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Ralph Novak

Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Darkman (1990) 80% EDIT “A loud, sadistic, stupidly written, wretchedly acted film.” – People Magazine Aug 23, 2025 Full Review Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 77% EDIT “The ads that say “this film may be too intense for younger children” are fraudulent. No parent should allow a young child to see this traumatizing movie; it would be a cinematic form of child abuse.” – People Magazine Apr 18, 2023 Full Review National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) 72% EDIT “Every comic turn is predictable-from the electrocuted cat to the Scrooge-ified ending.” – People Magazine Aug 12, 2020 Full Review City Slickers (1991) 87% EDIT “The first half of this film is very funny, in a Hee Haw vs. thirtysomething way.” – People Magazine Aug 11, 2020 Full Review Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 82% EDIT “If you don't mind your comic books being filled with incessant shootings, explosions, knifings, drownings, stranglings, car crashes, fires and the use of automatic nail drivers as weapons, it's a lot of fun.” – People Magazine Aug 3, 2020 Full Review Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) 72% EDIT “Let's get right to it, which is what director Joe Dante does: This movie has no surprises, just a bigger dose of the bizarre, sadistic, ugly little creatures that surfaced in the original.” – People Magazine Jun 23, 2020 Full Review Reversal of Fortune (1990) 92% EDIT “Mixing reality and fiction, without using that mixture to produce any substantial addition to our knowledge, this movie at once goes too far and not far enough.” – People Magazine Jun 15, 2020 Full Review Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) 60% EDIT “While it isn't as insultingly dopey as the first two films in this series, this Die Hard is every bit as violent, obscene and implausible.” – People Magazine Apr 2, 2019 Full Review Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) 25% EDIT “Nobody under 13 should be allowed to see this movie. Nobody over 13 should want to.” – People Magazine Mar 27, 2019 Full Review Harlem Nights (1989) 27% EDIT “What this film suffers from is lack of fun.” – People Magazine Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Pretty Woman (1990) 65% EDIT “Despite its cornball attributes-maybe because of them-this is a sweetheart of an old-fashioned romantic comedy.” – People Magazine Feb 5, 2019 Full Review Green Card (1990) 59% EDIT “Silly and obvious as this romantic comedy is (and its script would have seemed dated in 1942), it might have mustered a considerable charm if Depardieu had been better matched in his first American film.” – People Magazine Jan 23, 2019 Full Review Nothing but Trouble (1991) 15% EDIT “After a few minutes, it's clear that this comedy is not enigmatic -- just hopelessly confused.” – People Magazine Jan 3, 2018 Full Review Antonia's Line (1995) 69% EDIT “Morbid and overwrought.” – People Magazine Oct 4, 2016 Full Review Boyz N the Hood (1991) 96% EDIT “While it's often as pedantic and square as an Army training film, this movie about black teens trying to grow up in a gang-plagued South Central Los Angeles area generates strong emotions.” – People Magazine Aug 1, 2016 Full Review Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) 56% EDIT “Sorry, dudes: This is a totally bogus sequel.” – People Magazine Jul 29, 2016 Full Review Pure Country (1992) 41% EDIT “If it were any cornier or mushier, it would be chowder, but this vehicle for country singer Strait generates a charming sweetness, the music is lively, and both Strait and Glasser are ingratiating new faces.” – People Magazine May 18, 2016 Full Review Purple Rain (1984) 74% EDIT “Simplistic, superficial and surprisingly sentimental, Purple Rain is everything Prince's music is not.” – People Magazine Apr 21, 2016 Full Review The Big Picture (1989) 87% EDIT “Partly romance, partly fantasy, partly satire on what passes for life in Hollywood -- and all charm -- this movie even has a perfect title.” – People Magazine Feb 2, 2016 Full Review A Dry White Season (1989) 82% EDIT “This movie, directed by a black Martiniquan, Euzhan Palcy, is far more effective [than Cry Freedom] at keeping black actors -- and the essential problem of South Africa -- onscreen.” – People Magazine Sep 28, 2015 Full Review A View to a Kill (1985) 36% EDIT “The strain is starting to show on 007.” – People Magazine Aug 21, 2015 Full Review Back to the Future Part II (1989) 63% EDIT “This is a sequel for sequel's sake - all title, no content.” – People Magazine Jun 29, 2015 Full Review Jungle Fever (1991) 81% EDIT “You'll remember Sciorra and Snipes but wish you had learned more about them -- and the society that complicates their lives so cruelly.” – People Magazine Apr 21, 2015 Full Review Die Hard 2 (1990) 68% EDIT “One might think a movie with a reported budget of $62 million would have had a few bucks to spend on a gaffe spotter.” – People Magazine Apr 3, 2015 Full Review The Woman in Red (1984) 32% EDIT “The film drones on through all the clichs of infidelity to a resolution that isn't emotionally, morally or comedically satisfying.” – People Magazine Mar 23, 2015 Full Review
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