Gangs of New York is many things, but a masterpiece is not one of them. It is primarily, and somewhat surprisingly, a poky western, with a vengeful orphan.

Slamdance has an unusual problem: It's too creative. Director Wayne Wang throws in so many artsy shots and technical tricks that the drama, an intricate murder mystery, is muddled. After the lights come up, you're left wondering exactly what you witnessed. [6 Nov 1987, p.D7]

The undeniable star is the diminutive comedian. He’s the glue that holds the movie together when it wanders into the weeds and starts believing it’s a serious meditation on relationships.

Shakespeare purists may scoff and wonder what the point is, but Morrissette would probably shrug and say ``Why not?''

Masters of the Universe is an enjoyable escape, borrowing rather successfully from E.T., Star Wars and Back to the Future. [17 Aug 1987, p.C5]

Me and You and Everyone We Know brings to mind the work of happily downbeat, bad-boy provocateur Todd Solondz (Happiness, Palindromes), but July is more kind to her oddballs, although she displays a disturbing aptitude for perversity that Solondz would applaud.

This is neither the noir world of old '40s movies, of which he's clearly fond, nor something new and original enough to fit the concept. Instead, it feels like a blueprint for someone else to figure out.

The heist in Flawless comes at the film's midpoint, but although Radford wrings some nice suspense from the sequence, the theft isn't his primary focus here. It's what happens next.

What a mere adult reviewer has to say about this 70-minute film is probably irrelevant. Pokémon fans will see it -- and love it -- regardless.

The film, which comes way too close to preaching, lurches away from the control of director Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday) and ends on a stretched-out note so sappy it makes "Must Love Dogs" look like "8 Mile."

The movie is better when it’s poking sly fun at Cruise’s superheroic screen persona (look at the expression on his face when Ethan realizes just how big the guy he must fight is) than when it asks you to buy into its far-fetched antics.

Despite some admittedly intense sequences and a lean, spare script, The Hills Have Eyes hasn't aged all that well, particularly the business with the cannibals, who are more likely to inspire laughter from modern viewers than anything else. [31 Oct 2003, p.22G]

Decidedly minor Woody.

The movie is at its best when Spurlock dives deep into his subject, interviewing directors such as J.J. Abrams and Quentin Tarantino.

The filmmaker may not appeal to large numbers of filmgoers. But if you get his humor and delicate style, you'll enjoy his latest work.

What the film truly reveals is something else entirely: how Jennifer Lawrence can elevate any material, any time, even middle-of-the-pack fare like this.

Like a lot of anime, the movie remains entertaining even when you have no idea what's going on.

My One and Only isn't exactly memorable, but this little, personable movie is a fine showcase for Zellweger's talents and a paean to the sort of mid-1950s America best remembered in Norman Rockwell paintings.

The most fortunate thing about The Lucky One is that despite a plot hole so big it could generate its own gravity field, it's still not a bad movie.

Vardalos may not have been the best possible Connie. But as Billy Wilder could have told you, nobody's perfect.

Better Off Dead has the body of a tired teen comedy but the soul of an inspired student film; it's the first movie in a long time to interrupt itself periodically with flights of animated fancy. At one point, romantic foreshadowing is accomplished by a "clay-mation" sequence featuring cheeseburgers in love. At another, a lovesick teen draws a cartoon picture of his faithless girlfriend, and the drawing tells him to get lost. [17 Oct 1985, p.B6]

As an older, slightly less athletic but no less Sybaritic Bond (he carries an attache- case sampler of caviar and pate de fois gras), Connery is perfectly suited. [8 Oct 1983, p.C5]

As funny as a lot of the film is, Dogma remains as frustratingly uneven as the rest of Smith's work.

None of the movie's flaws will matter. Teenage girls are going to love Twilight,and many are sure to see it more than once.

Turns out to be something entirely different than it initially seemed, and while the conclusion brings everything to a logical close, it also renders the movie less interesting -- a stunt that didn't merit Bale's startling, and dangerous, transformation.

