Fresh 2.25/5
| Rotten 32%
| The Uninvited (2009) | "
Thanks to a pair of talented actresses, The Uninvited is intriguing for almost an hour and a half. The ending is a convoluted letdown, but I have to admit I didn't guess the twist." — The Age (Australia) Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 65%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
On the simplest level, Duplicity is a tribute to the power of performance." — The Age (Australia) Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 62%
| Love The Beast (2009) | "
More than anything, Love the Beast testifies to Bana's need to be liked. As an onscreen presence he exerts visible control over every scene, while as a director he largely avoids tackling painful material head on." — The Age (Australia) Posted Mar 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 23%
| Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) | "
The film serves as a defense of beauty in the face of moralism, a theme that can never go stale." — The Age (Australia) Posted Mar 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
[Snyder] seems only half aware that every adaptation must be some kind of betrayal — or remain a shadow of its source, like a pattern sketched in the dust of a dead planet." — The Age (Australia) Posted Mar 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 88%
| Frozen River (2008) | "
Despite a few contrived plot turns and some heavy handed symbolism, this first feature from writer-director Courtney Hunt can be recommended as a thriller, as a tearjerker, and as a regional study." — The Age (Australia) Posted Feb 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 55%
| My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) | "
Blending ample serves of gore and nudity with a dash of self-awareness, Lussier skilfully uses the 3D format to simulate the perspectives of both predator and victim..." — The Age (Australia) Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 15%
| The Spirit (2008) | "
As an action director Miller is almost as clumsy as Baz Luhrmann, but he's far from naïve, and presumably the delirium of The Spirit is exactly what he intended." — The Age (Australia) Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 85%
| Ghost Town (2008) | "
Writer-director David Koepp is almost too careful a craftsman for his own good, but Gervais and Leoni share a talent for throwing the audience off-balance..." — The Age (Australia) Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Milk (2008) | "
The film itself can be taken as an act of testimony, mingling archival footage with re-enactments and immediacy with nostalgia." — The Age (Australia) Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Hotel for Dogs (2009) | "
The images are cluttered and murky, the comic rhythms falter, and the adult humans in the cast, including Lisa Kudrow and Don Cheadle, seem resigned to being upstaged by the kids and dogs." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jan 22, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 80%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
Interpreted by another director, Nick Schenk's script might have been merely a sentimental fable of a grinch redeemed." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jan 22, 2009 |
Fresh 2/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Black Balloon (2008) | "
A writer-director portrays life with an autistic brother to heartwarming effect." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jan 12, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Tale of Despereaux (2008) | "
Scratch a CGI fairytale and you'll find an allegory about class, particularly if rodents are involved." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/5
| Fresh 61%
| Marley & Me (2008) | "
Wilson may always appear a little too flaky to be bankable as a romantic lead, but set Aniston aside and this could be the purest love story he'll ever get." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jan 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 50%
| Twilight (2008) | "
In a film of this kind a great deal depends on the chemistry between the lead actors, and here Twilight falls especially short." — The Age (Australia) Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 88%
| Spirit of the Marathon (2008) | "
In its more tranquil stretches, Spirit of the Marathon might be mistaken for a feature-length sneaker advertisement, but if you're looking for inspiration, you could do worse." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 7, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 54%
| Choke (2008) | "
Rockwell's performance is so artificial it's as if we're invited to look past all the tics to the real human being who might be lurking beneath." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 31, 2008 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 71%
| The View From Greenhaven (2008) | "
Whimsical Australian fable with the soul of a tourist brochure." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 24, 2008 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 86%
| Celebrity: Dominick Dunne (2008) | "
Jolley and de Garis never come close to revealing whatever lurks in the heart of this intelligent, ambitious, plainly unhappy and not particularly admirable man, who bears scars from many wounds, not all of them self-inflicted." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 24, 2008 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 64%
| Brideshead Revisited (2008) | "
Directed by Julian Jarrold from a script by Andrew Davies and Jeremy Brock, this new adaptation adroitly condenses Waugh's plot while eliminating or reversing most of his intended meanings." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 24, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Fresh 88%
| Young@Heart (2008) | "
As an interviewer Walker is habitually condescending and sometimes downright inane..." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 17, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| Man On Wire (2008) | "
It's a hell of a story, and Petit is a mesmerising storyteller, with an extravagantly poetic turn of phrase and the glittering eye of the Ancient Mariner." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 17, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 51%
| Body of Lies (2008) | "
