Kevin Thomas

Lynne Littman's unforgettable, uncompromising and understated Testament is quite simply the most powerful anti-nuclear dramatic film ever made and stars Jane Alexander, superb as a woman trying to hold her family together in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. [10 Aug 1986, p.4]

Starts encouragingly and finishes strongly with a twist, but the middle is weighed down by too much discourse when it should be visually evoking its ideas and developing its mood of unease.

Bagdad Cafe, which Adlon wrote with his wife, Eleonore, and Christopher Doherty, is a miracle of timing and control for all its aura of zany, off-the-cuff spontaneity. It is the work of a director who has such a clear idea of what he wants and where he's going that he can take his time to build up every joke for the maximum payoff.

Fixing Frank is "good theater," and in the writing and in Butler's quietly chilling, ever-so-civilized portrayal, Apsey emerges as a veritable Svengali.

Thoroughly engrossing.

A film of exceptional emotional honesty.

An ambitious and intelligent film probing that chronic contemporary phenomenon, the seemingly senseless crime, but it is ultimately unsatisfying for all its efforts and various pluses.

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

It is a superb period re-creation and boasts a formidable international cast.... It is nevertheless absorbing and illuminating in regard to the eras its spans but is also pretty wearying by the time it starts winding down.

Moves way past the predictable into the shocking. Indeed, the film is so expertly structured and paced that its denouement knocks you off your feet.

Unquestionalby it's an instant classic, probably the grisliest well-made movie ever. [26 May 1983]

Virtually everything about the film is derivative--even the design for the eerie setting for the climactic struggle recalls the interiors of the more exotic old movie palaces--but its makers can't be accused of cutting corners. No doubt about it, those who ask only for pure action will be getting their money's worth.

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]

A high-grade Bette Davis soap opera that finds her playing a repressed Boston spinster rescued by her suave psychiatrist (Paul Henried, who figures in the film's famous cigarette-lighting scene). [18 Dec 1988, p.5]

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]

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

Sophisticated in its ease and spontaneity, it was directed with clarity and rigor by Auraeus Solito from Michiiko Yamamoto's acutely perceptive script.

A constant, idiosyncratic pleasure that leaves us eager to see what the Goodmans and Logue will do next.

Charlotte Gray, for all Blanchett's radiance and intelligence in the title role, is a bore.

Almereyda imagines Hamlet taking place in present-day Manhattan with such vigor, insight and originality that the power and immediacy of his film makes Shakespeare accessible in an exciting and provocative manner beyond all expectations.

One of Peter Bogdanovich's most assured and ingratiating pictures, an unabashed romantic comedy of grace and sophistication featuring one of the most thoroughly likable groups of people seen on the screen in the '80s. [15 Apr 1990, p.5]

Manon of the Spring reminds us how gratifying good old-fashioned revenge can be. Yet the film makers also remind us that carrying vengeance too far is ultimately futile and self-destructive. [24 Dec 1987]

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.

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

Even in the full-length Italian version, 1900 is too emotionally extravagant ever to be considered a masterpiece. Rather, it’s a monumental achievement like such original and impassioned but scarcely flawless screen epics as D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Abel Gance’s Napoleon.

A beautifully structured and photographed film, John Turturro's rapturous Passione offers a vibrant exploration and celebration of Neapolitan music in all its grit and glory, presenting 23 musical numbers that encompass a millennium's worth of influences.

Trumbo's dialogue has its corny moments, purple patches and inevitable preachy passages, and the cast is jarringly uneven...but on the whole Exodus is a formidable accomplishment embracing suspense, danger, passion, romance, politics, religion, intrigue, sacrifice and bravery in an entertaining fashion for 3 1/2 hours. [10 Sep 1998, p.F12]

A work of superior craftsmanship, Wilde moves quite briskly, and the idea of approaching an unconventional life with a traditional narrative style pays off. [01 May 1998, p.F10]