|
3/4
|
The Celluloid Closet
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The movie throws new light on the point that movies are both myth-makers and mirrors of our inner lives -- and why that matters to those rendered invisible on screen.
Posted Oct 08, 2025
|
|
4/4
|
This Is Spinal Tap
(1984)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Humor rarely holds up as well over the years as this deadpan classic has done.
Posted Sep 09, 2025
|
|
2.5/4
|
Waterworld
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Go see it, but curb your brain; you'll enjoy the ride more.
Posted Jul 28, 2025
|
|
3/4
|
Babe
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The movie has its flaws, but they have more to do with structure and pacing than with the four-legged characters. And the tykes to whom this movie is targeted will enjoy the menagerie...
Posted Jul 23, 2025
|
|
|
Superman III
(1983)
|
Donna Chernin
|
The movie starts to get away from itself by running off in all directions.
Posted Jul 07, 2025
|
|
2/4
|
Final Destination
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It is creative, though none of it is subtle.
Posted May 22, 2025
|
|
3.5/4
|
Mission: Impossible
(1996)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Mr. Cruise has delivered an adrenaline-fueled spy thriller tailor-made for summer fun.
Posted May 06, 2025
|
|
8/10
|
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
(2005)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
After all these years -- all the hopes, fears, disappointments, predictions and surprises of five indelible chapters -- no movie could fulfill every expectation for the final Star Wars, but Revenge of the Sith is a gift no true fan can reject.
Posted Apr 16, 2025
|
|
3/4
|
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
(1999)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It seems Mr. Lucas was so busy making his movie look fantastic that he forgot to give it a heart.
Posted Apr 16, 2025
|
|
4/4
|
Apocalypse Now Redux
(1979)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Apocalypse Now is one of the great American movies of all time and perhaps the single best war film ever made.
Posted Sep 22, 2024
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Exorcist
(1973)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The movie moves at a pace that is unheard of today; a good hour and a quarter pass before the word "exorcism" is even mentioned. Yet it weaves a frightening spell right from the get-go.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Lone Star
(1996)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Mr. Morton seems to get better with every film, and Mr. Kristofferson gives his best performance in years. Mr. Cooper and Ms. Pena are particularly effective in a textured relationship that brings the movie to its enigmatic close.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Get Shorty
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
DeVito's wicked version of a self-absorbed superstar is worth the price of admission alone.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
2.5/4
|
Now and Then
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
This would have been a more appealing movie with less Now and a lot more Then.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
How to Make an American Quilt
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
[Director Jocelyn Moore] achieves a sturdy look, even in the flashback scenes, that gives weight and substance to the memories we see enacted.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3.5/4
|
Unstrung Heroes
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Unstrung Heroes, a beautifully crafted heartbreaker directed by Diane Keaton, will make you want to run home and hug all the relatives who drive you nuts.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
4/4
|
To Die For
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Aside from outstanding performances, the movie is smartly paced and well designed. Most of all, it delivers fascinating characters and provocative ideas with skill and grace.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
2/4
|
Feast of July
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Feast of July in movie form suffers from the same weakness as the H.E. Bates novel on which it is based. To wit: For all its melodrama, sexual tension and violence, the story is a bore.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
0/4
|
Showgirls
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Perhaps you have been tempted by the hype over this movie's rating to go see what all the fuss is about. Crush that impulse.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Seven
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
A disturbing and suspenseful trip to the dark side.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
4/4
|
Toy Story
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
We have seen the future of cartoons, and its name is Toy Story.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
2/4
|
Casino
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Something went terribly wrong. Scorsese made an ambitious bid with Casino. But he seems to have been overpowered by his material.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
4/4
|
Devil in a Blue Dress
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Devil in a Blue Dress is a sizzling mystery yarn that earns a spot high on the list of good books translated into equally good movies.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
4/4
|
Clockers
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Clockers is a tremendous film -- and a major addition to the work of a vibrantly talented director.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
1.5/4
|
Jade
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
On the surface. Jade looks like it should be a sexy thriller. Turns out it's just another visit to Joe Eszterhas World, where all the sex is nasty, all the men are corrupt and all the tedium is unbroken.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3.5/4
|
Nine Months
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Nine Months is a fast, funny winner.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Dangerous Minds
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
[Dangerous Minds] tells a story that, frankly, we've heard before. Yet it tells that story with such piercing emotion that it seems brand new.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Usual Suspects
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Singer uses a clever combination of flashback and straight narrative to keep his tale of crime and betrayal moving through a tangle of blind alleys and false leads.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Desperado
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It's a splashy, flashy, sexy cartoon with a charismatic star who has a fine old time stomping his refined European image into the dust.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Bandit Queen
(1994)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The film does not really show how she rose to icon status, but offers a passionate condemnation of the oppression of women and peasants under India's caste system.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
1.5/4
|
The Net
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The Internet, the global concatenation of computer systems, should make a fertile premise for a good, scary, paranoid fantasy. Sad to say, The Net ain't it.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Strange Days
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Strange Days is a careening, high-decibel vision of the near future that combines science fiction, murder mystery and social commentary. It is not entirely successful, but it's a worthy effort.
