instantwatcher.com

Variety Staff, Variety

1. The Nutty Professor 1996 Murphy's most assured work in some time. full review
2. The Doom Generation 1995 A nihilistic comedy about a trio of alienated youngsters, pic is bold not only in its art design, but also in its narrative and tone, a mixture of satire and horror with heavy dosage of steamy sex and macabre violence. full review
3. Black Beauty 1994 full review
4. The Vanishing 1993 Schematic and unconvincing. full review
5. Enchanted April 1992 Strong cast's reliable playing is undercut by a script that dawdles over well-trod territory. full review
6. Barton Fink 1991 Scene after scene is filled with a ferocious strength and humor. full review
7. Career Opportunities 1991 [The film] has plenty of absorbing characters, smart, snappy dialog and delightful stretches of comic foolery. full review
8. Dead Again 1991 Director and star Kenneth Branagh brings the same zest and bravura style to this actors' romp of a mystery-thriller as he did to Henry V. full review
9. The Doors 1991 Kilmer is convincing in the lead role, although he never allows the viewer to share any emotions. full review
10. The Man in the Moon 1991 Newcomer Witherspoon manages to strike exactly the right note as the tomboy on the verge of womanhood while Waterston works on several levels at once. full review
11. Mobsters 1991 The seemingly can't-miss premise of teen-heartthrob gangsters gets lost in self-important direction, a shoddy script and muddled storytelling. full review
12. The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear 1991 Even if the laugh machine isn't operating at top efficiency, it still cranks out a few choice bits of irreverent lunacy. full review
13. Sleeping with the Enemy 1991 Roberts is terrific in a layered part. Anderson brings an edge to the nice-guy-next-door role, and the dark, dashing Bergin is chillingly twisted. full review
14. Soapdish 1991 Soapdish aims at a satiric target as big as a Macy's float and intermittently hits it. full review
15. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 Arnold Schwarzenegger is more comfortable and assured here than the first time around, reprising a role so perfectly suited to the voice and physique that have established him as a larger-than-life film persona. full review
16. The Grifters 1990 Cusack underplays Roy, making him an unbelievable wiseguy, a colorless cipher too akin to the saps he loves to fleece. full review
17. Internal Affairs 1990 Figgis never lets the pace slow long enough to expose the story's thinness despite, in retrospect, a moderate amount of action. full review
18. Mermaids 1990 The delightful Ryder, billing notwithstanding, is really the star. full review
19. Miller's Crossing 1990 Substance is here in spades, along with the twisted, brilliantly controlled style on which filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen made a name. full review
20. The Rescuers Down Under 1990 This sort-of sequel to the 1977 hit The Rescuers boasts reasonably solid production values and fine character voices. Too bad they're set against such a mediocre story that adults may duck. full review
21. Earth Girls Are Easy 1989 Intended by director Julian Temple and his screenwriters to affectionately skewer Tinseltown lifestyles. full review
22. Erik The Viking 1989 The idea of telling the story of a Viking warrior who thought there must be more to life than rape and pillage is an amusing one, and for the most part Erik the Viking is an enjoyable film. full review
23. Monsieur Hire 1989 full review
24. My Left Foot 1989 All performances are on the mark in this perfect little film. full review
25. Red Scorpion 1989 A dull, below-average action pic, lensed in Swaziland. full review
26. Biloxi Blues 1988 Playing a character perched precisely on the point between adolescence and manhood, Broderick is enjoyable all the way. full review
27. Colors 1988 Colors is a solidly crafted depiction of some current big-city horrors and succeeds largely because of the Robert Duvall-Sean Penn teaming as frontline cops. They're terrific together as members of the gang crime division of the LAPD. full review
28. Coming to America 1988 Starts on a bathroom joke, quickly followed by a gag about private parts, then wanders in search of something equally original for Eddie Murphy to do for another couple of hours. full review
29. A Fish Called Wanda 1988 Though it is less tasteless, irreverent and satirical than the Python pics, film still is wacky and occasionally outrageous in its own, distinctly British way. full review
30. The Last Temptation of Christ 1988 A film of challenging ideas, and not salacious provocations. full review
31. The Naked Gun - From the Files of Police Squad! 1988 The Naked Gun is crass, broad, irreverent, wacky fun -- and absolutely hilarious from beginning to end. full review
32. Scrooged 1988 An appallingly unfunny comedy, and a vivid illustration of the fact that money can't buy you laughs. full review
