Periodically deviating from its fly-on-the-wall aesthetic, the film does a noticeably better job than the Joan Rivers movie of incorporating old footage and photos to underscore its subject’s importance.

Hotel Artemis is neither a sequel nor a remake, but a film of considerable originality. And that makes it a rarity at the multiplex.

Isn’t a knockout of a film, but it’s light on its feet and throws a lot of good punches.

Porter’s film is a warm biography and depiction of Lewis’ life, but there are moments where one wishes it had a bit more bite.

JOE VERSUS the Volcano starts out like a house afire and simmers along quite adequately until about two-thirds of the way through, when it begins running out of fuel. From there, it sputters fitfully and dies at the end. Despite the problems in the third act, this comic fable is, on the whole, quite enjoyable. [9 Mar 1990, p.3F]

So many of today's children's movies are loud. Loud explosions, loud colors, loud soundtracks, loud humor. The animated The Secret World of Arrietty is the antidote to those films.

Brazenly funny in its own right - until it turns into a goody two-shoes.

Arbitrage is never the nail-biting thriller that it could have been.

Moviegoers will know in the first five minutes whether the new B-movie Machete is their cup of tea - or bucket of blood.

Alba is a showstopper in a fringed cowgirl outfit. But nine years wiser, we know that pretty things aren’t always worth killing for.

While it's both too crude and too commercial to be mistaken for journalism, the good news is that the headliners deliver.

Cars 2 is like a gorgeous sports car with a toxic tailpipe, a busted navigation system and a loud stereo that plays only commercials.

Three actors portray the clumsy-but-limber Li in the years of his arduous training, when he is pulled between a teacher who's inspired by Mao and another who's inspired by bootleg videos of Mikhail Baryshnikov.

EVERY TIME Loverboy veers toward the predictable or the situationally comedic, it rights itself. The film merits much more than a passing sigh as yet another flick for the teen audience. [2 May 1989, p.4D]

The movie is generally entertaining, although toward the end director Arne Glimcher and a couple of screenwriters try so hard to make everything fit neatly together in a formulaic package that they end up losing credibility. [17 Feb 1995, p.7E]

For better or worse, this is a straightforward performance film.

As a realistic horror movie, Misery is effective. If you like Stephen King books, you will probably like Misery. However, I kept hoping that Reiner and Goldman would do more with the material. [30 Nov 1990, p.3F]

Elijah Wood Jr. is excellent as a boy who goes looking for a new father and mother. A fairly amusing, very light fantasy from Rob Reiner. [14 Aug 1994, p.14C]

Viewers who don’t want to visit Ponyville should just skip to the next town.

Compared to most teen comedies these days, Fun Size is almost touchingly tame.

Although their latest film is not without a certain charm, it quickly wears out its welcome.

The special effects and especially the 3-D are top-notch.

As phony as a poodle-skirted waitress at a mall diner, yet it's as sweet as a malt. A vanilla one.

It still has cool creatures and 1960s set design, and the 3-D is the best of the season, but if you try to remember the story or jokes, you'll find that you've been hit by a neuralyzer beam.

Still, it’s worth seeing for Affleck’s charismatic performance and for its vision of America as a land of greed, violence and political expediency that some moviegoers will find all too familiar.

Bully is a good start to a necessary conversation, but its loving voice is likely to be drowned out by haters who hide their own wounded hearts behind Internet pseudonyms and broadcast microphones.

Executive Decision sticks to the action at hand, and except for some rather long and claustrophobic moments, offers up the required amount of impossible-to-believe but satisfyingly tense moments. [15 Mar 1996, p.3E]

Be forewarned: The 100-Year-Old Man is edgier than its title would lead you to believe. Bad guys are bludgeoned, blown up and even crushed by an elephant, and the two duffers take a lassez-faire attitude toward disposing of them.