Funny--but not that funny--western spoof.

The engaging characters play out the action against elegantly designed backgrounds. The story is genuinely exciting, a well-told tale that is entertaining to both children and adults without compromising the expectations of either group. The voices are perfectly cast, particulary Price as the evil Ratigan.

Wright's haunting performance is the anchor that keeps Ruscio's film from vanishing down a rabbit hole.

It's an impressionistic experience rather than a linear one, and the process of surrendering to the images and rhythms of lives lived in simultaneous harmony with the physical and the spiritual is greatly helped by the chants that dominate much of the soundtrack.

Though low-budget sequels are often out of steam by the third go-round, Puppet Master III is a surprisingly lively and entertaining picture.

Ultimately, Dick subordinates scholarship to passion, which may be exactly what it takes to convince mainstream moviegoers that they should care about a system that shortchanges THEM when they go to the movies.

If anyone else but Williams had written this stage play, it might have been hailed by everyone.

Everyone in the movie seems to have a comic moment, because the laughs are piled on top of each other. Call it rude, crude, and lewd, but you also have to call it very funny.

This was a small, low-budget picture that went straight for the heart and succeeded critically as well as financially.

You don't have to know an arabesque from an alligator handbag to enjoy Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine's loving documentary about the various incarnations of the Ballet Russe.

This stirring if slightly overlong saga of England's WWII defense of its homeland features a staggering, star-studded cast, who abet the film's docudrama style with excellent portrayals down the line, despite the restrictions of their roles.

Shot on digital video as murky as Masuoka's imagination, its creeping sense of dank dread is as slow to build as it is hard to shake.

It has heart and warmth in the American Graffiti vein, with everything carried out top-notch in a sociological study of black youths.

Hilarious spoof of the classic Universal horror films of the 1930s and early 40s, with Abbott and Costello playing railway porters who unwittingly deliver the "undead" bodies of Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) and Dracula (Bela Lugosi) to a wax museum, where the bodies are revived.

The Tin Drum is a disturbing film, rich with black humor, that takes a decidedly bitter and horrific look at the German people.

Though not without problems, Desert Hearts is a triumph for director Donna Deitch and an inspiration for any independent filmmaker.

One of the best British science-fiction films and one of the most controversial.

A worthy remake of the film noir classic THE BIG CLOCK, NO WAY OUT adds, among other things, a delightfully subversive twist ending. Good performances from a strong cast.

Kor's intentions are beyond reproach, but her campaign raises discomfiting questions.

While much of Godzilla, King of the Monsters is second-rate, there's no doubt that you're watching a star being born.

An utterly preposterous but entertaining sci-fi action brain-bender.

Guided by director Silver's gentle but sure hand and benefiting from strong performances by the leads, this is a sweet, funny movie that doesn't exploit the sentimentality of its story.

Detective Story is methodical in its depiction of the sometimes traumatic events of one day in a precinct but the marvelous quirks and shadings of these characters create highly exciting drama.

Vincent turns in a fine performance as the rootless drifter who enters a community gripped by fear and comes to care enough for its denizens to put himself on the line for them.

This fun film is filled with loads of laughs, atmosphere, and nostalgia.

The film has a strikingly unsettling mood that enhances its power and gives it an impact that the story would otherwise lack. Much of the credit, though, must go to Spacek, who so convincingly portrays Carrie's pain and her longing for acceptance.

The film itself is a lot of fun--but the audience-participation phenomenon has turned it into a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience.

The result is fearlessly divisive and will no doubt play according to viewers' preexisting perceptions.