Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes
Publications list

Philadelphia Inquirer

Tomatometer-approved publication.

Prev Next
Rating Title | Year Author Quote
The Howling (1981) Desmond Ryan What keeps it from prompting a snort of derision is its arch good humor and considerable technical verve.
Posted Mar 18, 2026  Edit critic review
2/4
RoboCop 3 (1993) Carrie Rickey Weller has an ironic pucker that his stolid substitute, Robert John Burke, sorely lacks.
Posted Mar 16, 2026  Edit critic review
2/4
RoboCop 2 (1990) Carrie Rickey RoboCop 2 is like one continuous explosion in a munitions factory. Every time the movies touches on a potentially interesting or comic urban issue, Kershner gets nervous and trouts out the semiautomatic weaponry.
Posted Mar 10, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5.4
Waiting for Guffman (1996) Desmond Ryan Guest settles for an almost affectionate send-up rather than outright derision.
Posted Mar 10, 2026  Edit critic review
Anastasia (1956) Mildred Martin Filmed in stunning DeLuxe Color and magnificently staged, with charming exteriors in Copenhagen and Paris, "Anastasia" is visually effective as it is haunting as drama.
Posted Mar 06, 2026  Edit critic review
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Henry T. Murdock ...it is touching heartening and acceptable and Miss Hepburn's drolleries overcome the faint aura of decadence which hovers over the plot.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
Sense and Sensibility (1995) Carrie Rickey Is there a more purely enjoyable movie than Sense and Sensibility? Sublimely funny, ravishingly gorgeous and so deft in its criticism of social snobbery, this film... in some ways improves upon the original.
Posted Feb 26, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
The Postman (1994) Desmond Ryan An affectingly funny and marvelously portrayed exploration of the bond between two men who are able to discard their preconceptions and discover what they can offer each other.
Posted Feb 22, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Duel (1971) Desmond Ryan Weaver gives us a nicely calibrated trajectory of rising panic.
Posted Feb 21, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
THX 1138 (1971) Desmond Ryan The most striking aspect of THX 1138 is its visual flair and its use of sound to evoke a different reality.
Posted Feb 20, 2026  Edit critic review
THX 1138 (1971) William B. Collins The information circuits in "THX 1138" are so jammed that you are never quite sure what is going on or, more to the point, why.
Posted Feb 20, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) Carrie Rickey [Miss Piggy] is more babe-aceous than Babe but does not make her entrance, astride an elephant, until fully 75 minutes into this 91-minute musical. Still, even a mostly pork-free Muppets misadventure makes for the best two-tier entertainment around.
Posted Feb 12, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Carrie Rickey An act of courage, like an act of love, requires a leap of faith. It is with gravity and levity and incomparable grace that Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- by light years the best movie of 2000 -- makes those leaps literally.
Posted Feb 11, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Erin Brockovich (2000) Carrie Rickey Movies of this sort require a face-off. Instead, Erin Brockovich has a payout. If lack of climax is the film's dramatic flaw, then lack of proportion is its moral failing.
Posted Feb 06, 2026  Edit critic review
A Face in the Crowd (1957) Mildred Martin In the role of Lonesome's mentor and eventual nemesis, Patricia Neal gives the performance of her career, a piece of work second only to that of the star himself.
Posted Feb 05, 2026  Edit critic review
Vanishing Point (1971) William B. Collins In "Vanishing Point," there is no plot, no psychology, no development, no complications.
Posted Feb 05, 2026  Edit critic review
Camille (1936) Mildred Martin The picture belongs to Miss Garbo, whose sustained, intelligent, completely fresh, and touching performance in a role beset with innumerable pitfalls once more sets her upon the sparsely peopled heights.
Posted Feb 04, 2026  Edit critic review
Days of Heaven (1978) Desmond Ryan Days of Heaven is a film that is not as good as it looks, but because almost every frame offers an image of startling beauty, that hardly is damning criticism.
Posted Feb 04, 2026  Edit critic review
Ace in the Hole (1951) Mildred Martin In his triple capacity, Wilder pulls no punches anywhere along the line; staging the drama with grim realism, allowing no softening in the character of this journalistic monster.
Posted Feb 03, 2026  Edit critic review
Arabesque (1966) Henry T. Murdock You may never be certain who chases who and why in "Arabesque," but in this extension of the spy-spoof cycle...one certainty is that the chase is unflagging, frequently thrilling and always humorous.
Posted Feb 03, 2026  Edit critic review
1/4
House (1985) Desmond Ryan No glimmer of humor shines through this dark and dimwitted tale.
Posted Jan 30, 2026  Edit critic review
2/4
North (1994) Steven Rea An expensive-looking, Crayola-colored attempt to evoke a certain childlike spirit that, in fact, doesn't hit an emotional mark with either children or adults.
Posted Jan 23, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
The American President (1995) Carrie Rickey As lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade, Bening is so winning that it's hard to understand why the president's approval rating plummets when he starts dating her.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Mildred Martin Well directed by Robert Wise, sensibly played by Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Billy Gray, Sam Jaffe and Hugh Marlow, The Day the Earth Stood Still is more believable than most of these shiver science shockers.
