Mostly, this movie is what Burton does best, though some of composer Danny Elfman's ballads make even 75 minutes seem padded. Yet the zingier numbers (the opener especially) are terrific - befitting a movie with a literally wormy villain Oogie Boogie, a ghostly pet, Zero, and a mayor who's literally two-faced. So forget Monster Mash, this is a monster bas. [13 Oct 1993, p.1D]

It is a rare performance when one of the world's most recognizable stars can disappear completely into a character on the screen.

There are ribald jokes and gross-out episodes, but the movie works because everything hinges on the camaraderie and undeniable chemistry between Rudd and Segel.

Marked by clever twists and turns, the story unfolds at just the right pace. The dialogue -- adapted by Polanski and British writer Robert Harris from Harris' novel The Ghost-- is incisive and interspersed with wit.

Bruno Coulais' musical score provides an evocative counterpoint to the often dazzling photography. A scene featuring diving sea birds and whales moving in concert with the rhythm of the waves is stunning.

Has the refined taste to crib from classics like "Double Indemnity."

Smashed is quietly affecting, though sometimes difficult to sit through. The saving grace is Winstead's smashing performance.

Highly imaginative and consistently amusing without pretensions.

Though the plot can be vague and occasionally convoluted, Harrelson is mesmerizing.

The women in Coen brothers’ movies are usually the much smarter gender, as it is with “Dolls,” where Joel Coen and Cooke’s script creates a tight-knit relationship between its heroines that’s an absolute delight to watch, surrounded by goofball personalities and a healthy amount of campiness. It’s a playfully madcap turn on the “Thelma & Louise” model, and if Jamie and Marian decided to drive off a cliff, you’d want to be in that Dodge with them.

Clooney has excelled in serious roles - notably in "Michael Clayton" and "Syriana." But his Jack, a brooding assassin seeking redemption, is a bigger departure, and he pulls it off well.

While Solo is a Star Wars movie that gambles on not really being a Star Wars movie, it’s a winning chapter that only sparingly (though intriguingly) shows its hand in connecting to the bigger universe.

With Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, the raunchy college comedy is graduating to smart feminist commentary.

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

As suspenseful as any episode of Showtime's "Homeland," which director Michael Cuesta also executive-produced.

We accept the sincerity and altruistic motives of the aging loner he (Philip Baker Hall) portrays in this consciously spare Nevada-set sleeper. [13 March 1997, p. 8D]

The memorable songs return (with some new additions), the movie razzles and dazzles with huge dance sequences and impressive production design, but it’s definitely a more grown-up tale than the original 1992 animated classic.

Brews up an enticing murder mystery and gives Shane Black — who directed and co-wrote the script — another hit on-screen pairing.

The final third is slower until a somewhat contrived finale that's still the funniest thing in the movie.

Director James Franco's enjoyable ode to the creative process - any creative process, really. It's also one of Franco's strongest roles as an actor, capturing every little quirk and quality of a definite eccentric.

There's much mumbo-jumbo about past lives and symbolic tattoos, but who cares when you can gaze at a sight as lovely as a dirigible floating in the night sky?

Handsomely mounted, strikingly photographed in wide screen and exquisitely acted, director Bille August's new version of Les Miserables is at least the 21st adaptation for the movies or television. [01 May 1998]

The film's resolution is uplifting but not unrealistic, and Pariah exercises restraint by not tying up every loose end.

Well acted by an ensemble that leans toward equality for all, Mile carries its long running time extremely well.

The film is decidedly emotionally manipulative without being cloying, and often finds real humor in the complicated situation that arises around a genius 7-year-old, played by Mckenna Grace.

Few filmmakers of the past 20 years have mesmerized as much in their use of crisp, color-drenched photography.

Crazy Heart, based on a 1987 novel by Thomas Cobb, also has great music. Even if you're not a country music fan, the songs, by T Bone Burnett and the late Stephen Bruton, are infectious.

Love Lies Bleeding is a blood-soaked throwback to '80s erotic thrillers and action cinema but also Glass’ deconstruction of cinematic hypermasculinity through a female lens.