Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 75%
| The Vanished Empire (2009) | "
Shakhnazarov, who began his film career in the Soviet era and was about the age of his protagonists in '73, brings an authenticity to the material, as well as a certain wistfulness in his excellent re-creation of Brezhnev-era Moscow." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
Tony Jaa is a lot of fun to watch, but Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is not only a step back in time -- to 1431 -- but a step back in this martial artist's international film career." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 73%
| Fuel (2009) | "
A peppy, bouncy documentary that is watchable and informative, although Tickell's celebrity name-dropping at times detracts from the serious message." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 59%
| The Headless Woman (2009) | "
Martel's vision is so visually rich and complex it borders on the impressionistic, but The Headless Woman would be nowhere without the precise tour de force performance by Onetto." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 80%
| Daytime Drinking (2008) | "
... has an uninteresting lead character and a plot filled with contrived situations, illogical decision-making and amazing coincidences." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 90%
| 24 City (2009) | "
24 City won't change the minds of detractors -- it is his most painfully slow yet -- but it might change the minds of his supporters, including this critic, for Jia attempts something that is, in the end, unforgivable." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 77%
| Big Man Japan (2009) | "
The film, written, directed and starring stand-up comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has, like most superheroes, a tragic flaw: It isn't funny." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 86%
| Treeless Mountain (2009) | "
So Yong Kim has made another minimalist masterpiece, a quiet movie of sharply observed details and two girls who will break your heart." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| N/A | Beast Stalker (2009) | "
A movie that has all the best elements of a great Hong Kong action film: It's over the top and ingeniously plotted (even if that plot strains credibility) and never stops moving." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 15, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| The Sparrow (2008) | "
An action film without guns or even that much violence, it unfurls like an elegant ballet." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 92%
| High and Low (1962) |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| Never Forever (2008) | "
Vera Farmiga is the best American actress you've never heard of." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
— | Fresh 80%
| Ten Nights of Dreams (2008) |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
— | Rotten 20%
| Meet Bill (2008) |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 40%
| Callback: The Unmaking of Bloodstain (2008) | "
A loopy, over-the-top comedy about indie filmmaking and impossible dreams in Los Angeles." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 17, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 90%
| Forbidden Lie$ (2009) | "
It must be fun to make a film about a con artist when the con artist is a full and willing participant, literally going to the ends of the Earth to prove she is the real deal." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 80%
| Flow: For Love of Water (2008) | "
Salina's film is a very effective primer of an underreported problem. If nothing else, it made me thirsty." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 66%
| Ping Pong Playa (2007) | "
A mostly amusing, appealing family comedy about going from pretender to contender, in life as well as pingpong." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 5, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 57%
| PTU: Police Tactical Unit (2006) |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 2, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| N/A | Come Drink With Me () |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 1, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 90%
| Tuya's Marriage (2008) | "
A strong addition to the burgeoning canon of China's so-called Sixth Generation filmmakers." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jun 20, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Woman on the Beach (2006) | "
Woman on the Beach, perhaps [director Hong's] most accessible film (and often a funny one, too), is a good introduction, even if it is not a masterpiece. Here's hoping more of his films see the light of an American day." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jun 20, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| Up The Yangtze (2007) | "
What Chinese Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang achieves in his documentary Up the Yangtze is remarkable." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jun 13, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| N/A | Dangerous Crossing (1953) |
Click here to read article — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 20, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 91%
| Still Life (2008) | "
Never has destruction looked more beautiful than the demolished buildings in Jia Zhang-ke's Still Life." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 9, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 48%
| Lost in Beijing (2008) | "
Begins with a wild coincidence and goes rapidly downhill from there, becoming one of the most unintentionally hilarious tragedies in quite some time." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 18, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 65%
| Summer Palace (2008) | "
Though made in 2006, its American release could not have been better timed." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Mar 21, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 49%
| CJ7 (2008) | "
This is lesser Chow because there is less Chow." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Mar 7, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 53%
| Tre (2008) | "
Feels like a vanity project, or worse, like homework." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Feb 15, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 53%
| The Walker (2007) | "
There is good writing here, and Thomas is very good as always, but the movie works because of Harrelson's performance." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 14, 2007 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 58%
| Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007) | "
Joe Swanberg's film wears out its welcome about halfway through its 83 minutes." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 30, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 54%
| This Christmas (2007) | "
This Christmas is not your typical family holiday movie, and thank goodness for that. It's warm, witty and alive, with a fantastic cast and a belief in its characters that transcends its formulaic tendencies." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 31%
| Music Within (2007) | "
All inspiring stuff, but Music Within is strictly by the numbers, even down to the predictable mood-setting period soundtrack numbers" — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 26, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 56%
| Weirdsville (2007) | "
One of the most unlikable films of the year." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 19, 2007 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 52%
| Manufacturing Dissent (2007) | "
A solid, well-done and seemingly balanced look at Moore's work, his celebrity, his methods and the ethical problems in his reporting." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 12, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 73%
| I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2007) | "
Garlin's directing has little pacing, and many of the borderline gags could have been salvaged with some sharper editing. And there's a shocking amount of jokes and situations that just don't work." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 5, 2007 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 100%
| The Taste of Tea (2004) | "
Quirky with a capital Q..." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 5, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 28%
| Trade (2007) | "
Other than showing how a trafficking pipeline might work, Trade is a total misfire, a strange attempt at making a buddy movie featuring a morose Kevin Kline and a 17-year-old Mexican boy looking for his kidnapped sister." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 28, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 27%
| The Game Plan (2007) | "
There are worse ways to spend two hours with your children, and The Game Plan, in trying to please everybody, fairly much succeeds." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 28, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 83%
| Angels in the Dust (2007) | "
......often less than compelling." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 28, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Exiled (2007) | "
Exiled is creative and bizarre, maybe too bizarre, but since most action films adhere to a cookie-cutter formula, its quirkiness is most welcome." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 7, 2007 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| Deep Water (2007) | "
One of this year's better studies of the human soul." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 7, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 35%
| Self-Medicated (2007) | "
Though the script and storytelling could have used more polish, Lapica's honesty provides the lasting impression." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 31, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 77%
| 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2007) | "
There have been several documentaries about the Dalai Lama, but few have done a better job of packaging the Tibetan religious leader's circumstances, both historical and current, along with his philosophies, than 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 30, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 71%
| Adam's Apples (2007) | "
This oddball story is more than a one-joke concept. Its characters are sometimes cruel, sometimes sweet, but always recognizably human." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 11, 2007 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 95%
| Offside (2006) | "
Although its message is deadly serious, Offside is almost lighthearted, filled with wit and winning characters." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 20, 2007 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Journey From The Fall (2007) | "
A story that needed to be told." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 13, 2007 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| Mafioso (1962) | "
If you crossed Meet the Parents with The Godfather and filmed it 45 years ago in Italian, you might come close to Mafioso, a black-and-white gem from 1962 whose appearance in local theaters is inexplicable but most welcome." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 13, 2007 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 78%
| Linda Linda Linda (2006) | "
An extremely well-written, emotionally complex coming-of-age tale that has a John Hughesian respect for teenage angst." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 7, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| N/A | Zen Life - D.T. Suzuki (2007) | "
A straightforward, breezy 77-minute documentary on the Japanese Zen master that, although it seems to be made for television and isn't particularly cinematic, does the job." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Mar 30, 2007 |
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