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Come and See
(1985)
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Terry Orme
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An overwhelming statement on the horrors of war, Come and See takes an unusual tack in relating a story of World War II. This is a psychological drama -- a harrowing, grueling journey into a young boy's mind as he tries to survive a very real nightmare.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
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2.5/4
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Boys on the Side
(1995)
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Sean P. Means
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Boys on the Side purports to speak to women and for women. Though these two male filmmakers Ross and Roos try their best there's something in the sound of this "women's voice" that doesn't ring true
Posted Mar 14, 2023
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2.5/4
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Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
(1992)
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Sean P. Means
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An entertaining and somewhat inventive children's story that features animation miles above the average Saturday-morning fare.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
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3.5/4
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Thelma & Louise
(1991)
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Terry Orme
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Even the spectacular red rocks can't eclipse the performances of Ms. Sarandon and Ms. Davis. They take your breath away.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
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2/4
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Godzilla
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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A special-effects show reel isn’t a movie. The story is nonexistent, the dialogue is cheesy, and the characters are as fake as the rubber suits that made up the original Godzilla in 1956.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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2.5/4
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Wild Things
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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Wild Things is a decidedly guilty pleasure, low camp of the highest order. You'll have fun, but you may hate yourself in the morning.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
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2/4
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The Big Lebowski
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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Every Coen Brothers movie has its share of goofball touches, but The Big Lebowski is all touches and no coherence. It may roll a few strikes, but the story is a big gutter ball.
Posted Jan 19, 2023
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2/4
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Eve's Bayou
(1997)
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Sean P. Means
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Boasts solid performances from Samuel L. Jackson and a host of other lesser-known actors. But uneven direction and plot implausibilities sap the film of its potentially shattering impact.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
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1/4
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Mighty Joe Young
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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The special effects, particularly the creature construction of famed makeup artist Rick Baker, are effective -- but who cares when the story is so idiotic?
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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2/4
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Down in the Delta
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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Though well-acted, especially by Woodard and Freeman, Down in the Delta is stifled by its piety. If Angelou could handle images as well as she weaves words, the movie's art would match its intentions.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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1.5/4
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Stepmom
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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The saddest thing about Stepmom is that so many good actors are laid waste to this sappy and unrelenting melodrama. A waste of talent of this magnitude is really something to cry about.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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2/4
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Patch Adams
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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Patch Adams does serve as a platform for Williams to do what he does best: evoke laughter and wring tears. Even when the movie flatlines, Williams keeps the beat.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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3.5/4
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Gods and Monsters
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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The film is a revelation for writer-director Bill Condon, whose last movie, the horror schlock Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, showed no indication of the intelligence and tenderness at work here.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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4/4
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Shakespeare in Love
(1998)
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Sean P. Means
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To quote Shakespeare, "A good wit will make use of anything" -- and there are plenty of good wits making use of history, romance, laughter and boundless imagination in the delicious comedy Shakespeare in Love.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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3/4
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Groundhog Day
(1993)
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Martin Renzhofer
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Groundhog Day has few side-splitting moments, but contains a steady diet of small laughs. It is also the first film for Mr. Murray that thoroughly combines his comedic talents with romantic situations.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1937)
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SLTrib Staff
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The net result is a picture as captivating in its environment as in its drams thrills and laughter arousing episodes.
Posted Dec 20, 2022
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Dances With Wolves
(1990)
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Terry Orme
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Dances With Wolves is at turns thrilling and poignant, a visually arresting, dramatically involving film -- one which wisely remembers that the best drama has its comic side. Costner's ambition is matched by the sense of wonder his film achieves.
Posted Nov 02, 2022
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3/4
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Gladiator
(2000)
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Sean P. Means
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Once called to battle, Crowe commands the arena, and the movie, with intense concentration and a ferocious look in his eyes. He doesn’t just perform in Gladiator, he owns the movie like a wild animal prowling his territory.
Posted Nov 01, 2022
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The Thief of Bagdad
(1924)
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SLTrib Staff
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One has visualized, materialized the wildest dreams, the most fanciful imaginings, of the forgotten, yet immortal, storytellers of the Arabian Nights.
Posted Oct 21, 2022
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Shanghai Express
(1932)
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SLTrib Staff
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Shanghai Express is distinctly out of the beaten track. It is novel, romantic entertainment of the most appealing type.
Posted Oct 21, 2022
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Peter Pan
(1924)
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SLTrib Staff
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The star of the play, Peter Pan, is a newcomer to the screen; in fact, she makes her debut in the role. She Is Betty Bronson, and a more delightful little elfin spirit of youth and Joy has never been screened.
Posted Oct 20, 2022
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Salem's Lot
(2004)
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Vince Horiuchi
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I was pleasantly surprised when the new two-part Salem's Lot, based on the Stephen King bestseller about a town of vampires, spooked me. And it did it the old fashioned way, with genuine scares and classic horror elements.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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3/4
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Addams Family Values
(1993)
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Sean P. Means
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Addams Family Values is a ghoulishly fun time. It would have been a real howl if the producers weren't too scared to go out on a limb in this twisted family tree.
Posted Sep 22, 2022
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A Man for All Seasons
(1966)
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Judy Todd
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Audiences won't remember the picture for its elaborate settings or spectacular scenes, but it would be difficult for them to forget the human qualities of its historical characters, who are made to practically live and breathe.
Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Platoon
(1986)
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Terry Orme
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Platoon is a tough and honest film that looks at Vietnam with eyes open wide and with the clear head that such a subject requires. It tells an utterly absorbing story and it delivers a moral as well.
Posted Aug 23, 2022
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Rain Man
(1988)
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Terry Orme
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Director Barry Levinson creates the perfect balance between humor and poignancy in Rain Man. When we laugh, it is not at Raymond but at his brother's inability to deal with him. Eventually, that laughter becomes sympathy.
