A suspense thriller that intelligently explores the ideal of lasting love.

The match winners and losers may be preordained, but these modern-day gladiators bleed plenty of real blood.

Nothing too fancy or ambitious. Instead, writer-director George Tillman Jr. serves up down-home fare that enriches the heart and leaves you satisfied if stuffed. [26Sep1997 Pg.06.D]

This charming but slight tale has warmth, wit and interesting characters compassionately portrayed.

This movie will remind a lot of people of John Ford's masterpiece, "The Searchers," without the rowdy humor and, yes, without the greatness. But it's an admirably solid effort that's as mean as it has to be, which is plenty.

An old-school documentary that is both non-controversial and uplifting, America's Heart & Soul could be subtitled the Anti-Fahrenheit 9/11.

A two hour aquatic pursuit pic with bruising stunts, fun-to-watch performances, a dozen good chortles and imposing Panavision renderings of post-apocalyptic crud, Waterworld clearly has the makings of a cult movie.

This may be the most uncompromisingly raw police drama since "Across 110th Street," starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto.

Catherine Keener is also believable and sympathetic as Lopez's editor and former wife. But the film's power comes down to the strength of the two superb lead performances.

Pretty much everybody is kung fu fighting in “Snake Eyes,” a satisfying martial-arts action-adventure with two magnetic leads, a heap of lightning-quick swordplay and the best argument yet for a G.I. Joe cinematic universe.

Its stylish and gritty authenticity is superbly suited to this murder mystery.

The Mummy is a tomb full of action-packed guilty pleasure that owns its horror, humor and rampant silliness equally.

The film bobs along like a designer balloon, pumped with wry observations on Marky Mark and Mentos ads. But none of the other cartoonish characters command like twinkly Silverstone.

Soul is a jazzy and profound riff on humanity and the hereafter, an entertaining, exuberant effort about our existence with comedic shenanigans, deep thoughts and wondrous imagination.

Notes on a Scandal may be disturbing, but it is a potent and captivating account of misconduct and betrayal.

With the astonishingly assured newcomer Jason Schwartzman to bounce off of, Murray has his best comic foil since those feisty rodents in Groundhog Day and Caddyshack. [5 February 1999, Life, p.11E]

It's a pleasure to watch such top-notch actors deliver Coward's sparkling wit.

Easy to tumble for. [9 February 1996, p.D4]

The Help sidesteps easy sentimentality. As the film's heart and soul, Davis and Spencer add vast reserves of depth and dignity to a crowd-pleasing tale.

Peter O'Toole's tour-de-force performance makes Venus a movie not to be missed.

While this movie is sometimes overbaked, it is the first major studio release in a while to engross wall-to-wall.

As one might say in Oz, “Wicked” is thrillifying in its melodiousness even if overlongical and ponderrific.

If you want to escape all the deadly serious fare of this pre-awards season, run to Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.Why? Cox rocks. This rowdy spoof of music biopics is silly fun and often hilarious.

Generally unheralded, this is one of the really good Douglas performances, smoothly matched by Fonda's. [12 Jan 2007, p.6E]

Snake Eyes sports some of the most breathtaking filmmaking of De Palma's career -- and Nicolas Cage is the one actor who cannot be upstaged by it. [18 September 1998, p. 11E]

Beguiling Victoriana. [18 July 1997, p.4D]

A breath of fresh air amid the superheroes, aliens and bombastic explosions of summer.

Even without the surprise of seeing Spader going for laughs and getting them, Secretary is just too original to be ignored.

Caramel is a sweeter and more believable version of "Steel Magnolias," Middle Eastern style.

While genre tropes are very much in play, there's a certain magic in this “Big”-meets-Superman affair where an ancient wizard transforms a troubled teenager into a buff, god-like guy with a light-up suit.

Fans will appreciate not only that the film is predictably solid and surprisingly sharp but that parts of it are just plain bad.

The 5th Wave finds a way to make the most of Moretz’s talents, with the emotionality she showed in If I Stay and the utter physical chutzpah of her Kick-Ass films.

Wright gives the title character a complexity and emotional shading often missing in this kind of ensemble comedy/drama. Pippa has the feel of a heroine in literature, rather than on the big screen.

While Face the Music is best when you don’t think about it too hard, it's also a movie that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t bother to have an insincere moment.

