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Hartford Courant

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
1.5/4
North (1994) Malcolm Johnson Reiner's foray into the world of childhood turns into an effort that will please neither North's contemporaries nor their parents and grandparents.
Posted Jan 24, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Misery (1990) Malcolm Johnson This psychological thriller tightens its grip slowly but compellingly as it intensifies to its brutal climax and hallucinatory aftermath.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
The American President (1995) Malcolm Johnson Reiner and Sorkin have contrived a series of situations for Douglas and Bening that build into something rare of the screen today: a relationship between two intelligent adults who somehow connect.
Posted Jan 20, 2026  Edit critic review
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) H. Viggo Andersen Its effectiveness derives chiefly from its novelty, but excellent performances are turned in by Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, and Hugh Marlowe.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
Bite the Bullet (1975) Malcolm Johnson Brooks struggles to create a rough mise en scene of the frontier.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Deborah Hornblow End to end, first film to last, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings is a cinematic event par excellence. He set precedent by filming three movies simultaneously, and he wraps it all up with a magnificent bow.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
Stand by Me (1986) Owen McNally A delightful, superbly made movie of substance.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Malcolm Johnson For lovers of medieval mayhem, this second film of the mythical trilogy with present a surfeit of riches. The art of hand-to-hand combat and the assaults and defenses of castle fortresses have rarely enjoyed such spectacular manifestations on film.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Malcolm Johnson Above all... this faithful tribute to Tolkien unfolds as a celebration of the natural beauties of the director's native New Zealand.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
Out of the Past (1947) H. Viggo Andersen Mitchum turns in another banner performance.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
The Sure Thing (1985) Malcolm Johnson Cusack, Zuniga and Reiner all contrive to give real feeling to a comedy that grows in you as the kids roll west. At last, the teenage lust story genre has produced a fine romance for kids.
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/4
The Princess Bride (1987) Malcolm Johnson The Princess Bride is an instant classic, an original film with the good parts of Mel Brooks, Monty Python, The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, and The Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly.
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) M. Oakley Christoph As Hitler's spirit guides the actions of the spies, the producers have done a splendid and uncanny job of duplicating throughout the film that same spirit of hysteria, emotionalism and lack of logic.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) Malcolm Johnson Director Blake Edwards can't sustain the pace no matter how hard he tries.
Posted Dec 22, 2025  Edit critic review
Christine (1983) Malcolm Johnson The film seems to sputter at times, though it never stalls out completely.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
Big Top Pee-wee (1988) Mary K Feeney Director Randal Kleiser turns this big top into a big flop with a style flatter than the famous Herman crewcut.
Posted Dec 11, 2025  Edit critic review
1/4
Big Top Pee-wee (1988) Malcolm Johnson In "Big Top," Pee-wee hits the bottom.
Posted Dec 11, 2025  Edit critic review
The Abyss (1989) Colin McEnroe Notwithstanding the wimp-out ending, this is one heck of a good action movie.
Posted Dec 10, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
The Abyss (1989) Malcolm Johnson While Cameron's film is a life-and-death struggle in the darkness of the deep, however, it creates an absorbing world of danger and tension.
Posted Dec 10, 2025  Edit critic review
1.5/4
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Malcolm Johnson ..."Terminator 2" plays much better as a weapons demonstration/truck-o-rama than as a telling collision of the future and now.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
The Terminator (1984) Malcolm Johnson Under Cameron's slam-bang direction, the automotive mayhem is fast and exciting and Schwarzenegger stalks through it all with glowering malice.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
Journey Back to Oz (1974) Owen McNally It should provide youngsters with a pleasant enough roundtrip from Kansas to Oz and back.
Posted Nov 25, 2025  Edit critic review
The Wiz (1978) Malcolm Johnson Most of the cast of "The Wiz" looks flat or desperate.
Posted Nov 17, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
The Running Man (1987) Malcolm Johnson All of this is predictable, but exciting and occasionally amusing as Schwarzenegger mutters his sadistic jokes while dispatching his foes.
Posted Nov 06, 2025  Edit critic review
0.5/4
Predator 2 (1990) Malcolm Johnson A senseless and offensive orgy of violence.
Posted Oct 31, 2025  Edit critic review
1/5
Predator (1987) Malcolm Johnson In "Predator," a Teutonic Rambo meets an alien that sometimes disguises itself as a walking fern bar. The results are the dumbest, most lumbering Arnold Schwarzenegger blood-and-guts outing yet.
