It's a sensational part for a young actress -- the film is told entirely from her point of view, using her journal entries as voice-over narration -- and Judd, in her first film, gives a subtle, delicate performance. [05 Nov 1993, p.C12]

In the end, Chi-Raq is a positive movie that wants to jolt us into doing something about the very real emergency in Chicago. Along the way, the execution of the narrative gets muddled, but there’s no denying that this risk-taking film has a pulse. A strong pulse.

While the end result, now directed by Soi Cheang (“Mad Fate,” “Limbo”), may not be quite as deliriously over the top as that version might have been, it’s nevertheless a solid entry in the ledger of Hong Kong crime sagas and was a huge hit when released in China earlier this year.

Thelma always emphasizes seniors’ capabilities, not their limits.

Not a great picture but an entirely entertaining one. [02 Nov 2008, p.N34]

There's a real commitment to key moments; a sense of depth and understanding. It has labor of love written all over it. [22 Aug 1990, p.E1]

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.

One of the smartest and most impassioned films about Christianity in recent memory, though to say that might give the wrong impression. In tone and strategy, the film is low-key and subtle; and the story can be appreciated both for its surface qualities and its deeper intentions.

Jarecki takes a highly original approach to create a compelling, thought-provoking look at a highly relevant and controversial topic.

Rather than simply reveling in nostalgia, “Vinyl Nation” becomes a forward-looking story about connections: between artist, tradesperson, retailer and listener. And also between families, friends and strangers.

Equally fascinating, sad and scary.

One need not be a jazz aficionado to enjoy this film. All that’s required is a smile.

The pieces of the drama are put forth like the shapes of the five fingers of a hand, and finally they find a kind of awkward unity that was predictable from the start. And yet, the gesture of it all is utterly captivating, the way a dream would be if it ever really came true. [27 Feb 1987, Daily Datebook, p.74]

Jia is passionate about his characters, but that never compromises his considerable artistic control.

We can only describe the result, which is that this director — in her first feature film — has the ability to synthesize emotions and ideas through pictures. She shows you something; it means something, and you know what it means. She has an emotion, so she shows you something else, and you feel it, too.

It's a documentary that invites viewers inside its story to groove along with a genre that's changing the past, present and future of contemporary music.

This is almost Mel Brooks territory: The frontiersmen think the Chinese are Jews, while the white settlers think it's the Crow Indians who are. Whoosh!

Superb documentary.

It's a ton of fun, a totally irresistible tale of gambling, greed, love and violence. With gorgeous actors, designer clothes and thrilling action, it's fast-moving (even at 2 hours, 20 minutes) popcorn entertainment.

Presenting Princess Shaw looks and feels like a DIY project, which is fine because the documentary is really a hymn to self-reliance — although bolstered with a modest amount of plain old luck.

A hauntingly lyrical study of sexual awakening.

Philomena is a wiser movie than it seems, with much to say about justice and forgiveness and the healing of wounds over time. Actually, it says next to nothing about any of those things, just implies its messages with a light hand.

The movie's pleasures are acting pleasures, but the movie doesn't compel attention and never seems like more than the frame for a performance.

There are more enigmas than answers in Jauja, an artsy South American Western directed by Lisandro Alonso, an Argentine filmmaker who delights in undermining movie conventions.

An astonishingly beautiful, irresistibly grim movie.

The film is dreadfully slow without much in the way of rewards.

Detroit is a movie that will make you angry. It is designed to make you angry, and it does nothing to soften the blow or create some artificial uplift. But there is something about honesty that’s exhilarating. Detroit is tough, but it’s worth it, every minute of it.

Kirikou and the Sorceress is definitely a sunny spot in the mire of frenetic, violent and often dopey cartoon films produced by Hollywood. It's also far more imaginative that most.