33. Tucker: The Man and His Dream 1988 The true story of a great American visionary who was thwarted, if not destroyed, by the established order, Tucker represents the sunniest imaginable telling of an at least partly tragic episode in recent history. full review
34. Dirty Dancing 1987 Good production values, some nice dance sequences and a likable performance by Grey make the film more than watchable. full review
35. Fatal Attraction 1987 The screws are tightened expertly in this suspenseful meller about a flipped-out femme who makes life hell for the married man who scorns her. full review
36. No Way Out 1987 No Way Out is an effective updating and revamping of the 1948 film noir classic The Big Clock. full review
37. Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987 Man versus technology has been one of the staples of screen comedy since the earliest silent days, and Hughes makes the most of the format here packing as many of the frustrations of modern life as he can into this calamitous travelog of roadside America. full review
38. Raising Arizona 1987 While film is filled with many splendid touches and plenty of yocks, it often doesn't hold together as a coherent story. full review
39. Withnail and I 1987 Set in 1969 England, it portrays the last throes of a friendship mirroring the seedy demise of the hippie period, delivering some comic gems along the way. full review
40. Down and Out in Beverly Hills 1986 Although it is more of a comedy of manners than a well-developed story, there are enough yocks and bright moments to make it a thoroughly enjoyable outing. full review
41. F/X 1986 As contrived and plot-hole ridden as it is, F/X still works quite effectively as a crowd-pleasing popcorn picture. full review
42. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986 Ferris Bueller exhibits John Hughes on an off day. Paucity of invention here lays bare the total absence of plot or involving situations. full review
43. Mona Lisa 1986 Skillfully combines comedy and thriller, romance and sleaze. full review
44. Pretty in Pink 1986 Pretty in Pink is a rather intelligent (if not terribly original) look at adolescent insecurities. full review
45. 8 Million Ways To Die 1985 An oddly-paced work that is sometimes a thriller and sometimes a love story, succeeding at neither. full review
46. Commando 1985 Chong lights up the film like a firefly, Schwarzenegger delivers a certain light touch of his own, [and] the result is palatable action comics. full review
47. Re-Animator 1985 Pic has a grisly sense of humor, and sometimes is so gross and over the top the film tips over into a bizarre comedy. full review
48. Witness 1985 Witness warms up as the attraction builds between Ford, McGillis and Haas -- all performing excellently through this portion. full review
49. Beverly Hills Cop 1984 Expectations that Eddie Murphy's street brand of rebelliousness would devastate staid and glittery Beverly Hills are not entirely met in a film that grows increasingly dramatic. full review
50. Broadway Danny Rose 1984 Allen's perfect as a small-time, good-hearted Broadway talent agent, giving his all for a roster of hopeless clients. full review
51. Footloose 1984 Essential to the result is young Kevin Bacon, superb in the lead part. full review
52. The Dead Zone 1983 An accomplished psychological thriller. full review
53. Tank 1983 full review
54. Trading Places 1983 Trading Places is a light romp geared up by the schtick shifted by Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. full review
55. Quest for Fire 1982 An engaging prehistoric yarn that happily never degenerates into a club and lion skin spinoff of Star Wars and resolutely refuses to bludgeon the viewer with facile or gratuitous effects. full review
56. The Secret of NIMH 1982 Every character moves fluidly and imaginatively against an extravaganza of detailed background and dazzling effects, all emboldened by fascinating colored textures. full review
57. The Thing 1982 If it's the most vividly guesome monster ever to stalk the screen that audiences crave, then The Thing is the thing. On all other levels, however, John Carpenter's remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 sci-fi classic comes as a letdown. full review
58. An American Werewolf in London 1981 A clever mixture of comedy and horror which succeeds in being both funny and scary, An American Werewolf in London possesses an overriding eagerness to please that prevents it from becoming off-putting. full review
59. The Evil Dead 1981 While injecting considerable black humor, neophyte Detroit-based writer-director Sam Raimi maintains suspense and a nightmarish mood in between the showy outbursts of special effects gore and graphic violence which are staples of modern horror pictures. full review
60. Eyewitness 1981 The story gets more and more strained before it's resolved. full review
