Hushed minimalism is a rare and appealing quality in the cinema these days, but so little happens in 35 Shots of Rum that I'm hard-pressed to describe the plot. It doesn't exactly have one.

The film, “based on the incredible true story” that happened in 2014, is an efficient, fun but by-the-numbers movie that has the distinction of being shot on location in the Dominican Republic, which looks quite lovely onscreen.

Horrible Bosses has a handful of hilarious moments, but it's not exactly funny and not exactly serious, either.

The strange case of a movie that clunks in every possible way but the ultimate way -- it entertains.

True Colors is obvious and heavy-handed, loaded with cliches, and never really seems to inhabit the world in which it is set -- Washington politics. But more than just being mediocre, there's something obnoxious about the movie. It's a look at the ethics of the generation that came of age in the 1980s, presented by an older generation that has no more insight, sympathy or understanding of its subject than Gramps had of Woodstock. [12 Apr 1991, p.E1]

We are aware going in that Varsity Blues' cannot be a landmark of world cinema. Yet working within the tired formula, the picture turns out to be not so bad.

In the end, it’s left to Shaye to carry the film, and she does so with aplomb. The “Insidious” franchise may be running out of places to go, but Shaye appears to be just getting started.

Credit Freyne for ambition — he’s trying to make a zombie movie with a certain amount of discretion, and evoke sympathy for at least some of those who’ve perpetrated unspeakable actions. But he’s juggling too many themes here, and manages to lose us somewhere along the way.

The remaining twisted population that likes this kind of movie will enjoy a horror film that is surprisingly stylish.

Isn't a terrible addition to the teen coming-of-age party movie catalog. It just feels dated.

Yet, even at its worst, Zombieland is better than most movies of its kind - disgusting but not too disgusting, and with a few laughs.

Lumpy.

Gooding can't will this well-meaning film into life.

The new film's social message comes through loud and clear, but something in the comedy seems constrained -- effortful, yet muffled. It might be a matter of the right tone never having been found.

Some of the film is imaginatively put together. But the melodrama feels forced - manipulated by filmmakers hell-bent on teaching its main character a lesson or two about life and the need to seize it.

The movie, a rather pointless thing when you get down to it, has little of the provocative intelligence that was found in "Terminator." But at least it's self-propelling in terms of suspense and cheap thrills. [12 June 1987, Daily Datebook, p.78]

A lot more enjoyable if you can leave your cognitive skills at the door.

To his credit, writer-director Jonathan Kasdan is sensitive and observant...But he doesn't know what he's talking about, not really, and though he structures the film around his areas of ignorance, that only works partially.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer is lightweight and fun -- not great fun, but it has its moments. The high school satire angle is both authentic and good-natured. [31 Jul 1992, p.D1]

Too predictable and too self-conscious to reach a level of high drama.

In the end, “My Old School” is a well-made documentary that succeeds in most ways but that starts to crumple in the face of a single question: Who cares?

Priscilla could be described as the story of how the virginal wife finally got a clue, but it takes her too long. We’re left with a movie that mostly consists of a confused woman-child stumbling around a mansion in high heels.

The Lovely Bones is difficult viewing, a meticulously crafted experiment that, it turns out, wasn't worth it.

Shannon is worth seeing, and so is Spacey — hunched over, doing a funny impression of Nixon’s voice and body language. But this time the actors are better than the material.

What little pleasures the movie offers are small and intermittent. Kyle Chandler gets to unleash his inner Shatner by acting intense every moment that he’s on screen.

At its best, the movie is a collection of entertaining memories from a group of gutsy women.

While pacing and believability issues in The Pale Blue Eye cannot be overlooked, this finely made period mystery’s virtues should still be savored.

The heart and the luminous intelligence of Vincent van Gogh are deadened in Robert Altman's coolly distanced Vincent and Theo. [16 Nov 1990, p.E13]