Compelling and frequently entertaining.

A first-rate historical drama.

We're compelled to admire these athletes because, despite their obvious skill, they are in constant danger.

Lacks insight and finesse, and feels like a boldfaced Rorschach for Smith's own hang-ups.

Married to the Mob picks up pace throughout and builds to an exciting finish. [19 Aug 1988]

A solidly made wish-fulfillment fantasy set during World War II.

This is a serious film, but it is also entertaining. Ngassa and Ntuba should be galvanizing figures for a nation stuck on "Judge Judy" and "Jerry Springer."

Maria By Callas finds lots of press footage that most of us have never seen, filmed interviews either for television or newsreels, and it’s all fascinating.

It's two hours of your life wasted, time once spent that can never be regained. Don't go. Don't do it. [30 Mar 1988]

The makers of Man Push Cart seem so dedicated to making a film that defies Hollywood conventions that the finished product lacks enough entertainment value to justify price of admission.

Witty, adult treatment of an offbeat subject: a pubescent boy's infatuation with an older woman.

It's entertaining and inoffensive.

Loses steam only when it strays from the sisters and attempts to depict their parents' loveless marriage.

A movie that eliminates Hollywood gloss and pop cliches -- and in their place offers an honest look at young love and its pitfalls.

Nightmare-inducing.

Evans pays careful attention to atmosphere, while giving wide berth to cinematographers Dimas Imam Subhono and Matt Flannery, who find beauty among the mayhem. Everything on screen is crystal clear and vibrant, like a city street right after the rain.

“Shang-Chi” gives us Shang-Chi, a likable, thrilling-to-watch and ultimately very welcome addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

There are some rumblings about the sea monsters wanting to express their true selves and being accepted by humans even though they are different, yadda yadda, but it’s not very well developed and Luca, like its charming village at low tide, is a shallow dip in the water.

A lean, mean, riveting back-to-nature horror film that flies through its thrilling 99 minutes.

It's an impressive achievement: The film reveals things about each person's inner world, and how it looks to the other, without making us feel as if we're lost in a house of mirrors.

In Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, we learn about the visionary filmmaker through his body of work and insightful interviews with such luminaries as Martin Scorsese and Kirk Douglas as well as Cardiff himself.

Lenny Cooke is humbling, as well as a cautionary tale for young people thinking they can make the big time.

The movie might work better if the psychological puzzle tucked inside it were more engaging or surprising. But as the pieces fall into place, in a clunky resolution, the story turns as flat as the screens that contain it.

It's a broad generality to say that French filmmakers have a particularly perverse sensibility, but it can be backed up by one import after another. The latest, La Moustache, is wonderfully odd in a minimalist kind of way.

It’s maybe not one of the best movies of 2022, but it was certainly one of my favorites.

It eschews obvious effects, but even more impressively, it tells a story without an obvious moral. It assumes that kids can wrestle with a fairly complicated narrative and draw their own conclusions.

Altman has delivered a lot of surprises in his long directing career, and his new comedy, Cookie's Fortune, is one of the most refreshing -- not because it's so good, but because it's so sweet and affectionate.

This is a movie made by and for adults, and adults should consider seeing it.