Judged strictly as a movie (especially a subliminally disturbing movie), Vertigo hasn't lost a thing. You watch this guy going slowly over the brink and realize, good grief, this is Jimmy Stewart. [Restored version; Oct 1996, p.3D]

This re-edited version turns one of Orson Welles' most memorable yet flawed films into a masterpiece. [Director's Cut; 18 Sept 1998, p.11E]

Humor, poignancy and social criticism converge for an even better movie than the recent one it brings to mind: Gosford Park. [23 Jan 2004]

Pan's Labyrinth artfully fuses a war film with a family melodrama and a fairy tale. The result is visually stunning and emotionally shattering.

One of the rare sports films that devotes extensive screen time to heartbreaking losses is full of other surprises as well. [13 Oct 1994, p.1D]

Like too many others, I resisted seeing (or at least, rushing out to) this film, fully expecting a stolid, respectable bummer; what I found, without the filmmakers ever having cheapened the material, is one of 1989's most entertaining movies. There is even, I swear, a barroom brawl that's out (and worthy) of John Ford. [3 Jan 1990, p.4D]

Depressing and gut-wrenching, but always powerful and gripping.

The latest excellent effort for writer/director Bong Joon-ho (“The Host,” “Okja”) is a more entertaining version of “Roma,” an Oscar-ready, slice-of-life foreign film that challenges its audience to look inward.

Roma is an elegiac and moving work driven by Aparicio’s understated and nuanced performance.

Director Hayao Miyazaki treats his audience as imaginative and intelligent human beings, rather than catering to kids with rote displays of silliness, stunts and scares.

The first all computer-animated feature, which brings a bedroom of playthings to bouncy life, is yummy eye candy spiked with 3-D-style tactile treats.

The harrowing 12 Years a Slave is a mesmerizing period drama for the ages.

Manchester finds a way to weave together truly wrenching sequences with a clever sense of humor, and Lonergan pulls extraordinary performances from his entire cast, especially Casey Affleck.

Like the best French cuisine, Ratatouille is ambitious and delightful.

As son Tom Joad, Henry Fonda gave the screen performance of his career. [09 Apr 2004, p.10E]

The telling of this simple tale of survival required cutting-edge technology, but we don't notice the bells and whistles: They're on hand to immerse us in an unforgettable personal story.

Fearless mix of classical music and animation, the one movie to satisfy that oft-misused adjective ''unique.'' [01 Nov 1991, p.3D]

It's at once funny, exciting, tearful and tuneful. [13 Nov 1991, p.1D]

What’s explosive doesn’t always equate to propulsive, however, in a stuffed narrative with pacing issues and a plot that doesn’t need two hours and 40 minutes to make its point.

The film owes much of its success to the inspired pairing of Fincher and Sorkin.

Both a psychological portrait and an exciting action film.

For a brutal black comedy about L.A. hitmen, Pulp Fiction bursts out of its binding with loopy delights. [14 Oct 1994]

While this decade-long look at the inner workings of the CIA is intriguing, the movie would have benefited by more character development and additional editing.

Sophisticated and universal yet deeply intimate, A Separation is an exquisitely conceived family drama that has the coiled power of a top-notch thriller.

With flawless precision, the movie flows seamlessly between a virtual newsreel approach (to chronicle senseless, arbitrary atrocities on the people) and a slightly more direct narrative technique that characterized the film's three dominant characters - each one cast to perfection. [15 Dec 1993]

At once futuristic, funny and fantastical.

The greatest newspaper comedy and one of the greatest screwball comedies ever made. [24 Nov 2000]

Bittersweet, intelligently written, deftly acted and painfully honest.