Scott seduces audiences with thought-provoking possibilities, then pulls a bait-and-switch, subbing in a familiar monster thriller and fiery explosion-fest.

As entertainment, such dark material can only stretch so far, and Series 7 comes awfully close to being as numbing as the genre it mocks. But its power can't be denied.

Just as sharply funny and as heartwarming, yet unsentimental, as the first.

The movie is really a lovely ensemble piece. Beautifully conceived and written by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours), the film has a distinctly novelistic and literate style.

Unsettling and well-acted story.

Victor Mature became a star in the 1940 original, which was simply called One Million, B.C. Happy New Year, Vic, but nothing in your version can compete with a blond Raquel Welch -- she wearing the latest '60s open-navel cavewoman garb here [27 Dec 1996, p.3D]

So sobering an example of why crime doesn't pay that it could be shown to petty drug thugs to scare them straight.

Its colorful residents make Zootopia a wondrous place to visit for two hours until you have to go back to real life, where Shakira isn’t a gazelle and law enforcement is a lot less furry.

Fury does capture the brutality of war and the misery of life spent largely confined in an armored tank during the war's final weeks, in April, 1945.

Director Jeff Rowe (“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”) smartly casts actual teenagers as the main characters, makes them pop via a super-cool comic-book visual style and surrounds these familiar heroes in a half shell with a top-notch supporting cast. Best of all, it's the kind of zippy, 99-minute adventure bound to satisfy kids and adults alike in the cinematic doldrums of August.

American Sniper's wartime sequences are well-paced and harrowing, reminiscent of those in 2008's "The Hurt Locker." Like that film, Sniper can be interpreted either as a patriotic salute or as an incisive anti-war movie. In either case, it's a powerful, moving and tragic tale.

Whishaw, Hawkins and Downton Abbey's Bonneville strike just the right notes. Imaginative production design, which occasionally brings to mind Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," adds to the story's appeal.

The movie, which ends on an unexpected note of wistful humor, also gleans gentle and non-derisive chuckles out of Fin's physical state.

Though some have taken this '94 film fest fave fairly straight, it strikes me as eerily arch and quite the sly hoot as it connects maybe two-thirds of the time. [07 Mar 1995, p.4D]

"Imitation" illuminates Turing's brilliance in an engrossing and moving film that features a standout, Oscar-worthy performance by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Big Eyes is a fabulous match of artist — Burton — and material. While it's one of the director's more low-key works, his trademark sly wit infuses the mesmerizing stranger-than-fiction biopic.

If This Is It doesn't miraculously restore the middle-aged Jackson to his past glory, it at least offers glimpses of his bygone greatness, and poignant suggestions of what might have been.

J. Edgar shines a probing beam of light on a man who was widely feared, often disliked, but rarely understood.

Everyone is well cast and no one more perfectly than Freeman, who is far more God-like than George Burns ever was. Freeman's God is wise, humble, wry, patient and funny but never mean-spirited.

A bittersweet relationship drama with enough honest emotion and gentle humor to move even the steeliest heart.

Unlike the corner of the entertainment industry it tackles, Mindy Kaling’s quick-witted screenplay for “Late Night” doesn’t go for cheap laughs, but instead wields incisive barbs to successfully make its point.

It's simple stuff, but the movie's heart is in the right place.

Newcomer Shameik Moore shines with geeky gusto in a breakthrough role in the coming-of-age comedy/drama, which tackles racial stereotypes and 1990s culture as a kind of spiritual descendant of "Friday" and "Do the Right Thing" while still featuring a singular voice.

Hustle's approach to a simple good-vs.-evil plot is eccentrically exuberant.

A lively, satirical stab at modern-day reality TV, scary big-brother technology, cultural dissension and rampant income inequality, all slathered in blood-soaked ultraviolence and bonkers charm. And don’t worry, old-school Arnold lovers: It’s so insanely different from the original movie that you can adore one without losing any love for the other.

An Innocent Man is no White Heat, and Selleck is no James Cagney. But this kind of fast-paced entertainment is almost top of the world, ma. [06 Oct 1989, p.5D]

As stylish and cool as the director’s other high-class cinematic efforts, the pulpy goodness of The Killer is straight up more fun than a lot of Fincher outings, thanks to a dark sense of humor and Michael Fassbender's enjoyably droll assassin.

While it lacks a strong overall narrative focus, "Ricardos" makes the most of a strong supporting cast and Sorkin’s excellent, banter-filled script.