Watchmen is a spectacularly violent movie.

There's very little in The Chorus you haven't seen before, but the movie's depth of sentiment -- especially its profound humanism -- makes it worth experiencing again.

Though Mermaids moves in familiar circles, it tells its story (which is as much about mom's coming of age as the kids') in a nice mix of daft comedy and dramatic set pieces. It's a kind of Terms of Endearment without the tearjerking. [14 Dec 1990, p.G5]

Too much of Lords of Dogtown still feels conventional and sugar-coated.

A passable adaptation of Kinney's novel, but no replacement for the real thing. Read the book, then see the movie.

The most memorable scene in Invaders belongs to Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). She also turns in the best performance as the school marm who, after the Martians get to her, gobbles a bullfrog and becomes the movie's gleeful and insane Madame LaFarge. [14 June 1986, p.C6]

Focus is a shiny, stylish shell game of a film that, much like its protagonists, relies on breezy chatter, a good sense of humor and a lot of misdirection to succeed.

Unlike last year's "Coco Before Chanel," in which Audrey Tautou played a warmer, kinder spirit, Mouglais presents her character as steely and unbending, a woman who has built her empire on her terms and refuses to abdicate the slightest control on her life.

True to form, How to Eat Fried Worms forgoes flatulence jokes for positive examples.

Leatherheads goes on a good 20 minutes too long, and there's very little in it that makes a lasting impression, but it's easy to watch while it's unspooling -- much like, you know, a lot of Cary Grant comedies.

Spacey, whose precise command of enunciation and diction, along with his wicked, reptilian charm, are strong enough to carry the show.

It manages just to be pleasant.

While Cacoyannis' film may not be totally faithful to the master's pen, for literature students and theater lovers, this Cherry Orchard is a rare treat.

If not exactly epic, the movie is certainly the biggest and most complex of Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, which began in "El Mariachi" and continued in "Desperado."

The entire movie rides on Paul Kaye's performance.

But unlike most teen dance films, Girls Just Want to Have Fun does not dwell over long on boogie, even though it motivates the plot and allows the filmmakers to show off beautiful young bodies. Metter and his associates know that, finally, sizzle must also have steak. Or at least ground round. [11 May 1985, p.C7]

Extreme Measures is a medical thriller with two personalities. At times, it's a drama about doctors with God complexes and a moral debate on questions such as, "If you had to kill one person to cure cancer, would you?"...Other times, it's a mystery about nefarious scientists, missing corpses and foot chases in the bowels of New York's subways...Neither side really works, though for a while the movie engrosses anyway. Even when you know you're being manipulated, Extreme Measures intrigues you in a Coma kind of way, because it initially preys on the same fears as that earlier thriller: vulnerability in hospitals at the hands of evil doctors...Then the mystery starts to unravel, and so does the movie. [27 Sept 1996, p.5G]

Much like the good westerns, Coastlines keeps you entertained throughout its two hours, which says a lot about Nunez's storytelling.

The film improves once the assassination attempt goes awry, but the audience is never truly invested in the actions of these heroic men.

A big part of the problem comes in the casting. Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes - the kind of odd pairing of actors that comes only after your first and second choices have passed - are unconvincing and curiously unsympathetic as the architect Alex and his girlfriend.

Once the guns come out, and the car crashes begin, Date Night loses the funny.

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

Chow Yun-Fat is the only reason to see Anna and the King -- the only thing you'll remember from this lavish, tastefully dull movie.

Compare Sylvia to another, more powerful film about a tragic literary death: "Iris," about Iris Murdoch's descent into Alzheimer's, leaves you with an aching heart and reddened eyes. After the equally sorrowful Sylvia, we are entertained but unmoved.

The most interesting aspect of Danny Deckchair, though, may be that the film is based on the true story.

Baier's style is almost uncomfortably voyeuristic, amplified by the casting of a young, inexperienced actor (Pierre Chatagny) in a part that calls for hardcore sex.

Don't blame Ormond, who is being vigorously groomed to be the next Julia Roberts in the days before Lyle Lovett. On screen, the poised Brit already has broken the hearts of some of the biggest hunks in Hollywood, from Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall ) to Sean Connery and Richard Gere (First Knight ). Sabrina probably won't be her breakout film -- it's just not good enough -- though she's charming enough as a beguiling ingenue. [15 Dec 1995, p.6G]

In The Arrival, Charlie Sheen makes a startling discovery that, sadly, has nothing to do with the suspicion that he should have ended his flagging movie career ages ago. [31 May 1996, p.6G]