Posted Oct 30, 2025  Edit critic review
Dracula (1979) Malcolm Johnson Langella's haunted, yet fiery presence casts a chill air of bemused nobility over an otherwise overblown vampire chase.
Posted Oct 21, 2025  Edit critic review
Born Yesterday (1950) M. Oakley Stafford Comedy with a bang.
Posted Oct 13, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) Malcolm Johnson Although the focus of the film is on Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke with a boyish charm that turns opaque and cold, Johnny [Dey-Lewis] is the film's most intriguing and charismatic character.
Posted Oct 10, 2025  Edit critic review
Stephen King's It (1990) James Endrst "IT" is a roller-coaster ride of gruesome images that manages to hit many of the hot buttons of childhood fears.
Posted Oct 09, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Casper (1995) Malcolm Johnson Though enjoyable in a juvenile sort of way, there is too much "unfinished business" here.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
Tron (1982) Malcolm Johnson It's strictly a picture for computer and video-game freaks and it ought to send the Disney people rushing back to their drawing boards.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
Hard Times (1975) Malcolm Johnson The main problem is that "Hard Times" has no recognizable point.
Posted Sep 26, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Boogie Nights (1997) Malcolm Johnson Anderson has created a sleaze human comedy -- though with an un-Altman-like sympathy for his people.
Posted Sep 24, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Spider-Man (2002) Malcolm Johnson Spider-Man has a generally sunny, bright look, kind of like Superman.
Posted Sep 24, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
To Sleep With Anger (1990) Malcolm Johnson Although "To Sleep With Anger" makes some wrong moves at the end, and sometimes loses it sense of purpose in its early scenes, Glover gives it a forceful and provocative center.
Posted Sep 23, 2025  Edit critic review
1.5/4
Night of the Living Dead (1990) Malcolm Johnson The visceral originality is gone.
Posted Sep 18, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Toy Story (1995) Roger Catlin The alluring twist to Walt Disney's groundbreaking animated feature Toy Story is that bright, three-dimensional toys really do seem to come to life.
Posted Sep 09, 2025  Edit critic review
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Malcolm Johnson "This Is Spinal Tap" should leave you screaming with laughter.
Posted Sep 09, 2025  Edit critic review
2/4
Darkman (1990) Owen McNally Raimi's direction and the fine cast make "Darkman" entertaining rather than sickening and stupid.
Posted Aug 27, 2025  Edit critic review
Darkman (1990) Colin McEnroe Sam Raimi should director another movie like this. He really understands comic books.
Posted Aug 27, 2025  Edit critic review
1/4
Mortal Kombat (1995) Owen McNally For all its claims of state-of-the-art special effects, Mortal Kombat never soars to that much-desired "edge-of-your-seat" category. Most often, it just kind of slouches toward the edge of tedium.
Posted Aug 19, 2025  Edit critic review
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) Malcolm Johnson "Return" is just a disgusting zombie fest.
Posted Aug 13, 2025  Edit critic review
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) Malcolm Johnson "Big Adventure" is a surprisingly bright and buoyant ride into the crazy childhood of movie comedy.
Posted Jul 30, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Waterworld (1995) Malcolm Johnson If Kevin Costner proves a sulky and weary superhero, he displays daring and skill as a producer of this handsome, exciting, spectacular epic of a future earth with water, water everywhere.
Posted Jul 28, 2025  Edit critic review
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Owen McNally Unlike so many so-called comedies, this one is bound to make you laugh, maybe even out loud.
Posted Jul 24, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Malcolm Johnson If it never attains the high comic level of its opening scenes, the Zuckers, Abrahams and Proft keep the zany tricks and schticks coming, almost to the end.
Posted Jul 24, 2025  Edit critic review
1.5/4
Babe (1995) Malcolm Johnson In the end, "Babe" reaches a nice level of tongue-in-cheek humor. At the outset, however, it suffers from a cloying cuteness, after the runt pig is separated from his sow...
Posted Jul 23, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991) Malcolm Johnson It's not easy to generate laughs with the degeneration of the ozone layer, but somehow Zucker succeeds, with the aid of his co-writer Pat Proft and his star, the silver-haired, impeccable, solidly foolish Leslie Nielsen.
Posted Jul 23, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
DuckTales, the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) Malcolm Johnson The premiere Disney Movietoon is strictly kid stuff, but fun for toon-looney adults, too.
Posted Jul 17, 2025  Edit critic review
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