ROTTEN TOMATOES: Harvey S. Karten

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HARVEY S. KARTEN

""If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am for myself only, what am I?" -Hillel"

Agrees with the Tomatometer 67% of the time.

Biography: After teaching high school for quite a while, I took an M.A. in Film and Theater from Hunter College in New York and a Ph.D. in Theater from the City University Graduate Center, also in the Big Apple. Having sat through one innocuous Broadway show after another and a great deal of talky off-Broadway productions as a so-called second-night critic, I realized that you don't always get what you pay for. Broadway shows may be $75 a ticket and movies just $9.50 (in New York), but you're more likely to have fun AND take away something of substance from the big screen. The switch from reviewing theater to reviewing movies was an easy one to make.When my application for membership in the New York Film Critics Circle was circular-filed (print media only, sorry), I founded the Online Film Critics Society in January 1997 and three years later, NYFCO (New York Film Critics Online).

Favorites: Favorite films: Amadeus, Schindler's List, Lassie Come HomeBest of 2006: Thank You for Smoking

Publications: Compuserve, Film Journal International, Modamag.com, Rotten Tomatoes, The Cinema Source

Critics' Group: New York Film Critics Online

Total Reviews: 2795

Location: Brooklyn, New York

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

Fresh B	N/A	Ajami (2010)	" As complex as Paul Haggis's film "Crash," this one may be confusing the first time around but affords the viewer an emotional picture of life in one of Israel's toughest neighborhoods." — Compuserve Posted Nov 19, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 58%	Missing Person (2009)	" Not the most riveting of noir dramas, this film exists mainly to project the talents of Michael Shannon in the role of a drunk private eye." — Compuserve Posted Nov 18, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 79%	Me and Orson Welles (2009)	" A stunning performance by Christian McKay as the great Orson Welles lifts this from what could have been just frothy entertainment into the sphere of the sublime." — Compuserve Posted Nov 18, 2009
Rotten C	N/A	Serious Moonlight (2009)	" Its claustrophobic setting prevents these two talented performers literally from strutting their stuff." — Compuserve Posted Nov 17, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 86%	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)	" Refreshingly loopy, as only Nic Cage can loop." — Compuserve Posted Nov 15, 2009
Rotten C	N/A	Before Tomorrow (2009)	" With its glacial pace and lack of action,this sample of Arctic artiness may be appreciated principally by anthropologists and social studies teachers and those who can enjoy seeing remote cultures through their own, aboriginal eyes." — Compuserve Posted Nov 13, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 50%	Uncertainty (2009)	" A young couple between a rock and a hard place must choose whether to go to a family dinner or run from gangsters, but only the latter choice is intereting." — Compuserve Posted Nov 12, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 37%	2012 (2009)	" Apocalypse new? No such luck: more like apocalypse same ol'." — Compuserve Posted Nov 9, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 89%	Defamation (2009)	" Intelligent, muscular documentary filmmaking that asks all the right questions about anti-Semitism today." — Compuserve Posted Nov 4, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 90%	The Messenger (2009)	" A well-performed example of male bonding in the army." — Compuserve Posted Nov 3, 2009
Fresh B+	N/A	A Prophet (2009)	" An intense performance by Tahir Rahim is at the center of a prison drama that conforms only slightly to the usual genre." — Compuserve Posted Nov 2, 2009
Rotten C+	Fresh 77%	The Good Soldier (2009)	" A well-intentioned but uninvolving anti-war documentary." — Compuserve Posted Oct 29, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 94%	Fish Tank (2009)	" Think of this as "Precious: The White Sequel"" — Compuserve Posted Oct 27, 2009