While tonally jumbled and at times violently jarring, the movie delivers strange vibes and extremely strong performances from Jesse Plemons at his oddball finest and Emma Stone, who may or may not be from our planet.

Watching Rudd bring dimension to what could have been a clownish caricature is the best reason to see this good-natured family comedy.

With near-Swiss precision, director/producer Jay Roach and his writers make sure familiarity breeds hilarity.

Arnie is Arnie. He has all the cute lines ("No problemo," "Hasta la vista, baby''). And he does more with a squint than anyone since Popeye. [3 July 1991, Life, p.1D]

A potent psychological thriller bolstered by strong performances and an offbeat sense of humor. What renders it an unsettling cut above many thrillers is the casting of Johnny Depp in the lead.

The infamous clown is plenty freaky, though it’s the youngsters, bursting with hormones and one-liners, who make It one of the better Stephen King adaptations.

A movie of moments whose ultimate legacy may be to get Carrey out of formula comedies forever.

The film itself is dark and chilling, if occasionally plodding, but worth seeing for the absorbing potency of its main performances.

Those with a taste for irreverent humor and clear-eyed analysis will find it funny, enlightening and disturbing.

A fun movie to sit through even when you don't always buy it.

Endearing and believable, the two actors playing Ellis and Neckbone are pitch-perfect.

A much better version and one of the most popular 3-D movies. [03 May 2005]

Directed once again by Christopher McQuarrie, the seventh “M:I” is chock-full of gloriously bonkers stunt sequences, fresh and familiar faces alike, and Cruise running (usually literally) from one international locale to the next.

It is smart, witty and blessedly unpredictable.

This isn't a polished work, but anyone who's ever spent time on the movie-making edge will recognize it as a true one. [28 Aug 1992, p.5D]

With a musical that doesn’t shy away from tackling issues of racism and immigration, viewers will find themselves immersed in a song-filled, universally relatable story about chasing dreams and building community.

Unsurprisingly, Spielbergian wonder is sprinkled throughout the episodic Fabelmans. The movie starts out slow, though when the filmmaker gets to Sammy’s high school days, he finds that signature electricity so apparent in his blockbuster career.

For much of its length, the premise seems less wilted than you'd guess. This is because, for one thing, Mendes gives as good as she gets.

Preposterous yet solidly entertaining.

There is nothing flashy about these performances, but Gyllenhaal, Dillon and Gosling fully inhabit their characters, giving haunting portrayals. Watch for these names to emerge on the short list for Academy Award consideration.

Two films in one: an intriguing child-disappearance mystery and an uncommonly affecting domestic drama realized by four terrific central performances.

The distanced result, screen-adapted by playwright Christopher Hampton, never quite overwhelms you. [21 Dec 1988, Life, p.1D]

The best thing O’Connor does here, as he also did with the underrated “The Accountant,” is let Affleck remind us once again that he’s a first-class actor – just in case anyone forgot after his brief stint in an infamous cape and cowl.

An exhilarating fantasy adventure marred only by its length and protracted climactic battle scenes.

With its lush colors, imaginative view of ordinary objects and meticulously crafted miniature civilization, it transports viewers to an enchanting alternate storybook reality.

Grimly claustrophobic movies can make viewers put up a shield, yet Tim Blake Nelson (who directed O) invests this unusual Holocaust drama with dramatic intensity that in no way cheapens its subject matter.

By emphasizing surreal humor and fast-paced action instead, Rodriguez has crafted a prepubescent version of James Bond without aping that series' style.

Don't be put off by the title. This is no sequel, but a surprisingly charming British comedy that is only tangentially associated with "Rambo."

A mildly satirical but essentially sweet, benign comedy.

Although it's a quintessential popcorn movie, Wolverine is not mindless. Hood and Jackman bring depth to a comic-book tale of anti-heroes with anger issues.

“Fury” piles on the mythos, monsters and magic, a smidge too heavily at times, but stays grounded, thanks to its earnestly goofy main man.

The kind of quirky, character-driven comedy they don't make much anymore.

It’s a more demanding narrative to navigate than the director’s previous efforts, and not all of it works with its sly subtlety. Yet there’s sensational artistry at work, with Aster peppering much of his storytelling in the background of scenes (photos on walls, informative signs, etc.) that a lot of folks might not even notice.

