Mate swapping is so '70s. But Alan Rudolph, who wrote and directed Afterglow, avoids making it seem dated by presenting the menage a quatre as accidental.

Applause is a very minor film with a massive performance at its center.

A desperate, pathetic mess.

The film's subject, a whistle-blowing research scientist who played a key role in the fight to regulate tobacco, deserves to be celebrated.

Braveheart comes up short by beating the drums of human treachery and violence so loudly they become assaults.

A peculiar little film -- grim and disturbing yet perversely riveting.

Men will watch Crazy, Stupid, Love thinking they're finding out things about women, but if anything, this movie works the other way. Women will get a glimpse into the male mind.

It has scale, spectacle and a cast of good actors who seem to believe in what they’re doing. But the movie springs to life only in spurts.

Both halves of the film are exquisitely acted and written, both are emotionally true, and yet they don't quite fit together.

The narrative doesn’t generate much interest; the nature of the ultimate ending is discernible from a distance, and the movie’s message about nature and the natural order seems forced. Still, there’s a lot here that’s impressive. Lamb is too vivid and original to forget.

Refreshing and worth seeing.

The best scenes are filmed inside the cruiser, dashboard shots that face inward instead of out, catching Gyllenhaal and Peña in moments so playful and true they make all other buddy cops look bogus by comparison.

If you thought you didn’t like William Shatner, see this movie to have your mind changed. And if you already like him, get ready to love the guy.

Yet Apocalypto has to be respected for the sheer audacity of it, for the commitment and ambition behind it, and for its presentation of a complete other world. It is the furthest thing from a cynical or casual piece of work. It's crazy, and it moves.

This disappointing comedy, which seems to move at a snail's pace, is almost saved by the gorgeous scenery and settings, crisply photographed. Locations include the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, the harbor at Juan-les-Pins, and other lovely spots on the Cote d'Azur. [14 Dec 1988, p.E1]

It's funny, broad and never stops moving. It's made to please, and succeeds.

Heartfelt and passionate and brave in what it attempts to explore.

A sexy, mildly entertaining import.

Smile is an immensely well-crafted horror movie.

Two things to know about Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: It is appalling. And I haven’t laughed this hard at anything in months.

It's Eric Bana, a popular Australian stand-up comic, who justifies our interest with a dazzling performance of blunt humor, unpredictability and an edge of menace.

Such are the timeless joys of the books (and now the movie), this sparkling absurdity and knack for buckling swash under the worst of circumstances.

I'd be shocked if we see a better horror film in 2013.

In its sober, nonassertive way, Bopha! takes on the tone and weight of a Greek tragedy. [24 Sept 1993, p.C1]

Writer-director Lorene Scafaria based the movie on her own mother, and the clothes that Sarandon wears in the film actually belong to Scafaria’s mother. They fit Sarandon well, and so does the role.

The World's Fastest Indian might be the world's worst title for a charming, slice-of-life biopic.

White, who has done documentaries about Serena Williams, Beatles secretary Freda Kelly and the Netlfix series “The Keepers,” is an efficient storyteller who keeps things moving. There is a wealth of archival material, and clips from her 1980s television life. He neatly makes the case for Westheimer; openly talking about sex is now commonplace, but not when she started.

The film bolsters its case with plenty of facts, charts and expert testimony - evidence typical of this sort of advocacy documentary. But what makes the movie compelling is its focus on a handful of victims, who make the statistics painfully real.

Has plenty to satisfy fans and bring in new admirers.

This documentary is not just interesting, but timely.

It's an entertaining, depressing and ultimately hopeful movie about the times we live in.

Whether the role is small or large, the acting across the board is utterly convincing.

The film occupies that peculiar space that many of us would prefer to believe doesn’t exist, a movie that’s worthy but often inert, by turns enriching and enervating: a good boring movie.

Henry Fool is far and away writer-director Hal Hartley's best movie.

It is a very good performance in a very bad movie.

Prospect has a lived-in, working-class vibe at odds with so much of the gleaming, brave new world that is the science-fiction cliché.

