Unlike "Jaws," Open Water isn't much for traditional popcorn-movie scares. Instead, the movie is more interested in depicting the gradual deterioration of its protagonists' sanity, and how that affects their relationship.

When he means to be funny, Balaban has a wicked way about him. When he means to scare, he's just like the rest of the pack. Still, there's something wonderfully subversive at work in Parents. Be warned. [17 March 1989, p.11]

The music is of course majestic, blending well with a loving cinematography.

Born in East L.A. is a real middle-of-the-roader as comedies go -- not hysterically funny, sort of laid back in pace, with a plot as substantial as the peso -- but its heart is as warm as an enchilada. [22 Aug 1987, p.B4]

A Dry White Season hits with the force of its convictions, and it hits hard. But it could have been more. [06 Oct 1989, p.G5]

Certainly pleasant, but it's also a bit safe.

Boiler Room's behind-the-scenes veracity makes it highly compelling.

If you're interested in the sheer craft of filmmaking, Cloud Atlas is required viewing - a rare example of a movie getting by entirely on technique and creative bravado.

The overriding tone of A Mighty Heart is neither indignant nor sentimental: The film is consistently cool, almost to a fault.

One of the craziest, most random and insane slasher films ever made. [31 Oct 2010, p.A8]

Night Watch represents the best in Russian special effects, a collaboration between 42 different CGI specialty firms all working in the service of a single goal: to create the nation's most visually transgressive film.

If the other theme-park movies are as appealing, go ahead, bring 'em on.

Bergman can't bring individual scenes together into a collective whole, and the ending (which was reshot at the last minute) closes things on a disappointingly limp note. [28 Jun 1996, p.5G]

The charms of Lucía, Lucía rely heavily on the charismatic Roth, who is funny and warm and a lot of fun to watch as she embraces her new life.

Despite some forced lines and an overlong competition sequence, Holland holds The Wizard together well, supplementing the obvious stand-up-and-cheer climax with a moving conclusion. [15 Dec 1989, p.12]

Mild and unassuming, the movie gleans its modest charm from Clooney and Pfeiffer's chaste flirtation, much like Doris Day and Rock Hudson did 40 years ago: There are no hot-blooded boudoir scenes here. Like its sensible co-stars, One Fine Day has both feet firmly planted on terra firma. [20 Dec 1996, p.6G]

The script, which Harron co-wrote with Guinevere Turner, presents a disappointingly superficial portrait of Page as a person.

For all its charms, sometimes feels as self-obsessed as the characters it slyly mocks.

The script was kept under unusually tight wraps during filming, but the biggest surprise in the picture is how talky the whole enterprise is. Particularly deadly is a long stretch in mid-film where the heroes walk through caves, talk about what they're seeing, get captured and talk with their captors, escape and talk some more.

Manages to sidestep the potential overload of cheap sentimentality -- an intimate dance between an elderly couple registers with heartbreaking sweetness -- and evokes a lingering sense of loss.

The movie is a little long for kids.

It's a big, likable movie without quite enough jokes, but the stars take turns with the burden, carrying the thing in relays. They're fun to watch. [16 Dec 1986, p.D4]

Eclipse, like its two predecessors, is ham-fisted and obvious, a mass-market entertainment with a frustrating lack of imagination.

A measured, magnificently understated and intense performance by Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash) as Ellis gives Pride its fire and heart.

Beowulf is many things, but boring isn't one of them.

The second installment in a likable family franchise, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island makes a nice case to your kids that reading books is a good idea.

Baadasssss! is best taken as an examination of filmmaking itself.

The story may be slim, but Carpenter deserves some credit. He makes more of the car-as-villain than one might expect, largely by filming the Plymouth in high style. [10 Dec 1983, p.B5]