George Morris

The Shadow Warrior

Sword-wielding samurai clash in Kagemusha, Akira Kurosawa’s rousing saga of clan wars in sixteenth-century Japan. The Stunt Man goes out on a limb—and falls off. It’s My Turn is a feminist film that’s funny.

Putting on Heirs

The story of Howard Hughes and the discredited “Mormon will” is the unlikely subject of a quirky film about rags and out-of-reach riches. Ordinary People is full of woe; Stardust Memories has far to go.

Lady on the Lam

Lights, Camera—Willie!

Willie Nelson tries on a starring role and comes out smelling like a Honeysuckle Rose; in Willie an Phil Paul Mazursky pays homage to Truffaut, although he shortchanges himself.

The War-horse

The Big Red One is Sam fuller’s war baby; roadie never gets out of its rut; The Tin Drum misses a few beats.

City Kicker

Urban Cowboy falls off its horse; The Shining is Stanley Kubrick’s horror odyssey; The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s no coup; Alfred Hitchcock takes the fortieth step.

CIA Sins, Top Tappers, and Philly’s Story

What’s up, documentaries?

Southern Discomfort

John Huston makes the sinners and saviors of Flannery O’Connor’s fiction eerily real in Wise Blood; Little Miss Marker falls short; Nijinsky falls flat.

Lode Star

Coal Miner’s Daughter hits true and false notes; Cruising goes sadly astray.

Brains, Beauty, and Braun

The Marriage of Maria Braun marks a second honeymoon for the New German Cinema; it’s hard to see your way through The Fog; this American Gigolo is overpriced and underwhelming.

Danger: Low Voltage

The Electric Horseman got its wires crossed. Kramer vs. Kramer is an above-average film taken from a below-average novel.

Catch a Riding Star

A boy and his horse reach great heights in The Black Stallion. The Rose, with Bette Midler, is no American beauty.

The Vampire Killer

Werner Herzog reverently remade the classic 1921 version of Nosferatu. He should have left scary enough alone.

Over There

Filmmakers flub: Schlesinger’s Yanks, Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal, and Jewison’s—And Justice for All.

This Is The Way The Apocalypse Ends . . .

Coppola’s multimillion-dollar labor of love is finally finished. We think.

The Truth Hurts

North Dallas Forty scores but misses the extra point, Dracula bites off more than it can chew, and Peppermint Soda recalls with accuracy the bittersweet days of adolescence.

I Left My Guard in San Francisco

Clint Eastwood makes a break from Alcatraz; Barbra Streisand makes another silly movie; John Wayne is remembered as a consummate actor.

Eagle’s Eye

The Whole Shootin’ Match is a Texas film with Texas actors that took a year to get shown in Texas.

U.$.A. Film Fe$tival

Filmmakers hoped to be money-makers by the end of the ninth annual U.S.A. Film Festival in Dallas.

Adults Only

The Innocent isn’t really for innocents. Hair isn’t really for anybody.

Lonesome Cowboys

When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? was already a bad play before it became a terrible movie.

Ready, Aim…Click

The Long Brawl

Clint Eastwood stars in a movie about a macho man with a heart of gold and a sense of humor.

Celluloid Circus

The New York Film Festival is a movie addict’s biggest fix.

Pomp and Happenstance

Custom wedding photography by Robert Altman.

Ms. Loves Company

“Make new friends, keep the old.” It’s not as easy as it sounds.

California Schemin’

Who’ll Stop the Rain is like a stormy day—good for sleeping through.

Grand Unction

Grease is about appealing as its name implies.