Funny People nimbly intersperses humor and reflection. It is a rumination on mortality, fame and life choices, punctuated with Apatow's trademark raunchy humor.

Well-acted but often painfully melodramatic.

Intelligent but exasperating, its monotonous tone will wear down even viewers who started out in its corner. [27 Dec 1996]

The Lost City isn’t a bad movie, and it’s sufficiently ridiculous for those seeking a gonzo escape with A-listers. You're just left wanting in general, be it extra Pitt or more ribaldry.

Has such dull patches that as a Volvo races to the scene of a massive shootout, a distracting thought comes to mind: Can Volvos even go that fast?

I entered the screening for The X-Files: Fight the Future with myriad questions... I left with disappointing answers. [19 June 1998, p. 7E]

Too bad Boys has more gas than wind beneath its wings. [03 Feb 1995, Pg.04.D]

The clichéd ghosts of James Bond past haunt Spectre, an action adventure whose biggest failure is looking back on 007’s own success.

It tries hard to be sexy, mysterious and dangerous, but ends up laughably inscrutable.

Costner and Russo show they're up to par. [16 August 1996, p.D1]

McCarthy and Wiig are solid as the two pals who have to mend fences amid paranormal goings-on, but Jones is great as the quartet’s boisterous voice of reason and McKinnon is the film’s biggest and quirkiest standout.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness definitely makes good on the promises of an excessive title: Alternate realities are in full effect, things get progressively more bonkers, and the latest adventure for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Marvel magic man takes “the search for one’s self” conceit to a whole new level.

As crazed as its predecessor after a slower start. [21 Sep 2007, p.11D]

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

Lumet (who also wrote the script) seems to feed on lousy cop-precinct furniture, political showboating and confrontations between street-savvy adversaries played by synergic actors. [16May1997 Pg.01.D]

Long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative, this dreary story of fighting the power is more numbing than thought-provoking.

The powerful two-person drama gets watered down by documentary-style footage and voice-overs. But it's worth seeing just for Weaver and LaPaglia.

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

Sarandon is worth leaving home for, even if Jeff won't.

Isn't smart enough to cut it as the ultimate blond joke. [25 April 1997, p. 4D]

While the movie overcomplicates matters as the plot tosses in assorted criminal types and various twists, the leads always keep it watchable just riffing off each other with verbal barbs and sharp looks as their unnamed characters’ icy relationship melts and they find a mutual respect.

Dickerson's direction seems more assured as Juice progresses, but by then, the film has become less a dilemma movie than a melodramatically conventional revenge piece. [17 Jan 1992, p.4D]

This is one of those moderately engrossing movies that seems to collapse all at once during the wrap-up, yet it's well-acted all around.

Filmmakers of Bernardo Bertolucci's magnitude don't often take on sexual coming-of-age movies, but judging from the pleasures of Stealing Beauty, maybe more of them should. [14 Jun 1996 Pg.04.D]

Ridiculously attractive spies fall hard for each other in Allied, but don’t expect "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" with Nazis.

Compelling enough, a sort of "Inception"-lite, but the plot holes take it off course.

Clearly far from the worst the franchise has offered (sorry, “Scream 3”) and not quite to the level of the late Wes Craven's innovative 1996 original, Ghostface’s latest slice-and-dice through Woodsboro checks all the appropriate boxes though lacks some of the quirky fun that marked previous entries.

The film takes a long time to unfold, and some scenes feel inert. But ultimately, the conclusion is moving and satisfying.