Brilliant and sickening...A must-see that is guaranteed to ruin your day.

While TESTAMENT is less sensational than the similar TV movie, "The Day After," first-time director Lynne Littman lays on the sentiment and symbolism a little thickly, and some may find the pre-disaster sequences slow going. The acting is undeniably strong, particularly Alexander's heartfelt performance.

An enormous number of symbols--sexual, religious, and political--collide randomly in this pretentious, incoherent horror story.

Arguably the best adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

This cliche-riddled picture was the directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Michael Chapman, who took no risks in his first time out.

Director-writer Philip Kaufman's script brings a wealth of humor to a faithful retelling of the astronauts' fascinating stories, the actors fit smoothly into their roles and even physically resemble their characters, and the direction is well-paced and visually exciting.

Director Roger Spottiswoode, who edited a number of Sam Peckinpah movies, succeeds brilliantly in creating the chaotic last days of Somoza's government while at the same time incisively evaluating the moral dilemma faced by war correspondents.

Deliriously expressionistic visually and aurally.

Connery delivers his usual charming performance, and Brandauer (MEPHISTO, OUT OF AFRICA) makes a great Bond villain. Gone is the excessive gadgetry that mars Bond films, and, as a result, the characters are more prominent and colorful.

This could have been a wonderful film, but the makers fell in love with the hardware and forgot the humanity. BRAINSTORM is chockablock with special effects that sometimes obstruct rather than enhance the story.

In the final analysis, the film doesn't amount to much, except to provide a good opportunity for the fine ensemble cast to show off their talents.

Pare lacks charisma as Eddie, but the Bruce Springsteen-like music (by John Cafferty, who dubs Eddie's singing voice, and his Beaver Brown Band) was good enough to put the soundtrack album in the Top 40 charts.

Bordering on parody, but too sleazy to be very funny, this mad slasher film involves a cleaver-wielding psycho who lurks in the halls of a Boston university.

This is a poignant if predictable take on the English class system, buoyed by an effervescent performance from Walters.

The movie looks as though it was shot on a budget somewhat smaller than the local six o'clock newscast.

Take out the weak acting and what's left in this sequel to Enter the Ninja is a fairly good display of martial arts.

In this quartet of scary tales, two stories work and two don't.

Oshima's ambitious film is not without faults, but these are overshadowed by its emotional power.

No, there's nothing intelligent here--just a couple of likable fellows trying to stop mad Brewmeister Smith (Max von Sydow) from gaining control of the world.

The childish narrative, doubtless inspired by a spate of similar duds such as Conan the Barbarian, is marred by poor story continuity and terrible transitions.

Striking lack of originality.

Routine Dangerfield vehicle in which he plays an inept, slobbish baby photographer who must give up his bad habits if he wants to collect a $10 million inheritance from his snooty mother-in-law. Pesci plays the ringleader of the smoking, drinking, overeating cronies that Dangerfield must resist. It's all an insult to the great Geraldine Fitzgerald, who must have wondered during filming if it had all come down to this. If you're not already a Dangerfield fan, remember he's an acquired taste--like Spam.

An unconventional but rewarding film.

CUJO suffers from universally unsympathetic characters, and the dog is just not scary enough to maintain any interest. Significantly, the picture also lacks the sly humor that made ALLIGATOR so appealing.

An aesthetically contemptible, crassly commercial work.

This film doesn't even have the basic narrative coherence of the first two, and it rambles about aimlessly with little humor or action. This is commercial filmmaking at its very worst.

Smart, stylish, and cynical about the values of its time, this movie aspires to be The Graduate for its generation and it comes pretty close.

Taut, if occasionally silly, the film is hampered by ideological confusion. Director Peter Hyams doesn't seem to know if he's making a reactionary Death Wish" clone or a liberal problem film.

The film features a complete absence of plot, character, drama, comedy and acting.

Director Harold Ramis, star and co-writer of STRIPES (1981) and GHOST BUSTERS (1984), keeps this film moving and heightens the humor with his inclusion of comic cameos from a variety of actors.

Although shot well and boasting some effective 3-D work, this is a woefully inadequate effort, and the series began to slip into inadvertent self-parody.

Ill-conceived, pathetically realized follow-up to "Saturday Night Fever."

Burt Reynolds hits new lows as he mugs his way through this film as Stroker Ace, a race-car driver who's under the control of chicken-franchise owner Clyde Torkle (Ned Beatty). The script is filled with good ol' boy humor and car crackups.

Based on the popular television series, Twilight Zone--The Movie is a frightfully lopsided omnibus that begins with two wretched episodes by John Landis and Steven Spielberg and finishes with an engrossing pair by Joe Dante and George Miller.

This sequel remains true to the tasteless formula of the original.

There are about as many laughs in the film's 101 minutes as in a three-minute sketch by the Monty Python troupe, from which much of the cast hails.

Considering the standards set by the first two Superman films, Superman III is a disappointment. The story's mythic qualities had worn thin by the time this film was made, so the makers had to rely on Richard Pryor as their audience grabber.

OCTOPUSSY features the usual array of fine stunt work and special effects, and Adams' appearance marks the first time that a Bond woman was allowed an encore performance, but little is added that departs from the Bond formula.

Although it tends to rely heavily on slapstick in the second half, the movie provides plenty of laughs and is one of director Landis's best efforts.

The Man with Two Brains, which never ceases to amuse, is at its best when most outrageous.

Featuring some strong performances from a cast that includes Dabney Coleman and Ally Sheedy, convincing re-creations of defense technology, and nicely modulated tension, WARGAMES is a generally effective message film.

This sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's classic is surprisingly good. In Psycho II, Norman is a victim of crazed people who insist on persecuting him and, as a result, seems incredibly sane by comparison. Unfortunately the end to Psycho II contradicts this development, turning Norman into a leering loon in preparation for another sequel.

Just another excuse for mindless sex and violence: as if we needed one.

The dialogue is repetitive ("I won't give in to the dark side of the Force!" "You will!") and significant characters from earlier films -- notably bounty hunter Boba Fett and Yoda -- are dispatched without fanfare, and the whole business has a slightly rushed, perfunctory feel at the same time that it feels oddly attenuated.

Expertly executed action flick that starts out fast and winds up faster. We've seen it all before, but the execution here supersedes the concept.

In keeping with the tentativeness of the entire enterprise, the ending is one of the great cop-outs in modern moviedom.

Even the most ardent Cheech and Chong fans will have a hard time finding much to enjoy in this pathetic showing from the drug-oriented comedy duo.

There isn't one laugh in this so-called comedy...The resulting situations are so moronic that the movie is unwatchable.

This simplified Romeo and Juliet tale was written and performed with such heart and care that it is impossible to dislike. The cast is wonderful, headed by the engaging couple of Cage and Foreman and wittily directed by Coolidge.

A slick, largely empty visual exercise with vague thematic overtones about a clash between American and European culture. The Deneuve/Sarandon sex scene, however, is not to be missed by fans of either actress.

The talents of the wonderful Jonathan Pryce are wasted in this poor adaptation of Ray Bradbury's tale of fantasy and the supernatural.

Koyaanisqatsi asks the viewers to ponder their relationship to a social system that has come to dominate them rather than serve them. Much of the film is exhilarating and beautiful in a way that may seem counterproductive to that end. But the cumulative effect is more meditative than frightening. It's not a world-shaking film, but it is an affecting one.

There are some amusing moments early in the film, as Lattanzi's friends try to teach him about sex as only teenaged boys can.

Although the "story" is almost wholly without depth or plausibility, it's carried off with great style.

This is one of the better Norris action films, showcasing his astounding martial-arts skills. But the film loses power toward the end when the action bends reality a little too much.

Outrageous fun, this film is New Wave chic, satire, self-parody, science fiction, and certainly one of the more accessible independent features ever made.

Inoffensive of this kind (except for the usual array of stock Mexicans), but wholly unoriginal.

Trying to jump on the PORKY'S bandwagon, the makers of SCREWBALLS came up with another bad, teen sex comedy. The girls are given degrading names, the boys have only one thing on their minds, and the producers obviously have no sense of social or artistic responsibility.

The film is marred by a lackluster narrative, failing to inspire or move us in any way, but there's no denying Bedelia's beautifully nuanced performance.

Many of the sketches show the Pythons' deranged, offbeat humor at its best, but the film begins to pale long before the end and relies on some revolting bits such as a "live" organ transplant and the spectacular (and graphic) explosion of an obese glutton.

The charismatic Dillon is a believable delinquent and gets solid support from a cast that went on to populate some of the better youth pictures in years to come. [Review of re-release]

Gone is the joy and wide-eyed fun of the original; in its place is a hokey, ho-hum story that might have come out of a computer.

Bad Boys is disturbing, sometimes annoying, often painful, and never boring. Writer Richard Dilello and director Richard Rosenthal have taken a difficult subject and infused it with interesting people, some wit, and a lot of careful thought.

Another worthless sex comedy.

Armstrong gives an annoying, strident performance of her complaining character. The film is devoid of wit, excitement, or interesting characterization.

The very loose plot of WILD STYLE serves mainly as an excuse for rap-and-dance numbers and the sight of prominent East Coast graffiti artists playing themselves, sometimes with magnetism and panache (Brathewaite), sometimes without (everybody else).

Apart from Bronson, this is a complete waste.

Tender Mercies is an episodic gem that offers little in the way of action or melodrama but gets by on fine performances (particularly from Barkin and from Duvall, who does his own singing), atmospheric cinematography, and spare, unglamorous writing.

Despite an intelligent title performance by Ben Kingsley and impressive cinematography in the manner of David Lean, this huge, clunky biopic offers less than meets the eye. Director Attenborough seeks not to understand but to canonize his subject; as a result, both Gandhi's teachings and the complexities of Indian political history are distorted and trivialized.

De Niro gives a miraculous character performance, much different from the intense brooding loners for which he is renowned. He seems to disappear into this oddball, somewhat repulsive, but ultimately rather touching character. Sandra Bernhard, in her film debut, is nearly as memorable as Rupert's outrageous partner in crime.

The cast is charming, the sets intentionally stagy, and the musical performances fine.

Charming, whimsical, and practically perfect, Local Hero reminds us of the great pleasures that British comedy used to routinely provide.

A fascinating rumination on humanity, technology, entertainment, sex, and politics that is virtually incomprehensible on first viewing and needs to be seen several times before one can even begin to unlock its mysteries. (Review of Original Release)

A great performance by Barbara Hershey fails to save this poorly directed tale of the supernatural, which was sold as a fictionalized account of an actual paranormal case history.

The story is told with uncharacteristic restraint and benefits from fine performances by Nelligan and Hirsch.

Ambitious, stylish, and ideologically confused, The Year of Living Dangerously falters in its attempts to succeed simultaneously as thriller, romance, and political tract, while also encompassing director Peter Weir's penchant for half-baked mysticism. Still, it's a gripping film.

Although director Rosman spices up the predictable murders with some stabs at surrealism, a slasher movie is a slasher movie is a slasher movie, and this one soon wears out its welcome.

Rather than confront what it sets up, it takes the one joke and runs - till it runs out of steam.

This relentlessly depressing film biography boasts a moving performance by Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, one of the most beautiful movie actresses of the late 1930s and early 1940s, shown here as the victim of a forceful mother (Kim Stanley) and a tyrannical studio system.

While the master is at work, there are laughs galore, but the film nonetheless constitutes cheap exploitation of the memory of a man who convulsed audiences for years.

Once again employing his famous muppets, Jim Henson creates a brilliantly detailed universe with this intriguing fairy-tale adventure.

Sidney Lumet directs effectively, keeping the tension strong, and unfolding David Mamet's intelligent screenplay slowly but with maximum impact.

Thin story collapses under the leaden star chemistry; capable supporting players can't save this dud.

Unfortunately, the film suffers from the weak script's predictable situations and underdeveloped characters, and the pathos and cliches become hard to take, making Honkytonk Man more of a curiosity piece for followers of Eastwood than a truly compelling story.

This sequel to AIRPLANE! is just as crammed with sight gags and sophomoric humor as its predecessor, but the novelty has worn off and the humor worn thin. A cast of mainly Hollywood has-beens and unknowns enjoys itself in this spoof of disaster movies, this time centering around a space shuttle headed for a crash. The various bits and cameos flash past without providing the laughs AIRPLANE! delivered.

A dreadful remake of the French farce LE JOUET (1976), THE TOY is poorly written, over-directed, and filled with sophomoric attempts at humor. Only Richard Pryor's personal energy manages to save it from being complete rubbish.

Together Cates and Hammond take a thrill-a-minute trip through the San Francisco underworld and along the way develop one of the 1980s' more interesting cinematic buddy pairings.

Competently directed by Pakula and featuring gorgeous cinematography by Almendros, Sophie's Choice is an overlong, fairly schlocky film that takes itself very seriously.

This animated children's film focuses on a unicorn and her mission to free the rest of her breed from the tyranny of an evil king.

Although Benton's plentiful homages to Alfred Hitchcock are well handled, the major problem with this talky picture is that there's plenty of suspense but not enough mystery.

Though SMITHEREENS is not without its problems--much of the material seems to be cliched--it is a good display of what a persistent creative drive can achieve.

King's stories are nothing special, and with the exception of the final entry, nothing in the film is particulary scary.

This black sense of humor, combined with the playful performances of its excellent cast (especially Donald Pleasance, as the head of the asylum), raises Alone In The Dark a cut above the average maniacs-on-the-loose entry.

Fred Zinnemann waited 40 years to make this surprisingly lifeless film, a major disappointment from the acclaimed director of High Noon and From Here To Eternity.

While Jones' direction is nothing special, the script by Brown does have its share of male ego-deflating laughs--mainly some obvious Freudian jokes--and actually takes some time to develop the victims as characters instead of mere gore-fodder.

The special effects are awful (the piranhas are obviously hand puppets) and the script worse.

A fine directorial debut from George Miller.

Boasting some of the best use of rugged landscape since the westerns of Anthony Mann, First Blood is an effective, if outlandish, picture that exists merely for its big-screen thrills.