Some show is made of plunging the viewer into a dense cloud of moral ambiguity, but this is mostly smoke and mirrors: while the American heroes may employ some dubious tactics, the justice of their cause is never in doubt." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 10, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 61%
| The Duchess (2008) | "
Knightley seems overly deliberate even in her mischief, and doesn't have Kirsten Dunst's talent for turning acting into a flirtatious game of charades." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 3, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 61%
| Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) | "
Brevig does a barely competent job of imitating the Indiana Jones movies, and seems more hindered than helped by his chosen format..." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 26, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 55%
| Step Brothers (2008) | "
One thing spoils the mood: for all the joy that Ferrell and Reilly take in brawling or whimpering like two-year-olds, immaturity is still seen as something to be overcome." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 39%
| Wild Child (2009) | "
The screenplay by Lucy Dahl (daughter of Roald) dwells unpleasantly on cruelty and humiliation, and finally Poppy does little more than exchange one form of snobbery for another." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 37%
| Space Chimps (2008) | "
A movie called Space Chimps ought to be cheap, crude and silly, and this computer-animated lark delivers on all fronts." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 51%
| Funny Games (2008) | "
Registers more strongly than the original as a film about privileged white people..." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 12, 2008 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 74%
| Son of Rambow (2008) | "
It's a mildly startling choice of subject matter, but Jennings takes for granted that even the most innocent cineastes have their sadistic side." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 5, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 24%
| Make It Happen (2008) | "
It's hard to dislike all these urban musicals aimed at teenage girls, and even harder to tell them apart." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 5, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Son of a Lion (2008) | "
As a work of art, it's a transparent con, particularly when Gilmour defensively insists on the 'humanity' of his characters for the benefit of the Western viewer." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 82%
| Tropic Thunder (2008) | "
Stiller never stops bombarding the audience with outrageous ideas, like a monkey throwing dung at a wall." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 93%
| Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2009) | "
Not Quite Hollywood contains as many crazy characters and improbable events as its recent fictional counterparts, except that the people are real and the stories all true." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 28, 2008 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| The Square (2009) | "
The script is neatly plotted, though not without flaws. Some developments occur in a rush, as if to distract us from asking inconvenient questions." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jul 31, 2008 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 88%
| Unfinished Sky (2008) | "
This hysterically melodramatic climax marks it as a sure contender for worst Australian film of the year." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 20, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 86%
| My Brother Is An Only Child (2006) | "
Fast-paced, well-acted and acute about sibling rivalry, the film nonetheless fails to leave a strong impression." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 20, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/5
| Fresh 87%
| Mongol (2008) | "
Temudgin is so single-minded that Asano has trouble suggesting much about his inner life." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 20, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 37%
| Speed Racer (2008) | "
Given that Speed Racer itself is basically an elaborate commercial, the anti-corporate message inevitably rings hollow." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 12, 2008 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 38%
| Smother (2008) | "
This film has its share of crass, unlikely jokes, but also allows its characters some psychological complexity." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 7, 2008 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 51%
| Then She Found Me (2008) | "
The overt stylistic flourishes are so few that they have a special impact, particularly the moment when the camera slowly tracks towards April after she receives a piece of devastating news." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 7, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 50%
| Sex and the City - The Movie (2008) | "
I had to wonder what happened to the qualities that made the show famous: the outrageous dialogue, the sense of female camaraderie, the embrace of casual sex as a guiltless pleasure." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 7, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Fresh 66%
| The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) | "
Adamson is probably indifferent to politics, which would be easier to forgive if the film gave you anything else to think about." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 7, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 44%
| She's The Man (2006) | "
A minor but decent-spirited entertainment, enlivened by a couple of the adult supporting players." — Sydney Morning Herald Posted Apr 7, 2006 |
Rotten
| N/A | Shadows of Time (2004) | "
A full-blown romantic melodrama from India via Germany, replete with coincidences, missed chances, fateful decisions and wordless longing looks." — Urban Cinefile Posted Dec 19, 2005 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Queen of Sheba's Pearls (2004) | "
This tragic-comic-historical-pastoral romance scrapes the bottom of all its generic barrels, to say nothing of being extremely badly directed by Colin Nutley, an Englishman based in Sweden whose many previous films I've managed not to see." — Urban Cinefile Posted Oct 11, 2005 |
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