Though Wise Guys isn't a big movie, its gentle parody of gangster mythology, which adopts the pace and tone of a European caper movie from its opening titles, makes Prizzi's Honor seem naive by contrast. [13 May 1986, p.B6]

Pacino is the only real attraction. His character feels ancient, used-up, bone-tired -- vulnerable, maybe, but numb. We need to see this in his face, and Pacino can use his the way Triple-A uses maps. That face is still one of the great instruments of modern movies. [15 Sep 1989, p.G5]

Solid family entertainment, with thrilling action sequences and gorgeous scenery.

And still 42 persists in entertaining you, even when you’re cringing, because the real story is so compelling.

Barney's Great Adventure makes for fun watching. And you might actually be able to convince your older kids to tag along. [03 Apr 1998, p.6G]

Avary suggests much more than he shows, but his style carries such urgency, you walk away convinced you saw every bullet hit its mark. On that level, Killing Zoe should get Avary noticed -- the long, disastrous and occasionally suspenseful heist is the best part of the movie -- but it's the stuff at the edges that shows this guy has genuine talent. [28 Oct 1994, p.G4]

Only devout Dylan fans will be able to derive much sense out of it. Dylan novices can only sit back and surrender to the ride Haynes offers: It's a strange, surreal trip.

Even after the plot has left you behind, you still watch The Brothers Bloom with a smile, because the actors are so engaging.

If you can overlook that last little bit of sports fantasy, you just might like Just Wright.

The Ninth Day is far from perfect, but is still thought-provoking and intriguing, a film that can begin its own kind of debate.

It's really just a dance movie, interrupted sporadically for PG-13 romance, bad acting, ridiculous dialogue and earnest "let's put on a show to save our homes!" spirit.

Despite its slight and vaguely silly premise, Driving Lessons turns out to be sweet, never cloying, and amusing in an understated British way.

Fey is a good fit with the material, and her co-stars are all solid, including Billy Bob Thornton as a laconic general; Martin Freeman as a boozy, charming Scottish journalist; Alfred Molina as a local politician with a crush on Kim; and Christopher Abbott (Girls) as Kim’s fixer and translator (he tries to keep her out of trouble).

Unfortunately, the film is also at times dull, though the scale definitely tilts toward enjoyment. Quality balance aside, who doesn't want to enjoy a few hearty laughs? Only Human provides a few of those.

What Spielberg does is use the Lucas tricks to propel an old-fashioned fantasy, played broadly enough so that the laughs come as easily as the thrills. [23 May 1984, p.B1]

Mildly engaging.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan moves slowly, languidly; its art direction is often lovely, and despite their truncated screen time Lily and Snow Flower do make you care about their fates. But you would have cared more without all the distraction.

Disney's latest incarnation parries and feints somewhere between the "serious" melodramas of vintage Hollywood and the frisky cavortings of Richard Lester's mid-'70s send-ups. [13 Nov 1993, p.G3]

I Killed My Mother fares less well when Dolan gives in to some ill-conceived stylistic flourishes (understandable for a young, first-time filmmaker) or when his reach as a dramatist exceeds his grasp (an incident involving thugs who gay-bash Hubert, for example, feels superfluous). But the crux of the film is the furious, tempestuous bond between Hubert and Chantale, and through their volcanic fights, you can see Dolan's considerable talent at its least adorned. [23 Apr 2010, p.G7]

This is nothing that a good episode of NYPD Blue hasn't shown myriad times.

What Crush lacks in substance and originality, it makes up for with sheer likability.

Everyone in Hit and Run is clearly having a good time. It's the audience that gets left out of the fun.

The story falters only at the end, but it's the ride, not the destination, that you remember and savor the most.

Is it about a moment in history and how the life of a sexual predator fits into that moment? Or is it just about a director's sexual fantasy? The answers are somewhat fuzzy.

