Kevin Thomas

As a grand flourish of cinematic technique, it is awesome; as a human drama, it is disgusting and silly, a mindless depiction of carnage on an epic scale. [15 July 1988, Calendar, p.6-1]

A small picture of many satisfactions.

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

The stars and Doyle's expressive cinematography add up to a disarmingly seductive yet always precarious film experience.

If Tony Vitale's Kiss Me, Guido isn't quite the laff riot its trailer suggests, it nonetheless abounds in good-hearted humor, adding up to a perfectly pleasant summer diversion.

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

It's good that God's Sanbox has such an intriguing premise and compelling performances, because Doran Eran's pacing tends toward slackness, and most of the dialogue is in an English that is often impenetrable.

L’Innocente is the kind of opulent, passionate drama that risks folly to attain the sublime. Giannini and Antonelli are equal to the challenge while O’Neill, who looks ravishing, provides a dispassionate counterpoint.

This most observant and involving film has three strengths: It shows that a strongly family-oriented, middle-class suburbia is initially hardly idyllic for gays; the arrival of Patrik reveals fissures in Sven and Goran's relationship; and that Lemhagen, who plays against predictability at every turn, maintains suspense right up to the final minutes as to how everything may turn out for the three.

A wise and beautiful film.

In the exhilarating Casanova, giddy shenanigans effectively set off the dangerous, darker impulses of human nature.

The sweeping, confounding conclusion therefore unfolds with a beauty and an ease that seem truly organic. The Way We Laughed has that feeling of being a work of art.

It is solidly crafted enough from inherently powerful true-life material, however, that WWII buffs and religiously inclined audiences won't be disappointed.

Maxwell has populated his film with paragons rather than people. Worse, they talk and talk and talk; this film is in danger of talking itself to death before the Union and the Confederacy are able to decimate each other.

Ready for a singing and dancing "Reservoir Dogs"?

Soderbergh has lots to say but this time seems to lack the confidence to express himself seriously.

Courageous but uneven The Hidden Half landed the director in jail.

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.

The stories are interlinked effectively, and the film strikes an upbeat note yet does not address racism and discrimination. For all its affection toward its characters, however, the film is too long and too slack.

A glum British kidnap movie in which writer-director J Blakeson manages to generate tension and some suspense, never rises above the mechanical and contrived, finally lapsing into the improbable.

The disastrous new version of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" at least affords Marlon Brando a grand entrance and a great comic portrayal. [23 Aug 1996, p.F12]

Turns out to be a tedious and under-inspired comedy.

Scary, yet darkly funny, this thriller of the supernatural from the director of the terrific Fright Night moves with the speed of a bullet train and with style to burn. The film is a stunner--in all senses of the word.

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.

A sweet-natured, high-spirited comedy, that rare movie that plays effectively to all ages. Even rarer, it celebrates genuine sportsmanship, placing the emphasis back on how the game is played in the face of the winning-is-everything philosophy that permeates every aspect of contemporary life. [1 Oct 1993, p.F4]

Atlantic City is a sophisticated fairy tale, beautifully acted and beautiful to behold; it is as funny as it is touching.

Misfires badly as both an entertainment and a message movie.

On the whole, Chain Camera is encouraging.