafted in all aspects, Mooz-lum is not only rich in nuance, but also an engrossing entertainment made with skill and passion.

There's a bedrock honesty in Woman, Thou Art Loosed in its grasp of human nature and behavior. This is one faith-based film that pulls no punches.

The Monster Squad is such fun, it makes you wish you were a kid again.

Chillingly, Portillo reveals that 50 women were killed in the 18 months it took her to make her film.

For his robust and handsome The Musketeer, Hyams enlisted veteran Hong Kong stunt coordinator Xin-Xin Xiong to stage a clutch of spectacular action sequences that are amusing in the imaginative intricacy of their bravura.

A swift and amusing martial-action, adventure-horror picture with a bold, larger-than-life comic-book sensibility and richly atmospheric production design.

Finds the impassioned Makhmalbaf in a more contemplative, even whimsical, mood than usual.

Can be taken as a mildly risque frothy date movie, but there's serious subtext for those who choose to look beneath surface sheen.

Savage Steve Holland's One Crazy Summer is a zesty hot-weather tonic, light and sparkling, and a fine follow-up to last fall's "Better Off Dead," Holland's knockout debut feature. As impossible as it seems just now, Holland actually finds fresh approaches to the youth comedy. [12 Aug 1986, p.C5]

Hilarious, acutely knowing.

None of this intellectualizing is necessary to the simple enjoyment of Storytelling -- provided the viewer has a taste for the pitch-black humor that emerges when Solondz's camera becomes a veritable blowtorch aimed at humanity's myriad failings.

Vera has created a provocative, absorbing drama that reveals the curse of a self-hatred instilled by rigid social mores.

has a rich, lyrical sweep and floats between past and present, reality and imagination, with ease. It is a richly satisfying experience.

Terrific entertainment, full of wit and energy, alternately hilarious and serious -- and very sexy.

A witty, colorful and poignant account of the life and times of producer Robert Evans.

A delicious pitch-dark Icelandic comedy centering on a femme fatale so enigmatic it brings into question just how fatale she may actually be.

Illuminating as it is entertaining.

Special Treatment is a serious film, but Labrune allows a touch of dark comedy in her depictions of Alice's clients and Xavier's patients.

Continually jarring. Although the film's narrative thread may prove chronically elusive, Iwai's depiction of what life can be like for far too many teens comes across loud and clear.

A classic gay coming-of-age story, told with the utmost perception, sensitivity and humor by writer Todd Stephens and director David Moreton. [16 Jul 1998, p.F16]

McLeod was in charge of the mayhem, S. J. Perelman had a hand in the script and Monkey Business is just as funny as it was in 1931. [25 Mar 1986, p.7]

Perfectly delightful.

In compelling, suspenseful fashion, Taking Sides illuminates brilliantly the dilemma of a great, world-renowned artist flourishing in a totalitarian regime.

Maurice's slow, agonized dawning of his true nature and its consequences are as beautifully evoked on the screen as it is on the printed page, thanks to James Wilby's wonderfully unaffected portrayal of Maurice and to Ivory and his co-adapter Kit Hesketh-Harvey's graceful yet succinct script, a miracle of both apt selectivity and development that does full honor to its distinguished source. [01 Oct 1987]

A beautiful, harrowing film of understated power and perception that affords Fernando Fernán Gómez, the Spanish cinema's great, weathered veteran, yet another of his unforgettable performances.

A stunning, stylish detective mystery in the classic Raymond Chandler/Ross Macdonald mold. [02 Sep 1990, p.72]

The Oscar-winning Mon Oncle, in which Tati returned as Hulot, finds the filmmaker in a no less humorous, yet more critical, mood. [02 Feb 1995, p.F4]

Most important, Hush! is like Chinese director Stanley Kwan's recent "Lan Yu" in that a gay romance becomes but a starting point for an all-encompassing view of human behavior.

A terrific theatrical feature debut for television veterans Glen Morgan and James Wong.

Taut, corrosive and compelling, Gangster No. 1 has the galvanic appeal of "Little Caesar" and "Scarface" in its full-sized portrait of a brilliant but twisted and savage criminal.

It is a pleasure from start to finish.

Exquisite yet harrowing.

