Davis gives a lively and humanistic performance, and the direction by Gillian Armstrong (MRS. SOFFEL, HIGH TIDE), in her feature debut, matches her heroine's character: strong, with a good sense of wanting to get something done and then doing it. The mise-en-scene is well composed, and the story is well told in this wonderful Australian work.

One of Scorsese's most commercial undertakings, THE COLOR OF MONEY relinquishes none of his unique style and vision, using a swooping, gliding camera and countless trick shots to maximum impact.

The filmmaking is a bit crude at times but it packs an emotional wallop.

Resnais cuts constantly between the various narrative threads, signaling each change of scene with a superimposed shower of snowflakes; it's a highly artificial device, and a deceptively lovely one that reinforces the sense that all Ayckbourn's characters are slowly succumbing to an emotional chill.

A true film buff's film about a film buff.

The casual listener is easily put off, but by the end of the film, even a newcomer can see the magic that made fans of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth and led the estimable Yo La Tengo, Pearl Jam and Wilco to cover Johnston's remarkable body of work.

A fascinating film that also benefits greatly from the stunning scenery of the Tibetan plateau and from a quicksand scene that will leave you gasping.

It is in this film that Hitchcock showed his development of a theme he would repeat in films to come--the innocent victim suddenly caught up in a terrifying situation with apparently no way out, coupled with breathless chases in popular public places.

A laser-sharp evocation of the tortured ties that bind sisters, who can love and loathe each other simultaneously and inflict lifelong wounds with chilling expertise.

This curiously empty film was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1997 Cannes film festival.

The power of an otherwise carefully crafted film is undone by risky and not altogether successful casting.

Overall, Grindhouse may well be the Beatlemania of sleaze-movie viewing, but since the real thing is gone it's the best that many fans will ever have.

An excellent crime drama in the style of Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Dashiell Hammett.

At the heart of this picturesque fable is a truism so shopworn it can barely stand repeating: It's better to give than to receive.

Very modest, but surprisingly sweet. The naive escapades of a group of American students studying in France for a year is given a charming, somewhat corny treatment by the authors of AMERICAN GRAFFITI--Huyck (who also directed) and Katz.

Spencer Tracy could hold his own acting opposite anyone, and in this excellent sequel to FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950), he proves that not even a baby can upstage him.

While we at home can't come close to experiencing the war in any real sense, we do come away from Scranton's film with a greater sense of the soldiers' everyday fear, helplessness and horror.

A meandering and deeply shallow tale of spiritual redemption.

Andersson creates a world that's at once surreal and disturbingly familiar; absurd, yet tremendously sad. The haunting score is by ABBA's Benny Andersson.

New songs--"Pass That Peace Pipe" and "The French Lesson"--and sensational choreography contributed to making this an impressive debut for director Charles Walters and a big hit for MGM in 1947.

There are no grand Hollywood moments in Ruby in Paradise, a drama about one intelligent woman finding herself, just a series of quiet scenes and personal epiphanies that add up to a satisfying independent film.

Spheeris succeeds in creating a touching portrait, although the depressing nature of their dead-end, emotionally numb lives offers little hope for a cheerful resolution.

The story here is really secondary to character and milieu, as director John Badham and his actors create a convincing portrait of frustrated 1970s working-class youth and the escape offered by the swirling lights and pulsing rhythms of the disco.

Bad teen film unredeemed by aspirations toward significance.

Exceedingly stagy and theatrical, even by 1930's standards, but is nevertheless very funny and highly enjoyable.

This landmark TV-movie brings history to vivid life, never sacrificing moving personal drama to score sociological or political points.

One of the great New York films, swathing the city in a layers of dewy love and glossy chic. [Review of re-release]

Hustle is one of the few examples of true modern film noir. But director and screenwriter cannot resolve their different approaches. The script's humanistic, if depressing, angle gets battered by Aldrich's approach. An interesting mixed bag.