Spectre isn’t bad — just slightly disappointing.

This reboot starring some of today’s finest comic actors — male or female — is a wonderfully hilarious and boldly imaginative creation in its own right.

Our Idiot Brother is smart entertainment.

Although it has a great look and offers a few thrills, the animated film 9 is one of this year's biggest disappointments.

With elements of a musical, a melodrama and a multicultural romance, Where Do We Go Now? is as hard to define as the crossroads region where it's set. But even without a clear signal, it sometimes seems miraculous.

While the chronological details and social significance of the story Webb reported get shortchanged, Kill the Messenger is a vital reminder that a free press must be free to press the powerful for answers.

A high-wire act that could crash if the actors were out of sync, but under this big top, the never-better Segel keeps everyone aloft.

An old-fashioned film that slyly nods to contemporary sensibilities, Allied is an engaging showcase for Pitt and Cotillard.

An exhilarating balancing act, at once a science-fiction romp, a paranoid thriller and a philosophical treatise.

If you're a zombie purist or a fan of "The Walking Dead," Warm Bodies is not for you.

A tearjerking romance that belongs to another era, when female moviegoers wanted to be transported, not grounded in grim realities.

On the whole, director Phil Joanou and writer Dennis McIntyre have done a first-rate job of giving us believable characters acting believably in a believable (if horrific) situation. [05 Oct 1990, p.3F]

Builds beautifully from a farcical premise that requires a suspension of disbelief to a musical climax that washes away our cynicism in a wave of honest tears.

After watching the trailers, I was expecting torture, but this smart, subversive movie made me laugh. So shoot me.

Enjoy the sharp humor and the performances of the leads, but don't look for a great movie. [08 Sep 1995, p.E3]

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

Disney’s gimmick of naming movies for its theme-park attractions crashes and burns in Tomorrowland, a here-and-now caper that will confuse children, bore adults and offend anyone who’s ever taken a science class.

Point Break is a perfect example of the contemporary "B" movie. And, like a lot of the old B movies, those cheap thrillers of the 1940s and 1950s, Point Break has considerably more raw energy than almost all of the higher-priced products. [12 July 1991, p.3F]

While the underrated Brosnan is effective as the cold-hearted produce mogul, the character starts as such a sourpuss that after he softens in the Sorrento lemon groves, it’s still hard to root for his inevitable hookup with Ida.

A road-trip comedy that somehow renders both promiscuity and racism harmless. While we're soaking up the sunny surroundings, we're getting nowhere.

A good and necessary film, but like the man himself it’s not immune to scrutiny.

Red is an insult to our memories and to our intelligence, an unfunny farce whose veteran cast is cashing a retirement check.

Happy, Happy has the makings of a Norwegian "Ice Storm," but it goes out with a whimper.

A medical drama that pays lip service to the healing power of music but never finds the rhythm.

The Beaver isn't a perfect film, but it's challenging and original.

Because the sociopath at the center of this family portrait never asks for forgiveness, The Iceman is truly chilling.

The things that made "Wayne's World" work at all - freshness, spontaneity - are missing from this losing sequel. [10 Dec 1993, p.3F]

An engaging comedy-drama that avoids becoming too much of a tearjerker.