Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 71%
| A Film With Me In It (2008) | "
Shot digitally on a low budget, the film is basically a one-joke concept spun out to 90 minutes." — The Age (Australia) Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
On some level, the Coens' flippancy is self-protective. But there's fascination and pleasure in their trick of constructing a film like a theorem where nothing adds up." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
A nostalgic, rather equivocal study of the mid-20th-century British sea change in attitudes to sex, class and culture." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
Mendes paints in broad strokes, but in this case he seems little more than an interpreter of his screenwriters' obsession with innocence." — The Age (Australia) Posted Dec 9, 2009 |
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
| 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
| Rotten 43%
| Camino (2009) | "
It is less a docu-drama than a grotesquely manipulative fairytale -- half Walt Disney, half Lars von Trier." — The Age (Australia) Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 11%
| Case 39 (2010) | "
On the strength of Case 39, Zellweger could easily play den mother to a brood of hillbilly psychos in a film by Rob Zombie. That would be horror worthy of the name." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 4, 2009 |
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 72%
| Che, Part One (2008) | "
The Guevara portrayed here has humour but no irony: his commitment to the revolutionary ethos leaves little room for doubt, neurosis, or private loyalties of any kind." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 54%
| Cheri (2009) | "
Stretching out like a cat on the wide screen, Michelle Pfeiffer shows off her durable glamour in the star role of Lea de Lonval, a high-class courtesan in pre-World War I France." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
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 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
Cold Souls is imitation Kaufman, written and directed by newcomer Sophie Barthes, who makes no effort to hide the source of her inspiration." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 26, 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
| Fresh 89%
| Coraline (2009) | "
This is one of those films that works best if you can forget about the source material. Selick’s film is more like a three-ring circus." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 18%
| Dance Flick (2009) | "
Much of the material is stupid enough to make anyone's brain ache." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 56%
| Defiance (2008) | "
Zwick's limitations as an action director seem linked to a troubled conscience: he seems conscious of a need to entertain, but worried that his audience will take too much pleasure in the spectacle of vengeance." — The Age (Australia) Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
Even as [Zemeckis] uses the 3D process to turn A Christmas Carol into a rollercoaster ride through a solidly built fantasy world, he never forgets that at bottom the tale is an awful warning about how egoism and greed can destroy your humanity." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
As an action director, Blomkamp is no John Carpenter. Parts of the story are not dramatised but narrated direct-to-camera by supposed interview subjects -- a lazy device that reduces immediacy and momentum." — The Age (Australia) Posted Aug 14, 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 2.5/5
| Rotten 23%
| Fired Up (2009) | "
It fails, partly through prudery -- the "nude" scenes are notably unrevealing -- and partly because the leading men make no effort to perform their own stunts." — The Age (Australia) Posted Apr 24, 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 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 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
The film is also an admiring portrait of the artist as Californian solipsist -- unburdened by personal ties or even the need to seem intelligent, free to follow his own random, petty, moment-by-moment train of thought." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 24%
| G-Force (2009) | "
The joke of cute animals hacking into mainframes and dodging explosions may not be enough to sustain a movie." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 17, 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 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 27%
| Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) | "
McConaughey too once showed promise, but here he seems to be auditioning for a bad sitcom, while Garner misuses her gawky sincerity." — The Age (Australia) Posted May 15, 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 |
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 3/5
| Fresh 82%
| I Love You, Man (2009) | "
Rudd ... is perfectly cast -- no actor this side of Hugh Grant is more comfortable getting flustered." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 45%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
Children will probably enjoy Ice Age 3, but adults may find the script a little over-sophisticated, not to say conflicted in its attitudes towards women." — The Age (Australia) Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 38%
| Imagine That (2009) | "
Murphy struggles to find work in other genres, but given the way he indulges himself with funny faces and voices, it's equally possible that he genuinely likes acting alongside children." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
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 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 32%
| Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009) | "
The misogyny is too insistent to be ironic, despite the relatively small use of nudity and gore. The vampires, when slain, spurt milky white fluid rather than blood, a peculiarly unpleasant, and telling, detail." — The Age (Australia) Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 63%
| Louise-Michel (2009) | "
As stylists, Kervern and Delepine specialise in turning industrial landscapes into cartoon playgrounds, through sight gags that rely on offscreen space -- leaving crucial events to the imagination." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 8, 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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 93%
| 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 |
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
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
Since this is a film for children, we know with virtual certainty that nobody we care about will come to harm. But there's no reason this deft fantasy shouldn't appeal to adults as well." — The Age (Australia) Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 89%
| Moon (2009) | "
By halfway the film starts to feel like a mere exercise, one more effort to get maximum value from limited resources. Too much machinery, not enough dread." — The Age (Australia) Posted Oct 8, 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 2.5/5
| 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
| Fresh 100%
| My Year Without Sex (2009) | "
Watt strives to cram a great deal into a small space, but her special triumph is that the strain never shows. My Year Without Sex stands as the most accomplished Australian film so far this year." — The Age (Australia) Posted May 29, 2009 |
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 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Mildly amusing at best, the interviews are accompanied by twee animated segments featuring paper dolls, which should fill any right-thinking person with disgust." — The Age (Australia) Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 59%
| Paris 36 (2008) | "
Most of the disasters and triumphs that follow can be predicted well in advance. But the film brings them off with panache, particularly when it transforms into the fully fledged musical that it should have been all along." — The Age (Australia) Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Prime Mover (2009) | "
An uneasy blend of whimsy with elements that are deliberately harsh or humdrum." — The Age (Australia) Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
IGN RSS Feeds