Walter Matthau has a field day with the title character: a crop duster/bank robber who bills himself as "the last of the independents" - and runs circles around a Mafia killer (Joe Don Baker). [07 Mar 1996, p.F3]

Eustache's screenplay is specifically set against the backdrop of the failed student revolts of the late 1960s, and occasionally the sight of Leaud in bellbottoms makes it look like a time capsule. Yet the moods, the emotions, the debates seem profoundly contemporary.

Elegantly photographed by the legendary Henri Decae, who emphasizes smoky blue and darkest blacks, "Le Samourai" has film-noir style to burn. [25 Apr 1997]

Captivating 1972 adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel, starring Michael Sacks as the time-tripping hero. [09 Jul 1998]

This expertly sustained 1971 suspense classic established Steven Spielberg's reputation as a director. [23 Dec 1993, p.E7]

Turned out much better than one might have hoped, especially when the emphasis is off the chimp and focuses on the monkeys running the fictional UBC network, where most of the action takes place. [09 Nov 1995, p.G39]

Based on the true story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, two late-1940s serial killers who conned and murdered several widows who took out lonely-hearts ads, writer-director Leonard Kastle's only feature film to date is one of the least glamorous couple-on-the-run movies ever made. [05 Dec 1992, p.C5]

You'll never see a more depressing tale than Salesman. Glengarry Glen Ross has nothing on this 1968 documentary about sad-sack door-to-door Bible salesmen by the Maysles brothers. [07 Sep 2001]

It’s a remarkable personal-is-political drama, set in barely postcolonial Senegal and France.

Throw in the striking underwater photography and Michel Legrand's big score, and I don't understand why more critics don't dig Ice Station Zebra. Even director John Carpenter calls it a guilty pleasure. [14 Jan 2005, p.H22]

The seminal police thriller is a prime example of McQueen's rising above his material. [12 Jun 2005, p.K1]

Kobayashi's 1967 hit reflects the social tumult of its time by depicting a defiant swordsman amidst totalitarian excess. The film's escalation of tension is almost unbearable, and Mifune erupts with a ferocity that's as righteous as it is ultimately tragic, for Kobayashi refuses to soften the film's devastating imbalance of power. [16 Jun 2006, p.I22]

Today it has a classical feeling to it, with rich, on-target performances by Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons and Michael J. Pollard. [10 May 1991, p.65]

Arty examination of the nature of reality in Swinging London. [20 Feb 2004, p.H23]

The frenetic style suggests the influence of Richard Lester's British comedies, but the storyline and the use of rock music suggests that Coppola may have influenced Mike Nichols' "The Graduate," which was released one year later. [14 Jan 1999]

Cornel Wilde directed and stars in this nearly wordless 1966 story of a stripped white man hunted by African natives. It has several elements in common with Passion in the Desert. [09 Jul 1998, p.E3]

Moving 1965 love story with the late Elizabeth Hartman giving an excellent performance as a tormented blind girl who falls in love with the only person who treats her kindly (Sidney Poiter). It was Hartman's debut, and she and director Guy Green succeed in keeping it from becoming overly sentimental. [23 Aug 1990, p.F5]

No. 2 in the James Bond series, and the one with the most memorable villains (Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya), the most exciting fights and chases, and Sean Connery in his prime. At this point in the series (1963), the gadgetry hadn't taken over, the budgets were still relatively modest, and the director, Terence Young, had to rely on his actors and his own filmmaking ingenuity to create excitement.[10 May 1991, p.65]

Loosely based on the experiences of Kazan's uncle, the script meanders and the inexperienced Giallelis isn't always up to the task of carrying the picture, but there are many moving moments. [07 Jul 1994, p.E3]

An enjoyable vehicle for the young Jane Fonda, who does a pretty fair Marilyn Monroe imitation as the sweet new wife of a very nervous Korean war veteran (Jim Hutton). [03 Dec 1992, p.E3]

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov classic isn't as racy as the new one by Adrian Lyne, which opens in theaters tomorrow. But it's a lot funnier, thanks in no small part to the casting of Peter Sellers as a mystery man of many accents and Shelley Winters as Lolita's silly mother. [01 Oct 1998]

A perfectly balanced adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, with Deborah Kerr in her greatest performance. [05 Dec 1997]

The most operatic of Hollywood epics, Anthony Mann's El Cid is dominated by a go-for-broke Miklos Rozsa score and Robert Krasker's gorgeous wide-screen photography, which takes full advantage of the movie's Spanish locations and its eye-filling sets and costumes. [27 Aug 1993, p.D13]

A classic European film noir with an irresistible score by Miles Davis, it builds tension from a series of seemingly minor mistakes that echo the political/military context of the postwar era.

Godard's technical innovations have become so commonplace that they no longer jolt. But the aura of urban fatalism remains compelling, and so does the acting by Jean-Paul Belmondo as a Bogart-worshipping fugitive and especially Jean Seberg as his amoral girlfriend. [02 Aug 1991, p.24]

The role is built for a tour-de-force performance, and Curtis delivers. [17 Sep 2000]

Based on the Leon Uris bestseller, the movie itself remains a leisurely, unevenly acted yet fascinating history lesson that helps put recent Middle East events in perspective. [01 Oct 1992, p.G3]

Some scenes hold up better than others, and there’s always a question about the film’s intentions: Is this voyeurism or is it satire taking off on the Playboy era? Condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency in 1960, Private Property is less dated than you might think.