Out to Sea is upbeat light fare, good for at least a few laughs. [02 July 1997, p.5D]

Listening to O'Reilly, Anne Coulter and others vilify Franken -- and vice versa -- is part of the dialogue that makes America great.

Shakur and Belushi are badly mismatched. Shakur -- he of the expressive, soulful eyes and vulnerable heart -- was evolving toward greatness on film. Belushi, though, is completely one-dimensional. [8 Oct 1997, p.1C]

Veteran director Manuel Gomez-Pereira (Boca a Boca, Between Your Legs) falls short of the manic screwball farce he was aiming for.

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.

Romantic comedies don't have to be profound when they are as appealing as this one.

The 6th Day gets a lot of mileage out of Schwarzenegger, who once seemed incapable of playing anything other than a cartoon but is becoming more and more of a "real" person with age.

There is absolutely nothing in this prequel/remake that improves on the first film or negates it in any way. If you've never seen The Thing - and you really should - stick with the genuine 1982 article and skip this elaborate act of mimicry.

Assange is a compelling figure that merited a better effort.

Glib octogenarians Jack Lemmon and James Garner are two irresistibly foulmouthed former commanders-in-chief who refuse to fade into the lecture circuit. The movie is a wicked indictment of the bipartisan system that brings to mind the urbane comedies of director Preston Sturges (Sullivan's Travels). [20 Dec 1996, p.6G]

It's a dreadful bore. [23 July 1993, p.G5]

There's enough gee-whiz bang in Richie Rich to keep young viewers entertained, though much of it is woefully uninspired. [21 Dec 1994, p.E1]

There's a lightheartedness to the film that belies its genre, however. As one of the dimmer of the dwindling party says, after the body count has reached three, "You gotta look on the bright side of things." April Fool's Day eventually does, but the mild satisfaction of its climactic twist does not redeem the tedium of the first 88 minutes. [29 Mar 1986, p.B4]

The actors, many of them now in their mid-30s, look understandably fuller in the face and thicker around the waist. The jokes, too, are starting to show their age: They wobble.

Screenwriter/director Tornatore is best known for his nostalgic "Cinema Paradiso," which won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1990. But The Best Offer is completely different in style and tone; it’s dark instead of light, a psychological thriller of sorts, only with Virgil’s heart and orderly life in peril instead of his life.

The Sentinel isn't nearly as slick as it must have looked on the page. Those zingers are perfect fodder for a movie preview, but they just don't lead anywhere interesting on-screen.

Its situation and its sight gags are marvelous, recalling the best of Spielberg's 1941. But like that movie, The Money Pit is disconnected; pieces seem missing, and subplots seem to have been abandoned in a rush. [28 Mar 1986, p.D5]

The result, as is always the case with short story collections, is a mixed bag, although unlike "Paris Je T'Aime," the duds outnumber the winners this time.

An irritatingly contrived drama.

Despite all the flying bullets, which are admittedly entertaining at times, Shoot 'Em Up doesn't offer enough bang for your bucks.

The actor who used his Aikido moves to snap bad guys' forearms in Above the Law and Hard to Kill devises gorier ways to dispose of scum. But he does it all with such an obnoxious sense of higher purpose that we get the feeling he's not in on the fun. [09 Oct 1990, p.C5]

If nothing else, Broken City manages to pull off a difficult feat: It's too convoluted to follow and simultaneously too simplistic to be believed.

Sporadically engrossing in a pulpy kind of way.

No, this isn't the stuff of a kiddie classic like "Holes." But, to quote from another movie with a vocal four-legged protagonist, it'll do.

This is an eerie, inventively mounted movie: It's a shivery fun time, filled with dark corners, deserted hallways and sudden apparitions. But it never manages to genuinely rattle you.

The most timid in the series. There's no invention in it, no sense of discovery. Only the impressively orchestrated action sequences feel fresh.

For all its sweat and muscle, Gladiator packs a weak punch. [6 March 1992, p.G5]

The real hit of the movie is the hilarious Bateman. His low-key humor makes you wish Hancock could have saved Bateman's short-lived sitcom "Arrested Development." Now that would have been heroic.