Aside from Patricia Clarkson, who is practically this movie's reason for being, the great virtue of Last Weekend is that it's exactly as it presents itself.

Cherry is like three different movies in one: the teen years, the war experience, and then life as a drug addict. It’s held together by the smart writing, by the overarching tone of tragic absurdity, and by Holland, who hits every bump on Cherry’s way down.

It's impossible to listen to Francesca's parents, deadly serious about art as a higher calling, without feeling both saddened and disturbed.

One of the most direct and personal music documentaries ever made.

Reveals one mystery, only to reveal another that it can't quite penetrate.

It's silly, witty and good-natured, not scary so much as icky, and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing.

If whimsy isn't your mug of tea, stay away from Two Men Went to War. You have to be in the mood for a little sweetness to enjoy this resolutely old- fashioned comedy.

Mr. Soul! is like a wrinkle in time, a time capsule that needed to be opened. In uncovering rare gold, it’s a film that reminds us just how much we don’t know.

If his two previous films suggested a director dipping a few toes in dark waters, Un Prophete marks the moment when Audiard took the plunge.

That none of this seems snarky, but sweetly human, is largely thanks to Rogen, who never makes Herschel ridiculous, but aspirational, as if he has a vision he’s working toward.

Fans of Nijinsky will savor every minute of Cox's work. Those unfamiliar with Nijinsky but who are curious enough to see this film may find themselves frustrated by its nontraditional documentary style.

Sharper works like a machine, and so it seems unfair to complain that, by the end, it feels too mechanical. It’s fun. It should have been more fun, but take the fun where you can get it.

The Dying Gaul has the best kind of story in that it unfolds as a series of surprises, and yet every step, twist and turn seems inevitable in retrospect.

[Raimi]'s drawn lovely, complex performances from Paxton and Thornton and proven that he can work effectively -- and movingly -- in a minor emotional key.

Joyously unhinged and outrageously inventive.

Jarmusch's presence as a director is always felt, from moment to moment, in ways that are small but never random. Even establishing shots -- exteriors of buildings -- suggest his sardonic, quietly despairing vision. With Mystery Train, Jarmusch comes of age. [21 Dec 1989, p.E1]

Keenly observed and refreshingly natural.

Catches magic on the screen -- a behind-the-curtain peek at some of the world's best-loved music, straight from the cats who made it happen.

Yet it's very funny, a disappointment only to those who expect to see something bold and new.

It’s a lovely children’s movie, which isn’t to say that every moment of it is splendid and enchanted, because that’s not the case. The experience of watching Dumbo is more like, “This is OK, this is all very pleasant” — and then suddenly, there are tears in your eyes, and not from allergy season.

What we get with Geronimo, is very good action long on Western flavor and not especially compelling in the historical sense. [01 Apr 1994, p.C16]

Marketed as a romantic comedy, “Materialists” is a sharper, more thoughtful film than its genre would suggest. This is a story about perceived value and what its pursuit costs its characters — emotionally, physically and materially.

Directed by the Oscar-winning Domee Shi (“Turning Red”), Alameda native Madeline Sharafian and Adrian Molina (“Coco”), the visually appealing “Elio” moves confidently and delicately handles themes of isolation, grief, family strife and friendship.

Best of all, the filmmakers know when to pull the plug. Date Night clocks in at 88 minutes and would not have been as funny at 89.

Whereas “Weeks,” made without Boyle’s and Garland’s involvement, felt like a rehash with poorly motivated actions, “Years” is carefully thought out and would be vibrant filmmaking even without the previous material.

A wistful romance with metaphysical overtones, the movie is warm and charming. [10 Jul 1992, p.D1]

A goofy genre-buster that takes its amateur criminals as seriously as ``Pulp Fiction'' or ``Run Lola Run'' did theirs.

Deceptively unadorned. In its simplicity, it digs for complex feelings and ideas — and is particularly timely, considering current political winds and Paris’ announcement of its first refugee camp.

It’s oddly worth seeing.

Doueiri sprinkles Lila Says with moments of humor and violence -- a mix that keeps the film fresh and unpredictable.

