ROTTEN TOMATOES: Emanuel Levy

EMANUEL LEVY

Agrees with the Tomatometer 88% of the time.

Biography: I belong to a small group of scholars who have juggled a dual career, as film professor (Ph.D. Columbia University) and film critic (Variety, Screen International, Financial Times). Among my eight film books are All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Indpendent Film, and the first biography of Vincente Minnelli, Hollywood's Dark Dreamer. I have served on the jury of 44 international Film Festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Taoromina, Montreal, Hawaii, and Sundance.

Publications: EmanuelLevy.Com, Screendaily, Variety

Critics' Group: Broadcast Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Society of Film Critics

Total Reviews: 3832
Total QuickRatings: 9403

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Fresh B-	Fresh 60%	Brothers (2009)	" Sheridan's film is polished and well directed, but what could have been a powerful drama about the impact of war on family life turns into a middlebrow (allegorical) melodrama about brothers who are polar opposites due to Benioff's conventional script." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 23, 2009
Fresh C+	Rotten 30%	The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)	" Made primarily for the fans, New Moon is not better than Twilight, though dealing with elements of vampires and werewolves mythologies makes the romantic tale slightly more interesting if also more convoluted, but main attraction remains Kristen Stewart." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 18, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 73%	The Blind Side (2009)	" Sandra Bullock renders a strong performance as the feisty Southern belle in this inspirational sports saga, but the film is too conventional and doesn't offer a deep look into the psychology of the players or the interracial subtext." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 17, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 70%	The Road (2009)	" This relentlessly grim drama, which is much tougher and more challenging as screen text than No Country for Old Men, deserves to be seen for the Oscar-caliber performance of Viggo Mortensen, who carries the whole film on his solid shoulders." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 16, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 94%	An Education (2009)	" Carrey Mulligan gives an astounding, Oscar-caliber performance in this touching, poignant, and precise coming-of-age tale of a young British girl who falls for an older Jewish guy, set against London in the pre-swinging era." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 13, 2009
Fresh A	N/A	The Go-Between (1971)	" Stylishly elegant and multi-nuanced, this adaptation of Hartley's novel is one of Joseph Losey's masterpieces, the third and best collaboraion with Harold Pinter, beautifuly acted by Julie Christie, Alan Bates, and Michael Redgrave." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 13, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	Samson and Delilah (2009)	" Visually stunning, this impressive feature debut places an Aboriginal love on the run tale against a fascinating socio-cultural context that's little known to non-Australians." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 12, 2009
Fresh C+	Fresh 79%	Me and Orson Welles (2009)	" Zac Efron is light and slight as the protag of this intermittently insightful but not too deep tale of the audacious staging of Julius Caesar by the young Orson Welles, marvelously played by newcomer Christian McKay." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 11, 2009
Rotten C	N/A	Everybody's Fine (2009)	" Under the helm and pen of Kirk Jones what was a sensitive and touching dramedy in Tornatore's 1990 film has become conventional, predictable and schmaltzy, forcing the actors, especially the estimable De Niro, to emote in a big way." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 11, 2009
Fresh A	N/A	City of Life and Death (2009)	" Must-see: This multi-dimensional chronicle of the 1937 Japanese occupation and massacre of Nanking is a masterpiece, a devastating war film of epic proportions, shot in a realistic yet also poetic style." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 8, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 80%	A Single Man (2009)	" Fashion designer Tom Ford makes a stylishly elegant debut with his effective adaptation of Isherwood's seminal, stream-of-consciousness tale of love and loss, featuring Colin Firth in a multi-nuanced, tonally perfect Oscar-caliber turn." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 6, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 59%	Pirate Radio (2009)	" In Richard Curtis' structurally messy satire, there's a bit of everything for everybody, but it's the sound track, not the characters or tale, that is the most memorable." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 6, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 38%	2012 (2009)	" Size matters: a winter popcorn movie and guilty pleasure, this mass entertainment of mass destruction is not one coherent story but a calculated, cliche-ridden, often humorous pastiche of all the disaster movies made in Hollywood." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 6, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 47%	The Box (2009)	" The premise of this morality tale is interesting and the set-up intriguing, but after the first real, the movie falls apart and crashes under the burden of pretentious allegorical meanings." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Nov 6, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 85%	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)	" Barely a remake of Ferrara's superior 1992 indie, Herzog's sleazy, erratic, often silly policier is enjoyable on its own terms, and the main reason to see it is Nicolas Cage's wildly eccentric, justifiably over-the-top performance." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 30, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 86%	Easy Rider (1969)	" The 40th anniversary DVD of the 1969 seminal road movie contains several specials, including illuminating commentary from star-director Dennis Hopper." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 29, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 80%	Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)	" An honorable and entertaining but not particularly probing tribute, This Is It is more interesting sociologically than artistically, and it's hard to think of another work that epitomizes the new global media age in which we live." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 28, 2009
