movie reviews
Casualties of War
Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey
Directed by: Brian De Palma
In the thick of the vietnam conflict back in 1968, only one movie honcho had the brass to put his views, however crackers, right up there on the screen. I'm talking about the dove-baiting Duke himself, John Wayne. As the star and director of The Green Berets, the right-wing Wayne attempted to give this undeclared war what the government could not: the good-guy-bad-guy clarity of a western. Liberal Hollywood justifiably derided the Duke but gutlessly offered no film alternative. Vietnam w... | More »
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
James Spader, Andie MacDowell
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written in eight days and shot over five weeks on a meager $1.2 million budget by a twenty-six-year-old first-time feature director with a no-star cast and zilch special effects, this independent film is now the surprise success story of the year. A hit at the U.S. Film Festival in January, the movie took the top prize at Cannes in May, as well as a Best Actor Award for James Spader, one of the four leading players. Suspicious as I am of communal swoons, I must confess the fuss is warranted. ... | More »
Uncle Buck
John Candy, Macaulay Culkin, Jean Louisa Kelly
Directed by: John Hughes
During the same time that John Belushi was rising to prominence on Saturday Night Live, John Candy, another oversize comic with a talent to match, was building his reputation on SCTV. His first movie roles, supporting parts in such goodies as Stripes, Splash and Volunteers, promised a solid career. Then something happened. Studios began to shove the deservedly popular Candy into the star spot. Good idea. Lousy execution. So far, Candy's had a run of turkeys, with special dishonorable me... | More »
The Abyss
Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Directed by: James Cameron
Anyone looking for a discouraging word about this stupendously exciting and emotionally engulfing film should read no further. The Abyss confirms James Cameron as a world-class filmmaker. Granted, he started out in 1981 by directing Piranha II: The Spawning; four years later, he even helped perpetrate the screenplay of Rambo: First Blood Part II. Granted, these are capital offenses. But hold your ire. Consider The Terminator (1984), the violent masterpiece Cameron directed from a screenplay ... | More »
Parenthood
Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Rick Moranis
Directed by: Ron Howard
The prospect of a comedy directed by Ron (Opie) Howard and loaded to bursting with gurgling infants, bratty kids, horny teens and parents who can't cope does not exactly prompt the thrill of anticipation. Howard has done notable work with Splash, Cocoon and the much-underrated Night Shift. Still, the TV sheen on this one suggested something unbearably tweed. Surprise. Parenthood, heartfelt and howlingly comic, also comes spiced with risk and mischief. Just when you fear the movie might ... | More »
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie, Lorraine Ashbourne
Directed by: Terence Davies
In 'radio days,' woody allen drew on his own childhood to show what it was like growing up in Queens, New York, in the Forties, when families united in front of a box with no screen to listen to music, comedy and news. In this remarkably moving memory piece, the British writer and director Terence Davies uses the radio to comment on his upbringing in Liverpool during the Forties and Fifties. While Allen cast a rosy, nostalgic spell in his film, Davies paints a Dickensian portrait of... | More »
When Harry Met Sally
Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Attention, sequel sufferers: If you're already bleary and reeling from too many hard-sell blockbusters, Rob Reiner offers welcome relief. Reiner's fifth feature, following This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me and The Princess Bride (not a loser in the bunch), is a ravishing, romantic lark brimming over with style, intelligence and flashing wit. The movie begins with a man and a woman in a car, and the car doesn't crash. That's the first thing that wins you over.... | More »
Shag
Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Scott Coffey
Directed by: Zelda Barron
This coming-of-age comedy, set in South Carolina in 1963, has a seductive charm that sneaks up on you. Just when you're lulled into expecting yet another twinky variation on Where the Boys Are, there's a fresh line or a frisky performance that sucks you in. Shag is finally out of the chute this month after a distribution snag that has held back its release for more than a year. There's no telling how a low-key, unhyped little picture like this will do against the summer behemot... | More »
The Killer
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh
Directed by: John Woo
When it comes to gunplay, Schwarzenegger and Hollywood's other testosterone titans had better make room for Hong Kong's Chow Yun-Fat. At thirty-four, Chow is Asia's biggest star. He's made hundreds of films, a dozen in 1988 alone, but The Killer is the first to crack the U.S. market. In his role as Jeff -- a hit man in dark shades -- Chow is the quintessence of cool detachment. During the first shootout, in a nightclub, Jeff wastes an army of hoods without undue muss or f... | More »
Weekend at Bernie's
Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, Terry Kiser, Don Calfa
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff
This one has all the elements for hot-weather success: It's crude, tacky and tasteless. You may laugh, but you'll hate yourself in the morning. Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman play two jerky New York-insurance-company trainees whose boss (the eponymous Bernie) invites them to his Hamptons beach house so he can pin a rap on them for his latest shady deal. But before the jerks arrive, Bernie gets offed — via drug injection — by a hit man. The boys fear they'll ... | More »
Movie Reviews
-
star ratingUniversal Pictures -
star ratingWarner Bros. Pictures -
star ratingSony Pictures Classics
-
star ratingParamount Pictures -
star ratingWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures -
star ratingIFC Films
The Travers Take
-
- February 21, 12:30 PM ET
Make Your Oscar Picks in Peter Travers' 2013 Academy Awards Ballot
-
- August 15, 3:40 PM ET
-
- April 25, 3:51 PM ET
-
- April 19, 4:30 PM ET
-
- April 13, 11:30 AM ET
- More Posts »
Photos & Videos
Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures
Gallery: Summer Tour Preview 2013
We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.