The result is not only one of Zeffirelli's sumptuous productions but also a film that celebrates the sacredness of artistic integrity that to Zeffirelli Callas embodied fully.

The greatest thing about Big is that its makers have known how to end it in a thoroughly satisfying fashion, which is always the challenge-and often the stumbling block-of fantasy. In never confusing what is child-like with childishness, Big is actually a refreshingly grown-up comedy-for the entire family. [3 Jun 1988, p.1]

This is a droll, laid-back film noir steeped in Crescent City atmosphere and music that culminates in the colliding worlds of genuine and virtual reality.

This is a film that stays with you long after the lights have gone up.

A compelling, highly charged film that brings a contemporary perspective to classic prison picture elements.

Smart, stylish and, most important, satisfying.

A serious romantic comedy of such strength and substance and so entertaining that it doesn't matter that its minuscule budget shows around the edges.

As warm as it is wise, deftly setting off uproarious humor with an underlying seriousness that sneaks up on the viewer, providing an experience that is richer than anticipated.

Blissfully outrageous.

Exceptionally well-crafted, Made in America is the kind of picture Hollywood often aspires to but rarely succeeds in bringing off -- smart and sophisticated with a wide appeal. [28 May 1993, p.F1]

The freshness and originality that flow through Roman de Gare now burst into full flower, revealing the director's depth and perception.

Somber yet not without flashes of humor, The City of No Limits unfolds with a steady, cumulative power to a climax of surprises within surprises.

Sly, swift, succinct -- and very sexy.

This impeccably made film is chock-full of enlightening and sometimes bizarre moments.

Fast, light and funny, Galaxy Quest has a wide, generation-spanning appeal--and you don't have to be a die-hard Trekkie to enjoy it.

Popcorn is such fun for lovers of schlock (intended or otherwise) that it hardly matters where it is set.

Sergio Ballo's costumes have the look of authentic clothing, realistically reflecting the characters' wide range in social status. Rachel Portman's score, at once romantic, majestic and vital, completes this beguiling film.

This late-in-the-year gem glows with Levinson's characteristically warm embrace of a wide range of people and his superlative sense of time and place.

Atom Egoyan has made one of his most accessible films to date, a haunting and complex fable of loss and desire with wide implications.

The gritty, low-budget realism approach of the Dogme manifesto gives immediacy and edge to the raw emotions Bier and her cast uncover. Best of all, Bier never forgets that a little humor can relieve an awful lot of pain.

A most ambitious first film. Dominik pulls it off impressively, assisted by a selfless cast, a driving score by Mick Harvey, and gifted cameramen Kevin Hayward and Geoffrey Hall.

This is a sophisticated adult treat in the French manner with an attractive and gifted cast and is essentially serious, yet often whimsical and always compassionate.

A refreshingly original thriller that is also a wrenchingly poignant family drama.

The period is evoked with care and imagination, and the film glows with Peter Zeitlinger's cinematography. It has some bravura images and surreal moments typical of Herzog, and composers Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt have contributed a lovely score.

The result is an intensely involving entertainment that can be enjoyed by viewers who scarcely know how their own cars work.

[Figgis's] most venturesome, most personal - and least accessible film to date. If you open your mind and trust him completely, it's possible to experience the wrenching impact of this ravishingly beautiful and highly distinctive film.

Twelve years in the making, Phyllis and Harold has extraordinary breadth and depth and has been made with wit, compassion and imagination, and it reflects the complexity of life itself.

It marks a subtle, assured and altogether distinctive feature debut for writer-director Rao and its radiant leading lady, rock star and stage performer Monica Dogra.

Hearty mainstream comedy with a sharp satirical edge balanced with just enough sentimentality to send audiences home happy.

Totally captivating, as seductive as a samba.

So sharp and funny it should appeal to all ages.

Consistently fresh, engrossing and unpredictable.

A sly romantic comedy made with wit and style.

Thieves further assures Techine's place in the front rank of international filmmakers. [27 Dec 1996, p.F2]

Merhige understands how exciting going to the edge of credibility can be without falling off, and he has the bravura talent and imagination needed to pull off the sheer, hurtling audacity of Suspect Zero.

Far from seeming dated, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie seems timelier than ever, downright prophetic, for that matter.

A clever way of providing crucial layering and heightening a hip, satirical take on bad old Hollywood ways.

