Artful it's not. But it's awfully affable. [26 March 1999, Life, p.9E]

Soderbergh's homage to film noir and wartime thrillers, is technically stunning but narratively and thematically hollow.

The movie is an undeniable visual spectacle, but just as unequivocally a cheesy, ridiculous story.

Great Balls of Fire! doesn't shake your nerves or rattle your brain; at times, though, it gets on your nerves. Even so, it's a just-tolerable junk-food chronicle of the brief era when Jerry Lee Lewis threatened to heist Elvis' ''King'' crown. [30 June 1989, p.5D]

If you drop the "c" in hockey you get a perfect description of Mystery, Alaska.

Essentially a one-gag film.

By any reckoning, director Paul McGuigan and writer Mark Mills seem mighty ground down trying to buck these medieval odds.

It's misleading to call this a documentary — fan fodder is more like it.

For those in the audience, it's best to just sit back, drink in its virtual dazzle and not ask questions. The story is beside the point in this sleek-looking reboot. It's all about the whiz-bang special effects and the return of Jeff Bridges - always the coolest guy in any space, cyber or otherwise.

Those who teach public speaking sometimes advocate telling your audience what you're going to tell them, then actually telling them, then telling them what you've told them. Sidewalks reproves this isn't a wise path for movies.

Edited like the world's most expensive car ad. The screen opens and closes like a nervous accordion, and the action shifts speeds like crazy.

Moviegoers accustomed to Hollywood action probably won't find this contemplative adventure so appealing.

Part horror film, part space thriller and all gore-fest, the movie ends up being a lot like its protagonist: a mess of a monster that stretches itself too thin to scare much.

The Fifth Estate doesn't seem to be presenting the full story. Instead, it's a fairly dull thriller about a hugely influential Internet phenomenon.

What once was spontaneous and clever now has the stench (in Conehead-speak) of rotten chicken embryos. [23 July 1993, p.5D]

An immature obsession with sex at 17 seems understandable. But at 30 it's getting cringe-inducing.

Director Clark Johnson has an energetic style of filmmaking and a facile way with stunts and chase sequences. The result is a fairly stylish action thriller. We've seen plenty of suspense films in which a seemingly good guy is framed, so it helps when a director can pull off a few cinematic tricks to keep audiences on their toes.

If nothing else, though, the stylish and slick thriller brings sass to the secret-agent genre, and there are worse things than watching an evil Chris Evans try to murder Ryan Gosling for two hours.

If you're not a stickler for consistency, this is an effective pastiche and tribute to one of the world's most enticing cities.

The movie's soap opera quality undermines its efforts to tell a family saga with much believability.

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.

Violent thrills and massive blood spills are the essence of the absurdly over-the-top action flick that is Shoot 'Em Up.

In action-thrillers, the destination counts less than the trip, and with Seagal you're guaranteed a breakneck ride. [08 Oct 1990, p.4D]

It tries to be a moody thriller, but cliched dialogue and too many coincidences make for a predictable and hackneyed film.

Gives new meaning to the phrase "not for the squeamish."

No new ground is dug up in Good Boy, but the story is well-paced, sweet and lively, filling a void for very young filmgoers.

Falls flat, enlivened only by the performances of its two charismatic lead dogs. The story is heavy-handed, and the human performances are, at their worst, caricatured.

At least the horror premise here has a hook - a house can spread its curse like a plague to adversely affect all who enter.