If it weren't the late Tupac Shakur's last film, there would be little reason to give a second thought to Jim Kouf's misleadingly titled "Gang Related." (The movie has nothing to do with gangs.) But because it's Shakur's last film, this pedestrian crime yarn must be reckoned a special disappointment. [10 Oct 1997, p.L24]

Blown up to big-screen size, you can see that "Going All the Way" isn't "a Midwestern 'Catcher in the Rye' " at all. It's really an old-fashioned gay romance - with everything but the significant glances ruthlessly cut out. [12 Dec 1997, p.L33]

This less ambitious movie will inevitably suffer in comparisons to "Secrets and Lies" or Leigh's earlier "Naked," yet on its own terms it's perfectly successful. And as always with Leigh's intimately scaled, actor-friendly pictures, the performances could scarcely be better. [22 Aug 1997, p.L26]

The Dardenne brothers keep dialogue to a minimum but create strongly defined characters by letting their cameras linger on their actors' expressive faces. Their cast works small wonders with this extra-verbal strategy, and by the time the film's stunningly simple finale arrives, it seems both inevitable and marvelously serendipitous. [21 Nov. 1997, p.L34]

But its behind-the-scenes satire of the peccadilloes of "serious" French filmmaking eventually turns downright pedantic, while the backstage intrigue (much of it hinging on a female staffer's romantic designs on Maggie) is surprisingly tame. [25 July 1997, p.L31]

Along with its implicit messages about the value of perseverance and diversity - and its clever send-up of Hollywood vanities - "Cats" offers some tuneful ditties by Randy Newman (one choice torch song is crooned by Natalie Cole) and enough wisecracking to keep adults from dozing. [28 Mar 1997, p.L34]

This latest enterprise - 70-odd minutes of purposeful navel-gazing directed by Steven Soderbergh - isn't quite as searching or provocative as Gray's prior big-screen outings, "Swimming to Cambodia" and "Monster In a Box." [16 May 1997, p.L25]

So if a feeling of deja vu is what you most crave at the movies, go and see director Thomas Carter's "Metro." You'll pay six or seven bucks to feel as though you've seen it all before. And you have. Eddie, please, come back when you can find some decent material. [17 Jan 1997, p.L26]

Scene after scene falls flat, goes nowhere. Reiner seems to have left his storytelling skills up north. He even garbles the chronology. [13 Jan 1997, p.L23]

There is an interesting intelligence at work in Set It Off. This, a number of far-better-than-average performances, and a kind of unique naivete all combine to make a film that, like the robberies these women commit, might have gone terribly awry and didn't. [15 Nov 1996, p.L30]

This period gangster yarn...is neither in the front rank nor the slag heap of Altman's oeuvre. Rather, it's an atypically accessible attempt at mainstream entertainment that contains both satisfying and off-putting elements. [16 Aug 1996, p.L24]

Manny & Lo surely benefits from the emotionally naked performances of all three leading ladies, yet it's Krueger's quirky, psychologically driven humor and ability to fashion motives fraught with irony and ambiguity that make her female buddy flick so fresh.[20 Sep 1996, p.L29]

While Cruise is more than adequate in a part that demands "Top Gun"-style histrionics rather than subtle characterization, the drawbacks of this movie are ultimately overwhelming. After all, entertainment made too difficult is no longer particularly entertaining. [24 May 1996, p.L21]

Dunston does all sorts of zany things in Ken Kwapis' wisely brief feature, but whether the movie is therefore worth seeing will depend on whether his monkeyshines are apt to make the viewer go ape. [12 Jan 1996, p.L24]

Raggedy as it is, Don't Be a Menace offers at least a momentary comic antidote to the casual horrors that have become entirely too familiar to today's youngsters. [19 Jan 1996, p.L28]

If the goal of any Shakespeare movie is to entice movie-goers who think they don't like Shakespeare, this Richard III is a delirious success - sterling proof that even masterpieces can be rejuvenated with intelligence and taste. [23 Feb 1996, p.L24]

The upshot is 141 minutes of visual rapture. [25 Aug 1995, p.L27]

Disney's unrivaled ability to wed emotional depth to high-tech razzle-dazzle endows Toy Story with its authentic heart and soul. [24 Nov 1995, p.L28]

Imperfect, and ultimately facile though it is, Hallstrom's newest cinematic love letter to his adopted country makes for better-than-average viewing in a summer that has been anything but kind to romantic comedy. [4 Aug 1995, p.L29]

Because the story is neither truly clever nor totally plausible - frequently, in fact, it's barely coherent - the film fails to deliver very many scares. [28 July 1995, p.L28]

This latest Goofy flick is, along with "Aladdin," one of the most contemporary in feeling of any of the recent Disney releases; its humor is distinctly of the moment, and references to current trend-setters abound. [14 Apr 1995, p.L28]

At last! - a movie that combines the most lurid and irresponsible aspects of the "Mandingo" black-exploitation yarns of the '70s with the gratuitous violence and ubiquitous gore of today's horror cheapies. [17 Mar 1995, p.L34]

There can be no denying, however, that the director captures the hopelessness of such troubled lives with greater force than any of his peers and that his work has staying power because its truthfulness is beyond question. [30 Jun 1995, p.L30]

Like the often glittering fashions it mostly celebrates, Altman's movie is a melange of hits and misses. The root of the problem is a wildly uneven script (by Altman and Barbara Shulgasser) that contains both near-brilliant bons mots and shopworn banter. [23 Dec 1994, p.L26]

Street Fighter's cartoon plot has no purpose other than to provide butts for our hero to kick. Van Damme does so with martial arts efficiency, but zero charm, and this weary assessment pretty well sums up why I'm praying his fifteen minutes of fame are about over. [06 Jan 1995, p.L29]

If the surpassingly murky narrative logic behind "Generations" is any indication of what's to come, Paramount had better start making explanatory material available to perplexed viewers as well as confused critics. [18 Nov. 1994, p.L27]

A melancholy but engrossing account of an obsessive relationship that led to murder. [27 Jan 1995, p.L23]

If all this sounds totally awesome, you're probably already an afficionado of the Sega- and Nintendo-licensed products from which director Jim Yukich's movie has been cloned. And you may be brain-dead as well, which would certainly enhance your enjoyment of his picture. [11 Nov 1994, p.L29]