Director Jake Torem swiftly moves beyond familiar first-feature artiness to create an illuminating portrait of a young woman (Jade Henham) brought to a crossroads in her life.

The off-the-rink sequences bristle with as much passion and energy as the dazzling skating sequences, featuring some of the world’s greatest figure skaters.

"Ashes" is glorious and ultimately wrenching, but it's a tough journey.

So engaging and illuminating that it is enjoyable even for those unfamiliar with one of cinema's most dynamic forms.

Ellie Parker is at once hilarious and harrowing, and in being so, seems right on target.

Ghost World is above all a disquieting consciousness-raiser.

Performances are crisp, as is everything else about this vital, economical film, proof that less really can be more.

De Toth never makes a false move, never lets up a breakneck pace and gets sensational performances from one of those amazing casts we once took for granted in Hollywood pictures. [13 Aug 1998, p.F16]

In The Matador, a delightfully sly diversion, Pierce Brosnan breaks the mold and turns in what might be considered the performance of his career, the kind of witty, relaxed star portrayal that recalls those of Cary Grant and other Golden Era legends.

This stylish Disney production is an ideal family film.

Gordon's way with actors and with screen storytelling is as impeccable as ever.

Splendid entertainment, young in spirit but accomplished in all aspects with the fullness of spirit and sense of ease that comes only with experience.

Man Push Cart, largely the work of newcomers and near-newcomers, is a remarkably disciplined, subtle film that avoids striking a "triumph of the human spirit" note or any other cliché.

A wrenching, uncompromisingly bleak film, but its stars, who include talented newcomer Noah Watts as Mogie's son and Lois Red Elk as the brothers' staunch aunt, fill the screen with warmth, humor and spiritual yearning in the face of hardship and tragedy.

Exhilarating comedy...Its warm, embracing spirit is refreshing in these divisive times.

By the time this distinctive 1986 film is over we have been treated to a lavish fugue on the themes of childhood, wolves, eroticism and myth. [11 Jun 1989, p.2]

Sure-fire heart-warmer: lively, funny yet emotion-charged and uplifting.

In scope, ambition and accomplishment, Children of the Century therefore takes Kurys' career to a whole new level.

In a confident yet relaxed feature debut, Fuentes-León has created a wholly unified work of art.

This is a splendid example of contemporary Bollywood in which a director's sophisticated style and vision have been brought to bear on the beloved conventions of popular Hindi cinema.

Makes the world of ballet, seen by so many as rarefied, accessible and exciting, a rigorous art that yields breathtaking results.

A rip-roaring romantic comedy that's as funny as it is light on its feet.

Delivers a satisfying late-summer escapist treat.

Other documentaries have crisscrossed between time frames, but Moss' beguiling The Same River Twice represents one of the most effective uses of the device.

In "A Guide," passion and imagination go a long way in transforming seemingly conventional material and characters.

Ambrose's Frankie, who is more intelligent and capable of reflection than those around her but is even more unworldly than she realizes, is tremendously appealing.

Dzi Croquettes is both a tribute and a terrific entertainment.

A wholly unexpected and ultimately gratifying experience.

Visually as pleasing as it sounds.

This is one slam-banger that looks to connect with action fans at home as well as abroad.

Farley reminds us just how liberating an agile, uninhibited, out-sized comedian can be in these times of caloric restraint...Tommy Boy is a good belly laugh of a movie.

The idea is that the guys' adventure proves transformative, but Tucker's dramatic I've-seen-the-light speech is charged with just the right degree of glibness to leave one skeptical.

Garden State illuminates a young man's overdue coming of age with unexpected depth and grace.

A beautifully articulated and acutely perceptive work with impeccable, carefully shaded performances.

Steeped in shrewdness about the often contradictory workings of human nature, Poison Friends is gratifying in the best tradition of French cinema.

It has more hilarious throwaway lines than most comedies offer up as their best jokes, and it is consistently inspired, energetic and, most important, light on its feet.

Sleek...This is one "return" that's surely welcome.

A clever and lively action-adventure with a warm sense of humor and smart dialogue that allows for an affectionate and fleet-footed satire of the classic elements of the Bond franchise.

