At least Van Damme parodies himself just enough to avoid an all-out battle of the blands . At least director Roland Emmerich slyly allows supermarket Muzak to play during Lundgren's one big emoting scene. [10 July 1992, p.5D]

August's direction, as usual, is a tad glacial, but at its frequent best, the film soars to explosive heights. [31 Jul 1992, p.6D]

Kiss is tasty-enough escape fare. Just don't expect anything more filling than Hershey's foiled variety. [10 Jul 1992, p.5D]

The movie, though, is more of the same: another current comedy with want-to-see elements that fails to deliver the goods. [01 Jul 1992]

However flawed, this film proves two things: Davis is still peaking as a lead, and Hanks is in a league with funny male leads of any movie era. [1 July 1992, p.1D]

The ripe dialogue (''I was their No. 1 son,'' wails the Penguin about the parents who flushed their deformed baby down the sewer, ''and they treated me like No. 2!'') and rich settings decked out in deco can't disguise that little happens. The frantic action circles the same city block, as if trying to find a spot to park. [19 June 1992, p.1D]

Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin make Housesitter worth sitting through. While no Hepburn and Tracy, the pair still transform this overly contrived screwball romp into an inspired game of charades. [12 July 1992, p.4D]

While the rapping stars of House Party I and II bring a few fresh (as in cool) ideas to the premise, little about this cartoony comedy seems all that fresh (as in not stale). [05 Jun 1992, p.4D]

An instant merit barometer of any farce this contrived is the creativity in and conviction of the exposition. It takes an empty half-hour just to get Goldberg into the convent, and even then the payoff is mild. [29 May 1992, p.5D]

The old seems old - but the result isn't unpleasant, and moviegoers just might go for it. [22 May 1992]

Neither as funny and scary as the first, nor as campy and breathless as the second, Alien 3 can only settle for third best. Considering the state of sci-fi movies, that may be enough. [22 May 1992, p.12D]

MTV addicts may want to check out Shore, whose sound effects (akin to electrical interference) amuse for maybe five minutes. Otherwise, Encino Man is even worse than Medicine Man, which came from the same studio. In a just society, both of them would go the way of Atlantis Man. [22 May 1992, p.12D]

A comic-fantasy nightmare of the wickedest kind. [22 Jul 1992, p.4D

In its third go-round, the Lethal Weapon arsenal is running out of ammunition. [15 May 1992]

Hollywood excelled at this kind of toughie from the mid-'40s through the mid-1950s, and you can see this film's equal every night on a cable movie channel. This summer, however, it's a jewel. [22 July 1992, p.4D]

Imagine what would happen if Andy of Mayberry transferred to New Mexico, adopted Barney Fife's delusions of trigger-happy grandeur and went undercover for the federal government. That's the gist of White Sands, an intriguing but muddled game of cross and double-cross...For the first 10 minutes or so, this thriller directed by Roger Donaldson (No Way Out) is a knockout. [24 Apr 1992, p.4D]

Deep Cover, directed unevenly by Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem), is yet another plunge into the seemingly bottomless urban pool of drugs, guns and money. [15 Apr 1992, p.7D]

Newsies' drag is its predictable script.... It's not a bad hook, but the treatment is uninspired, despite a fairly engaging turn by Bale. [08 Apr 1992]

Besides displaying a tin ear for dialogue, King stoops to such conventions as having the sleepwalkers vulnerable to just one thing - cat scratches. [13 Apr 1992, p.6D]

Joins company with "Sullivan's Travels" and "Sunset Boulevard" as the quintessential Hollywood peek-a-boos...[and] Tim Robbins' modulated performance rates rhapsodic praise. [10 Apr 1992]

co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro know their craft; of the films here, only Othello has a more trenchant visual style. [30 Apr 1992]

Thunderheart, which concerns tragic in-fighting between factions of the Oglala Sioux, lands with a sound that duplicates the name of the Indian chief who harassed Howdy Doody in less ethnically sensitive times. Thunderthud. The movie is so dramatically stillborn that it may be unfair to single out Val Kilmer, but that is Kilmer's name atop an acting lineup that includes Sam Shepard, Fred Ward and Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves). [3 Apr 1992, p.8D]

Knowing and original, Men's comedy never quite soars. Yet jump it does, and high enough. [27 Mar 1992, p.1D]

The Power of One plays like a plot-heavy South African fairy tale with one too many big, bad wolves. [27 March 1992, p.4D]

The Cutting Edge is a sharp-looking but rinky-dink rink romance that would earn 6.0's in compulsory cliches. [27 March 1992, p.4D]

The film never makes total sense, but at its best (the first half-hour), it comes closer to solidly junky titillation than the hapless Final Analysis. [20 Mar 1992, Life, p.1D]

Seeing Noises Off the movie is better than waiting for it to arrive at the local dinner theater. But served in a setting devoid of spontaneity, Off just seems a little off. [20 March 1992, p.4D]

Vinny's humor is cooked to al dente perfection. And that ain't just whistling Dixie.