Charlotte Observer

Allen Oren Charlotte Observer 6 days ago Both Rocky's and Stallone's tales are so storybook they're believable only if perfectly presented. And Rocky does present fantasy as reality. Go to Full Review Rocky (1976) 95% 69%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Nov 3, 2026 Rocky remains my favorite, but fans will be happy with Rocky III, especially since ring time has tripled since Rocky II. Go to Full Review Rocky III (1982) 66% 74%

Allen Oren Charlotte Observer Nov 2, 2026 "Carrie" is a brilliantly evil film. Go to Full Review Carrie (1976) 82% 77%

Lawrence Toppman Charlotte Observer Oct 31, 2026 2.5/4 Luhrmann's thought-provoking bizarreness works more often than not. Go to Full Review William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) 79% 77%

Lawrence Toppman Charlotte Observer Oct 26, 2026 D Barely a pulse runs through its funereal scenes. Kubrick's apologists may herald it as some summation of the master's work, but the incessant and impersonal nudity made me think of nothing but "The Emperor's New Clothes." Go to Full Review Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 79% 74%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Oct 20, 2026 You can forgive Platoon its excesses because it's a young man's passionate movie. Full Metal Jacket is an old man's meditation on a unique war he can't begin to grasp. Go to Full Review Full Metal Jacket (1987) 84% 94%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Oct 19, 2026 Neither the pictures nor John Alcott's gilded-lily cinematography can sustain this exercise in mood with its frightful, tongue-waggling and eyeball-rolling overacting and its innumerable, creepy little deadened paths. Go to Full Review The Shining (1980) 75% 90%

Dick Banks Charlotte Observer Oct 18, 2026 A Clockwork Orange hasn't the fantastic sense of unity that boosted 2001: A Space Odyssey into the stratospheric level of motion picture classics. But it is one of the most original films of the year. Go to Full Review A Clockwork Orange (1971) 83% 93%

Dick Banks Charlotte Observer Oct 16, 2026 The audience is delighted with the three faces of Peter Sellers, absorbed in the plot, and relived to have laughter wrung from the most dangerous situation imaginable. Go to Full Review Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 97% 94%

Dick Banks Charlotte Observer Oct 16, 2026 This viewer got the impression Mason might burst out laughing as soon as his director shouted, "Cut." Go to Full Review Lolita (1962) 83% 84%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Sep 30, 2026 The plot's no more important than so-called stories that hold porno flicks together. Go to Full Review Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) 27% 48%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Sep 23, 2026 An affable and diverting comic fable. Go to Full Review Crocodile Dundee (1986) 87% 59%

Lawrence Toppman Charlotte Observer Sep 19, 2026 It's about grinding your enemies beneath stiletto heels—and in the process, defining yourself completely by the way you respond to people you hate. Go to Full Review The First Wives Club (1996) 56% 68%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Sep 17, 2026 Some of the nastiest sex and violence ever put on screen makes no point not already made -- and made with more intelligence and taste -- in "Peyton Place." Go to Full Review Blue Velvet (1986) 87% 88%

Dick Banks Charlotte Observer Aug 24, 2026 The movie-makers fail to make us believe what we're shown. Go to Full Review The Devils (1971) 55% 88%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Aug 10, 2026 "The Fly" is a dark, sophisticated, intelligent horror movie spoiled -- for me -- by the icky special effects of Chris Walas, Louis Craig and Ted Ross. Go to Full Review The Fly (1986) 82% 83%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Aug 7, 2026 Assuming you're relatively free of hang-ups about exuberant expressions of human sexuality, you gotta see She's Gotta Have It. Go to Full Review She's Gotta Have It (1986) 91% 72%

Lawrence Toppman Charlotte Observer Aug 3, 2026 1/4 Russell muscles through this drivel under the impression that glowering and having laryngitis is the same thing as acting. Go to Full Review Escape From L.A. (1996) 45% 39%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Jul 28, 2026 It has some cute spots and many more witless rough spots. But after two hours of noisy special effects overkill, I found it impossible to think of anything but its interminable length and obvious cost. Go to Full Review Howard the Duck (1986) 14% 38%

JoAnn Rhetts Charlotte Observer Jul 23, 2026 The violence is disgusting, brutal and deadening. Go to Full Review Halloween II (1981) 27% 63%