Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
The Proposal often lies flat where it should spark, with director Fletcher failing to maximize her talented cast's potential. The timing is off in several scenes, and a would-be outrageous character inspires more eye rolls than laughs." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 52%
| The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) | "
Pelham 1 2 3 ultimately plays as too old-school and low- tech to compete with the summer's other big action films." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 61%
| The Girlfriend Experience (2009) | "
Steven Soderbergh's study of a high-priced Manhattan call girl through the prism of the economic crisis, is meta enough to intrigue yet too removed to truly engage." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 78%
| The Hangover (2009) | "
It distinguishes itself from other what-happens-in-Vegas comedies (practically a subgenre at this point) by setting an especially vivid scene and telling an actual story instead of pasting together random shenanigans the way many modern comedies do." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 64%
| The Brothers Bloom (2009) | "
Rarely allowing substance to interfere with style, filmmaker Rian Johnson occasionally amuses but mostly frustrates with his con-job fantasia The Brothers Bloom." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
With Ratatouille, WALL-E and now Up, Pixar Animation Studios has graduated from moviedom's finest animation house to its most consistent producer of great cinematic art, period." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 44%
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) | "
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian throws everything -- history, high jinks, lots of famous faces in supporting roles -- at the museum walls to see what sticks. Happily, much of it does." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 22, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
Christian Bale should have taken a vacation instead." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 73%
| Rudo and Cursi (2009) | "
The lead characters might flirt with spiritual and emotional ruin, but Cuarón's filming style is so lively, and Luna and García Bernal's performances so full of energy, that the picture is fun even when it probably shouldn't be." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 15, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 36%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
Angels & Demons might cause controversy among viewers who like their Tom Hanks films to be of some substance." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 15, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 95%
| Star Trek (2009) | "
Abrams' Star Trek strikes a beautiful balance, with enough allusions to Trek mythology to please longtime fans and enough 21st century verve to wow even those viewers who know nothing of Star Trek." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 8, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
Another action film that doesn't fulfill its potential." — Sacramento Bee Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
Downey, Foxx and director Joe Wright ultimately pierce the more artificial elements to deliver an unusually perceptive film." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Sin Nombre (2009) | "
A very southern modern Western, the Spanish-language Sin Nombre offers a treacherous frontier, a conflicted outlaw and fine performances by actors with whom the camera clearly is besotted." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 84%
| State of Play (2009) | "
A serviceable thriller -- one that's tensely paced and enjoyable before the script betrays audience trust." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
A sophisticated comedy about an unhinged doofus, Observe and Report falters under the weight of its ambitions." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 10, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 28%
| Fast & Furious (2009) | "
As superfluous sequels go, Fast & Furious makes Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo seem vital." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Adventureland (2009) | "
Filled with likable actors and 1980s pop songs, Adventureland ambles, entertains and … ends … without ever trying to be more than a tribute to odd jobs, unlikely friends and hanging out." — Sacramento Bee Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 72%
| Sunshine Cleaning (2009) | "
Sunshine Cleaning is a small film with small storytelling problems that eventually add up." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
Overall, Monsters vs. Aliens is pleasing without being especially hilarious. Some lines fall flat, and a few bits involving B.O.B. are overused. But a lack of zingers is forgivable in a movie of such visual accomplishment." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 65%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
Duplicity probably improves on second viewing, when one is better acquainted with the basic story. Yet the film is not good enough to see twice – the Catch-22 of all entertaining but muddled movies." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| I Love You, Man (2009) | "
A bang-up comedy for about 40 minutes that hits, misses and meanders after that." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 43%
| Race to Witch Mountain (2009) | "
The head-cracking, explosions and gunplay eventually get out of hand, considering that, revamp or no revamp, Witch Mountain is still a Disney film aimed squarely at kids." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 84%
| Wendy and Lucy (2008) | "
The current economic crisis has turned this fictional story of one woman's string of bad luck into a tale that seems real and relatable." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 6, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
This adaptation of the acclaimed 1980s graphic novel never fully satisfies, despite powerful fight scenes and one superb performance." — Sacramento Bee Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 80%
| Un Secret (2008) | "