Fresh C+	Fresh 88%	The House of the Devil (2009)	" The main reasons to see this deliberately retro and derivative flick, which borrows freely from Satanic cult and babysitter-from-hell subgenres, are iconic actors Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov in their first teaming." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 27, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 90%	The Messenger (2009)	" What could have been a grim, depressing Iraq war drama of two men who deliver dreaded news becomes in Moverman's promising debut a human tale of grief and survival, balancing grave issues with humor, underlined by strong acting from Foster and Harrelson" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 24, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 90%	Z (1969)	" The newe October (2009) DVD contains new, remarkable interviews with director Costa Gavras and ace cinematographer Raoul Coutard." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 23, 2009
Rotten C-	Rotten 20%	Amelia (2009)	" Shallow and conventional, Amelia, yet another version of the legendary aviatrix, is a total misfire, unfolding as a narrated photo album with plot that's all turning points but no real substance, fully fleshed characters or significant issues." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 21, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	The Last Station (2010)	" Despite intriguing, unknown story about the great author Leo Tolstoy and his wife, and despite stellar cast headed by Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren, Hoffman's film is a mediocre work that lacks dramatic energy and looks like Masterpiece Theater." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 19, 2009
Rotten D	Rotten 11%	The Stepfather (2009)	" Poorly scripted and executed, this quickie slasher remake suffers from weak casting and doesn't even exploit the sexual politics involved in a major gender change from the 1987 feature, which satirized the rigid family values and has become a classic." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 16, 2009
Rotten C-	Rotten 23%	Law Abiding Citizen (2009)	" A low point for all concerned, actors Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, and director Gray (Italian Job), this is a silly, preposterous, sleazy and ultra-violent revenge drama pretending to say something meaningful about our faulty justice and legal systems" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 15, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 92%	Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)	" After two flops, Anderson is back on terra ferma with a well-acted (especially Clooney), sporadically entertaining rendition of Dahl's classic, a retro-cool quirky, if also indulgent, film on which he imposes his unmistakable worldview, format and tone." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 14, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 95%	Up in the Air (2009)	" George Clooney gives his most resonant and heartfelt Oscar-caliber performance in Reitman's timely, sharply written social satire that deserves to be nominated in major Oscar categories, including Picture, Director, Actor, and two Supporting Actresses." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 13, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 38%	Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)	" It's been awhile since such a structurally messy, poorly cut film has been released by major studio, one which can't decide what it wants to be, scary vampire horror, freakish circus saga or Freudian coming of age tale of rigid fathers and sensitive sons." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 13, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 54%	The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)	" Heslov's directing debut proves that he's a more skillful writer-producer than helmer: His anti-military satire is narratively and technically shapeless, with half of the text funny and witty and half flat and tedious." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 9, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 83%	Youth in Revolt (2010)	" In a dual role, as a quitely rebellious outsider and as his wilder alter ego, Michael Cera renders enormously charming performances that elevate this coming of age comedy way above its familiar subject and conventional secondary characters." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 70%	Where the Wild Things Are (2009)	" With this vividly imagined enchanting fable, a movie about childhood made for adults, visionary director Spike Jonze adds another eccentric, if dramatically flawed, panel to his oeuvre." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 7, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 54%	The Boat That Rocked (2009)	" There's a bit of everything in Curtis' structurally messy, endlessly repititious comedy: nostalgia for good music, irreverent humor and sentimentality, wild deejays, virginal boy who needs to get laid, son who needs to find his father, even a lesbian cook" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 6, 2009
Fresh C+	N/A	Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)	" LIke all the Hollywood studios during the War, Warner mobilized its top talent for this song and dance revue, with Bette Davis and Bogart singing and Olivia De Havilland dancing." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 5, 2009
Fresh B+	N/A	The Time That Remains (2009)	" The third installment of Suleiman's Palestinian trilogy, which began with Chronicle of Disappearance and continued with Divine Intervention, is the series' most politically poignant, wryly humorous, and visually precise chapter." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 5, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 85%	Red Cliff (2009)	" Truly spectacular visually, John Woo's historical epic is not particularly engaging from a dramatic standpoint, and the U.S. abridged version (half in length of the Chinese) makes involvement evem more demanding." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 5, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	The Guardsman (1931)	" The famous stage actors, husband and wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, were Oscar nominated for playing husband and wife in this early talky, essentially a photographed play, based on Ferenc Molnar's popular satire." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 4, 2009
