The Purge isn’t just stupid; it’s also pretentious and often makes no sense.

An excruciating and melodramatic comedy.

If you think putting grapes in your nostrils is hilarious, you'll like Good Burger. And if you think taking the grapes out and eating them is even funnier, prepare to fall in love. [25 July 1997, p.4G]

Hellbound is long overdue at the video morgue. [23 Dec 1988, p.C5]

Ride Along sabotages itself, although I suppose that doesn’t really matter — there are already plans in the works for Ride Along 2.

Sarandon blends into the background, having practically nothing to do except stand around and wring her hands as the two men in her life battle it out in a passive-aggressive war. It's enough to make her want to run off with Thelma.

Once you get past the initial hurdles, Iron Eagle has the kind of sappy charm and a variety of overblown performance that shapes kids' movies. It is not plausible for a second, but neither, on the face of it, was Bambi. [22 Feb 1986, p.C7]

The knock on movies like Wildcats used to be that they belong not on the big screen, but on TV. But times have changed. Wildcats isn't good television, either. It's just Goldie Hawn's latest. [10 March 1986, p.C6]

A charming confection spun from pure whimsy.

Feels static and constricted, its intensity dulled by overreliance on dialogue.

Too much of this lame comedy feels like it was written to satisfy a contract, with gags (like the business with the perpetually horny dog or the toddler who knows sign language) that are way beneath the talents of this cast.

It never comes close to touching the audience's heart.

What seemed edgy and brash in Kick-Ass is now routine and old-hat. The first movie was a brash satire on formulaic comic-book movies — exactly the sort of picture the sequel turns out to be.

It's cultural fast food delivered in a quick, painless package for the shrinking attention span of the MTV generation. [17 Aug 1992, p.C6]

The arsenal is empty, and there’s nowhere for The Truth About Emanuel to go except — unfortunately — downhill.

This is a gleefully repulsive movie. Spun is bound to be described as bold and cutting-edge by those who confuse shock value with achievement. Most people, however, will just long for a shower after it's over.

This wacky, campy lampoon of 1950s Hollywood musicals is not for everyone.

Gag delivery is by shotgun and, as happens when there is even a minimum of talent involved in such projects, some of the material is on target. And some of it is awful. [27 Mar 1984, p.B5]

The film emits a subtle yet distinct John Hughes vibe.

The movie is so grand in scale that you can’t help surrender to the spectacle, even if the stuff that’s going on with the people in the film is often close to risible.

Hard to Kill is all Seagal, and if pure action thrills are your preference, this will do just fine. [13 Feb 1990, p.C7]

It's not that Sahara is offensively bad: It's just that the picture, loud and busy as it is, never really finds its own identity.

This movie runs in great, lazy circles, covering its implausibilities with gags, and finishes with the let's-get-it-over-with patness of a movie- of-the-week. Goldblum's performance is the key: We never do figure out who he is beyond the easy guess that his cuckoldry was well-deserved. Sometimes he's in charge, outfoxing the thugs, and sometimes he's helpless, and a lot of the time he's just along for the ride. [12 March 1985, p.B4]

An unapologetically stupid and implausible movie, but in the best possible way -- it's so sure of itself, it wins you over.

Supergirl was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, whose previous big credit was Jaws II. The two films have something in common beyond their status as sequels to successful originals; both have a curiously flat, almost stale feel about them. And both are as disposable as Supertissue. [21 Nov 1984, p.C1]

One has the sense before Dune is well under way that it is the kind of film that may reveal itself over several viewings -- and certainly, there seems to be $47 million worth of things to look at. But fidelity to the source can be a trap, and Lynch fell into it; his movie is big and splashy and nearly nonsensical. [14 Dec 1984, p.E1]

Strikes out toward freakishly original territory after all. Fans of the off-beat, your movie has arrived.

Bad in a good way if you appreciate this sort of silly thriller.