Fresh A-	N/A	You Cannot Start Without Me: Valery Gergiev - Maestro (2009)	" The year's most electrifying documentary to date features a charismatic composer who conducts segments from Europe's great classical, operatic and ballet composers." — Compuserve Posted Oct 26, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 67%	Police, Adjective (2009)	" The joy of lex is on display in this slow-moving policier chock full of dry humor, satirizing Romania's stagnation years after deposing communism." — Compuserve Posted Oct 21, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 64%	The End of Poverty? (2009)	" Though sorely in need of Michael Moore's humor, this leftist documentary successfully skewers the idea that poverty is strictly the fault of the poor nations." — Compuserve Posted Oct 20, 2009
Fresh B+	N/A	Mine (2009)	" In a strong performance, Sophie Okonedo plays a character who decides to stick to her own kind, much to the disgust of her father--all played against South Africa's racist political system." — Compuserve Posted Oct 20, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 87%	Skin (2009)	" In a strong performance, Sophie Okonedo's character decides to stick to her own kind to the disgust of her dad in a sentimental tale played out amid South Africa's racist political system." — Compuserve Posted Oct 20, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 83%	Four Seasons Lodge (2009)	" A joyous albeit at times melancholy look at Holocaust survivors who meet each summer at a mountain resort to kvell, kvetch and prove that living well and long is the best revenge against Hitler." — Compuserve Posted Oct 20, 2009
Fresh B+	Rotten 49%	Antichrist (2009)	" Porno-horror pic pessimistic about humanity with tour-de-force performances by Gainsbourg and Dafoe." — Compuserve Posted Oct 19, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 71%	Killing Kasztner (2008)	" An unbiased documentary sheds light on a Hungarian Jew who saved over 1600 Holocaust victims from the death camps by negotiating directly with Eichmann." — Compuserve Posted Oct 16, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 91%	Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009)	" Stunning performances from Mo'Nique and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe can evoke expressions of horror and disbelief from the audience: but young people battered mentally and physically like Precious are not rare." — Compuserve Posted Oct 16, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 93%	The Wedding Song (2009)	" Somewhat inventive, graced by strong performances amid a background in Tunisia, 'The Wedding Song' could be called 'East Side Story' given its resemblance to the Broadway musical inspired by 'Romeo and Juliet.'" — Compuserve Posted Oct 15, 2009
Rotten C	Fresh 70%	Where the Wild Things Are (2009)	" What sinks the movie is the soporific banality of the dialogue, particularly that the conversation is not projected to the audience but directed only to the small group of participants on the screen." — Compuserve Posted Oct 14, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 72%	The Road (2009)	" Partly horror, partly sci-fi, mostly a family-bonding drama with stellar acting and patient action." — Compuserve Posted Oct 12, 2009
Fresh B+	Rotten 55%	The Little Traitor (2009)	" An adorable story of an unlikely friendship between a Polish-Jewish 12-year-old and a 50-something British sergeant during the British occupation of Palestine in 1947." — Compuserve Posted Oct 9, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	The Maid (2009)	" A stunningly portrayed identity crisis of a maid caught between considering herself one of the family and, despite her 23 years' service to the same household, simply the hired help." — Compuserve Posted Oct 8, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 12%	Couples Retreat (2009)	" Enjoy the stunning South Pacific views, but don't expect some enchanted evening." — Compuserve Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 85%	Araya (1959)	" We do not learn what the workers in the salt fields of Araya think of their job--there is no dialogue--but the film is notable for its poetic narration and graphic imagery of people going about their jobs rhythmically, without change." — Compuserve Posted Oct 5, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 86%	A Serious Man (2009)	" A wonderful parable of 1960s Jewish life in Minnesota filled equally with humor and pathos." — Compuserve Posted Oct 2, 2009
Fresh A-	Rotten 56%	The Invention of Lying (2009)	" Satiric, smart, sassy, and most of all subversive." — Compuserve Posted Oct 1, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 94%	Good Hair (2009)	" Chris keep the action rocking, the beautiful women and not so handsome men in the cast sometimes matching his humor, joke for joke." — Compuserve Posted Oct 1, 2009
