Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 64%
| The Brothers Bloom (2009) | "
An awfully good time." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 5, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 23%
| Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) | "
If there is a single bright spot in the financial crisis, it is the possibility that one day producer Jerry Bruckheimer will run out of money." — Chicago Tribune Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 61%
| Marley & Me (2008) | "
The book, like the movie it inspired, is a sweet, surprisingly moving chronicle of a young couple's struggle to simultaneously build a family, advance their careers and maintain their sanity." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 24, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 63%
| One Day You'll Understand (2008) | "
This is not a movie of big, dramatic revelations; in fact, the notionally elusive truth is pretty obvious from the movie's outset, which makes Victor's quest less about facts and more about principles." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 13, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story (2008) | "
By the end of Forbes' brisk, economical portrait, Atwater has been revealed as a repugnant and pathetic soul--and a political visionary, among the first to fully understand and harness the raw power of voters' fears." — Chicago Tribune Posted Oct 31, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 58%
| The Secret Life of Bees (2008) | "
Sweat and good intentions, however, will take you only so far. And they take Bees right up to the threshold of entertaining%u2014but not one step further." — Chicago Tribune Posted Oct 20, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 68%
| America The Beautiful (2008) | "
Despite the occasional flash of insight, and a few semi-shocking factoids, most women are going to find this movie roughly as illuminating as a remedial math class might be for a Nobel-prize winning physicist." — Chicago Tribune Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 37%
| Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) | "
Morgan Spurlock is a living, breathing cautionary tale. Take a good, long look, kids: This is what happens when society validates really annoying people." — Chicago Tribune Posted Oct 18, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 64%
| The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) | "
Like its predecessor, Sisterhood 2 is based on two radical ideas: namely, that young women's stories are about more than the pursuit of men, and that happiness isn't something someone else gives you -- it's something you have to find for yourself." — Chicago Tribune Posted Aug 7, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 79%
| Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) | "
I predict with great confidence that the big-screen debut of the American Girl brand will be a resounding success. This rosy prediction is based partly on the fact that Kit Kittredge is a solidly made movie...and partly on the fact that the America" — Chicago Tribune Posted Jun 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 44%
| The Strangers (2008) | "
Anchored by convincing performances from Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, both of whom elevate their roles above the standard horror-movie caricature, this is an enormously unsettling movie." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| Sex and the City - The Movie (2008) | "
Witty, effervescent and unexpectedly thoughtful, the big-screen iteration of the HBO series stands up beautifully (and somewhat miraculously) to the twin pressures of popular expectation and critical assessment." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 28, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| The Singing Revolution (2007) | "
As far as the plot goes, widespread lack of familiarity with Estonia's recent history actually works in the film's favor: Suspense born of ignorance lends the unfolding drama the urgency of a political thriller." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 22, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2008) | "
Unlike so many of her peers who depend on music to do everything but deliver the dialogue, [director] Riedel isn't afraid of silence; early in the film there's a solid minute of noiselessness as the camera lovingly pans the town, establishing the story's" — Chicago Tribune Posted May 15, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 48%
| Before the Rains (2008) | "
The problem isn't just that the material is cliched and vaguely offensive....It's more that the plot is incredibly predictable, the score is manipulative and the denouement completely unsatisfying." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 15, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| N/A | America the Beautiful (2001) | "
On behalf of every woman who's ever turned down that second piece of cake or spent far too much on anti-aging creams, I want to say: Welcome, Darryl. I hope you'll invite other men on your overdue journey to Obvious Town." — Chicago Tribune Posted May 8, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Young@Heart (2008) | "
A chorus (average age 80) prepares for a springtime tour, putting their signature spin on classics--classics like The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go."" — Chicago Tribune Posted Apr 18, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| Teeth (2008) | "
Given how thoroughly all the subtext spells out the message, then, it seems unnecessary to make the actual text so raw, grotesque and graphic. Granted, a horror movie about vagina dentata was probably never destined to be tasteful, but Lichtenstein's comp" — Chicago Tribune Posted Mar 27, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 64%
| Stop-Loss (2008) | "
Peirce's obvious respect for the returned soldiers should prevent Stop-Loss from being dismissed as a Hollywood anti-war screed. It's more accurately described as an anti-war movie with a resolutely pro-troop message." — Chicago Tribune Posted Mar 27, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 98%
| The Band's Visit (2007) | "
You can watch The Band's Visit for its political idealism, or you can watch it for entertainment value alone. In either case, it doesn't disappoint." — Chicago Tribune Posted Mar 6, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 41%
| The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) | "
Sticklers for historical accuracy are forewarned: This glossy production plays fast and loose with the facts, abbreviating, altering and excising entire character arcs and plot lines." — Chicago Tribune Posted Feb 28, 2008 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 5%
| The Hottie & the Nottie (2008) | "
Heidi Ferrer's screenplay...succeeds at just one thing: trumpeting one of the most anti-feminist messages in recent film history." — Chicago Tribune Posted Feb 7, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 14%
| First Sunday (2008) | "
The movie's total lack of focus and its unimpressive script should render it totally unwatchable. Weirdly, that doesn't quite happen." — Chicago Tribune Posted Jan 11, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 73%
| The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) | "
A sweet, familiar story, beautifully filmed and lovingly told." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 25, 2007 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 73%
| The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) | "
But for all the movie’s good cheer, it’s never dull. What it lacks in edginess, it more than makes up for with stunning scenery, a breathless finale and an irresistibly hopeful message." — Metromix.com Posted Dec 24, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 22%
| P.S. I Love You (2007) | "
Snippets of sharp, witty dialogue are lost in a sea of sappy clichés and too-cute-for-words plot twists." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 21, 2007 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| The Savages (2007) | "
Assured and sharp, The Savages is only Jenkins' second feature-length film. You'd never know it." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 20, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| Starting Out in the Evening (2007) | "
While the film shares the novel's stealth appeal ... on the whole it's better: sharper, leaner and less sentimental." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 14, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 60%
| What Would Jesus Buy? (2007) | "
It's a wickedly effective indictment of America's consumer compulsion, our mindless shopping and the multinational corporations controlling it all." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 29, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 98%
| For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) | "
This is a compelling, thought-provoking portrait of a quiet challenge rising within America's churches." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 29, 2007 |
— | Rotten 37%
| Milarepa (2007) |
Click here to read article — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 26, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 13%
| Broken (2007) | "
[The] script is so uneven that the result is like watching four different, equally bad, movies." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 12, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 34%
| P2 (2007) | "
The same old grim game of cat and mouse. Sure, we hope the mouse gets away. But mostly we just want the whole thing to end." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 8, 2007 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 65%
| Wristcutters: A Love Story (2007) | "
Wristcutters is quite a bit darker than most mainstream romantic comedies. As you might not expect, it's also quite a bit more inventive and far wittier than most mainstream romantic comedies." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 1, 2007 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 31%
| Music Within (2007) | "
A well-intentioned biopic about disability crusader Richard Pimentel that starts strong but eventually collapses under its weighty sense of responsibility." — Chicago Tribune Posted Oct 25, 2007 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 75%
| