Brisk, engaging story.

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.

This intimate coming-of-age story benefits from excellent performances, notably Gregory Smith's.

What is grating is the filmmakers' perennial tendency to underestimate their audiences; their lack of faith leads them to drive home each nuance with a hammer.

It's straightforwardly entertaining and a genuine nail-biter.

The first 45 minutes of this wickedly clever comedy features the smartest, tartest high-school satire since Alexander Payne's "Election."

As complex as the issue it tackles.

This limp, forgettable fluff is as preachy and heavy-handed as the "Goofus and Gallant" cartoons that a generation of children far less media-savvy than today's recognized as ham-fisted lessons in good behavior masquerading as funny strips.

An offbeat and sometimes jumbled western adventure film. (Review of Original Release)

A wickedly entertaining bit of domestic tragedy.

As the doomed lovers, DiCaprio and Danes -- both luminous, limpid-eyed beauties -- are allowed to deliver delicate, unpretentious performances, and their love becomes a modest, frighteningly fragile oasis amidst a tawdry saturnalia of noise and glitter.

In blending the personal worlds of these characters into a complete cosmology of the abyss, director Uli Edel (Christiane F.) and scriptwriter Desmond Nakano have transformed Selby's episodic book into an aesthetic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

As Jim, Bale delivers a stunning performance; he appears in virtually every frame and truly seems to grow over the course of the film from a coddled rich child to a calculating, almost feral creature who will ally himself with whoever wields the most power in a given situation.

A crisp, well-written cast caper movie sporting some stunning landscapes and a fine core of performances.

This remake really can't compare with the 1932 original and Lee is given no chance to flesh out his character in the haunting manner that Boris Karloff did, but for fairly standardized movie horror, this flick isn't half bad.

Borrowing intelligently from This Is Spinal Tap, writer-director-actor Rusty Cundieff has crafted a mock music documentary that is as irreverent, hilarious, and tough-minded as its model.

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

It's actually a clever commentary on documentary filmmaking, an pretty good monster movie to boot.

There are moments of genuine humor in the film, but Finney virtually sucks the oxygen out of the story, and even tempered pros like Gambon and Fricke can do little to save it.

Elegant and stylish in the best Agatha Christie tradition--a thoroughly entertaining if poky whodunit.

Loud and brassy, Wayne does a good job in his broad comedy role, although it is doubtful that the picture could have gotten away with the spanking scene if it were made today.

This doesn't come close to the original in wit, style, or farce, although if the former had never been made, THE MOUSE ON THE MOON could weakly stand on its own as a mild comedy.

GAMBIT was a slightly-veiled copy of TOPKAPI and RIFIFI, down to the elaborate planning sequence in both films. The major difference is that this picture had some very funny dialog. A delight to the eye and ear.

Much could have been done to enliven this film if the script provided more satire instead of parading the same inanities with a smirk this time around. It's harmless but in need of a transfusion.

Beautifully acted, structurally sophisticated heart-tugger.

A stale rehash of Woody Allen-style "he's a neurotic Jew, she's a flaky shiksa" gags.

Here the message -- it's not nice to ridicule, mistreat or ignore people just because they're different -- verges on the oppressive; more of the Farrellys' trademark over-the-top comedy would have lightened the load.

Director Tom Mankiewicz brings little innovation and no surprises to Dragnet. It simply doesn't come off, and the viewer will be left with an empty feeling, a vacuous notion that somehow the laugh scenes slipped by unnoticed. They were never really there.