61. Time Bandits 1981 When you can count the laughs in a comedy on the fingers of one hand, it isn't so funny. full review
62. True Confessions 1981 Given the powerhouse topline casting combo and provocative theme, True Confessions has to be chalked up as something of a disappointment. full review
63. The Final Countdown 1980 As a documentary on the USS Nimitz, The Final Countdown is wonderful. As entertainment, however, it has the feeling of a telepic that strayed onto the big screen. full review
64. The Long Good Friday 1980 In many respects a conventional thriller set in London's underworld, The Long Good Friday is much more densely plotted and intelligently scripted than most such yarns. full review
65. The Jerk 1979 An artless, non-stop barrage of off-the-wall situations, funny and unfunny jokes, generally effective and sometimes hilarious sight gags and bawdy non sequiturs. full review
66. Escape from Alcatraz 1979 Escape from Alcatraz is relentless in establishing a mood and pace of unrelieved tension. full review
67. Manhattan 1979 Allen has, in black and white, captured the inner beauty that lurks behind the outer layer of dirt and grime in Manhattan. full review
68. The Muppet Movie 1979 Jim Henson, Muppet originator, and Frank Oz, creative consultant, have abandoned the successful format of their vidshow, and inserted their creations into a well-crafted combo of musical comedy and fantasy adventure. full review
69. The Onion Field 1979 James Woods as the near-psychotic Powell is chillingly effective, creating a flakiness in the character that exudes the danger of a live wire near a puddle. full review
70. The Boys from Brazil 1978 With two excellent antagonists in Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, The Boys from Brazil presents a gripping, suspenseful drama for nearly all of its two hours -- then lets go at the end and falls into a heap. full review
71. Days of Heaven 1978 One of the great cinematic achievements of the 1970s. full review
72. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1978 A totally bubblegum and cotton candy melange of garish fantasy and narcissism. full review
73. Empire of the Ants 1977 Periodic moments of good special effects are separated by reels of dramatic banality as players flounder in flimsy dialog and under sluggish direction. full review
74. The Rescuers 1977 Four years of work were invested on this $7.5 million production and the expense, care, and expertise shows. full review
75. Car Wash 1976 Uses gritty humor to polish clean the souls of a lot of likeable street people. full review
76. Carrie 1976 Carrie is a modest but effective shock-suspense drama about a pubescent girl, her evangelical mother and cruel schoolmates. full review
77. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz 1974 full review
78. The Conversation 1974 A major artistic asset to the film -- besides script, direction and the top performances -- is supervising editor Walter Murch's sound collage and re-recording. full review
79. The Great Gatsby 1974 The Francis Coppola script and Jack Clayton's direction paint a savagely genteel portrait of an upper class generation that deserved in spades what it got circa 1929 and after. full review
80. Charley Varrick 1973 full review
81. The Day of the Jackal 1973 The major asset of the film is that it succeeds in maintaining interest and suspense despite obvious viewer foreknowledge of the outcome. full review
82. The Paper Chase 1973 The Paper Chase has some great performances, literate screenwriting, sensitive direction and handsome production. full review
83. Serpico 1973 Sidney Lumet's direction adeptly combines gritty action and thought-provoking comment. full review
84. Slaughterhouse Five 1972 full review
85. Blood from the Mummy's Tomb 1971 full review
86. Sometimes a Great Notion (Never Give an Inch) 1971 The result is rather good -- a sort of contemporary 'western' in the timber territory. full review
87. And Soon the Darkness 1970 full review
88. The Aristocats 1970 Helped immeasurably by the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and others, plus some outstanding animation, songs, sentiment, some excellent dialog and even a touch of psychedelia. full review
89. Bloody Mama 1970 full review
90. Love Story 1970 Love Story is an excellent film. full review
91. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes 1970 It is in large part old-fashioned, in that it's mile-wide and ancient-history Sherlock Holmes, but it's also handsomely produced and directed with incisiveness by Wilder. full review
92. True Grit 1969 It's mostly Wayne all the way. He towers over everything in the film. full review
93. Rosemary's Baby 1968 Several exhilarating milestones are achieved in Rosemary's Baby, an excellent film version of Ira Levin's diabolical chiller novel. full review
94. Persona 1966 Bergman has come up with probably one of his most masterful films technically and in conception, but also one of his most difficult ones. full review
