Curiously, TRON: Legacy makes the same mistake the original did: All the best stuff comes in the first act. The rest of the movie is as exciting as an overnight round of computer coding.

Only in the execution does Madonna stumble: Despite the undeniable romance of the historical material, she has made a movie more concerned with how things look than how they feel. Which should not surprise anyone.

For a good hour or so, The Raven is gruesome, ludicrous fun. Then it's just ludicrous.

While there is archival value in permanently recording this work on celluloid, the best way to really enjoy it remains live on stage.

The film is just a procession of increasingly grim and ugly scenarios and discoveries, capped off by a wildly frustrating ending.

Familiarity is not without its pleasures. But Spectre is so confused and inert that Craig can’t even sell the signature “Bond. James Bond” and “Shaken, not stirred” lines.

There's plenty in Tokyo Decadence to titillate, and plenty to shock, too, and that should be enough to motivate some people into seeing it. The movie is never pornographic, though those who don't get out much are bound to be offended. There are also some interesting observations on Japanese culture put forth by Ai's various clients, though she remains an uninteresting cipher. Despite Murakami's best efforts, the things you'll remember most about Tokyo Decadence are the naughty bits. [23 Aug 1993, p.C5]

If you're going to make a heist picture, then at least have the decency to make the heist itself interesting. Otherwise, do like Tarantino did in "Reservoir Dogs" and just skip it altogether.

Except for Spacey's talent, elements don't add up.

Everyone up on the screen appears to be having so much fun, you wish the movie found a way to let you into the party.

One of the most pessimistic movies about love Hollywood has ever made, a star-studded, glossy anti-date movie.

Whereas E.B. White's beloved novel introduced kids to the cycle of life, tenderly broaching the tricky subject of mortality, this latest movie version plays like just another piece of vegetarian agitprop.

The movie never approaches the level of screwball fun its cast seems capable of. But the curiosity of seeing Arnie grunt and groan with labor pains is hard to resist. [23 Nov 1994, p.E2]

While The Lover is tastefully filmed, and narrated by respected actress Jeanne Moreau, any dignity it might have had is squashed by its cliched finale. The last shot is of a middle- aged woman alone in a modern apartment; when the phone rings, we know with agonizing familiarity who the caller is. [16 Jan 1993, p.E2]

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]

It's lifted from pretty much every movie or TV show you've ever seen about police corruption, only not done as well.

Feels every bit as cheap and flimsy as Edward's hospital.

Worst of all is the movie's finale, a noble attempt to avoid an overly-pat conclusion that strays too far in the opposite direction.

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]

I Saw the Light, though, doesn’t live up to Hiddleston’s efforts; it’s shallow and disjointed, handicapped by a weak, cliche-sodden script.

Pearce gets into his groove swiftly, owns it and remains entertaining throughout. The rest of the movie, however, would work better as a video game.

This is a nearly universal theme and might provide the spine for a funny comedy. [29 July 1983, p.C1]

The result leaves the movie feeling like a one-note take on a complex subject.

Hot Shots isn't quite that bad, but given the material -- the military mind is certainly, in military parlance, a target-rich environment -- it ought to be funnier. [31 July 1991, p.D1]

Lovelace is a timid gloss over on a hardcore subject — a movie that takes a wild true story and shoehorns it into a formulaic mold.

Deja Vu becomes increasingly sillier.

It seems very much an exercise in time, place and character, without much soul, as if Demme expected the period to provide most of the romance. [17 Apr 1984, p.B5]

The worst kind of sequel -- the kind that exists only to give you more-more-more of what you liked the first time around, without ever justifying its own existence. This lavish, superbly designed film goes on for an exhausting 2½ hours.