Rotten C+	Rotten 42%	New York, I Love You (2009)	" A watchable albeit bland look at some of the eccentricities among New York's diverse population." — Compuserve Posted Sep 30, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 61%	Peter and Vandy (2009)	" The picture to see if you like your romances to be less like that or Romeo and Juliet and more like that of Peter and Vandy." — Compuserve Posted Sep 28, 2009
Rotten C	N/A	Oral Fixation (2009)	" An unoriginal, soapy, poor man's 'Fatal Attraction.'" — Compuserve Posted Sep 25, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 58%	Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution (2009)	" Primary school kids show us adults the way by shouting the need for organic food." — Compuserve Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh B	Rotten 22%	I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009)	" The toilet scene is so down-and-dirty that I challenge you not to look away from the screen. That's to the movie's credit." — Compuserve Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh B+	Rotten 57%	As Seen Through These Eyes (2009)	" A quietly impressive testament to the tenaciousness of the human spirit." — Compuserve Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh B	Rotten 35%	Blind Date (2009)	" Far more than an actors' exercise, this theatrical piece conveys the heartbreak of a married couple who have lost their 5-year-old daughter in an auto accident." — Compuserve Posted Sep 23, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 75%	Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)	" If Steven Spielberg is our country's best dramatic filmmaker, then surely Michael Moore is our best documentarian--which he proves in this sometimes hilariously entertaining broadside against the capitalist system." — Compuserve Posted Sep 21, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 76%	The Informant! (2009)	" Despite (or because of) his gaining 30 pounds for the role--half of which weight may be from his rug--Matt Damon is in top form." — Compuserve Posted Sep 17, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 18%	Love Happens (2009)	" The parrot has the movie's most intelligent dialogue." — Compuserve Posted Sep 17, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 89%	The White Ribbon (2009)	" A beautifully made picture about the brutal existence within a pre-WWI German village, but an experience more intellectual than emotional." — Compuserve Posted Sep 17, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 79%	Disgrace (2009)	" An absorbing and therefore entertaining piece." — Compuserve Posted Sep 16, 2009
Rotten C+	Rotten 18%	The Other Man (2009)	" Can you believe that a guy who once played Oskar Schindler and a woman who was Abigail Adams can go slumming in a less-than-appealing soap?" — Compuserve Posted Sep 11, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 78%	Bronson (2009)	" Not among the best movies this year, but arguably the most creative and novel so far." — Compuserve Posted Sep 9, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 69%	Paris (2009)	" The title character is not as pretty as the director thinks it is, but the ensemble does stellar work." — Compuserve Posted Sep 8, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 100%	Rashevski's Tango (2003)	" With gentle humor and loving sentiment, the film deals with the question, "Who is a Jew?"" — Compuserve Posted Sep 5, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 95%	Crude (2009)	" A stinging indictment of the huge Chevron corporation, which has been sued for despoiling the Ecuadorian Amazon to the severe detriment of the indigenous population." — Compuserve Posted Sep 4, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 82%	Broken Embraces (2009)	" Penelope Cruz is as hot as ever in Almodovar's noirish tale of raging jealousy." — Compuserve Posted Sep 4, 2009

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A-	The Great Buck HowardOffsite
B+	BlindersOffsite
B	Shall We Kiss?Offsite
B-	ThirstOffsite
C+	I Love You, ManOffsite
C	Severed WaysOffsite
C-	The Last House on the LeftOffsite
D	Land of the LostOffsite

A	The IllusionistOffsite
A	Thank You For SmokingOffsite
A	The Polar ExpressOffsite
A	Being JuliaOffsite
A	DogvilleOffsite
4/4	Winged MigrationOffsite
4/4	ChicagoOffsite
4/4	Road to PerditionOffsite
4/4	AmadeusOffsite
4/4	Mulholland Dr.Offsite

F	VirginOffsite
F	The Whole Ten YardsOffsite
0.5/4	Teddy Bears' PicnicOffsite
0.5/4	Bubble BoyOffsite
D	Year OneOffsite
D	Land of the LostOffsite
D	SplinterOffsite
D	QuarantineOffsite
D	Semi-ProOffsite
D	Smokin' AcesOffsite

HARVEY S. KARTEN

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