In Un Secret, French filmmaker Claude Miller expertly weaves together a family history, merging the personal and political, the celebratory and the tragic, while incorporating three distinct time periods." — Sacramento Bee Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| I've Loved You So Long (2008) | "
Claudel has made a very special kind of star vehicle -- the kind that's also a very good movie overall." — Sacramento Bee Posted Feb 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
A stylish but standard thriller centered on an international bank's malfeasance, The International fails to resonate even on a bank-hating level." — Sacramento Bee Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 44%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
That a star-filled romantic comedy based on a pop best-seller adheres to convention doesn't surprise, but the filmmakers go too far by forcing two of the most pathological characters together." — Sacramento Bee Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Coraline (2009) | "
This PG-rated film, though visually splendid and thoroughly engaging, is also too eerie for most kids." — Sacramento Bee Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 18%
| New in Town (2009) | "
Whereas Bridget stands as the best Hollywood romantic comedy of the past decade, New in Town hovers somewhere near the middle of the subpar pack." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jan 30, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 39%
| Inkheart (2009) | "
A few of the creatures, as well as one startling moment, might unsettle little ones in the audience. But the greater danger is that they'll fall asleep." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jan 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 50%
| Notorious (2009) | "
The film might have been just another middling musical biopic had the lead role not been so perfectly cast." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
Revolutionary Road, an essay on the emptiness of 1950s suburban life, leaves one with an empty feeling." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
Gran Torino gives us an opportunity -- growing rarer each year -- to watch a national treasure for two hours. Make that a national treasure who continues, as a filmmaker, to challenge ideas about what it means to be an American." — Sacramento Bee Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 77%
| Doubt (2008) | "
The face-offs between these two form the foundation of Doubt, a close- quartered but psychologically expansive film directed and written for the screen by John Patrick Shanley, based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 71%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button does what technically masterful films so rarely do, inspiring a tremendous sense of warmth as well as admiration." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 61%
| Marley & Me (2008) | "
Marley & Me allows its human as well as its canine characters flaws while delivering a nice message that dogs, like children and marriages, require commitment and work." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 15%
| The Spirit (2008) | "
The Spirit starts out flat and stays that way, offering unimpressive special effects and fight scenes that mostly lie there. The people part of the effects-actor equation is faulty as well, with iffy-to-bad performances among the supporting ranks." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 27%
| Seven Pounds (2008) | "
Aiming for profound, Seven Pounds stalls at maddeningly coy." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 43%
| Yes Man (2008) | "
This PG-13 rated film is perfectly appropriate for any 13-year-old who has served time in an adult prison." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 91%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
Frank Langella doesn't impersonate Richard M. Nixon in Frost/Nixon. He goes one better. He makes him a sympathetic movie character." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 93%
| Slumdog Millionaire (2008) | "
Slumdog Millionaire bursts with life, delighting, shocking and constantly engaging through lively visuals and the rags-to-maybe-riches adventures of a young man who travels from the slums to the hot seat of the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 50%
| Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) | "
The umpteenth holiday-family-gathering film to hit theaters in the past few years, Nothing Like the Holidays distinguishes itself from the pack with fine acting." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 21%
| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) | "
Who goes to a sci-fi film to be reminded about conservation? I get enough of that from my recycling bin, which, by the way, is far more visually exciting than The Day the Earth Stood Still, as well as more pleasing to the ear." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 93%
| Milk (2008) | "
Director Gus Van Sant's storytelling approach, expansive yet always intimate, works in tandem with Sean Penn's masterful performance to create a loving, humanistic tribute to a San Francisco icon." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 5, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 68%
| Cadillac Records (2008) | "
With this cast doing its own singing, and history this rich, it's close enough for rock 'n' roll." — Sacramento Bee Posted Dec 5, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 54%
| Australia (2008) | "
For much of its more than 2 1/2- hour length, this sweeping film from Aussie director Baz Luhrmann provides old-fashioned thrills and entertainment." — Sacramento Bee Posted Nov 26, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 25%
| Four Christmases (2008) | "
Delightful apart but deadly together, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn look, throughout Four Christmases, as if they just want to get this thing over with." — Sacramento Bee Posted Nov 26, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 65%
| The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) | "
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas fails to illuminate history. Instead, it raises questions about the project itself. As in, who thought this was a good idea?" — Sacramento Bee Posted Nov 21, 2008 |
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