Disney serves up a warmed-over tale that was never one of its best to begin with and mistakenly tries to substitute teen-angst-ridden Christina Ricci for the totally adorable Hayley Mills. It's a serious mistake. [14 Feb 1997, p.03E]

This wonderfully wry, painfully funny comedy about a middle-aged boy and his mother is Albert Brooks' most accessible movie. [17 Jan 1997, p.03E]

Among the pleasures of "Ghosts of Mississippi" is the rare chance to see Goldberg, who is such a fine actress, in a serious role. [03 Jan 1997, p.E03]

THIS is one tough movie....When its uncompromising final scene has faded, we are emotionally shattered, left with some inkling of how the citizens of Salem, Mass., must have felt 300 years ago, after a reign of self-righteous, hysterical, scapegoating terror had swept through their claustrophobic town, sending a significant portion of its tiny population to the gallows, or worse. [20 Sept 1996, p.3E]

This film might have been more accurately titled Bungle All the Way because everything that can be wrong, is. Not only is the product miscast from top to bottom, it's also tedious and painfully not funny. [22 Nov 1996, p.3E]

This amiable, poky one-joke movie - Bill Murray is saddled with an elephant - gets brief jolts of comic energy when Matthew McConaughey shows up as a manic truck driver. Otherwise, it's got a few laughs, and could use a few more. [02 Nov 1996, p.51]

The central question of Trees Lounge is whether Tommy will ever get wise to himself. The movie does not exactly provide an answer to the question, but Buscemi poses it in an entertaining, insightful and humane way. [24 Oct 1996, p.4G]

THIS odd, anachronistic movie is the story of a couple of white guys (Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas) messing around in 19th-century Africa, and a couple of lions who want to eat them. I kept rooting for the lions. The Ghost and The Darkness is not a bad movie, and the scenes with the lions are fearsome. But it is so old-fashioned in its view of British Colonial Africa that you keep expecting Stewart Granger to wander in out of "King Solomon's Mines" (1950). [11 Oct 1996, p.3E]

A strange but compelling documentary. [08 Nov 1996, p.4E]

The Glimmer Man starts out like Seven, but pretty soon it dwindles into nothing. [09 Oct 1996, p.5D]

IF you can accept the notion of a sympathetic character who is also a hit man - in other words, if you went along with the game in "Pulp Fiction" and "Bulletproof Heart" - you should enjoy 2 Days in the Valley, a fast-moving, sometimes violent, sometimes sexy, sometimes surprisingly funny story of crime and romance in the San Fernando Valley. [27 Sept 1996, p.3E]

Hill fans - and I'm one - should find Last Man Standing intriguing, but it's certainly not among his top four or five works. [20 Sep 1996, p.3E]

With an incredible eye for nature, both its landscape and its particulars, and a wonderful script, Ballard has crafted a movie that dignifies the lowly goose and tells a remarkable story about family at the same time. [13 Sep 1996, p.3E]

A film whose beauty lies in the fact that it's never pretty. [30 Aug 1996, p.3E]

First Kid is filled with slapstick and predictable jokes. The kids in the preview audience seemed to enjoy it, despite the commendable fact that it generally avoids bathroom humor and age-inappropriate gags about children's sexuality. [30 Aug 1996, p.3E]

A VERY Brady Sequel may be the world's first ecologically friendly movie, 90 minutes of recycled situations, dialogue and Day-Glo elevated from the small screen of the '70s to the big screen of today. It's a sunshine day where there is nothing new under the sun. It's also, in the Brady vernacular, far-out fun in a groovy kind of way. [23 Aug 1996, p.6E]

It flows, but it never gets tense, and the climax just sort of passes unnoticed. The movie reaches too hard to push messages about human nature that are really right on the surface. Complicating things is the casting of Brando and Kilmer, who as usual, are not in the same movie as the rest of the cast. [23 Aug 1996, p.3E]

Unlike many action-flick heroes, Snake Plissken is more than welcome the second time around. [09 Aug 1996, p.5E]

Taken as mindless entertainment, "Chain Reaction" is a cut or two below "Independence Day" and a couple of cuts above "Fled." It's a little better than "Eraser," not as good as "The Rock." [2 Aug 1996, p.3E]

Manny and Lo is a significant achievement for Krueger, who has shown herself on this first outing to be a smart, sure and strong director. [23 Aug 1996, p.6E]

The film is hilarious, however, and the comic bits are nearly enough to distract audiences from the illogical turns of the screenplay. [19 July 1996, p.3E]

A turgid, overlong comedy. [19 July 1996, p.3E]

The film's directors delicately balance the good against the evil and use humor in both song and script as a counterpoint to the darkness. [21 June 1996, p.3E]

It's possible to make a successful comedy about stalking, or virtually any other subject. But you probably need a lighter touch than young director Ben Stiller (Reality Bites) exhibits in this occasionally funny, sometimes grim movie. [14 June 1996, p.3E]

The Arrival is no Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it does provide a solid second choice at the multiplex. [31 May 1996, p.5E]

The dragon is a wimp. The knight is a geek. The king is a jerk. And, unless you're 12 or younger, the story is a bore. [31 May 1996, p.3E]

Young kids will like this movie but pre-teens and older will recognize it as a Free Willy ripoff. [17 May 1996, p.3E]

There are a few good jabs at fame, advertising and sexuality along the way. But don't worry, nothing gets too serious in this silly, on-target movie. [15 Apr 1996, p.5D]