Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 59%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
The story has structural problems that no amount of editing could finesse, and in the end they capsize the picture." Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Even if most of the Earth were to be destroyed by a natural cataclysm predicted long ago by the ancient Mayans, director Roland Emmerich would surely survive, if only to crawl back and polish off what little was left." Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
What went wrong with this movie?" Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
"Precious" is one of those rare movies that comes winging in from nowhere and knocks you out." Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
The movie begins with what is probably the most laughable opening scene of the year." Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 47%
| The Box (2009) | "
An overlong mess of a movie that's nevertheless eerie and unsettling. You walk away from it feeling befuddled, but definitely weirded-out." Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
Jemaine Clement, best-known as the extrovert half of the fake-folk comedy duo Flight of the Concords, is the movie's real star. His Chevalier %u2013 all elaborate hair, sonorous purr and oily insincerity %u2013 is a monument of intensely concentrated smar" Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 22%
| The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) | "
Now comes Troy Duffy's flatulent sequel, "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day." Ten years in the contemplation! It doesn't feel quite that long to sit through in its wretched entirety, but I still can't imagine any but the most easily entertained being" Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 49%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
"Antichrist" is a curious mash-up of cutting-edge torture-porn and good old porn-porn that fails on both fronts." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 8.5/10
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
A small gem of a movie. Can it find the audience it deserves? Given the vagaries of indie distribution, it'll have to be sought out. But it's so worth finding." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 42%
| New York, I Love You (2009) | "
Any longtime Gothamite might have come up with New York stories more emblematic than the marginal ones offered here." Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 82%
| Black Dynamite (2009) | "
Can Black Dynamite fend off the Man and the mob and the phalanx of wah-wah guitars arrayed against him and fight his way to the Honky House to mete out kung-fu justice? Most likely!" Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
The result is a picture of considerable vision (this is a Spike Jonze film), but one that feels still-born. It traipses from one set-piece incident to the next without gathering much imaginative power, and it's low on thrills." Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Rotten 58%
| Trucker (2009) | "
Monaghan conveys the character's boxed-in emotional conflicts through a flickering wariness and constricted body language. Diane seems hopeless, but the actress keeps us holding onto hope for her anyway." Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
The movie has a distinctively modulated tone. None of the period touches are overdone, and the central issue of Jenny and David's gaping age difference is never addressed by any of the characters -- as if to do so, in their world, would be boorish." Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 83%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Even Roger Corman might have hesitated to pitch this deal to one of his hungry young proteges: "You get a little over $11,000, one camera and two unknown actors to make a really scary movie. No effects, of course. Oh, and no gore, please." Imagine the lau" Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
In "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore casts a fiery eye at the U.S. financial system - a rich and appalling subject at the moment - and comes, alas, to the usual loopy conclusion" Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Rotten 56%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
"The Invention of Lying" harvests so many sharp laughs from its fertile premise, it's too bad the picture slides into gooey platitude at the end. Getting to that point, though, is a lot of fun." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 7.5/10
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
A small-scale movie that feels like it was a lot of fun to make. It has a rambunctious charm, a considerable amount of heart and a steady supply of laughs." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
'Zombieland' may be the first undead road-trip movie. The picture is light and unassuming, but it has a jaunty spirit; it's funny beyond the call of genre and - the cool part, of course - wonderfully disgusting." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 31%
| The Burning Plain (2009) | "
A beautifully made film with arresting performances, but it's pointlessly solemn and disjointed." Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Fresh 7.5/10
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
The movie is a totally-owned comic coup for Matt Damon, demonstrating here, in ways that aren't always obvious in his action films, what a gifted performer he is." Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Rotten 45%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
The picture has a tone - smart and slashingly sarcastic - that's all its own. It's actually kind of brilliant." Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 0%
| Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) | "
An undercooked crime flick whose real mystery is why it was made." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten .1/5
| Rotten 6%
| Whiteout (2009) | "
A frozen hellhole." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
Jason Bateman is under-utilized in this underpowered comedy." Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 0/5
| Rotten 6%
| All About Steve (2009) | "
Clueless." Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 85%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
Josh Harris: Internet prophet or fascist dream merchant?" Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 86%
| A Woman in Berlin (2008) | "
A disturbing memoir of rape and conquest." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 5/10
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
Can Wintour -- who's reportedly paid $2-million a year and also given an annual personal clothing budget of $200,000 -- keep her job? In the fashion biz, this is what passes for hard times." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 85%
| World's Greatest Dad (2009) | "
A strange and wonderful new indie from director Bobcat Goldthwait." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 86%
| The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009) | "
A fiery action film with lots more on its mind." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
Quentin Tarantino does it again. Again." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 68%
| Grace (2009) | "
"Grace" isn't really a horror movie, but it's gruesome and unsettling. The story could easily have been turned into low-budget genre trash; but first-time feature director Paul Solet maintains iron control of the wild material. Clearly, this is a guy to k" Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
A sci-fi original." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
The picture has a light, winsome appeal." Posted Aug 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
Meryl Streep is Julia Child -- in a movie that needs more of her." Posted Aug 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
Director Barthes, who also wrote the script, has an engagingly bent sensibility -- and as we see in a subplot involving a dark dream set in an orphanage, a lot of soul, too." Posted Aug 8, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Just when we've set our brains on ponder, the picture muddies all hope of contemplation with flashes of the fearlessly eccentric imagery for which Park has become famous, and some of the slurpiest sex scenes to be found in any recent R-rated movie." Posted Aug 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2/10
| Rotten 25%
| The Collector (2009) | "
The torture never stops." Posted Aug 3, 2009 |
Fresh 5/10
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
The film's sweet conclusion finally returns us to the world of funnyman camaraderie. By this time, though, we're wondering why we ever had to leave." Posted Aug 3, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
By the time you reach the movie's ominous conclusion, you may wish that someone had given the picture itself one final wand-over before sending it out into the canon." Posted Jul 15, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Fresh 86%
| Tony Manero (2009) | "
Could this be ... art?" Posted Jul 6, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Fresh 67%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
The movie ends with a line of dialogue so startlingly inane that it leaves the picture flapping on the screen like a punctured balloon. It may be the most brutal moment in the whole movie." Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Rotten 55%
| Surveillance (2009) | "
The picture is twisted and disturbing and funny. Director Jennifer Lynch has pushed the material to the wall -- she has a gift for violence and perversity, and she never pulls back." Posted Jun 26, 2009 |
Fresh 8.5/10
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
A small but muscular combat classic." Posted Jun 26, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
"Whatever Works" isn't a good Woody Allen movie, even by latter-day standards. It is, however, a surprisingly offensive Woody Allen movie." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 15%
| Year One (2009) | "
The picture's desperate, teen-baiting assemblage of fart jokes, dick jokes, poop-nibbling and urine inhalation are a constant reminder that no matter how ancient the setting's supposed to be, the land of lame Hollywood japery is always near." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 66%
| Dead Snow (2009) | "
The movie definitely delivers in the gore department. The movie's problem -- you knew there had to be one -- is its uncertain tone." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
The picture's meandering rhythm slowly drains our interest." Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
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