Peter Stack

When the action is extreme, GoldenEye is supercharged with spectacular, thundering, brain-numbing fun.

A brilliant performance (Walken).

The film, with Newman's riveting performance, is an exceptional portrait of an oddball politician who is equal parts scoundrel and folk hero, wielding power with a quirky, almost cantankerous charm, while also pulling strings in a loyal and powerful Southern political machine. [13 Dec 1989, p.E1]

Robert Redford's sensitive, unhurried movie of A River Runs Through It is so faithful to the book that it becomes that rare thing - a beautiful celebration of the power of literature. [09 Oct 1992]

Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, teaming for the first time on the big screen, are moderately fun but suffer from what looks like a case of too-calculated Hollywood packaging.

By any measure, the horrifying yet powerfully uplifting Schindler's List from director Steven Spielberg is a milestone in the art of filmmaking. [15 Dec 1993]

It is aimed primarily at children, and its affectionate treatment of animals is certain to please most of them.

Director Leon Ichaso (A Kiss to Die For) is intent on presenting the Harlem story in near-operatic terms, but ultimately the beautifully rendered, photographically engaging Sugar Hill is crippled by its own self-importance. [25 Feb 1994, p.C1]

The movie keeps a snappy pace and the suspense pot boiling. The snippy interplay between the two cops adds enjoyable twists of comic chemistry. Constant rain and slick streets, though a cliche, set a moody tone. [07 Oct 1996, p.D2]

Well acted, well crafted and might have been a truly searing drama if it weren't so simplistic, pat and predictable.

The film is never truly funny, but it's an amusing novelty, gaining strength from smart characterizations and sly cogency about the way people are exploited under the limelight of celebrity.

Ghosts of the Mississippi doesn't glorify in happy endings. That's because it haunts with the reminder that racism remains an unhealed wound.

It's a feel-good deal you can take the whole family to, or even better, a date. And this almost cuddly film, built on a farfetched case of mistaken identity, delivers plenty of fun.

Both a delightful story and a great food movie that ranks with "Like Water for Chocolate'' or "Babette's Feast.''

An unforgettable, poetic romance from Italy whose disarming humor, blushing encounters and bittersweet flavors are certain to set off a groundswell of smiles, tears and regret.

The River Wild may be the season's most exhilarating family entertainment. [30 Sep 1994, p.C1]

The plotless Dennis the Menace is nonsensical and playful and, in its way, creates a pretty dreamworld that is a foundation of good escapist entertainment. In addition, Walter Matthau takes good-natured grumpiness to new heights as legendary curmudgeon Mr. Wilson, opposite a kid named Mason Gamble, as Dennis, who (another minority opinion) acts circles around Macauley what's-his-name. [25 June 1993, p.C1]

Director Sidney Lumet takes another shot at New York City police corruption in his new film, but despite some solid performances, Night Falls on Manhattan fails to deliver the passion of such Lumet classics as "Serpico" and "Prince of the City."

One of the most haunting and vital movies of the year.

The crack in the pretty picture of America goes a lot deeper than we thought, thanks to Ray's brooding vision.

While there's enough to keep the viewer sort of interested and amused, ultimately the whole affair is a trip to nowhere with characters who are more caricature than real. [29 Sep 1990, p.C3]

Strains through buckets of verbiage and muddled plot to seize only a few dopey laughs.

The darker this visionary film gets -- and it gets very dark -- the less comic and the more chilling it becomes. At the same time, it grows more brilliant as a view of modern society poisoned by a battering incivility or cruel exploitation that, in Leigh's view, is played out most profoundly in gender conflict. When ''Naked'' isn't beaning your brain, it's twisting a screwdriver between the wires of your nerves. [28 Jan. 1994, p.C1]

Bulletproof is a raunchy exercise in macho posturing -- but thanks to a layer of satire, the new action comedy at Bay Area theaters provides a few zingers of lowbrow entertainment.

Long segments of The Killer are devoted to people getting blown away, the bloodbaths played out always with guns. But the highly choreographed action, featuring point-blank shots of writhing victims, takes on a numbing aspect after a while. Reduced to cartoon overkill, it becomes as tedious in its way as carpenters working with nail guns.

Aspen Extreme is an extremely slow-moving story about romance, buddies and skiing in the famous Colorado town. With a pleasant cast of mostly unknowns, except for Finola Hughes (''General Hospital's'' Anna Devane), it almost saves itself with spectacular downhill action scenes. A big almost. [23 Jan 1993, p.C3]

Director Breathnach is in no hurry to pump up the action in this easygoing, episodic on-the-road adventure, and the slow pace may wear thin for some viewers. More than anything, I Went Down is a cleverly observed character study of two losers who find they suddenly stand a chance at winning.

Narrow Margin has a couple of moments of unabashed hokeyness and some predictable turns of plot, but considering that it's designed to do nothing more than provide escapist fare for 97 minutes, and that there are a dozen surprise twists, it hardly seems to matter. Like a train ride itself, you get into the swaying swing of things, and to hell with credibility. [21 Sep 1990, p.E3]