[The movie has] considerable charm and humor....Adam Holender's fresh, airy camera work and a vibrant electric score also add vitality to an all-talk film. [13 Oct 1999, p.F8]

Smart, sassy, compassionate and critical.

A shimmering fable of innocence and experience set in contemporary Los Angeles and Pasadena (its title is a nod to Virgil's "Aeneid"). Phillip Jayson Lasker's tartly knowing script, with the kind of witty dialogue that's all but vanished from American movies, recalls Hickenlooper's "The Low Life."

A centerpiece of the film is a tribute to the late, legendary Amália Rodrigues, a woman of commanding, majestic beauty and presence, who is seen with her pianist in rehearsal, searching out every nuance of a song she is to perform. Unfortunately, Fado's other performers are not identified.

With a graceful confidence Salvatores has made a movie in which good and evil flow into each other as easily as day and night.

This process unfolds in terse, compelling fashion with ravishing camerawork by Agnès Godard.

Sensitive, gritty and courageous, this film gathers a power and focus not foreshadowed in its deliberately rambling earlier sequences.

This is another gratifying gem from a master.

At the top of his game, Carpenter and his cohorts boldly tap into the twin strains of paranoia gripping the present-day American society, suggesting that we face one or the other of two of our worst nightmares coming true. [09 Aug 1996, p.F1]

Even though it is ultimately anything but an endorsement for street racing, the movie stunningly captures its undeniable excitement.

Dr. Giggles is one horror comedy that actually is laugh-out-loud funny, a fast and frequently hilarious collision of gore and gags, and a tour de force of smart, sophisticated exploitation filmmaking. It’s an exciting feature directorial debut for Manny Coto.

Inevitably poignant but also often amusing and always deeply touching.

Genuinely scary and also highly amusing.

From start to finish Garrone charges The Embalmer, a richly visual film, with an effective ambiguity and sense of foreboding.

A superb bit of tongue-in-cheekery, stylish and fun but also deeply affectionate. [11 Aug 1985, p.5]

Bamako is an attack on globalization that is endlessly cogent, confrontational -- and, best of all, as captivating as it is illuminating.

Brisk, ingenious and funny comedy that happily reunites Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. [12 May 1989, p.6]

Made with energetic flair and no small dose of violence, mercifully handled with discretion, Hostage exemplifies taut, confident filmmaking.

A gracious, eloquent film that by its end offers a ray of hope to the refugees able to look ahead and resist living in a past forever lost.

Starts out self-consciously but gets better as it goes along, winding up as affecting as it is illuminating.

Emerges as an epic tale of love, sacrifice and redemption that attains a Shakespearean aura of grandeur and nobility of spirit.

Baumbach surely does make these characters, all of whom are impeccably acted, absolutely real, but at 25 he may be too close to the material to achieve the detachment from which irony and meaning flow.

While undeniably silly and violent in a cartoon-like manner, is by and large a hilarious skewering of the clichés of teen pix.

An honest title for a film that is almost entirely conversation. Yet its rich contemplative tone proves deceptive, for its director, Portugal's preeminent filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, at 96, still knows how to pack a wallop.

What makes Choose Connor so special and unsettling is the consistent adroitness and perfect timing with which Eberl makes his revelations.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is as much a spiritual odyssey as a space adventure, and it's all the richer for it. It has high adventure, nifty special effects and much good humor, but it also has a wonderful resonance to it. [9 June 1989]

Araki lets his absurdist imagination run wild, and Kaboom takes the time-honored gambit of gradually revealing that nothing is as it seems to delightfully cockamamie extremes.

The improvisational method with which this film evolved allows its actors to show us so many sides to their people, so much volatility, that it can take a while for its key figures to involve us. But snare us Taylor, Harris and Grace most surely do.

An assured, graceful instance of effective screen storytelling, and Meadows draws splendid performances from his cast, especially from the young Shim and Marshall.

In the highly suspenseful 1976 Two-Minute Warning, directed with terrific energy and control by Larry Peerce, a football game takes on a subtly symbolic aspect as the cops pursue a mad sniper on the loose in a packed football stadium. [05 Jun 1988, p.2]

DuBowski has cast admirably far and wide for his interviews, giving the work global scope. In some instances, DuBowski is pretty clearly a proactive documentarian, inspiring some of his interviewees to dare to take steps that are risky and revealing.

