The central trio of actors deliver engaging, pitch-perfect work.

A rewarding piece of filmmaking that has all the makings of a classic weepie.

Brooks is solidly in charge of this feel-good fairy tale as he gets terrific performances from everyone including two super-talented child actors.

The updated classic is a chiller of a political thriller in its own right.

The film feels contained — its design, visual effects and cinematography all in the right balance and proportion. Spider-Man is the hero, and not some element in the filmmaking process.

A stunning, difficult film.

It's difficult to think of another recent film so seamlessly rendered or that envelops an audience so completely in its period authenticity.

Scorsese has crafted a rip-roaringly gorgeous-looking, beautifully acted biographical epic. But while firing on all cylinders, there's something oddly distancing about the picture.

Wonderfully weird and wistful adventure-comedy about a fish-out-of-water oceanographer.

While the plot is a bit light even to be carried on Wayne and Garth's droopy shoulders, it's splendidly smart, dumb stuff.

In American Me, Edward James Olmos has achieved several important goals, but one outweighs the rest: he has made a film that will scare the hell out of any inner-city youth not already lost to the hopelessness of gangs, drugs and prison. [9 Mar 1992]

Although one need not have graduated from a weekend screenwriting seminar to tell where the story is headed, Big is just plain funny and wonderfully goofy throughout. Again, while certainly not a new story or even a new theme, Big is done refreshingly well.

Cameron isn't as concerned with scares or atmosphere, the staples of traditional horror films, as he is with setting up difficult situations for his characters to get out of, leaving audiences deliciously on edge.

It took three films, but The Twilight Saga finally nails just the right tone in Eclipse, a film that neatly balances the teenage operatic passions from Stephenie Meyer's novels with the movies' supernatural trappings.

A highly entertaining documentary revealing a serious talent behind the one-note present-day reputation.

Scott has an eye -- and it's a very good one -- for sieges of castles, charging horsemen, hand-to-hand combat, glistening swords arcing through the air and deadly arrows whistling toward helpless targets.

Its balancing act between innocence and gore perfectly matches the expectations of genre fans, who should embrace the movie.

Ultimately a powerful portrait of the sort of apocalyptic culture clash that is resulting in an increasingly dangerous and fragmented world.

A terrific cinematic essay that will have a very, very long shelf life.

Captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.

A work of powerful humanism.

A nature documentary that captures the ferocity and heroism of nature.

A deeply personal, often wrenching documentary.

Astonishingly powerful documentary about really, really hard work.

Fascinatingly ambiguous tale and bizarre cast of characters make it one of the more entertaining documentaries in recent memory.

An eye-opener that handles its themes in a refreshingly nonexploitative manner.

Although the story takes place during a tumultuous period, historical events never obscure the gaming genius' story. Rather it's a scrupulous examination of a somewhat naive intellectual.

What distinguishes it are its intelligent, unsentimental screenplay, which only occasionally lapses into emotional manipulation; the assured direction by Yukihiko Tsutsumi; and the superb acting.