Easy A is unnecessarily hard on the religious kids. Unlike "Saved," it uses broad caricatures of gospel-singing fanatics to get laughs, and the bug-eyed, over-the-top performance by Bynes (who apparently really should have retired after making this film) doesn't help matters.

Fasten your seat belts and prepare to kiss reality goodbye, folks, because from here the movie launches into silly mob vs. nun chase scenes, an appearance by a Pope John Paul II look- alike and gobs of sentimental, syrupy goo -- the signature of director Emile Ardolino (Three Men and a Little Lady, Dirty Dancing). But don't be ashamed to laugh -- it's still a rollicking good time. [29 May 1992, p.G5]

The script by Ben Ripley doesn't come up with enough obstacles to throw in the hero's path, and his budding romance with the doomed Christina feels more like a studio mandate than an organic development.

A sporadically hilarious, acid-tongued romp through the darker sides of romance that refuses to back down.

Viewers who like their movies to adhere to some sort of reasonable logic, or to at least make sense, will not be pleased by Femme Fatale. For everyone else, it's playtime.

Dream Lover ends with a devious last-minute twist that will delight some and infuriate others into cries of "Is that all there is?" But the surprise ending fits the rest of Dream Lover perfectly, a movie that wholeheartedly embraces its genre's cliches -- yet still keeps you riveted. [20 May 1994, p.5]

By the time it's over, Insidious is less scary than a mortgage payment.

Mildly entertaining but not terribly exciting. Agent 007 seems to have fallen victim to the foulest villainy he has yet encountered: mismanagement behind the camera. The movie cost $34 million, but you don't see it on the screen. [14 July 1989, p.4]

He never gets the material under control. But what he has, in 1492, is dazzling. [09 Oct 1992, p.G5]

It's little more than an amiable exercise in nostalgia, but it's nicely performed and handsome to look at. [25 Mar 1988, p.C1]

Blank Check turns schmaltzy toward the end by borrowing gimmicks from the Home Alone movies and resorting to the cavalry-to-the-rescue formula ending. This is de rigueur Disney, best when it's kept light and fantastical. [11 Feb 1994, p.G4]

300 is at its best when it settles for purely visceral thrills, such as Leonidas' battle against a hulking warrior twice the size of a normal man. The movie's broad strokes are all superlative: It's the details that keep 300 from being anything more than a striking curiosity.

In the House seems to be building toward a cathartic and unexpected finale. Instead, you get a baffling fizzle — an inexcusably limp and unimaginative conclusion that doesn’t bring a single plot strand to a satisfying end.

A pleasant if unremarkable romantic comedy that plays out like a sitcom with great scenery.

Explorers is good at probing the wrinkles of the 14-year-old heart and boys are always better than other-world beings.

Gerwig and Hawke are outstanding reasons to see this movie, but your patience — just like Maggie’s — will be tested before it’s over.

A lightweight, formulaic piece of fluff, but you wouldn't know that by Meryl Streep's performance.

For Americans, the film may be best taken as fodder for debate, especially for individuals interested in sociology. You wonder why those people stuck to the commitment. You may also wonder how different a parallel American film would've been.

Essentially an old-fashioned movie, nothing fancy, nothing new, just some jokes and some action and a crowd-pleasing finale.

Sweet and moving, and occasionally irritating, but it's never embarrassing.

The Reader doesn't do enough to explore the guilt and betrayal the adult Michael feels over the acts of his elders.

An hour after seeing it, you may not remember what The International was about. But you'll certainly remember that shootout. That is something to behold.

Has nothing new to say, but it has a lot of fun covering the same old territory.