95. Crack in the World 1965 full review
96. Thunderball 1965 There's visible evidence that the reported $5.5 million budget was no mere publicity figure; it's posh all the way. full review
97. Becket 1964 full review
98. Zulu 1964 Joseph E. Levine makes an impressive debut in British film production with Zulu, a picture that allows ample scope for his flamboyant approach to showmanship. full review
99. 8 1/2 1963 Here is the author-director picture par excellence, an exciting, stimulating, monumental creation. full review
100. Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961 Out of the elusive, but curiously intoxicating Truman Capote fiction, scenarist George Axelrod has developed a surprisingly moving film, touched up into a stunningly visual motion picture. full review
101. The Savage Innocents 1959 Art director and editor have done a standout job in matching and cutting so that it is virtually impossible to decide where Pinewood began and Canada came in. full review
102. House On Haunted Hill 1958 full review
103. The Big Combo 1955 It is done with grim melodramatics that are hard-hitting despite a rambling, not-too-credible plot, and is cut out to order for the meller fan who likes his action rough and raw. full review
104. Sabrina 1954 Script is long on glibly quipping dialog, dropped with a seemingly casual air, and broadly played situations. The splendid trouping delivers them style. Leavening the chuckles are tugs at the heart. full review
105. White Christmas 1954 Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, along with VistaVision, keep the enteratinment going in this fancifully staged production, clicking well. full review
106. Roman Holiday 1953 [Wyler] times the chuckles with a never-flagging pace, puts heart into the laughs, endows the footage with some boff bits of business and points up some tender, poignant scenes in using the smart script and the cast to the utmost advantage. full review
107. Monkey Business 1952 Attempt to draw out a thin, familiar slapstick idea isn't carried off. full review
108. Alice in Wonderland 1951 Walt Disney has gone a long way towards tightening the leisurely, haphazard adventure of Alice in the wonderland of her imagination. full review
109. Harvey 1950 Harvey, Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize play, loses little of its whimsical comedy charm in the screen translation. full review
110. Twelve O'Clock High 1949 As a drama, High deals soundly and interestingly with its situations. full review
111. Wake of the Red Witch 1949 full review
112. The Naked City 1948 full review
113. The Bells of St. Mary's 1945 [Bergman's] clashes with Crosby...are moments that will have an audience alternately laughing and sniffling. full review
114. Double Indemnity 1944 MacMurray has seldom given a better performance. It is somewhat different from his usually light roles, but is always plausible and played with considerable restraint. full review
115. Dumbo 1941 There's a pleasant little story, plenty of pathos mixed with the large doses of humor, a number of appealing new animal characters, lots of good music, and the usual Disney skillfulness in technique. full review
116. The Lady Eve 1941 Third writer-director effort of Preston Sturges [from a story by Monckton Hoffe] is laugh entertainment of top proportions with its combo of slick situations, spontaneous dialog and a few slapstick falls tossed in for good measure. full review
117. The Wolf Man 1941 The Wolf Man is a compactly-knit tale of its kind, with good direction and performances by an above par assemblage of players, but dubious entertainment. full review
118. His Girl Friday 1940 Casting is excellent, with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in the top roles. full review
119. The Lady Vanishes 1938 This film, minus the deft and artistic handling of the director, Alfred Hitchcock, despite its cast and photography, would not stand up for Grade A candidacy. full review
120. She Done Him Wrong 1933 Director Lowell Sherman turns in a commendable job. full review
121. The Mummy 1932 The transformation of Karloff's Im-Ho-Tep from a clay-like figure in a coffin to a living thing is the highlight. full review
122. Scarface 1932 Scarface contains more cruelty than any of its gangster picture predecessors, but there's a squarer for every killing. The blows are always softened by judicial preachments and sad endings for the sinners. full review
123. Dracula 1931 A sublimated ghost story related with all surface seriousness and above all with a remarkably effective background of creepy atmosphere. full review
124. Intolerance 1916 Intolerance reflects much credit to the wizard director, for it required no small amount of genuine art to consistently blend actors, horses, monkeys, geese, doves, acrobats and ballets into a composite presentation of a film classic. full review