This gory parody hits television where it hurts -- and draws blood. It will bring joy to the heart of anyone who hates TV.

Everything comes up forced and predictable in the nostalgic overload of bongs, Top 40 rock and boys' bluster about sex.

What makes the movie succeed is that Dorman doesn't only focus on the life of Aleichem (who had a tendency to build fortunes and then lose them), but a look at a society long gone and the legacy and traditions they and Aleichem left to Jews around the world today.

The actors perform as though this were a first-class effort, and at times almost make you believe it. Matthew Modine is boyish and explosive, and Melanie Griffith further establishes herself as an interesting and original actress. Her line readings are odd, yet strangely right. [28 Sept 1990, p.E1]

Hardy's performance takes a little bit of the sting away from seeing Gandolfini perform on a big screen for the last time. As irreplaceable as Gandolfini may be, it's invigorating to see a young actor elevating to similar heights right before your eyes.

Oldboy is an immersion into pure twistedness. The purity of its twistedness is its saving grace.

Crowe is not messing around here, not trying to dream up opportunities to throw himself another close-up. He’s a genuine director.

Félix and Meira appears to be a simple movie about fitting in, acceptance and sacrifice. Yet it’s so elegant and poses so many sides that it’s actually a very complex film with very complex characters.

If it seems to have the ingredients of an after-school special, the performances take it to another level. Gut level.

One of the most impressive actor-to-filmmaker transitions in recent years.

This is a film about small victories, huge defeats and finding the will to keep fighting.

Graham Greene ("Dances With Wolves") in one of the year's best performances, he's a fully dimensional character: pathetic and shrewd, tragic and bitterly funny.

A mannerless, styleless brute, Bullock's Grace Hart is Eliza Doolittle in sweats.

It's fun, it's kind of somber and it succeeds in making you think about how you might be squandering middle age.

Funny, very clever and still packs some cover-your-face bloody thrills that top any "Saw" or "Hostel" movie.

An ideal movie for an ideal time in America.

For people already interested in fashion, the film’s appeal will be obvious, but Dior and I deserves to go beyond a small target audience.

A visual masterpiece that powerfully explores male cruelty, too.

So many twists and turns, it seems like fiction.

Some say all the great movie stars are gone, but I say we've still got Charles Busch. A one-man archive of vanished showbiz glamour and period acting styles, Busch has reincarnated the great ladies of stage and screen in such camp treasures as "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom" and "Psycho Beach Party."

The protagonists and their idle dreams of a fiery wasteland may well be nihilistic. But the movie - with its stunning cinematography and lingering aftertaste of old-school heartbreak - most assuredly is not.

Bogdanovich films Noises Off in long, unbroken takes. Though for the most part he doesn't give us the whole stage but moves in to follow the action more closely, the camera moves as one's eyes might, while following the play. Bogdanovich does what he has to -- he gets out of the way of Frayn's original farce. And the result of his thankless toil is a movie that doesn't quite feel like a movie, and that's not quite as good as the play, but that's pretty good anyway. [20 March 1992, p.D5]

Satan is optional in The Last Exorcism. This is the rare horror film that would have been entertaining even if nothing scary happened.

A gripping documentary about the most exacting and expensive scientific experiment ever conducted, and one that may be among the most significant.

Kung Fu Killer is like a roundhouse kick from the past, a satisfying, old-school martial arts film that has a ’90s feel to it.

As a lesbian thriller, the movie calls to mind the Wachowski’s “Bound” (1996), though “Love Lies Bleeding” is clumsier and more spontaneous, as though it were being made up on the spot. Though the spontaneity ultimately exhausts itself, it’s enjoyable most of the way.

The film is filled with lovely images (Kim studied painting in France), and ultimately becomes, against all expectations, quite moving.

The film is built to quaver and buckle along with its victims and martyrs. In an almost soulful way, it bespeaks the reality lingering when the final fantasy ends.

A marvelous film.

Little gem.

It's the complexity of Lurie's moral universe that makes it linger in the mind.

