Extremely raunchy, Get Him to the Greek is also very funny

It's an old, cliche-ridden story made fresh by Middler's energy.

(Matthau's) is a truly magical performance: hilarious, unguarded and deeply touching.

Grant and Barrymore are very enjoyable together onscreen. Who would've guessed that Barrymore would turn into such a deft comedian?

With most stories, even most documentaries, survival is the happy ending — the reward for one's luck, or skill, or exceptional circumstances. Sole Survivor, Ky Dickens' nonfiction account of four sole survivors of commercial plane crashes, turns that notion on its head, exploring the depths of survivor guilt and the post-accident lives of these living exceptions to a terrible, fatal rule.

It's an entertaining picture, classy and well executed, but as much as any film I've seen recently, this lush new version of the 1969 Michael Caine thriller tends to prove that, where thrillers are concerned, "more" is often less.

This subtle, beautifully shot film is a gently ironic study of the relationship between a Turkish filmmaker, who has returned to his country home to make an independent movie, and his elderly father, whom he has recruited as an actor. [13 Oct 2000, p.L]

This film carries us so touchingly into their world, it would take a heart of stone, finally, to ignore them.

The fun of Spy comes in watching the right actors mess with their own images, blithely.

Characters are so well-drawn, so human - that even in the harsh light of history - it remains difficult to understand how Australia allowed such inhumanity to become institutional, mechanized and accepted.

Wright makes the argument that in such a dystopian, fascist state, there are only a few things that will save us: class solidarity, physical media and literacy. It’s a powerful and potent message that cuts through any and all of the bombastic busyness of The Running Man.

The movie at hand is small, I suppose, and it may not be enough for some audiences. It’s enough for me.

Hannibal, riding the malicious wit of Hopkins' sophisticated fiend, is a gorgeous, wild, sometimes sick thriller, a feast for enraptured eyes and strong stomachs.

The ultimate charms of the movie lie in Lelouch’s confident control, in his telling of the story his way, almost stubbornly, his canvas splattered with both garish and hypnotic splotches.

It works, even when the material’s routine, because Pugh’s forceful yet subtle characterization of a heavy-hearted killing machine with an awful childhood feels like something’s at stake. She and the reliably witty Harbour work well together.

In short, Rambo is very good at what it does, but what it does isn't always that good. [22 May 1985, p.1C]

A freewheeling, up-with-kids-down-with-high-school picture featuring punk rock stars, The Ramones.

Dry and irreverent, Jump Tomorrow plays like a Hal Hartley ("Henry Fool") comedy with a lighter tone and more laughs.

It's all about the pictures. Those images create a vision of nature that even a strip miner would want to conserve.

The result is a clever, violent daydream. But McDonagh's skill behind the camera has grown considerably since "In Bruges." And the way he writes, he's able to attract the ideal actors into his garden of psychopathology.

As for Janney: Hers is a performance of such astute, subtle and compulsively watchable hamming, it’s guaranteed to win a supporting actress Oscar nomination.

Swift, sharp adaptation of Stephen King's short story (from the "Everything's Eventual" collection).

The look and sound of Duplicity is half the payoff.

Barrymore’s direction is generous to a fault, and there are times when you wish Whip It simply moved faster, on and off the track. It succeeds because of the emotional rather than comic payoffs.

"Relief" is the word for it. It's a relief to see Robert De Niro giving an honest, effective starring performance in a project that does not stink and that, in fact, rises to a respectable level of filmmaking proficiency. How long has it been?

No doubt about it: Top Gun is going to be the hit that "The Right Stuff" should have been. They are not in the same class of films, but this much must be said: The aerial sequences in Top Gun are as thrilling -- while remaining coherent -- as any ever put on film.

Some films are destined for nervous laughter, with enough of a pungent aftertaste to linger. This is one of them.

It's just another Williams and Crystal movie. But let's see a few more.