Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 95%
| The Cove (2009) | "
If The Cove isn’t in the running for next year’s Best Doc Oscar, there’s something terribly wrong with this world. Gripping exposé, harrowing horror-thriller and devastating agitprop, it takes us to “a little town with a big secret”." — Total Film Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Red blood and black humour spurt hard as Thirst reveals itself to be one of the most deliciously skewed incisions into the vampire romance subgenre." — Little White Lies Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
Some new moves and old tricks from Tony Jaa, still packing a wallop but in need of a truly knockout narrative. Then again, when have you ever seen two men fighting on top of an elephant?" — Total Film Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
A rewarding change of pace for Sam Mendes, Away We Go is a small, lovely film that gently sneaks up on you with unexpected depth and feeling. Let it." — Total Film Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 76%
| Bustin' Down the Door (2008) | "
The vintage surf footage packs some thumping wipeouts and there’s fresh relish in the sidestory of local Hawaiian surfers handing out beatings to their gnarly foreign invaders." — Total Film Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
QT has let loose completely: flashes of cine-genius curdle with crude, crazy juvenility, although it doesn’t stop this being his most purely enjoyable film since Kill Bill: Vol. 1." — Little White Lies Posted Aug 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 76%
| Afterschool (2009) | "
Gripped with an unnerving iciness, Afterschool has style and smarts, but Campos never really manages to slice cleanly into his mega-relevant themes of voyeurism and violence, isolation and info-culture." — Total Film Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 50%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
It’s thrilling to see that von Trier’s vicious sense of mischief, his moviemaking skill and his desire to smash limits and expectations all remain undimmed. However you swallow it, this bizarre, hysterical melodrama is impossible to ignore." — Little White Lies Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
One of the Potter franchise’s breeziest entries yet offers flashes of darkness but lashings of teen tension. Less a movie than a set-up for next year’s epic conclusion. Bring on V-day." — Total Film Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Boasting strong performances and lightened by a few flashes of much-needed easy humour, Precious is let down by Daniels’ ropey direction – which leaves you feeling like it could/should have been a much better film." — Little White Lies Posted May 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Through it all, Park’s film never loses its big, bloody-fanged grin. Expect sex (weird), blood-drinking (through a straw), stabby-bitey violence (lots) and laughs (even more)." — Little White Lies Posted May 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Fish Tank (2009) | "
Brit writer/director Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is a Dardennes-style drama bang out of the top drawer. Powerful, punishing, funny and beautifully observed, it’s driven by a stunning performance from non-pro newcomer Katie Jarvis." — Little White Lies Posted May 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
Gorgeously rendered in subtly immersive 3D and full of organic cinematic nods, this is a rare, wondrous story of true love and dream-catching. Of holding on and letting go. You will believe a house can fly." — Little White Lies Posted May 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 88%
| Coraline (2009) | "
Rich, ingenious and frighteningly close to home, Selick’s new nightmare puts him nearer to Guillermo del Toro and David Lynch than Tim Burton. See it in 3D. Then sleep with the light on." — Total Film Posted May 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 93%
| Encounters At the End of the World (2007) | "
Too loose and aimless to sit with Herzog’s best, Encounters drifts along on its filmmaker’s frostbitten humour and his ever-searching eye for weirdness and wonder." — Total Film Posted Apr 25, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 56%
| Waveriders (2009) | "
The footage of the tiny figures riding these ferocious 50ft monsters goes past awe-inspiring into something almost indefinable." — Total Film Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 86%
| Tyson (2009) | "
Not the full story - not even close - but this is ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson as you’ve never seen him before. One of the most devastatingly personal on-camera confessionals ever put on screen." — Total Film Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 83%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
A small, dark, simple love story with big, burning, complex emotions. If this really is Phoenix’s final performance, it’s one hell of a way to go." — Total Film Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 85%
| Flame & Citron (2008) | "
The moral horror and charismatic performances leave a deep impression." — thelondonpaper Posted Mar 7, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 71%
| American Teen (2008) | "
This absorbing doc is a funny, heartbreaking reminder that we’re all wounded survivors of the original war zone." — thelondonpaper Posted Mar 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 55%
| Surveillance (2009) | "
