Just more proof that special effects are worthless if there are no solid characters or story. My Science Project is formula filmmaking with no substance, style, or entertainment to be found in its unimpressive package.

While the characters are fairly offbeat and interesting, the film is weighed down by some tediously handled camp intrigue, political skullduggery, and $2 million worth of special effects.

Though Argento's plot is often confused and grotesque, he has a remarkably energetic visual style (mobile camera, slow-motion, careful lighting, creative editing) that is never boring.

It's hard to believe that the same man who wrote and directed one of the best horror films of the 1970s, The Hills Have Eyes, could have pulled the same duty on the sequel and come up with a film as shockingly bad as this.

A minor classic of the genre, this is a memorable addition to the vampire tradition in the horror film.

Naturally, Big Bird meets some intriguing people going East. Lots of cameos are here to delight parents who take the kids to see this movie.

Director Amy Heckerling is gentler than Harold Ramis was, and the result is a slightly more cohesive picture that is far less mean-spirited. Lighthearted fun, pretty scenery, lots of chuckles, a few guffaws, and a lilting score by Charles Fox all contribute to making this movie a pleasant surprise.

A reprehensible film that unashamedly steals ideas (if not entire scenes) from other works.

Despite its drawbacks as entertainment, it remains one of the best technical cartoon features ever produced by Disney.

Fans of the first two films in the series may be a bit dismayed by Day of the Dead's deemphasis of gory action in favor of characterization, but the need to exploit the horror of the situation has passed and the film works by concentrating instead on its implications and possible solution. The standard 1950s sci-fi/horror film conflict between science and the military is also resurrected here, with distinct political overtones.

Though obviously designed for the teenage market, Billie Jean should insult the intelligence of all but the most irredeemable mall rats.

What was a subtle farce when directed by Yves Robert in French becomes an overstated comedy here, with all the actors hamming it up to no end.

This is far from Makavejev's finest work (WR: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM and SWEET MOVIE are much more challenging), but it is the film that has spread the director's political message to the widest audience.

The alien costumes are clever and show some real imagination in their design. Yet the filmmakers have forgotten a key element. Without an interesting story or characters, special effects aren't enough to sustain a feature film.

Between the gratuitous climaxes that seem to occur every 10 minutes, Kasdan parades a myriad of stereotypes before us and never develops them. In fact, he never really explores any of his characters but only provides them with enough motivation to justify the slaughter of dozens of people.

The Thunderdome sequence is an amazing display of imagination and technical skill, but the film falls apart with the climactic chase scene.

Sure, there are a few funny moments here and there with several obviously intended jokes, but director Richard Fleischer never milks the elements of self-parody for what they're worth.

The laughs are plentiful and the acting by Fox, Thompson, and Glover is superb. Robert Zemeckis's direction, like the technical contributions, is first-rate, and after an ambling start takes off into frenetic, non-stop fun.

Eastwood has a deep love and understanding for the genre, and it shows in every frame of PALE RIDER. The supernatural elements of the story are incidental and handled in a restrained, subtle manner that does not distract from the story but enhances it, bringing another dimension to the oft-told tale. Eastwood the director has delivered a thought-provoking, well-crafted western.

Cowriter and director Joel Schumacher keeps things moving, skipping adroitly from one narrative thread to another. Well he should, since it's unlikely any of the subplots could have stood on their own, and very few penetrate deeper into the human condition than the average magazine advertisement.

First of all, it has no music. That aside, it doesn't have any wit, joy, or drive. Children who haven't had the pleasure of seeing The Wizard of Oz might enjoy this film, but it will also frighten them. There are some fine, Oscar-nominated special effects, but the excitement just isn't there.

A gentle and effective heart-tugger, Cocoon tries to make its audience feel good, but you can't help but feel uneasy about the vision of old age that director Ron Howard depicts--one in which the young cannot accept the notion of getting old. The derivative special effects feel like leftovers from the infinitely superior Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The film is a mess from start to finish with several main characters who appear and disappear throughout. No character development, no thematic development, no narrative development. No life. No force. No dice.

This was the penultimate film from the ailing great director. It is also one of his best.

This cross between theatrical farce and teen sex comedy is a moronic package that liberally insults the intelligence of both its viewing audience and the hapless adult actors locked into career low points.

Though obviously aimed at a younger audience, The Goonies is packed with four-letter words. Sure kids speak like that, but writer Chris Columbus and director Richard Donner rely on obscenities as a substitution for clever punch lines, tossing in a few sex jokes and a touch of racist humor as well.

Fast-paced and witty, this is Chase's best solo venture to date, and will hold almost anyone's attention for its well-edited 98 minutes. Chase underplays his wackier moments to great effect, though he isn't always quite as funny as he thinks he is. (He also isn't the next Cary Grant, which he seems to believe as well.)

Directed by John Glen (For Your Eyes Only), this movie has all the standard Bond components--beautiful women, picturesque locales, thrilling chases--but the time-tested formula is more than a little threadbare here. Moreover, Walken doesn't have the lines, the strength, the presence, or the dastardliness required to be a top-notch Bond adversary.

All in all, it's a pretty offensive movie, especially to the Americans who fought in Vietnam.

Normally, this situation comedy would provide its own built-in laughs, but here the situations are dominated by Pryor's forced, manic behavior, which removes him from empathy and offers the subservient story nothing more than casual interest.

Directed by Charles Band, the son of Italian trash-master Albert Band and the head of Empire Pictures, Trancers is on the same subgutter, grade-school-mentality level as the rest of Empire's output.

Gotcha is a hopelessly shallow film, serving up a good deal of hokum in the ridiculous plot. It's a contrived idea to start with, and the script goes through predictable twist after twist until the inevitable conclusion.

There's nothing very new or original in this dull sex comedy.

Judged against other martial arts pictures, GYMKATA is technically superior and more intelligently written and directed, but that still doesn't make it worthwhile viewing. The film has only a minimum of credibility or intelligence, but since these qualities have little or no place in the genre, that becomes irrelevant, leaving pure action--kicking, punching, and the snapping sounds of breaking bones--as the main draw.

Allen has done better than this, but The Purple Rose of Cairo is a sweet little film and an interesting diversion for his legion of followers.

Of course, most of the male-female situations Terry finds herself in are played for laughs, and the film eventually sinks into an all too typical conclusion, but the observations regarding the nature of sexuality are interesting and well handled.

The picture is dull and the pacing abrupt rather than quick. STICK might have been a good movie about 20 years ago, before people became sophisticated and demanded depth in characterization.

Jam-packed with car smash-ups, predictable situations, and a few stock characters, Moving Violations is nothing more than the cinematic equivalent of a connect-the-dots puzzle.

The most innovative, intelligent, and visually sumptuous horror film of recent years.

A rather tepid anthology film, CAT'S EYE is a pastiche of leftover Stephen King notions, connected by a ubiquitous cat that ominously appears to set off each tale.

This is one of the most charming low-budget films in years, a freewheeling, light-hearted farce that gives some new twists to old plot devices.

The plot is mindless and only an excuse for lots of music video-styled dance sequences.

Only Michael Winslow, repeating his uncanny ability as a sort of human sound-effects machine, is able to give any life to this, but his efforts are like reviving a beached carp. They don't come any worse than this.

Given the track records of its writer, Neil Simon, and director, Hal Ashby, THE SLUGGER'S WIFE should at least have been entertaining. It isn't. Instead, it is one of the most disappointing, least credible films about baseball in recent memory.

THE CARE BEARS MOVIE, like other animated children's films of its ilk, is a double-edged sword. On one hand, this is perfect viewing for three- to six-year-olds, while at the same time it is little more than a 75-minute advertisement for the vast array of Care Bears toys and products.

The performances in the film are excellent, and its look is entirely appropriate and mesmerizing--but only for a while. The film's basic flaw is that it's just too painful, too depressing, and too slow to watch.

Mask is a good movie that could have been a great one with a little more restraint.

To make up for the lack of blood, the film provided more gratuitous nudity than had been seen in the previous installments of the series.

A worthless attempt to cash in on a lot of sniggering innuendo and crude slapstick.

An enjoyable pastiche of martial arts, romance, music, and video, THE LAST DRAGON presents a likable young hero, Leroy (Taimak), who aspires to become a kung fu master.

Indistinguishable from any of the He-Man TV episodes or videocassettes in any aspect other than length, which is probably a moot point at best. This is a ground-out effort designed to please the calculated expectations of He-Man's loyal audiences.

An offbeat, existential crime drama buoyed by fine performances; nicely turned dialogue; and an evocative soundtrack and theme song from Paco di Lucia and Eric Clapton, respectively.

A charming surprise.

The film tries to be a modern-day female version of THE DEFIANT ONES but fails to be anything more than 87 minutes of tripe.

What chiefly keeps this film on target, though, is Goldblum's marvelously deadpan reaction to all the bloodshed around him. The tone, despite the frequent bloodletting, is light, and the film works better than the script would indicate.

Hughes, though he gives the material a sense of fun and achieves several moments of genuine warmth, too often resorts to obvious cliches, stereotypes, and easy answers, and throws in the near-obligatory rock video as well.

Just when it seemed Albert Brooks had gotten his creative energies under control, along comes this intermittently funny, often overdone comedy that could have been a classic.

Earnest, warm, and often very funny, VISION QUEST features a finely etched performance by Matthew Modine.

A ridiculous and totally insipid film.

An uneven and somewhat predictable thriller.

Sure-footed thriller, beautifully photographed, with Ford's best performance thus far.

Both a spy drama and an intriguing character study. Penn invests his Snowman with fascinating eccentricity and is the more interesting of the pair, though Hutton delivers an estimable performance as the sullen young falconer.

This one combines elements of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, GREASE, and PORKY'S with a liberal dose of TV's popular sitcom Happy Days.

This wonderfully touching and funny reminiscence of life in a Catholic boys high school in Brooklyn circa 1965 went mostly unnoticed by critics and moviegoers alike. HEAVEN HELP US is a refreshingly honest portrayal of teenagers. No character is stereotyped, and events turn out differently than expected.