Gator-filled swamps, an ultra-grungy murderer, racial undertones and a sexually charged atmosphere make up the tense and lurid world of The Paperboy.

Captures a potent sense of the Old West with its multidimensional raw performances and captivating final shootout sequence. But with its emphasis on emotional truths, it transcends the confines of a cowboy movie.

Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, the comedy “Good Fortune” would have been just fine as a lively two-hander with Ansari and Seth Rogen that acts as a funny, often insightful exploration of the modern gig economy. It’s Reeves, though, who literally comes down from heaven (actually, more often a rooftop) to be the supernatural presence the movie needs to be something special.

However solid the grown-ups are, the youngsters together – whether in the first film or the sequel – make “It” shine.

This movie doesn't make you think you are watching art. It's closer to a high-end TV movie with lots of familiar faces.

The stories run a gamut of emotions: melancholy, bittersweet, provocative, witty, poignant, silly and fanciful.

Soderbergh takes a deadly serious news story and amplifies and colors it to the point of outrageousness. The results aren't always consistent, but they are undeniably compelling.

The best romantic comedies intoxicate like vintage champagne. Picture Perfect, on the other hand, is like a wine spritzer. Insubstantial and oversweet, it still refreshes as a midsummer brain cooler. [1 August 1997, p. 3D]

As easy to enjoy as picking up a spare, and we don't mean a tire around the waist.

Babys is intellectually stimulating and emotionally stirring, a rare combination these days, though hardly unusual for writer/director John Sayles.

This is Disneynature's third and best release, after 2009's "Earth" and 2010's "Oceans." With its compelling narrative of survival, it will probably be the one that most enthralls audiences.

All coy and fey -- and painless to digest.

This tale is both redemptive and tragic, if occasionally melodramatic.

Informative, morally complex and supremely well-intentioned, it generally sidesteps sentimentality for appealingly straightforward storytelling.

Like “Donnie Darko” or David Lynch’s entire oeuvre, “Glow”... blends the real and the surreal in a neon-drenched nightmare that leaves a trail of thematic breadcrumbs for its audience.

Steamy, twisty, demented and not exactly subtle in its aim to entertain film fans and BookTok alike. Director Paul Feig’s movie doesn’t hit all the marks of its addictive source material, but the thing is plenty wild enough to be a holiday guilty pleasure.

Drop is based on Lehane's short story Animal Rescue, and the terrific cast and punchy dialogue make it particularly worth seeing, bringing energy to a deliberately-paced tale that occasionally feels plodding.

Insightful gems are unearthed throughout the flawed but engrossing Salinger,a much-anticipated documentary about the author of The Catcher in the Rye.

Solidly entertaining and possesses dazzling special effects, but it falls short of the near-perfection of the Spidey sequel.

In other hands, Patriots Day could have been a paint-by-the numbers action thriller, but strong performances and well-paced momentum make it an engrossing watch.

It's an oft-told tale, but director Mike Newell's handsome version of Charles Dickens' epic novel is marked by strong performances, well-developed characters and gorgeous cinematography.

A decent Korean War/collaborator court-martial drama, directed by Karl Malden (his only directing effort), and starring Richard Widmark. [15 May 2009, p.3D]

Trashy and disturbingly violent yet fairly zippy and amusingly cast.

There is no lack of Disney-fied melodrama, for sure, yet Queen fights through all that with outstanding acting, deft filmmaking choices and the introduction of a new talent in Madina Nalwanga.

Populaire takes an intrinsically boring activity — typing — and makes it unusually entertaining.

Darkly comic 2 Days in the Valley is Tarantino lite and low-fat Altman. And that's not bad. It leaves you filled but without that bloated feeling. [27 Sept 1996]

Jiro is a thoughtful engineer and a romantic, not a soldier. And The Wind Rises conveys the visual poetry of its titular reference.

Promised Land is an involving and timely tale that explores the changing nature and complex challenges of rural life.

It's irreverently entertaining.

It's a quintessential movie hybrid: a romantic thriller with exciting high-speed chases, brisk comedy and exotic scenery.

Redford methodically presents the injustices piled on Surratt and suggests what might have prompted her stoicism. But James D. Solomon's script is often flat, perhaps in a misguided effort to be stately.