It would have taken another director (the late David Lean, for instance) and a better script to make this movie into the serious, full-blooded epic it wants to be. But Power of One succeeds in entertaining and getting audiences to think about the tragedy of apartheid; flaws and all, it's still worth seeing. [31 March 1992, p.E6]

Gas, Food, Lodging should send plenty of movie offers in Balk's direction. She's a perceptive and subtle actress, comfortable at playing both adolescent giddiness and terror in the same unmannered style. It is her performance, and the touching character she creates, that ultimately makes this movie worth seeing. [9 Nov 1982, p.E3]

If anyone tries to tell you how this one ends, blast 'em with a phaser. Set on stun, of course.

If ever there was a textbook "feel good picture," this is it. It's not a bad film, either, but director Nick Castle is afraid to let anyone go home without a glazed respect for all living things, and the result is too much syrup. [26 Sept 1986, p.D11]

The Signal is too ambitious for its own good: The movie is built on shells of ideas and concepts that haven’t been fully thought out, and once it’s over, the movie collapses the more you think about it.

The dynamic between mother and son is fascinating, with Blethyn creating a character who is more antagonist than villain.

Suggests that Cruise the actor may have outgrown this kind of stuff.

This Israeli film gives us an honest look at situations we never see in the news. It may have too many flaws to be a good film, but for its content, it is a winner.

Eventually, though, the monsters come out -- blind, snarling cave-dwellers, looking much like Gollum's bigger kin -- and The Descent becomes a simple exercise in guessing who, if anyone, will survive.

Yes, Aloha is a mess. But messes can be fascinating, and there’s a lot of tenderness and beauty and heartbreak here, too.

Carpenter keeps it sweet. This means muting his fabled skills as an "action" director in favor of plumbing the cutes, and it means that Starman isn't the grown-up entertainment that it could have been. But it's not your everyday romance, either, and it's hard to hate. [14 Dec 1984, p.18]

There are several stretches when the movie is actually hilarious.

The director spends nearly two hours groping for a message, but never finds it, mostly because his conflicts rise and fall in 30-minute segments -- like a Family Ties episode. [27 Oct 1989, p.G5]

Too slight to bear up under the weight of the final melodrama, and the film ends too abruptly, as if MacLachlan just ran out of things to write. Still, this visit to the old homestead is worthwhile, if only to meet its unflappable, charismatic women.

It's full of lively and crude sexual banter, discussions of hookups and sex and Joel McHale's bare butt. Oddly, all this makes the film funnier and more accessible than you might imagine.

Depending on your personal tastes, Intacto will either be an ambitious concoction of cerebral science-fiction or a towering pile of nonsense. The truth lies somewhere in between.

Unlike "The Ring," Dark Water -- which features one of the mad, whispery ghost children who populate such films -- is never actually frightening.

The movie shouldn’t be dismissed outright, either. It’s a creepy experiment that stays with you.

B-movies are the great anchor of American film. They're what we do best. And Night of the Comet, like Blood Beach and The Howling before it, honors the form even as it fails to transcend it. Things go bump in the night, characters exchange improbable dialogue and a good time is had by all even as the world comes to an end. [28 Nov 1994, p.B6]

The film's heart lies in what goes on at Calvin's shop, that haven from the cold, cruel world. Where else can you get philosophy, humor, friendship and a little off the top?

The solemn, morose tone of The Pledge also guarantees a quick box office death: This is essentially a movie about bad things happening to good people, and if you have any interest in seeing this beautifully made bummer, don't wait too long.

A Disney family film, with all that the term implies: It's playful, corny, silly, adventuresome and enjoyable.

A briskly-paced, refreshing kick in this season of draggy, two-hour-plus movies. The film is smarter and funnier than its trailers indicate, and, as a bonus, there are no superheroes, pirates or Wilson brothers to be found.

Always a joy to look at -- and even if the story isn't half as profound as the filmmakers think it is.

A brisk, undemanding adventure aimed squarely at the family market, Journey is completely passable in 2-D. But viewing it through 3-D glasses not only quadruples the movie's entertainment value, it also explains why characters are constantly thrusting things at the camera.

She's Out of My League essentially plays its central premise straight, although the film does find time to veer into gross-out humor.