title: Vision Quest function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();�<br> studio: Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino, Michael Schoeffling release date: 1985 reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein On the one hand, 'Vision Quest' could hardly be more formulaic or predictable. On the other hand, it is breezy and well-made, sort of like a decent TV-movie with excellent photography and an '80s all-star pop/rock soundtrack.

title: Ben Hur function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Warner Home Video MPAA rating: G starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith release year: 1959 film rating: Four Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein “Ben-Hur” stands out among ‘50s Biblical epics. For one thing, it won an armload of Oscars – 11 in all. There are a number of films of that era that are true spectacles in terms of sheer production value, but “Ben-Hur,” unlike most of its kindred, can boast multi-faceted characters. The screenplay credited to Karl Tunberg (Gore Vidal took an uncredited by acknowledged crack at it) from Lew Wallace’s novel, is obviously a product of its day, but it holds up extremely well and it’s a good deal more emotionally complex than, say, “Gladiator.” It is also very long – 212 minutes – and, in its DVD release, very wide. Transferred in its original 2.76:1 aspect ratio, “Ben-Hur” has one of the most extensive (from side to side) ...

title: Fearless function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Warner Home Video starring: Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce release year: 1993 film rating: Three-and-a-Half Stars sound/picture: Three-and-a-Half Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein It may be that there are two different ‘Fearless’ films that the audience experiences simultaneously, the intellectual version and the visceral version. For some, the latter stikes a primal nerve. After a press screening prior to the film’s 1994 theatrical release, about half a dozen viewers were weeping in the restroom. These were not polite, socially acceptable, wasn’t-that-a-moving-experience tears, but rather agonized wracking sobs. While seeing ‘Fearless’ in the relative privacy of a home setting may not create the communal gestalt that the theatrical version did, it’s still a powerful -- albeit not entirely satisfying -- film.

title: Clean And Sober function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Warner Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Michael Keaton, Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman, M. Emmet Walsh release year: 1988 film rating: Three and a half stars sound/picture: Three and a half stars reviewed by: Bill Warren 'Clean and Sober' is a very good, very dark look at an addict/alcoholic struggling with sobriety. Although the movie was made 17 years ago, it doesn't seem dated; the dynamics of substance abuse seem to be much the same today.

title: Mona Lisa Smile function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();� studio: Columbia/TriStar Home Video MPAA rating: PG-13 starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ginnifer Goodwin, Marcia Gay Harden, Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson release year: 2003 film rating: Three stars sound/picture rating: Three-and-a-Half Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein Mona Lisa Smile is an agreeable “chick flick” drama that is highly watchable, despite a certain predictability. In the early ‘70s, this movie would actually have been groundbreaking. Now it feels like a TV drama that got lucky with a big-name cast and strong production values, but it flows easily and even intelligently over the course of a semester at Wellesley University circa 1953.