Posted Aug 19, 2021
|
|
3/4
|
Clueless
(1995)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Writer-director Amy Heckerling has pulled off an amazing sleight-of-hand by turning a story full of vacuous, overindulged California teen-agers into a light-hearted comedy of manners.
Posted Mar 16, 2021
|
|
2.5/4
|
Anthem
(1997)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Many themes emerge -- equality, justice, freedom, environmental crisis -- but weaving them into cogent insights is beyond the adventurers.
Posted Sep 22, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
Dragonfly
(2002)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The screenplay credited to Brandon Camp, Mike Thompson and David Seltzer starts out with energy and substance, but reverts to time-filling repetition before it reaches the last-minute climax.
Posted Feb 11, 2005
|
|
8/10
|
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
(2004)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It is messy, perplexing and weird, but in a good way.
Posted Jan 11, 2005
|
|
0/4
|
Resident Evil
(2002)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
So bad it can't even steal effectively from good movies that came before.
Posted Dec 18, 2004
|
|
7/10
|
National Treasure
(2004)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Despite some preposterous twists, it is a treat to watch a movie with a hero who confronts enemies, threats and clues with wit and insight instead of guns and grenades.
Posted Nov 19, 2004
|
|
0.5/4
|
Kangaroo Jack
(2003)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Whatever reasons led to the creation and release of this sorry excuse for entertainment, parents looking for some weekend fun with the little ones can safely steer clear of Kangaroo Jack.
Posted Nov 20, 2003
|
|
|
The Powerpuff Girls Movie
(2002)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The movie is just not fun enough.
Posted Jun 20, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Blood Simple
(1984)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
The story is haunting and violent, yet shot through with the Coens' signature brand of weird, deadpan wit and their peculiar melancholy about place and time.
Posted Apr 08, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
Shadow of the Vampire
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Horror is as old as movie pictures, but this film shows it still holds dark depths to explore.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Meet the Parents
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Stiller has a gift for looking funny effortlessly, when he's doing nothing physical. With no mugging, no physical contortions, he turns his face into a palette of pain and confusion.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Dancer in the Dark
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Though flawed, Dancer in the Dark is a worthy addition to the filmography of Mr. von Trier.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
Swordfish
(2001)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It calls itself a 'thriller,' apparently because it is loaded with pointless machinations that pile up into a tortured wreck of narrative desperation.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
2.5/4
|
Saving Grace
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
[Blethyn] brings great heart to the role of Grace, injecting notes of surprising truth into what is otherwise a pleasantly nutty little film.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(2003)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days dishes up a healthy serving of the fun that should be -- and too often isn't -- at the heart of a good romantic comedy.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
Talk to Her
(2002)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
Talk to Her is vintage Almodovar.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Shanghai Knights
(2003)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
It's all silly as a Saturday cartoon show -- and twice as much fun.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Pay It Forward
(2000)
|
Margaret A. McGurk
|
A fine, honest tale that gives full respect to the pain of yearning and the power of hope.
Posted Feb 07, 2003
|
Continue with Google
>