Twisted with black comedy, off-kilter performances, unsettling sound design and jolts of violence, Jennifer Lynch’s eminently Lynchian psycho-thriller is far better than its fairly predictable final rug-pull." — Total Film Posted Mar 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
Forget what you know about superhero movies – director Zack Snyder’s epic adaptation of Brit author Alan Moore’s “unfilmable” comic-book masterpiece is something else entirely." — thelondonpaper Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 61%
| Franklyn (2009) | "
Not a lot of it adds up, but you can’t say this dark Brit mystery isn’t interesting." — thelondonpaper Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
Overlong and underwritten, this corporate-noir thriller is propelled by its gleaming good looks." — thelondonpaper Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
Not just another superhero movie. Gripping onto sex, violence and angst, it’s hard to imagine anyone watching the Watchmen as faithfully as Zack Snyder’s heartfelt, stylised adap. Uncompromising, uncommercial and unique." — Total Film Posted Feb 24, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 62%
| Che (2008) | "
One thing’s for certain: whether it’s a meditation on guerrilla warfare, on Che or on moviemaking itself, you’ve seen nothing like it and are unlikely to ever again." — Little White Lies Posted Feb 20, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 80%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
It’s a movie for Eastwood fans. Which should mean it’s a movie for you." — Total Film Posted Feb 19, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 76%
| Che, Part Two (2008) | "
Gripping, elusive and something to be experienced, Che Part Two continues to offer up surprises, frustration and - above all - fascination." — Total Film Posted Feb 19, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 78%
| Three Monkeys (2009) | "
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s aching film is driven by complex, powerful performances. Too many angsty silences deflate the tension, but it’s gripping while it lasts." — thelondonpaper Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 85%
| King of the Hill (2008) | "
Stylishly shot, this tense Spanish thriller sees the couple lost in a mountain wilderness while being hunted by an unseen sniper." — thelondonpaper Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 82%
| Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) | "
No doubt about it, Allen’s latest throwaway rom-com is utterly silly, forgettable and predictable. It’s also his most purely entertaining film in years." — Little White Lies Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 85%
| JCVD (2008) | "
Jean-Claude Van Damme, B-movie megastar gone straight-to-video, is back with a career-best performance in one of the coolest indie movies of the year." — Little White Lies Posted Jan 30, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 95%
| The Bicycle Thief (1948) | "
The lasting soul of Thieves’ pure cinema poverty-parable finally nestles in its deeply affecting father-son pairing in which seven-year-old Staiola dazzles as one of cinema’s wonder-kids." — Total Film Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Gone Baby Gone (2007) | "
Back, baby, back. An excellent police procedural and a personal triumph for Ben Affleck, steering his younger brother to a performance that deserved louder applause from gong juries." — Total Film Posted Jun 6, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| The Unforeseen (2007) | "
Even if the director eventually hard-pedals her pantheist imagery into cliché, this inconvenient truth is discreet, intimate and regularly surprising." — Time Out Posted May 2, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Blazing Saddles (1974) | "
It's tough to beat as an outrageously phlegmy deposit in Hollywood's spittoon." — Channel 4 Film Posted Apr 2, 2008 |
Fresh 3/6
| Rotten 21%
| Fred Claus (2007) | "
Dobkin’s film is lit up by a couple of genius scenes: first, a siblings support-group attended by Frank Stallone, Stephen Baldwin and Roger Clinton; second, a superb in-joke triggering Spacey’s redemptive thaw-out, stoking a festive glow against the odds." — Time Out Posted Nov 29, 2007 |
Fresh 3/6
| Fresh 81%
| Talk to Me (2007) | "
Thanks to its two leads, the film remains vivid, honest and deeply felt." — Time Out Posted Nov 22, 2007 |
Fresh 3/6
| Fresh 79%
| American Gangster (2007) | "
Like much of his oeuvre, Scott’s scaled-up movie is bigger than life – and lesser for it. But while never digging deeply or darkly enough to match its own grand vision of itself, slick technique drives the story forward with pace and style." — Time Out Posted Nov 14, 2007 |
Fresh 3/6
| Fresh 63%
| Death at a Funeral (2007) | "
Scatological grue, nudity, swearing, drug-taking and the chance to watch two grown men wrestle a midget…" — Time Out Posted Nov 1, 2007 |
Fresh 4/6
| Fresh 89%
| The Savages (2007) | "
Hoffman and Linney are wonderful -- underplaying so perfectly that crumpled, bittersweet truths continue to surface." — Time Out Posted Oct 11, 2007 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 93%
| The Seventh Seal (1957) | "
Guaranteed to thunder on the big screen." — Total Film Posted Jul 20, 2007 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 76%
| Rocky Balboa (2006) | "
The Rocky Balboa you were hoping for, dreaming for, and an astonishing personal triumph for Stallone. Bring on Rambo IV?" — Total Film Posted Jan 15, 2007 |
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