The fun and human “Thunderbolts*” is an encouraging sign for the MCU’s future.

In some cases, the songs themselves shine most brightly.

The documentary Watermark is close to the cinematic equivalent of a coffee-table book. It relies heavily on visuals and offers minimal context. The project has a pro-environment feeling, which comes across implicitly, not through browbeating or preaching.

The film is charming throughout, literally from the beginning of time to the final goal.

For all the movie's richness and dazzle, for all that money dripping off the screen, Batman Returns is a gorgeous failure -- flashy, intermittently appealing but, in the end, a big mess. Batman Returns lacks a coherent story. It lacks a point of view and a focus. And so everything suffers, even the art direction. [19 June 1992, p.D1]

Monster House was designed as a family movie and a scary movie. It may scare children, but it won't terrify them. So it's no scarier than it should be.

A solid piece of filmmaking, from subtle beginning to the excessive end.

It could have been something substantial.

Earnest, heartrending look at the divide between religious fundamentalists and their gay relatives. It's also heavy-handed and devotes too much time to bigoted views.

Gains depth from subtle dark humor and a few genuinely emotional moments

Writing and directing her first feature, Jenkins mines her life for nug gets everyone can relate to.

Delightful blend of comedy, kung fu, soccer and special effects.

The unnerving brilliance of the film owes to the director's skill at assembling information and allowing it to speak for itself.

Like a young director with serious aims, there is an earnest tone here that makes Noi Albinoi a success.

I don't claim to have seen every entry from around the world, but it's hard to imagine five better than this deliciously offbeat comedy, as wildly inventive as anything Billy Wilder ever conceived.

Needless to say, if “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained” were too much for you, The Hateful Eight won’t be any easier. This is a big step beyond.

The Sunshine Makers is a true San Francisco story.

Deerskin is funny, weird and original; it features two charismatic stars, and it does everything it needs to do in only 77 minutes.

A rich and elegant film, full of sly, devious characters with complicated motives.

Jennifer Aniston...doesn't have much screen time, but in playing this slightly insecure, affable young woman, she does her best film acting to date.

It's an apocalyptic ghost story with some eerie images and a surprising turn toward the end, but it bogs down considerably between the good scenes.

In the end, Homeroom lacks impact, taken as a whole, but anyone who sees it will derive something from the experience.

The story is minimal, just a series of events in the life of a young man and his circle, but every scene is rendered with such authenticity that it’s riveting, almost like it’s a privilege to be stepping back in time.

There's an edge to this exemplary family movie, just as there is in the story.

A story of courage and sacrifice, as well as a moving love story that’s really three love stories in one.

The Chuck Wepner story is a compelling one — and the performances ensure its place as a sports movie contender.

Some people may be put off that For Your Consideration lands in a serious place. But I see it as evidence of an expanding vision, of continued artistic growth.

So much love went into Hustle & Flow that it almost glows with it.

In place of the tension, climax and easy resolution of the old "Perry Mason'' show, A Civil Action offers murkiness, bitter successes and frustration.

Jewell is not just a man, but a type, and his story is a warning, not just about the excesses of power, but about our own reflexive assumptions. Paul Walter Hauser gives us the soul of a man that deserved respect even before he did something heroic, but one that people might never have noticed.

A movie by a man who adores film and relishes its potential.

A mystical tale of two souls, joined in love but divided in society, seeking redemption and understanding before they pass to another plane.

A movie about serendipity and spontaneity.

To make a movie about that team and those games requires more than an ability to depict personal dramas or re-enact game highlights. It requires the re- creation of a world and a mind-set, and Miracle accomplishes both brilliantly.

A bit of fluff expertly made and a hoot to watch.

The result is not only entertaining but also refreshing, a shameless crowd-pleaser with a healthy cynicism about itself.

Because “Leave the World Behind” is weak and unconvincing when it comes to character interaction, the film drags in the moment-by-moment, despite its stellar cast.

“Popstar” has more going for it than outrageousness, though it certainly has that. It has genuine outrage, a good-humored but clear-eyed take on today’s pop culture as a morass of corruption, idiocy and relentless self-promotion.

Suffice it to say, the issues here are bigger than one woman's story.

As is often the case with Farhadi’s films, Everybody Knows progresses as though nothing special were happening, and yet it’s all very interesting, anyway.

The new Disneynature film lacks the fortuitous plot turns found in previous Disney documentaries, resulting in some awkward (and possibly deceptive) editing. But the movie has a strong protagonist and impressive footage, and the educational core is unsullied.

Its story meanders and doesn't build, and the pace is deadly.

A consistently absorbing, often gripping, sometimes muddled whydidhedoit (because we already know whodunit), The Third Murder moves along Kore-eda’s customary careful, incisive pace, yet manages to be, for the most part, a riveting legal thriller.

There’s a sweetness at the film’s core that never gets too sickly. The international angle feels right for a league that has never been more worldly. Most of all, there’s Sandler, who finds something very real in Stanley, something beaten down but still hopeful. The actor has reached a point in his career where he can summon gravitas without it feeling like a hustle.

You realize fairly early in the film that there will be no emotional payoff. Just an hour and a half of vacation photos in motion.

“Thank You” is flawed, with a structure and pacing that dull the viewing experience, even as the message drives through. It’s a great discussion starter, but not a great finished product.

Director Cordero manages the not-bad trick of generating suspense while keeping the overall tone cool and collected.

A modest documentary, small in scope and ambition, but it achieves one of the higher callings of art in that it forces viewers to look at a something in a newer, deeper and more humane way.

I don't want to damn Holofcener's efforts with faint praise, but the best way to describe Walking and Talking is to say that it's pleasant and charming.

Sometimes hilarious and pleasingly intense, “Day the Earth Blew Up” can also be kind of meh. But even when not as clever as its legacy demands, there’s enough of the old aesthetic and eclecticism to make us hope that this ain’t all, folks.

With a sense of eccentric macabre that recalls Roald Dahl and Charles Addams, The Willoughbys arrives on Netflix with a winning, eclectic energy that should have kids — like the animated moppets in the film — bouncing off the walls. In a good way, of course.

Consisting mostly of talking-head interviews, the film isn't especially dynamic, but it brims with insightful, poignant memories from survivors.

Over the last few years, the Avengers, together and separately, have spawned a number of good, very good, or reasonably entertaining movies. But with Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel Comics franchise arrives at the stage of decadence. There’s just too much of it. A victim of its own success, there are just too many appealing characters here to stuff into one story.

Despite traversing such a familiar track, “F1” delivers something made expressly for the big screen experience. What keeps it from being purely the kind of “theme park” Martin Scorsese demeaned in his criticism of Marvel movies is the Pitt of it all; fortunately for “F1,” it’s always Sonny on the human side.

Reeves’ skills are on glorious display in John Wick, an expertly made revenge drama in which he goes all headshot on lots and lots of bad guys, and it’s awesome.

It’s giving away nothing to say that the answers here are a mix of good news and bad news.

Sometimes I Think About Dying is a good calling card for Ridley, who proves that she’s not limited to playing spunky adventuresses from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Rather, she has a compressed intensity that could be put to good use in a variety of roles.

Chef is the best thing he (Favreau) has ever done, as writer or director or actor. It's the sort of thing of beauty that filmmakers are ultimately remembered for.

Spitzer was undone by his zipper, but as Client 9 makes clear, he was also undone by his refusal - or inability - to make nice with some of the state's most powerful characters.

We are left to ponder whether this nightmare might be a harbinger of America's economic prospects. And that is a scary thought indeed.

It’s hardly a masterpiece — it’s a fairly simple tale, well-told, with a silly, derivative climax and rather disappointingly brief depiction of the Yeti culture. Yet it is blessedly devoid of the manic, ADD pace of many animated movies, with a winning trio of characters. As Commander McBragg might say, “Jolly good show!”

A somber polemic that presents a convincing case against using war as an economic booster -- although, Jarecki argues, that is precisely what the United States has been doing under every president since Truman.