An emotional authenticity courses through the veins of Suncoast, the filmmaking debut of Laura Chinn.

It’s a bunch of plastic blocks that have an adventure, and it’s basically insane; not quite as pleasantly so as the first movie (the element of astonished surprise isn’t there), but hey, that’s a high bar. Everything is … oh, damn it, there I go again.

The young hero of the marvelous "Kirikou and the Sorceress" is back and displaying his lifesaving wits against both supernatural and environmental foes. Four stories derived from traditional African folk tales have been strikingly animated, with just enough scares to keep small eyes glued to the screen. [11 May 2006, p.H16]

The movie's larger-than-life tone is mostly justified by the quality of the performances and the theatricality of the settings. [29 Oct 1993, p.D24]

The CGI is off the leash. The manufactured chaos is unrelenting. Monsters punching monsters. The pyramids are peril. Awesome deconstruction there.

There’s plenty here to enjoy.

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, who co-directed "Ice Age," the film feels visually richer than its predecessor (thanks to all that plain white ice melting) but has the same brand of uncomplicated all-ages charm.

It is the scenes in a Buenos Aires safe house between Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) and Mossad agent Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), the leader of the abduction team, where “Operation Finale” departs from usual espionage-movie scenarios.

Its primary tone is wistful; a slow, reluctant goodbye, not just to an act but to an era. By its end, all you want is to see that dance, just one more time.

It’s filled with moments that click, but it just feels too big.

"There's nothing about this place worth filming," insists one character, but Kiarostami always comes up with something: a Tati-like scene in which a canister rolls down a street, all but waiting to be kicked, and several exotic glimpses of urban life, including a turkey salesman who carries a couple of unplucked birds through the Tehran streets. [26 Feb 1999]

The Edge of Seventeen, in its R-rated way (booze and sex play supporting roles), is a sweetheart — just like Erwin.

Mann, as he showed two years ago in "The Insider," is a wonderfully idiosyncratic storyteller, sketching out a plot line with quick scenes, jumping into the middle of a story and letting us figure out who's who.

Although his plot is subtly contrived, Kloves stays true to his characters by daring to evolve Flesh and Bone into a genuine tragedy (i.e. a downer) resembling the brooding early-1970s dramas that defied commercial convention. [05 Nov 1993, p.D3]

Oz creates a highly positive urban family unit - not the slightly dysfunctional one we usually see in movies these days. [14 July 1995, p.D25]

You watch wishing this story, in the real world, could have had a different ending; and marveling at how Stewart finds new, close-to-the-bone layers in a character we thought we already knew.

Watching Phoenix in his last film, I couldn't help thinking of James Dean's final performance, as the cranky loner, Jett Rink, in "Giant." [12 Nov 1993, p.D3]

Most of Alison Chernick’s sweetly reverential new documentary, Itzhak, suggests a contemporary day in the life of a world-famous musician.

Slick and raunchy when it might have been grindingly realistic, Viva is finally all heart.

Between Leary, Davis, Spacey and Johns, director Ted Demme (nephew of Jonathan, and director of Leary's MTV spots) has captured lightning in a bottle, and The Ref has enough subtle and not-so-subtle interplay to make a repeat viewing worthwhile.

If you can take it for what it is, however, City Slickers does deliver the goods, especially during its sprightly first half. [7 June 1991, p.22]

Haneke carefully and ingeniously presents the boy's point of view without sympathizing with him. He then does the same with his horrified but protective parents. [18 Nov 1994, p.G35]

I can’t say I truly enjoyed watching Babylon, or that I’d ever want to see it again, but I definitely haven’t stopped thinking about it since screening it earlier this month.

It’s a long sit, but a day later I find myself still thinking about Chan’s quiet, mesmerizing presence at the film’s center, and how Zhao had the confidence to let that performance speak so softly. It’s a different kind of superhero movie; not to everyone’s taste, but made for us all.

I.F. Stone, an underground journalist who died in1989, left a rich legacy that is celebrated in a timely new documentary, All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I.F. Stone.

It never feels like a history lesson about the social-political changes wrought by the Restoration, although it could be argued that it's exactly that. Even when it's taking itself seriously, it neatly avoids pomposity. [02 Feb 1996, p.F1]

With Andrew Garfield in the lead role and Mel Gibson in the director’s chair for the first time in 10 years, “Hacksaw” is an incredibly powerful picture once it gets to the battle scenes.

It's wry and stylish and perfectly cast, and only occasionally does it fall into the trap of taking itself as seriously as its characters sometimes do. [05 Oct 1990, p.26]