The new John Waters movie, Cry-Baby, which opens today at the Kabuki, isn't daring or even daringly undaring. It's a spoof of those dull, corny musicals from the '50s and early '60s and is just as dull and safe as the kind of movie it mocks. I fell asleep, and I haven't dozed off in a theater since ''Dream Lover,'' a Kristy McNichol effort from 1986. [6 Apr 1990, p.E1]

Violent, gritty and probably too intense for very young children, but for anybody between the ages, say, of 10 and 10, it's certain to be a crowd pleaser with fascinating dark tones and menacing undercurrents that are quite a contrast from Saturday cartoon fare. [30 Mar 1990, p.E1]

It's one of those self-consciously cute pictures, about as hard to take as a person who stands in front of a mirror and preens all day. [23 Mar 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

The Fourth War, which opened yesterday at the Alexandria, is about two knuckleheaded army officers, one American and one Russian. They deserve each other. We don't. [24 Mar 1990, p.C3]

The movie, based on the novel by Simon Brett, tries very hard to make a statement about the feelings of a man who has struggled for years and suddenly finds himself over the hill, a shutout at work and at home. But the tale falters on Caine's character. [23 Mar 1990, p.E5]

It's a likable action picture that's fun and entertaining even when it's a bit silly. [16 Mar 1990, p.E1]

Without straining to emphasize the underlying parable, director Harry Hook has brought off a corking adventure that grips the imagination from start to finish. [16 Mar 1990, p.E3]

In between the scenes of folks being impaled, cut in half with swords and blasted with shotguns are moments of light comedy, but these moments don't succeed in lightening up the picture but rather make it seem as if it were made by Martians with only the vaguest notion of human sensibilities. [16 Mar 1990, p.E6]

With House Party, the Hudlins have made a happy, harmless romp of a movie that, in its own minor way, manages to make a contribution to black cinema. There is a measure of social equality in the mere fact that black teens get stupid movies made about them, too. [9 Mar 1990, p.E6]

Shanley tries to make something courageous and symbolic out of the notion of jumping into a volcano, but his philosophizing is sentimental, heavy-handed and forced. The idea of doing something reckless and adventurous even becomes a bit depressing when it dawns on you that Shanley may have been taking his own advice with this movie, for less than glorious results. [9 Mar 1990, p.E3]

Director Curtis Hanson gives the film a slow, European pace and a cold, slick look. The sound-track is made up almost entirely of internal noises -- a buzzing fluorescent bulb, music from a record player. Everything contributes to an ominous atmosphere. [09 Mar 1990, p.E1]

Even when it's hard to follow, it looks good. The undersea action is visually convincing, and Ramius' submarine, with all its rooms and compartments, is always believable. The moonlit photography in the picture's final scene is stunning. [2 Mar 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

You leave Cinema Paradiso with that feeling that's kind of like getting kicked in the stomach, but nice. It's one of those breathless, swept-away-by-a-movie experiences that you might have once a year, if you're lucky. [16 February 1990, Daily Notebook, p.E-1]

Each element combines to make Glory one of the few Civil War movies that reach into the very guts of that conflict. [12 Jan 1990, p.E1]

It bombs, but not for lack of trying. It bombs for too much trying. [17 Feb 1990, p.C3]

Revenge is like a movie about two idiots who jump off a cliff hoping gravity will take a holiday. When they hit the ground _ well, that's just too bad. [16 Feb 1990, p.E1]

It has the simple charm of being mindless fun with nary a worry that there are several pockets of lame gags or far-fetched comedy bits that refuse to register on the giggle meter. [16 Feb 1990, p.E3]

This time the martial arts philosophy lesson rings hollow. [10 Feb 1990, p.C5]

The picture is in the same sappy, soapy, maudlin vein as last year's ''Beaches,'' but I didn't hate it as much as ''Beaches,'' which might mean that everybody who loved ''Beaches'' will think Stella isn't quite as good. [2 Feb 1990, p.E1]

Tremors gets its characters into a series of hopeless situations and then resolves these situations in unexpected ways. I tried to out-guess the movie and couldn't. The movie might be nothing more than light entertainment, but care and thinking clearly went into it. [19 Jan 1990, p.E1]

There might be a lot of guts scattered around in Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, but it's a completely gutless movie, without the wit to be a comedy or the nerve to stand on its own as a straight horror picture. It just floats around at its own dull pace, trying this out and that out, as it slowly sinks. [13 Jan 1990, p.C30]

Internal Affairs gets inside of you so fast that it's hard to look for or notice its imperfections. There's no point in quibbling about a movie that's this good, this absorbing and merciless, this original and twisted. [12 Jan 1990, p.E1]

A comedy without laughs. The people on screen laugh more than the audience. I'd be willing to bet that the average person laughs more during any given 105 minutes of the workday than they would during all of Ski Patrol. Even if they go to Ski Patrol having had a few drinks. [05 Mar 1990, p.F1]

The Plot Against Harry isn't stark and merciless enough to be a black comedy or zany enough to be just plain fun. After a while the oddball characters and unlikely twists of the plot lose their charm, and the movie just seems self-conscious and cute. [07 Feb 1990, p.E1]

Director John McNaughton does not shy away from depicting Henry's acts of violence, but he also has not designed it to titillate the bloodthirsty who may get their kicks from ''slasher'' movies. [13 April 1990, p.E3]

Always is such a lamentable production _ hardly a moment rings true _ that you almost feel like saying ''pardon me'' when you wonder why it apparently didn't occur to Spielberg or anyone else involved that no chemistry was taking place. Not only are the stars rather uninteresting people, they don't seem to like each other in any way that you can feel. [22 Dec. 1989, p.E1]

A forced, tedious but stupidly amusing police action comedy starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as undercover cops who dislike one another but are forced to do some male bonding to save their hides. High-minded people who eschew violence, harsh language and meatball humor just might want to skip this one. [22 Dec 1989, p.22]

Stone's feisty, intensely personal style of film making is well-known. With Born on the Fourth of July we are treated to a poignant, spirited and captivating - for the broken heartedness of it all - performance by Tom Cruise. [25 Dec 1989, p.E1]