Rotten C+	Rotten 42%	New York, I Love You (2009)	" Sharply uneven and inferior to Paris je t'aime, on which it is modeled, this bland anthology lacks the gritty, insightful, multi-ethnic elements found in the quintessentially New York movies of Lumet, Scorsese, Woody Allen and Spike Lee." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 2, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 50%	The Great White Hope (1970)	" The movie is too theatrical and every idea is spelled out for the audience, but the acting of James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander (both Oscar-nominated) is good." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Oct 1, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 92%	Champion (1949)	" In his first Oscar nomination in Mark Robson's compelling melodrama, Kirk Douglas gives a ferociously realistic performance as a boxer determined to succeed at all costs." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 30, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	Casanova Brown (1944)	" Cooper gives a charming performance as the timid teacher caught between two women, ex-wife and fiancee, but the fun resides in watching the macho star hold, feed, and raise a baby (long before Three Men and Cradle)" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 30, 2009
Fresh C+	N/A	Johnny Eager (1942)	" Mervyn LeRoy's picture is more a melodrama than a crime-gangster due to star Robert Taylor and the studio behind it (MGM), but it's worth seeing for Van Heflin's Oscar performance as the cynical alcoholic given to philosophical observations." — Variety Posted Sep 29, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 89%	Zombieland (2009)	" Strangely, in a genre not known for acting, it's the hilarious performances of the wild Harrelson and tamer but adaptable Eisenberg (and the chemistry between them) that turn this slight, short and familiar flick into pleasing entertainment." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 28, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 84%	Grease (1978)	" One of the most commercially successful transfers of a Broadway musical to the big screen, Grease is not a great movie but it's a lot of fun to watch and listen due to superlative cast." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 25, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 28%	Fame (2009)	" The 1980 film was not great, but its concept was fresher, the music and dance seductive and the stories emotional, but this recycled version is too slick, bland, and overly familiar due to Disney's High School Musical series and American Idol." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 82%	Whip It (2009)	" Drew Barrymore's feature debut is not a great film but it's highly enjoyable, a light, amusing, offbeat chick flick about a relatively new milieu (roller derby) and new type of screen heroine--tough, resilient, and cool--splendidly played by Ellen Page." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 85%	Little Voice (1998)	" Despite many good scenes of whimsy, humor, and pathos, not to mantion great mimicry of Garland, Dietrich, and others, the movie is trying to do too much and the last reel is weak, contrived and burdened with a fake romance and upbeat ending." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 23, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 86%	A Serious Man (2009)	" Though less commercial and star-driven than former films, Serious Man may be Joel and Ethan Coen's most personal, initimate and deepest work, a sharply observed serio-comic Jewish fable with strong humanistic notes that should be remembered at Oscar time" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 22, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 76%	The Young Victoria (2009)	" Emily Blunt gives a commanding performance in this technically impresive but dramatically bland biopic of the young Queen Victoria, a feature that's pleasant to watch but too shallow and old fashioned to really engage." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 21, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 75%	Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)	" You don't go to a Moore's docu for rigorous discipline or objective approach, but in returning to his liberal-populist origins, he has made another timely, provocative and entertaining work, which is also a good companion piece to his 1989 Roger & Me." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 18, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 72%	The Boys Are Back (2009)	" After a decade of weak films, Hicks has made his strongest work since Shine, an intimate and emotional father-son melodrama that while conventional and predictable benefits from Clive Owen's presence in a part that updates Hoffman's in Kramer Vs. Kramer." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 16, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 79%	Disgrace (2009)	" Malkovich gives a compelling and touching performance as a lit professor who embarks on a journey of discovery and self-evaluation after being involved in a sex scandal with a student, forced to confront the new realities of the post-apartheid era." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Sep 15, 2009

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A	8 1/2Offsite
A-	DuelOffsite
B+	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceOffsite
B	The IdiotsOffsite
B-	Heaven's GateOffsite
C+	Butterflies Are FreeOffsite
C	The Bachelor and the Bobby-SoxerOffsite
C-	A Perfect GetawayOffsite
D+	The Final DestinationOffsite
D	The Ugly TruthOffsite

A	The Go-BetweenOffsite
A	City of Life and DeathOffsite
A	RepulsionOffsite
A	North by NorthwestOffsite
A	8 1/2Offsite
A	La PromesseOffsite
A	Gimme ShelterOffsite
A	I VitelloniOffsite
A	WoodstockOffsite
A	The White RibbonOffsite

F	The ConquerorOffsite
D-	CaligulaOffsite
D-	BeautifulOffsite
D	The StepfatherOffsite
D	The SandpiperOffsite
D	The Ugly TruthOffsite
D	Doctor DolittleOffsite
D	Max PayneOffsite
D	The Love GuruOffsite
D	88 MinutesOffsite

EMANUEL LEVY

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