Posted Jan 16, 2026  Edit critic review
Bite the Bullet (1975) Desmond Ryan The writing has a crisp, laconic wit and the acting ranges from professional to excellent.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
The Magnificent Seven (1960) Mildred Martin Sturges' direction...is brilliant throughout.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
Gaslight (1944) Mildred Martin Villainy has seldom been seen to such monstrous advantages as the erstwhile romantic Mr. Boyer slowly, methodically, undertakes to drive his wife mad for his own grisly ends.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
Stand by Me (1986) Carrie Rickey Stand by Me is a small, quiet film that walks tall and resonates long after.
Posted Jan 12, 2026  Edit critic review
Out of the Past (1947) Mildred Martin Even though you may not be sure who is being double-crossed or why, there's no reason for not getting a substantial melodramatic kick out of "Out of the Past."
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
Alice in Wonderland (1951) Marion Kelley If you wander down a rabbit hole into the land of make-believe and nibble on cookies not meant for humans, it [makes] little difference how the episodes are linked. The important characters are there, and they are amusing.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
The Sure Thing (1985) Desmond Ryan The easygoing humor with which Reiner moves his film and the way he confounds his character's great expectations are both delightful and inevitable.
Posted Jan 08, 2026  Edit critic review
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) Mildred Martin Though "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is undoubtedly powerful anti-spy propaganda, one may find some comfort in the fact that the villains are so easily recognizable.
Posted Jan 03, 2026  Edit critic review
Death Race 2000 (1975) Al Haas My 15-year-old son accompanied me to this hardcore corn and summed it up rather nicely. "Some movies are so stupid they're funny. That thing was too stupid to be even stupid funny."
Posted Dec 22, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Hook (1991) Desmond Ryan A film that's more than just something you can enjoy with the kids. You can talk to them about it afterward, and you may not have the last word.
Posted Dec 19, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Christine (1983) Rick Lyman It's a twisted, rock 'n' horror show, tense and demented.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Big Top Pee-wee (1988) Carrie Rickey Big Top Pee-wee is a three-ring circus of a movie with roughly two worth watching.
Posted Dec 13, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
True Lies (1994) Desmond Ryan The core trouble in True Lies is twofold, and the duality leads Cameron's screenplay into all sorts of improbable convolutions to connect the sagging middle with the more conventional elements at the beginning and the end.
Posted Dec 10, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
The Abyss (1989) Desmond Ryan The Abyss is a genuine breakthrough.
Posted Dec 09, 2025  Edit critic review
1/4
The Terminator (1984) Desmond Ryan It continues nonstop in an orgy of mindless and utterly pointless violence whose garish slickness makes it the more offensive.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
A Christmas Carol (1984) David Bianculli This umpteenth retelling of the Dickens tale works because everyone involved, from the supporting actors to the technical personnel, did his or her job faultlessly.
Posted Dec 04, 2025  Edit critic review
Peeper (1975) Desmond Ryan The comedy in the the film is clumsy and the mystery untrying. "Peeper" is barely worth a first glance.
Posted Nov 21, 2025  Edit critic review
Journey Back to Oz (1974) Desmond Ryan A charming, full-length animated cartoon for children that manages to be straightforward and freshly inventive at the same time.
Posted Nov 21, 2025  Edit critic review
The Wiz (1978) William B. Collins The weakness in Lumet's method lies in the clash that sometimes occurs between the real and the fanciful.
Posted Nov 17, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
The Running Man (1987) Desmond Ryan Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest outing is a slick and lurid mixture of satire and sadism.
Posted Nov 06, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
Predator 2 (1990) Desmond Ryan Predator 2 is high of tech and low of brow.
Posted Oct 31, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
Predator (1987) Desmond Ryan This is a movie that is slick with blood and even slicker in its production values.
Posted Oct 31, 2025  Edit critic review
Dracula (1979) Desmond Ryan Whatever Langella, who makes a magnetically urbane Dracula, has added to the legend is immediately subtracted in Badham's direction.
Posted Oct 21, 2025  Edit critic review
1/5
Re-Animator (1985) Rick Lyman Re-Animator is another example of what happens when a movie that leaves nothing to the imagination is made by people who don't have any.
Posted Oct 16, 2025  Edit critic review
Born Yesterday (1950) Mildred Martin The great beauty of Miss Holliday's performance, on screen as on stage, is that for all its flamboyance it deftly ducks caricature.
Posted Oct 13, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Desert Hearts (1985) Carrie Rickey A stylish, low-key comedy of Eros.
Posted Oct 13, 2025  Edit critic review
Prev Next