Ted Mahar

Eating is probably the best date movie in years. It is replete with food for thought, and its ideas are sure to keep percolating for days. [17 May 1991, p.13]

Alexandre Dumas pere's 1844 novel has been filmed more than four dozen times, but this lavish and hilarious rendition is the pinnacle. [21 Sep 2007, p.38]

John Huston's classic film noir, adapted from W.R. Burnett's novel, is a forerunner of dozens of heist movies, few of which surpass it. [26 Feb 1999]

Schepisi and his cast rate great credit for making it seem so real. True stories don't always seem credible on film. Making this seem real and life-size is an accomplishment. [13 Nov 1988, p.F05]

This is one of the Duke's better Westerns. [14 Oct 2005, p.47]

What is appealing in Avalon is what is appealing in Levinson's best films, Diner, Tin Men and Rain Man. He creates relationships with texture. After a half-hour, the viewer feels part of the family, yet has an overview allowing a tolerance for the characters they don't always have for themselves. [19 Oct 1990, p.F04]

Not only did surviving vets get to see their World War II exploits (in the September 1944 Arnhem debacle) played out spectacularly for all the world to see, but several got to coach the actors playing them. [28 Dec 2001]

Director Tony Richardson and Burton -- and Mary Ure, Claire Bloom and Edith Evans -- show what excitement could be created on paltry budgets in England in the late '50s and early '60s. [30 Sep 2001]

Sidney Poitier and Lilia Skala make a fine odd couple in this whimsical drama of a wandering handyman who is persuaded to help a tiny community of German nuns build a convent in the American desert. [25 Dec 1992, p.AE05]

The film is whimsical and satirical but not totally a comedy. Despite the occasional Monty Python-esque jab at romantic history, the story of the central lovers is also poignant, a chronicle of bad choices and missed opportunities. [25 Jun 1999]

Henry Fonda's perplexity is palpable. [26 Jan 2001]

The writers keep the funny lines coming steadily, and Frears gets good work from all. [02 Oct 1992, p.17]

Even without the eyeglasses that gave viewers a headache, this film is a classic because it is one of the earliest and best of the wailing-music-in-the-desert-after-the-UFO-has-landed genre. This movie is a cut above some of the truly awful, tacky aliens-behind-the-cactus space operas of that era, possibly because the script was adapted from a story by Ray Bradbury. [29 Nov 1987, p.11]

The big-screen reissue offers a rare chance to admire the marvelous production details. [2002 Director's Cut]

There is a formulaic inevitability to the ferocious finale, but good writing and superb, intelligent acting keep the movie fresh and tense to the last moment. [27 June 1992, p.C08]

If there is a drive-in classic, this is it. [04 Jun 1999]

Directed by Lili Fini Zanuck, Rush is well-acted, stylishly filmed and intense. Leigh is convincing as an accidental tourist on the road to ruin. [10 Jan 1992, p.20]

Van Peebles seems just a bit more interested in how he has his say than what he has to say, but New Jack City could be the beginning of an interesting career. [8 Mar 1991, p.E13]

The team did better later, but they did just fine with "Shanghai." [07 Sep 1988, p.E05]

One of the most important things about Baby Boom, aside from being amusing all the way through, is that Diane Keaton gets her first chance to carry a comedy all by herself. [28 Oct 1987, p.E06]

This is decidedly not for everyone, but many consider it an offbeat classic. [03 Nov 2006, p.45]

Fonda's classic performance in a role he owned onstage and on film is a pleasure to watch. [22 Sep 2006, p.46]

while the conception of bear behavior is false and sentimental, the bears' performances are perfect, through a combination of training, staging and editing. [27 Oct 1989, p.F15]

White Hunter is an offbeat, thoughtful and amusing adventure. [21 Sep 1990, p.R13]

It's all done in perfect taste. Sturges' specialty was sophisticated films about largely unsophisticated characters, and his talent shines here. [28 Jul 1991, p.34]

This is grim and violent but well-acted, cleverly made and full of suspense. [14 Sep 1990, p.F16]

Midler and Long are great together, and the dialogue is hilarious. [22 Nov 1987, p.11]

Betsy's Wedding is a literate, nicely acted, thoughtful and mostly charming comedy with a little drama. Its intelligent wit will be familiar to Alda fans. [22 Jun 1990, p.F15]