There's also nothing here that has much to do with what makes Prior such a powerful artist. [2 Apr 1982, p.3-6]

Ambitious but hokey melodrama...It's a beautiful looking film, but only the supporting characters are believable. Beatty and Diane Keaton are miscast and never disappear into their characters. [25 Dec 1981]

A wildly overwritten melodrama about the sins of the press. Newman's character is compelling, but Field's reporter is such a lamebrain that we know she would be fired at any major newspaper. [25 Dec 1981]

Burt Reynolds stars as a Dirty Harry-style detective who chases after a high-powered pimp in Atlanta. When Reynolds stays in character, the film works well as a straight thriller. When he winks at the audience with his dialog, the film falls apart. [25 Dec 1981, p.12]

The biggest surprise with On Golden Pond is that the best performance in the film is not turned in by a Fonda. Rather, it is Katharine Hepburn, in a performance without gimmicks or "great scenes," who communicates so much of the film's emotional power as a portrait of the serenity and anger associated with old age.

An uneven special effects extravaganza about a little boy who winds up traveling through world history along with five midgets. Together they meet and frustrate the great and the near-great. Including Napoleon, Robin Hood, and the devil. Unfortunately, there are just too many visits to famous people. The film was created by some of the people responsible for the Monty Python comedies. [25 Dec 1981, p.12]

A picture that represents so much of what I want and rarely get from a movie -- a couple of hours filled with characters who are as exciting as the people I know in real life. [11 Dec 1981]

A town where tourists and hapless visitors are murdered, and the dead are revived by a big band-loving mortician, descends into gore and madness. [16 Mar 2007, p.C5]

Sometimes raunchy, but always well-acted. [25 Dec 1981]

Finally, a word about John Candy, the Second City-trained performer who has worked with great success on the "SCTV" shows. Candy, the plump one of the troupe, is more than just a jolly fat man in "Stripes." He becomes one of Murray's allies, because his comic persona allows him to be as sharp-witted as the next man. This is a switch, because the fat man in a comedy usually is the butt of a lot of physical humor...The point is this: Candy deserves to star in his own movie. He's that funny.

A truly stupid film based on what should have been a surefire hit - a cross-country car race. Too many stars spoil the action, including Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. [19 June 1981, p.2-8]

Even more enjoyable than the original. [19 June 1981]

Raiders of the Lost Ark is, in fact, about as entertaining as a commercial movie can be. What is it? An adventure film that plays like an old-time 12-part serial that you see all at once, instead of Saturday-to-Saturday. It's a modern "Thief of Baghdad." It's the kind of movie that first got you excited about movies when you were a kid.

A dull and lethargic comedy. [19 June 1981, p.2-8]

Richard Pryor and Cicely Tyson star in a thorougly likable comedy about an ex-con and a schoolteacher who take a bunch of ghetto kids to a farm in Washington. Some foul language gets in the way of this being a film suitable for the entire family.

He's a washout at the car wash, she's a waitress with a dream. Together they motor off to Tinseltown in search of fame, glory and, maybe, Bert Convy. It's a country-western love story that'll tug at those heartstrings, folks, and, no, I'm not making any of this up. [21 June 1985, p.6C]

Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams star in a thriller about New York detectives trying to capture an international terrorist. The story is full of holes but compelling nevertheless because we do grow to hate the terrorist and want him stopped. [19 June 1981, p.8]

The worst part of the night isn't the Aqua Net hair or the sweaty '80s dancing. Murder is the theme of the evening.

Nine to Five is a film full or surprises - some pleasant, other disappointing. The most pleasant surprise is the appearance of Dolly Parton, who with this one film establishes herself as a thoroughly engaging movie star. The biggest disappointment is that this Jane Fonda comedy about a trio of secretaries out to get their boss doesn't have more bite. [19 Dec 1980, p.2-1]

A routine Neil Simon comedy with Goldie Hawn ,Chevy Chase, and Charles Grodin mixed up in a story about an innocent bank robber and a power-hungry district attorney. Hawn has been married to both. Not very funny, but the dogs are cute. [19 Dec 1980, p.10]

Richard Pryor is a scream as a wrongly accused bank robber. Gene Wilder is just so-so as his partner. [19 June 1981]

A charming, adult-oriented saga of the famous cartoon character that comes alive only when Popeye finds his baby, Swee'pea. [19 Dec 1980, p.10]

A dumb and purposefully cheesy version of the comic strip space hero. Although the film has a few early moments of put-on humor, the story has nowhere to go. Sam Jones is not very bright as Flash. Only Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless brings any style to the adventure. Only for the juvenile set. [19 Dec 1980, p.10]

Filmed in black-and-white and shockingly well acted by De Niro, Raging Bull suggests that if you are looking for the source of evil in the world, you don't have to look any further than yourself. It's inside you or it isn't. And it comes out or it doesn't. [19 Dec 1980]

An engaging yarn about a wealthy kid who learns to fight his way out of trouble in a rough Chicago public school. He also learns not to believe in labels placed on people. [19 Dec 1980, p.10]

Wonderful performances by Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton. [19 Dec 1980, p.2-10]

Caddyshack has a low-budget look that warmly welcomes the all-important teenage audience. It looks like a film they could have made. And everyone associated with the film—in front of and behind the camera—is aware that he or she is making a frivolous film...That's why Rodney Dangerfield's cornball jokes and spritzing barbs are so perfectly right for the film. These are throwaway jokes for a most disposable motion picture, the kind of film that drive-ins were designed to play.

A stylish, violent thriller about a sexually frustrated woman (Angie Dickinson), whose fantasies lead to a murder mystery. Directed by Brian De Palma ("Carrie"). Effective, but not for the kids. [1 Aug 1980, p.4-10]