A deeply moving film.

Although the story makes for a movie that is often slow going, it is also a beautiful and evocative film fueled by an excellent performance from Davis and Peggy Ashcroft.

None of the episodes is especially exciting, and they are all so brief that very little depth can be found in any of them.

Since FANDANGO never has anything to say about its well-worn themes, the film quickly becomes boring and predictable.

The Coens' concern isn't emotional intensity but bravura camera moves and chic lighting of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld.

Because of their restricted movements and expressions, we never believe for a moment that the creatures exist, thus making the film an utter failure.

It's not all that scary, either, making this psuedo-horror film largely a waste of time for even hard-core fans of the genre.

Tuff Turf is so relentlessly derivative that its good points--chiefly an attractive, relatively talented cast--are buried in cliche.

A good film for the viewer who isn't interested in being entertained but is willing to be thrown into the muck of the problems facing hard-working American farmers.

Even with all its flaws, Johnny Dangerously has many genuinely funny moments, and if you're in the mood for silliness, you won't stop laughing.

Fast-paced, fully aware of its own foolishness, and with lively dance sequences, BREAKIN' 2 is an enjoyable diversion for those who like breakdancing.

There's not a single bad performance here, and director Marshall wisely builds his film on small moments, realized with sympathy and intelligence.

Birdy is one of those rare movies that successfully brings a psychological novel to the screen without sacrificing its saliency or complexity.

Micki & Maude has some very funny scenes and excellent acting from all the performers. It begins a bit slowly but builds well and winds up in a comic celebration.

Hawn has the right screen persona to carry it off, but her character is lost in a barrage of weak comic moments and absurd action.

Starman is a wonderful film that combines science fiction, road movies, and romance into an engaging, very entertaining whole.

The problem with RUNAWAY is that it never reaches deeper than a playful level, amounting to nothing more than great but shallow entertainment. Selleck provides a thoughtful performance, coming across as a real, feeling person instead of the expected Rambo-esque tough-guy stereotype.

Lavish, interesting, evocative but strained and self-conscious, The Cotton Club is all watchable curiosity.

DUNE is visually delightful but choppy, confusing, and overloaded with exposition. Moreover, most of the thematic material that made the novel work--subtexts involving incestuous desire, capitalism vs. environmentalism, and Middle East politics--is simply missing.

As a standard science-fiction film, 2010 is fine. It has all the right plot elements, dramatic tension, and eye-popping special effects. The performances are uniformly good, the space-adventure scenes are excitingly handled, and the reappearance of HAL 9000 and Dullea is downright eerie. Yet it's hard to get over the fact that the purpose of this film is to tear down all the awe-inspiring effects of 2001. The sequel simply fails to fascinate and awe us like the original did.

What could have been an interesting and funny period piece under the directorship of original screenwriter Edwards is turned into a tedious, infantile mess by director Benjamin.

Jeannot Szwarc's direction is flat and uninspired, emphasizing the jokey elements without any sense at all for the material.

The basic flaw in Falling in Love, however, is that no one in the film--including the lovers--seems to be in love.

One of the most intelligent and terrifying horror films of the 1980s.

This is a terrifically witty, refreshingly unpretentious science-fiction film with the least likely and most likable heroines in memory. All the performers are excellent, especially Maroney, who can veer from petulant to heroic in the blink of an eye.

As an action picture, Missing In Action works fairly well. Norris is a worthy hero, shooting and kicking Asian enemies right and left, and the film is blessed with production values that make it quite watchable.

As slasher films go, this is about average. The sets are cheap, with most of the budget seemingly going to the gore effects.

It's light, mostly amusing, and better than the second Burns-God film, but not as good as the first.

No Small Affair, while nothing special, at least doesn't resort to the usual teen sex-fantasy cliches and gains more points for what it isn't (sophomoric) than what it is (occasionally touching).

Superbly scripted, the film features wonderful performances from all its major players. Equally brilliant, especially in a film that emphasizes script and character, is the cinematography by Robby Muller, perfectly capturing the notion of "America." A final factor in PARIS, TEXAS's success is the remarkably haunting score by blues musician Ry Cooder.

Fuller has taken a basic Agatha Christie-type plot and bathed it in social issues; A Soldier's Story is an insightful period drama as well as a totally engaging character study. The picture does become a trifle talky at times, thus betraying its stage origin, but Fuller's words are almost always interesting and powerful and make worthwhile listening.

An amazingly effective picture that becomes doubly impressive when one considers its small budget.

Contrived, shallow, distasteful, and ultimately pointless, BODY DOUBLE is more an exercise in empty cinematic style than an engrossing thriller. Although cinematographer Burum executes some absolutely breathtaking camera moves, his effort goes for naught when pitted against director De Palma and cowriter Avrech's insipid narrative. What De Palma has done here is simply take elements from two superb Alfred Hitchcock films, REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO, and combine them into one insipid film. While Griffith is sexy and appealing in her role, Wasson's character is so bland that he generates little interest.

This flawed but interesting Freudian melodrama spends about 70 minutes making points and the last 30 minutes losing them.