Posted Aug 03, 2022
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The Last Emperor
(1987)
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Terry Orme
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The Last Emperor is visually overpowering and historically engrossing. The final stroke in this masterwork is the way in which its characters live and breathe, allowing us to believe in them and their story.
Posted Aug 01, 2022
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Driving Miss Daisy
(1989)
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Terry Orme
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This movie observes people going about their lives and, in the process, we become involved in their insecurities, their dreams, their idiosyncrasies and their relationships with each other. Their story has a universal yet very personal appeal.
Posted Jul 25, 2022
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Terms of Endearment
(1983)
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Terry Orme
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Sometimes you may feel like director-writer Brooks is pulling too hard on the heartstrings. But Winger, MacLaine, Nicholson and company give the proceedings a ring of truth that is completely captivating.
Posted Jul 20, 2022
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Gandhi
(1982)
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Terry Orme
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The achievement of Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi is to portray not an idea, or an ideal, but a man... Gandhi does not canonize its main character; it explores and reveals him instead.
Posted Jul 19, 2022
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Chariots of Fire
(1981)
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Terry Orme
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The athletic competitions are masterfully filmed by David Watkin; the characters are complex; the story is compelling. It is also a film which boasts a cast and crew of newcomers, fresh talent which will be heard from in years to come.
Posted Jul 14, 2022
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Amadeus
(1984)
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Terry Orme
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Amadeus is the rare film which uses music, drama and the wonders of cinema each to complement the other.
Posted Jul 09, 2022
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The Last Temptation of Christ
(1988)
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Terry Orme
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Where the film fails is in depicting the charisma and magnetism that Jesus Christ surely possessed. Despite what early detractors claim, however, The Last Temptation of Christ treats Its subject with dignity and respect.
Posted May 05, 2022
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Married to the Mob
(1988)
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Terry Orme
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Jonathan Demme once again comes up with a fresh and funny movie about life in America.
Posted May 05, 2022
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The Last Starfighter
(1984)
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Terry Orme
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The Last Starfighter is a delightful, little movie which borrows extensively from the large-budgeted Star Wars trilogy. Starfighter, however, tells a story which is bound to earth.
Posted Apr 27, 2022
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The Witches of Eastwick
(1987)
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Terry Orme
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Director Miller doesn't realize that Nicholson provides enough special effects and outrageousness for one movie. The [visual gags] all detract from what could have been a comedy for the mind instead of a Porky's for adults.
Posted Apr 22, 2022
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Three Men and a Baby
(1987)
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Terry Orme
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Director Leonard Nimoy and writers James Orr and Jim Cruickahank have stayed so faithful to [the original French version], except for the addition of one or two Hollywood contrivances, that you know exactly what's going to happen and when.
Posted Apr 20, 2022
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3.5/4
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Mississippi Masala
(1991)
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Terry Orme
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An intelligent look at the complexities of racism is combined with a sensual love story by director Mira Nair.
Posted Apr 15, 2022
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The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
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Terry Orme
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If Hopkins spins The Silence of the Lambs off into the territory of ghoulish nightmares, Foster grounds it firmly in reality.
Posted Mar 23, 2022
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3/4
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Titanic
(1997)
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Sean P. Means
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What do you get for your $6? You get an impressive epic of a scope Hollywood doesn't handle anymore, on the massive scale of Lawrence of Arabia or Spartacus. You also get a spectacle so large that it frequently dwarfs the human element.
Posted Mar 17, 2022
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Midnight Cowboy
(1969)
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Susan G. Dudley
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The superb acting of costars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight plus the camera's probes into human needs and compassions creates a film that audiences will not easily forget.
Posted Mar 10, 2022
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Oliver!
(1968)
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Susan G. Dudley
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A wonderfully warm musical that touches the heart.
Posted Mar 03, 2022
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3.5/4
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I Like It Like That
(1994)
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Sean P. Means
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It's a vibrant, funny and moving story of a woman's efforts to support her family and create her own identity.
Posted Mar 01, 2022
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3/4
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Thousand Pieces of Gold
(1990)
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Terry Orme
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1000 Pieces of Gold is a beautifully told story about the real American West and the immigrants who lived in it Rosalind Chao known best for her recurring role in television's Star Trek: The Next Generation gives a luminous performance.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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My Fair Lady
(1964)
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Bob Halliday
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The all-embracing and widely roaming camera fills in events only implied in the dialogue of the stage model... My Fair Lady thus gains a new completeness, adding body to its recognized brilliance for a total impact rare in entertainment.
Posted Feb 09, 2022
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Sidewalk Stories
(1989)
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Terry Orme
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This black-and-white -- and silent -- film has the same bittersweet poignancy of Chaplin and the same sort of social commentary that Chaplin unleashed in, say, Modern Times.
Posted Jan 24, 2022
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2/4
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The Watermelon Woman
(1996)
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Sean P. Means
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Dunye's paper-thin narrative isn't enough to fill 79 minutes.
Posted Jan 22, 2022
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3.5/4
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The Lion King
(1994)
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Sean P. Means
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Disney' newest animated feature is an explosion of color and emotion. This tale of a lion cub growing up to avenge his father's death is filled with primal themes and deep feelings.
Posted Dec 22, 2021
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2.5/4
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Wyatt Earp
(1994)
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Sean P. Means
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This 3-hour-plus depiction of the Wild West lawman life is detailed to the point of tedium.
Posted Dec 22, 2021
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The Secret of NIMH
(1982)
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Terry Orme
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Every scene in The Secret of NIMH is a moving masterpiece.
Posted Nov 11, 2021
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