Imagine a funnier, more thoughtful, more bittersweet version of "Green Card" and you'll have a pretty good description of a Chinese-American comedy called "The Wedding Banquet." [27 Aug 1993, p.L20]

This offbeat comedy-horror flick about a young man with a terminal fear of commitment turns out to be a modestly funny affair. [30 July 1993, p.L27]

Utterly atrocious. It returns Andrew McCarthy, the world's most pretentious actor under 30, to the farcical lead for which he's ill-equipped, trashes a slew of West Indian religious traditions, and manages to find only one really catchy tune - Arrow's soca-syncopated "Dancin' Mood" - in a soundtrack that ought to have sizzled. [15 July 1993, p.E9]

Rash's movie is forgettable, the smarmy Shore being just as hard to take as the sophomoric one. So if you're not a fan, consider waiting for Son-In-Law to slouch its way into a dollar house. [2 July 1993, p.L22]

Life with Mikey is seldom the stuff of belly laughs. But Vidal is a minor find as the cheeky street urchin, Cyndi Lauper contributes off-the-wall support as the Chapmans' ditzy secretary, and Fox's low-key presence is as amiable as ever. [4 June 1993, p.L21]

As one who could by no stretch of the imagination be called a video junkie, I was prepared to take an instant dislike to the big- screen version of Nintendo's wildly popular Super Mario Bros. Instead, I mildly enjoyed it. [9 June 1993, p.E7]

Dragon is guilty of simplifying the raw material of Lee's life for melodramatic as well as martial-arts purposes - and isn't always convincing in the process. Still, headliner Jason Scott Lee does a fine job of suggesting the charisma, grace and sheer explosive force of Bruce Lee's personality, as well as his drive to master self-awareness as well as self-defense. [11 May 1993, p.D7]

An underwhelming cop yarn - a suspense tale whose occasionally arresting characters are far more satisfying than its workaday plot. [20 Apr 1993, p.D7]

After a "Porky's"-style segment dealing with puppy lust, the film then segues to its better second half, hitting its stride when a ball signed by the revered Babe Ruth must somehow be retrieved from behind the fence.

Viewed as anything but fodder for scares, The Crush is silly business. Its villainess is much less credible than Barrymore's, while its landscaping and decor manifest a lot more thought than its psychology. Nonetheless, the picture manages to sustain an effectively creepy atmosphere for most of its 80-odd minutes, making it tolerable for moviegoers content with nothing more. [8 Apr 1993, p.E10]

While Badham's film will be best appreciated by those unfamiliar with Besson's forerunner, "Point" has at least two major virtues of its own. The first is Fonda's bravura performance as Maggie, which rivals Anne Parillaud's strong work in the first film. And the second is the choice of music by Nina Simone (five tunes in all, including such master works as "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" and "Feeling Good") to evoke Maggie's emotional states at various points during her strange journey. These two aspects of Badham's remake should make it a worthwhile, if inevitably redundant, experience for those who enjoyed "La Femme Nikita." And they help make it a real winner for thriller buffs who avoid subtitled imports. [23 March 1993, p.C5]

All of this goes down somewhat easier, it's true, with talents like Cage (who's at his loose, non-Expressionistic best here) and Jackson (who proved himself a great dramatic actor in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever") at the helm. Both performers extract what reality they can from Frye's two-dimensional creations, and they give Amos & Andrew at least an iota of satirical bite. [05 Mar 1993, p.L21]

A tedious mock-medieval adventure yarn that's easily the worst film so far this year...Without a single clever line of dialogue (by contrast, Arnold Schwarzenegger's one-liners rank with Oscar Wilde's) or a story of even marginal coherence, the movie relies entirely on visual overkill to bludgeon the viewer into a state of comatose submission. [19 Feb 1993, p.L23]

This blunt-edged, in-your-face comedy, however, is simply too obtuse to provide enjoyment for post-adolescent viewers. (Youngsters, I suspect, will eat it up.) Its mile-a-minute gag attempts yield groans far more frequently than laughs, and its humor is so unsubtly deadpan as to undercut the wit that lurks behind its premise. [9 Feb 1993, p.D7]

Sommersby's admirable script, by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan (based on a story by Meyer and Anthony Shaffer that's in turn based on "Martin Guerre"), turns what might have been merely a pretext for melodrama into a provocative exploration of the meaning of identity. [05 Feb 1993, p.L27]

What on Earth is Tom Berenger doing in a picture as awful as "Sniper"? [2 Feb 1993, p.D7]

Louis Malle's excellent new film "Damage" - the year's first "must-see" for serious movie-goers - ought to remind both critics and audiences of a number of things of which we tend to lose sight. First, while there are few if any "new" stories to tell, the old ones will do just fine if the filmmakers reconstitute them with insight and craftsmanship. Second, in the right hands pulp novels often make better movies than classics (remember "Gone With the Wind"?), if only because it's easier to add than to subtract layers of psychological texture. And third, even movies that seem to be "about" sex are interesting only if they're really about the people behind the acts - assuming, of course, that the people are worth the bother. [22 Jan 1993, p.L22]

It has been directed with no discernible style by Robert Harmon, who did far more imaginative work on "The Hitcher." It is acted in a near-narcoleptic stupor by Van Damme, whose only aesthetic contribution to the movie is a series of beefcake scenes featuring partial nudity. [19 Jan 1993, p.D7]

Annaud's picture does an exquisite job of conveying the many-layered ironies of its material, creating a mood of odd reserve and self-reflection even as it stages the couple's trysts with both force and delicacy. [29 Jan 1993, p.L21]

Gorgeous production design lends to the growing sense of dread, and there are fine performances by Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, and child actors Vidal Peterson and Shawn Carson. [28 Oct 2005, p.7]

A harmless bit of fluff with fun performances. [27 Oct 2000, p.5]

As one who first saw Grey Gardens two decades ago, I can happily confirm that its impact is lasting. [3 July 1998, p.L34]

The best of the blaxploitation horror flicks, with William Marshall back as the African vampire summoned by that ol'black magic and some hip voodooo practitioners, led by high priestess Pam Grier. [21 Oct 1995, p.E1]

The tender, comic romance between Prentiss and Hutton is one of the charming film's highlights, as is Francis' hilarious big-screen debut. [02 Jan 2004, p.4]

Director Mark Robson provides striking visual motifs (a carefree run through a forest later becomes fearful flight) and a canny cast mix of veteran and fledgling talent. [07 Feb 1993, p.T51]

Presley, though not the strongest actor in the world, deserves credit for taking a risk in playing an edgy character who is unsympathetic for much of the film. [03 Aug 2007, p.13]