The kind of full-length career portrait that every great actor deserves but rarely receives.

Parker has shaped the play to make it more film-friendly and relevant, but he has done so with such subtlety you would have to be a Wilde authority even to notice.

There's not a performance here that doesn't ring true, nor is there a period detail that's the least bit anachronistic in Bill Kenney's production design and Wendy Partridge's costumes. [25 Sep 1987, p.1]

A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point.

Duchovny and Driver have distinctive good looks and they both combine attractiveness with talent and intelligence. Best of all, they possess that essential quality all screen lovers must have: terrific chemistry.

A comedy with just the right blend of satire, social comment, myriad complications, romance and heart-tugging to give it some deft shading and variety.

Reygadas asks audiences to plunge headlong into his chaotic vision of the world, no questions asked but complete trust required. Not everyone is going to be willing or able to take this leap of faith, but those who do go along with Reygadas may well feel they have come away having undergone a stunning revelatory experience.

A beautifully realized small film of understated power.

Rich in revealing detail and apt in its use of everyday Spokane settings, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers shows that Wang remains a master explorer of the landscape of the human heart.

Superb, contemplative.

An exceptional coming-of-age film--subtle, humorous, compassionate, acutely perceptive.

In its first two-thirds, My First Mister, which marks Christine Lahti's feature directorial debut, looks to be a winner. But it takes a disastrously wrong turn toward the end that all but destroys the good work that's come before.

Proves as appealing as its title.

Zeffirelli has created an amusing yet touching high adventure and an unusual coming-of-age tale.

For all his mastery of his medium, Lee is no less effective in directing actors than in creating images.

Made from a sophisticated European perspective, this is a light summer entertainment with an able, highly attractive cast.

The result is a film that is at best highly uneven and perversely at odds with itself. Luckily, Wilde's delicious sense of absurdity and peerlessly witty dialogue are pretty indestructible, and "Earnest" itself remains a peerless comedy of manners.

Take this picture literally and you're in trouble; better to view it as an allegory on youthful despair in which Araki deftly scores serious points without taking himself too seriously.

An adroit, ambitious, richly detailed and keenly observant piece of filmmaking by the director of the haunting Rio drama "Via Appia" (1990).

It unflinchingly illuminates the toll exacted by the Iraq War in a raw, deeply personal and completely compelling manner.

May be a period piece but there's nothing antiquated about it except an overly populated, initially hard-to-follow plot.

The sexual humor is often bawdy, and Gutierrez goes right up to the edge of camp.

For all its moments of pathos, Cowboys & Angels is lighthearted. It is an assured piece of work and wholly engaging.

The Extra Man" isn't in the same league as Pulcini and Berman's landmark "American Splendor" with Paul Giamatti as the late Harvey Pekar, but it has its moments - especially in its evocation of the sense that New York offers a greater sense of security for brave yet vulnerable individualists the way a sprawling, amorphous and transient city like Los Angeles rarely can.

There's a naturalness to the entire cast, yet there is considerable depth to the portrayals, and the interplay between the characters is exceptionally rich and nuanced.

Arizona Dream is the quintessential Nuart movie. It’s a dazzling, daring slice of cockamamie tragicomic Americana envisioned with magic realism by a major, distinctive European filmmaker, the former Yugoslavia’s Emir Kusturica.

A Marine Story overcomes some flaws in continuity and superficial characterizations to drive home its underlying message about the injustice of "don't ask, don't tell" and the way the controversial policy deprives the military of born leaders. A worthy endeavor.

Too lethargic and strung-out for its own good. Thankfully, it casts a pleasant, amusing and touching spell anyway, but more energy and a markedly shorter running time might have turned a sunny diversion into something more special.

No one is likely to rank "Boss" on the same level as his more somber and ambitious efforts, but Von Trier admirers will be pleased to discover that, even while working in a far less consequential mode than usual, the ever-uninhibited filmmaker's distinctive flair is in full force.

Tthe film is all of a piece, a handsome, thoughtfully crafted production that generates a mounting terror securely anchored by assured performances, consistent psychological persuasiveness and believable dialogue. What's most chilling about The Stepfather is that it was inspired by an actual incident in New Jersey in 1971.