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Peter Stack
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Rich in Love (1992) |
Director Bruce Beresford's family drama doesn't delve very deep, but Finney's performance is extraordinary. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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A River Runs Through It (1992) |
The film shimmers with grace and visual beauty. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Strictly Ballroom (1992) |
It's hard to imagine a more exuberant and sheerly romantic comedy than this Australian import... In its mixture of camp and reality, the film is irresistible. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Olivier Olivier (1992) |
It's a poignant study of obsession, delusion and transformation. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Matinee (1993) |
John Goodman is delightful in this sweetly amusing '60s-era comedy... Despite some incoherence in the plot, the film is genuinely charming and generous with its humor. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Like Water for Chocolate (1992) |
Laura Esquivel's wonderful novel about the powers of passion has been adapted for the screen by her husband, director Alfonso Arau. The result is as rich and savory as Mexican hot chocolate. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) |
Another Disney delight, based on the humane and comical children's novel by Sheila Burnford... There isn't a jaded, cynical moment in the film. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Hear No Evil (1993) |
The plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but both Matlin and Sweeney are likable and the film has a visceral appeal. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Hard-Boiled (1992) |
The violence in this ironic pairing often goes over the top, but Woo's delicious intelligence has its own stunning effect. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Groundhog Day (1993) |
This delightful romantic comedy, directed by Harold Ramis, is rich in fantasy and unexpectedly funny twists. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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A Far Off Place (1993) |
[A] handsomely photographed but troubling new Disney film. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Ethan Frome (1993) |
It's impossible to improve on Edith Wharton's great short novel of thwarted love, but this adaptation directed by John Madden is sensitive to the story's bleak, wintry beauty. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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El Mariachi (1992) |
By turns hilarious, soulful, gritty and sexy, this lively crime drama was created by 23-year-old director Robert Rodriguez of Austin, Texas, for a budget of 7,000. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Cop and a Half (1993) |
Henry Winkler directed this dreary exercise about a burned-out detective (Burt Reynolds) forced to work with an 8-year-old crime witness who wants to play cop. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Aladdin (1992) |
Walt Disney Pictures' new animated feature is beautiful, romantic and frantically funny -- embracing the best of old-fashioned merriment as well as savvy contemporary humor. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Jan 11, 2023
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) |
Fans of the Starship Enterprise will be ecstatic while others will find in this production a certain sluggish pace amid rather fine special effects. - San Francisco Examiner
Read More
| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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The Thing (1982) |
This version is so full of "the thing" that it strangles our imagination and becomes a mere exercise in ugly, mechanical horrorifics. Very dumb, very disappointing. - San Francisco Examiner
Read More
| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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The Secret of NIMH (1982) |
The film carries us to a wonderful, sometimes scary, underworld of colorful animal characters. Grating cynics need not apply. - San Francisco Examiner
Read More
| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Rocky III (1982) |
This is the stuff of comic books and corny American movies; credible, colorful entertainment, seemingly meat-headed but maybe meatier than we thought. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Poltergeist (1982) |
Fortunately, Spielberg has maintained a wry sense of humor throughout, and that makes most of this affair rather fun. - San Francisco Examiner
Read More
| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Hanky Panky (1982) |
It's a mad chase film involving spies and cops and government agents, and the insubstantial plot is pleasingly buoyed up by lots of fast action. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Megaforce (1981) |
Hal Needham of Smokey and the Bandit fame directed this lame, contrived action feature. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Grease 2 (1982) |
A rather awful sequel to the mostly awful original. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Firefox (1982) |
Eastwood looks like an automated totem pole, the Russians are portrayed as the Three Stooges, and there's more drama, tension and action in a spoonful of cottage cheese than in this painfully drawn-out affair. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) |
Although the gimmick wears thin, the production holds up remarkably well because Martin delivers the funny goods with wry ease. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Blade Runner (1982) |
A disjointed, implausible sci-film so trapped in photographic maneuvers that it's lifeless. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Conan the Barbarian (1982) |
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the muscle man, stars in this mythical beast of a movie, based on pulp magazine tales of the 1930s. He's good as Conan, and the film is technically splendid, especially in the long opening sequences. - San Francisco Examiner
Read More
| Posted Nov 11, 2021
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Stand and Deliver (1988) |
Lou Diamond Phillips is excellent as a fiery gang leader, and veteran Rosana De Sota, as Olmos' wife, is superb. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 11, 2021
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Crimes of Passion (1984) |
Well acted, a little ingenuine, but dramatically effective. - San Francisco Examiner
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| Posted Jun 23, 2021
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The Challenge (1982) |
A few lively action scenes do little to help out this uninspired affair, directed by John Frankenheimer and shot in Japan. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 19, 2021
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The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) |
Hewing to the exotic epic look of the original blockbuster, the new direct-to-video sequel "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" is enchanting small-screen entertainment that feels big. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 12, 2019
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Hercules & Xena -- The Battle for Mount Olympus (1998) |
This action cartoon from Universal has definite appeal for fans of the two heroes and features the voices of Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless, who play the characters in the hit TV shows. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 02, 2018
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Carpool (1996) |
Carpool, the new Tom Arnold comedy, is one ride to avoid, unless truly idiotic car-chase slapstick comedies are the destination genre. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted May 02, 2014
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Chalk (1996) |
Chalk has unusual visual vitality in a John Cassavetes vein. For the adventurous, it's worth checking out. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 13, 2007
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Tarzan (1999) |
So far, the most entertaining film of the year. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Sgt. Bilko (1996) |
Wacky is just the right tone for a spring comedy. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Cobb (1994) |
This histrionic portrait of the most celebrated cur in sports history comes across like a fly ball that thuds on the ground. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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The Scarlet Letter (1995) |
This is a well-acted, beautiful movie. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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The Waterboy (1998) |
We've got somewhat entertaining trash here. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) |
A fresh, enlightening example of how to take a tragic American show-business story and make it funny, warm and terrifically entertaining. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Kiss of Death (1995) |
A riveting crime drama. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Muriel's Wedding (1994) |
There's poignant drama in this brash, sometimes overstated film, and Muriel's transformation is truly touching. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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101 Dalmatians (1996) |
- San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Oliver & Company (1988) |
The film offers a fanciful, lush urban setting, unusual for Disney animated features, and a couple of good songs. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) |
Fun for most folks, heaven for Trekkers. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Space Jam (1996) |
It's the first time either Jordan or Bugs has had a starring role on the big screen. It's gimmicky Saturday-morning cartoon wackiness in your face -- funny, but brain-deadening. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) |
Though it looks almost too polished, a handful of eye-smacking action scenes were breakthroughs in precomputer cinematic graphics. And when the film moves, it does so with blazing energy and awesome noise. - San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Babe (1995) |
A lovely, intelligent gem of G-rated entertainment that is also rib-tickling funny. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Soul Food (1997) |
A warm, funny, touching African American family drama, the kind of bittersweet melodrama that critics tend to relegate as crowd-pleasing corn. We could use more when it's this well done. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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Dead Presidents (1995) |
It's an overly ambitious effort that strains to work as a coming-of-age drama, a 1960s period piece and a searing comment on the way African American GIs went largely unappreciated for their war efforts. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 18, 2002
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