Ultimately, Fortress is a formula picture, an action film that has to resolve itself in a conventional way. Still, until its last five minutes or so, when it takes a slightly silly turn, Fortress is nicely realized and holds your attention. [4 Sept 1993, p.E1]

The sensation is dizzying, and you may feel relieved -- certainly the filmmakers do -- when Chavez re-enters the picture. There's a feeling of order restored, but the depiction of political free fall has been unnerving.

Once it gets rolling, Unstoppable doesn't pause for breath.

A clever, heart-pounding thriller, and a welcome return to form for the director.

The Rainmaker has a mostly plausible story, an engaging young courtroom hero (Matt Damon, Hollywood's new cover boy), a giant insurance company as the perfect adversary and the best supporting cast of any movie this year.

It’s mildly amusing when it should be funny, sentimental when it should be deep and all too easy when it should be unsettling. It’s still some kind of success, but a modest one.

At its exhilarating best, Following Sean is reminiscent of the lauded British documentaries that began with "7 Up.''

It’s a very good movie, and it features a blood-curdling performance from Joaquin Phoenix, in the most frightening portrayal of a violent maniac in decades. One more thing: It’s clearly a response to the times.

Perhaps the movie's use of the past is more than cosmetic in this one regard: Watching Woody Allen revisit his old themes and obsessions already feels like a nostalgic experience. Actually setting the movie back in time deflects this and makes a virtue of a shortcoming.

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

Black Snake Moan' is a trip to that unfamiliar territory well worth tagging along on.

Happily, Blue Beetle comes closest to cracking the code by grounding its slam-bang sci-fi shenanigans in familia. Based on the third incarnation of a comic book character who’s been in and out of circulation — published by several different companies — since 1939, this movie’s Latin flavor feels fresh, with welcome bits of political bite and funny takes on the genre’s over-familiar conventions.

Entertaining and pleasing for children and parents, and not in the schizophrenic way of most kid's movies, which toss naughty in-jokes over the kiddies' heads.

For those who've never before heard fado, Fados will be a revelation - a window into a music that (like blues music) can be poetic, heartbreaking, melodramatic and redemptive, all at the same time.

Seizes on a primal fear and flogs it for two hours.

An absorbing, multilayered story about the search for a French girl who goes missing with her Muslim boyfriend, starts in a very un-French way: with cowboys, horses, a Marlboro Man-like billboard and country-and-western music.

A charming and wise film.

Taut and suspenseful.

But for director David Cronenberg and the commitment of his actors, A History of Violence might have been a cartoony action film. Its origins are in a cartoon, of sorts -- specifically, in a graphic novel, by John Wagner and Vince Locke.

Great pleasures.

Apart from Lawrence's goofing, Blue Streak isn't much of a movie.

While hardly glorifying abusive husbands, Take My Eyes, a mesmerizing and deeply disturbing film from Spain, makes an attempt to understand their thought processes.

Ignoring these lapses in logic, The Parent Trap' is hugely enter taining and more relevant than most family entertainment.

Compelling.

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

The Hummingbird Project — is at once an offbeat comedy and a satisfyingly weird thriller.

A grandiose cinematic invention, cleverly turning the present-day urban American world on its ear.

A gripping look at the immigrant experience, with small moments as important - and visually arresting - as any on the baseball diamond.

It may surprise you to hear that in the end there is a sliver of hope offered in Under the Tree, so thin that it’s almost not there. A less interesting movie might simply have served up a headlong plunge into the abyss — but Sigurdsson gives us a tiny flicker of light.

The result is startling and repellent -- a challenge to filmgoers accustomed to fake gunfire, fake wounds and cosmeticized death.

For music fans, there's great pleasure in hearing new audio tracks to "Sitting Here in Limbo," "Friend of the Devil" and more songs -- each one complete and unedited.

The Daytrippers is low-budget perfection, a comedy without a false note and without a flat joke.

Anyone who has ever felt morally right and completely in the minority will have a point of entry into this movie.

Jude is knockout Hardy, filled with stormy visual poetry and accompanied by a gorgeous yet simple score.

Martin Lawrence finally gets to show what he can do as a screen comedian.

The melancholic, beautiful Cairo Time confirms two things that hardly need confirming: The Egyptian capital is a breathtaking metropolis, and Patricia Clarkson is one of the best actors in the world.