Peter Stack

A lovely though stubbornly shallow romp in nostalgia mixed with contemporary adult angst. [23 Apr 1993, p.C7]

A raucous, in-your-face, commando-style action thriller that makes provocative use of Alcatraz as a lunatic's lair and San Francisco as a sitting duck.

Touch of Evil is a savvy starter because Welles' astonishing cinematic invention and his persuasive presence as star are prime noir at tractions. The look, a deftly arranged climate of odd shadows and angles, neon lighting and flawlessly choreographed action scenes, keeps interest piqued through a contrived plot and mannered acting.

Typical of some of the absurd moments in this film is a long drawn-out fist fight between the hero and Frank, who almost kill each other because Frank is too proud to try on the magic dark glasses. It is completely stupid. [5 Nov 1988]

Kirikou and the Sorceress is definitely a sunny spot in the mire of frenetic, violent and often dopey cartoon films produced by Hollywood. It's also far more imaginative that most.

A genuine winner in the old-fashioned family entertainment genre.

A lot more than the sum of its delicately balanced parts.

The cluttered, surreal, claustrophobic sets and gooey alien creatures look intriguing, sometimes shocking. But the story tries so hard to be imaginative that it congeals and sinks like lead.

It's impossible to dismiss the attraction of such accomplished actors on the big screen, even with a fits-and-starts script.

The movie is so cleverly entrenched in its sardonic style that Russell's toughest act must have been keeping a straight face. Escape From L.A. is surprisingly effective in picturing a former nirvana clenched in the twisted rubble of its own excess.

What we get with Geronimo, is very good action long on Western flavor and not especially compelling in the historical sense. [01 Apr 1994, p.C16]

Everything comes up forced and predictable in the nostalgic overload of bongs, Top 40 rock and boys' bluster about sex.

It's a lyrical, lulling, beautiful film that children may relish.

The movie takes on a somber, fitful atmosphere of straining epic proportions. But it strays into an episodic bog that leaves it gasping for dramatic life.

The jump gimmick sounds as if it might make a cute romantic movie. But If Lucy Fell has so little meat that it plays like a television sitcom that somehow grew into a feature-length movie. It's airy, fluffy and ultimately uninteresting.

A visual masterpiece that powerfully explores male cruelty, too.

The Next Karate Kid' has all the makings of a terrible movie, but it never quite becomes one. One reason might be that cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs just loves a beautiful picture. [10 Sep 1994, p.E6]

Highlander: The Final Dimension is no more compelling than the average pile of bricks.

A poetry of love, longing and affirmation bleeds through the music of Cuba, and some of the best sounds the island ever created are captured with embracing humanity.

Overall, A Goofy Movie is an incoherent mess that jumps from one unlikely, brainless, crash-bang situation to another, with each element of a protracted father-son bonding story increasingly out of synch with the others.

A grandiose cinematic invention, cleverly turning the present-day urban American world on its ear.

Jude is knockout Hardy, filled with stormy visual poetry and accompanied by a gorgeous yet simple score.

A filmic hug for Brooklyn.

Sigourney Weaver is so daring and amazing, her veracity is at times painful to behold.

Though some of the acting has a stilted feeling, the emotional charge and unusual look of the film linger.

Infused with a dark charm that will appeal to some girls, A Little Princess, based on the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is as near to a mannered, lushly photographed Merchant/Ivory-style film as you'll get in a kids' movie.

This novelty film is little more than a strung-together product reel of animation pieces put to the 3-D and IMAX test.

A crime gem that is darkly funny even when it's chilling -- and certain to become a classic.

The Dead Pool isn't much of a movie. It certainly isn't as fun, nor as compelling as its predecessors, and now and then the forced plot gets so ridiculous that it is certain to try the patience of even the most die-hard viewers. [13 Jul 1988, p.E1]

Consistently absorbing as the amazing Deneuve reveals, scene by scene, new facets of a fascinating character in a mercantile war that involves equal parts greed and vanity.

Legends of the Fall is so gorgeous that its failure to catch fire seems a piddling concern.

Disney's 33rd animated feature, and its first with characters based on real people, is a stunning movie with clever twists, vivid characterizations, insightful songs and a surprising harvest of revisionist history that manages to ring smartly as pure entertainment.

A solid family movie, "Fly Away Home" is a constant feast for the eyes, with rich photography by Caleb Deschanel.

With convincing in-your-face footage, The Program is certain to be a crowd pleaser for fans who like their football action raw. Some of the roughest action is off the field. [25 Sept 1993, p.E1]

Coppola infuses her movie with a dreamy poetic tone, and deftly translates the essential metaphors of youth, sexuality and death without sacrificing an earthy humor.

Chevy Chase continues his string of starring roles in bad movies. [16 Feb 1991, p.C3]

An inspired mix of spirited family entertainment and harrowing drama.

Gorgeous but dark -- not the usual Disney experience. Audiences will find much to embrace in this animated drama, yet they may not walk away humming the kind of catchy tunes contained in Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King or Aladdin.

Decidedly lowbrow.

Writer and first-time director Don McKellar, also one of the film's stars, makes the plot gimmick an inventive jumping-off point for an exploration of humanity in a state of quiet panic.

Denzel Washington is riveting.

Full of that wonderful junky, clunky, huggable smartness that has made "Sesame Street'' an enduring phenomenon.

The greatest sexual suspense drama ever made has come to be regarded by many Hitchcock admirers as his most accomplished film. It is certainly his most forlorn, and easily his most mesmerizing. [Restored]

The movie isn't up to much either, but it has a certain eccentric energy, nicely stitched to rock-and-roll songs and a music track by ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland. And it draws you in for an agreeably empty-headed ride and thrilling skating scenes. [18 Sept 1993, p.F1]

This is an intimate, lyrical yet incendiary film, and it will please fans of both Young and Jarmusch, a filmmaker drawn to the intersection of American popular culture and a profound sense of loneliness.

Fascinating, obnoxious and poignant.

Accomplishes the impossible, maybe the unimaginable -- it makes golf entertaining.

Jack Frost starts out with sweet promise, then loses steam and gets a little too strange for its own good. It also gets cloyingly manipulative, but its heart is in the right place.

Tequila Sunrise is a sharp-looking, tantalizing romantic thriller whose assets overcome a labored plot and several lapses into L.A. hipness that result in sheer inscrutability. [2 Dec 1988, p.E1]

A forced, tedious but stupidly amusing police action comedy starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as undercover cops who dislike one another but are forced to do some male bonding to save their hides. High-minded people who eschew violence, harsh language and meatball humor just might want to skip this one. [22 Dec 1989, p.22]

Saved throughout by its inviting atmosphere and richness of characters.

You strain to hear mumbled dialogue at times, and there's no sense trying to making sense of it -- but Exorcist III is not half-bad terrible psychological thriller junk entertainment. [18 Aug 1990, p.C3]

My Father, the Hero makes up for its lack of energy with a handful of bright moments created by Depardieu's sheer charm even in a galumphing part. He has to maintain incredulous looks through several long scenes and be the world's most befuddled dolt in others, but he pulls them off, mostly because he's such a likable lunk. [4 Feb 1994, p.C3]

A big problem in the beautifully shot movie, with top-billed Glenn Close heading a fine ensemble cast, is that there are too many characters.

The movie never catches fire with the emotions.

Director Oliver Stone has fashioned in JFK a riveting, dramatic and disturbing look at one of the great whodunits of history. [20 Dec 1991]

Score it big-time inane but a load of fun.

So forced and contrived in delivery that it's tedious. That's not good when the intention is to be audacious.

Fast falls from interestingly loopy to tiresome.