More thought-provoking than frightening. Its stubbornly cynical attitude makes it worth watching, more than the monsters or the impenetrable mist (which looks spewed from a fog machine) engulfing a small town in Maine.

These movies are best when marrying James Bond high jinks with their longtime emphasis on the strength of family, plus a serving of macho philosophy on the side. F9 tries to goose that template exponentially with soap opera and a greatest-hits package to craft the ultimate "Fast and Furious" movie, instead succeeding at making one that's merely fine.

Has a couple of emotionally resonant scenes that build on the first two story lines. But it lacks the intriguing moody quality of the previous films. The mutants are more pumped up and angry this time, rather than misunderstood and conflicted.

What we're left with is solid if not exceptional, though it's good to see Mendes expanding as a filmmaker.

Robert Pattinson must be hellbent on escaping the world of sparkly-skinned undead to take on the starring role in the leaden, obtuse and ultra-pretentious Cosmopolis.

There is cinematic art, and there's a good evening out; this is the latter. [15 Mar 1991]

Silly as it was, the first movie had a more innocent and campy spirit than this calculated, if faithful, redo.

The movie is a by-the-numbers action film that's not nearly as strong as its Damon-led predecessors.

Hoffman stores the plane fuel in his house and even enjoys sniffing it. The movie might be a lot more fun as a suspense pic were he to take on a roommate who chained-smoked.

Though the music is helping market the movie, it's really an omnipresent backdrop to the two intersecting stories. Audibly and visibly, Kansas City nearly equals Ed Wood for period verisimilitude. Yet it's also character-driven, in particular by the women stars. [16 Aug 1996, p.4D]

The focus is limited to Young's longtime Crazy Horse colleagues -- in other words, forget Buffalo Springfield or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -- but even on this level, there's a lot of rambling and disinclination to answer questions. A substantial number of viewers will likely be ground down, and certainly there's nothing here to make Young's 1979 concert film, Rust Never Sleeps, an obsolete view. [07 Oct 1997, p.3D]

Disclosure should slickly satisfy people who like movies about advanced computers, topical themes, hardball attorney mind games, office politics, sex and sweet revenge. [9 Dec 1994, p.1D]

Classic rock enthusiasts will want to stick around through the end credit sequence, which features an array of album covers.

Though the effort is uneven, it's a well-acted romance that becomes a less compelling courtroom drama.

Now that we no longer expect the world from any of them, the movie is an amusing 88-minute trifle with Beatty in a gigolo mustache and Nicholson with Art Garfunkel curls. [05 Jun 1998]

To see someone even attempt bittersweet treatment of this subject is surprising, but to largely pull it off is a major feat.

Yet the film's most serious flaw (next to a newly concocted fizz-out ending) is that it's not sinister enough. [30 Jun 1993 Pg. 01.D]

A darkly disturbing melodrama anchored by some powerful performances.

Its title notwithstanding, there's nothing that remotely approaches a narrative curve ball in this tired saga of an aging baseball scout.

Hard Candy, a highly original psychological thriller/revenge fantasy, can be bitterly hard to take and uncomfortably intense, but it's well worth consuming.

Unwed John Malkovich and Andie MacDowell are living on what amounts to room-service charity in a posh London hotel, waiting for his cocoa crop investment to bankroll their spiralling bill. Neither lead plays a very bearable character, and the pathetic maid (destitute and hearing-impaired) is too obviously conceived as their counterpoint. It's good to see MacDowell loosening up (a little) after her alarmingly stilted dialogue delivery in deadly, dreadful Green Card. But that's all. Sleeping Beauty never awakens from its monotonal slumber. [12 Apr 1991, p.2D]

The tale of the resistance movement in Belorussia is undeniably inspiring and ideally suited for a cinematic rendering. But Defiance resists bold, passionate storytelling and delivers something rather conventional.

This is the best Seagal yet - written by J.F. Lawton, who also did Pretty Woman, oddly enough. But let's not go overboard. The convoluted plot treads water far too long as the good guys on land discuss strategy in a Dr. Strangelove-style conference room. The violence is way too graphic as Seagal treats the hijackers as if they were cheap cuts of beef. And Erika Eleniak's centerfold bimbo may be played for laughs, but it's no joke when she's the token woman. Then again, it's too much to expect an action top dog to learn too many new tricks. [09 Oct 1992, p.8D]

There are some scattered laughs but it's not particularly funny, and American Pickle is generally all over the place, aiming to be an abstract comedy about family and religion but losing its way trying to also poke fun at modern culture.

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

The latest undead-soldier story carries on the franchise tradition of graphic violence and bad acting.

Donkey continues to be lovable, and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has one of the funnier character arcs.

Has some appealing characters, a few laughs and then devolves into a predictable Tortoise and the Hare spinoff.