Everyone knows this is a gory B-movie where taste is not an issue, and they play their roles accordingly.

Not brilliant and it has some clunky moments where we see the plot wheels grinding, but it has its heart and its grin in the right places.

The Past is an understated study of two marriages in transition.

It's the kind of sweet, good-humored comedy that used to star Margaret Rutherford, although Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, its daring top-liners, would have curled Dame Margaret's eyebrows.

An uncommon comedy that is fairly serious most of the time.

In its minor-key way, "Ghost" is a clever, intelligent and visually compelling thriller. Its gimmick more than carries its weight. [31 Dec 1993, p.39]

None of this amounts to anything more than goofy fun, but that's what the ads promise, and the movie delivers.

Project X is not a great movie because its screenplay doesn't really try for greatness. It's content to be a well-made, intelligent entertainment aimed primarily, I imagine, at bright teenagers. It works on that level.

The whole enterprise seems to be Isaacson's project. He narrates the film. Kristin, his wife, seems fully in accord with him, and they're both courageous, but I would have liked more insights from the side of her that teaches psychology.

The King of Comedy is not, you may already have guessed, a fun movie. It is also not a bad movie. It is frustrating to watch, unpleasant to remember, and, in its own way, quite effective.

When I see these six together, I can't help thinking of the champions at the Westminster Dog Show. You have breeds that seem completely different from one another (Labradors, poodles, boxers, Dalmatians), and yet they're all champions.

The tension between the slimefest milieu and the charm of the performances is maybe what makes Feeling Minnesota work.

This is an immensely entertaining millennial B-Movie, made for summertime viewing.

Sellers works. He develops a character and plays it, for better or worse, for the whole movie.

Director Showalter (who mined similar territory in “The Big Sick,” one of the best movies of 2017) and screenwriters David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage display a deft touch for blending wry humor with heartfelt drama, and Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge have a natural and comfortable chemistry in a story that hits a lot of familiar notes but contains some creatively clever devices while packing, yes, a whole lot of heart.

Snowden works best when it’s just Edward and the three journalists in that hotel room, sweating it out, or when we see the pattern of events that led him to commit acts that exposed the shocking practices of our own government but also quite possibly created serious security breaches.

Planes: Fire & Rescue is a good improvement over “Planes,” which Disney released last year. The story is stronger, there are some wonderful additions to the voice talent and the 3D cinematography is well-utilized.

Yet in its high spirits and wicked good humor, Emma is a delightful film--second only to "Persuasion" among the modern Austen movies, and funnier, if not so insightful.

The movie is filled with life and energy, and the music is honest. The Commitments is one of the few movies about a fictional band that’s able to convince us the band is real and actually plays together.

De Niro and Penn are both essentially serious dramatic actors, and maybe the reality of the location gave them such a solid grounding that they felt they had permission for the necessary goofiness.

Russell doesn't give a damn about the material he started with, greatest art work of the century or not, and he just goes ahead and gives us one glorious excess after another. He is aided by his performers, especially Ann-Margret, who is simply great as Tommy's mother.

It’s a solid, entertaining, well-paced sequel featuring terrific voice work, a clever script and some ingenious action sequences. It just doesn’t quite reach the soaring heights of inspirational storytelling and elevated humor of the original.

There’s something irresistible about the story of the former pizza guy who invented the modern concealable bulletproof vest, and Richard Davis isn’t about to let the doubts about his origin story or some of the terrible missteps he made along the way get in the way of that tale.

Anyone interested in the appeal of cults and the psychological lure of a charismatic leader will appreciate The Source Family.

While most band documentaries wade through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, this one has no sex, no drugs, and the kind of rock 'n' roll that reminds one of their fans of "something I'd hear at a dorm party."

In the introspective The Last Sentence Swedish director Jan Troell invokes ’50’s and ’60’s Swedish cinema: masterly black-and-white cinematography, philosophical angst, a lifeless marriage and loved ones visiting from the afterlife.

In Purple Rain, Prince found an answer in his own life, and provided intercuts to an autobiographical story. This time, he lets the music simply speak for itself. It's fun as far as it goes, but Purple Rain, of course, went further.

On balance, Rolling Papers is more about marijuana journalism than the big picture, and as such it’s a worthwhile endeavor.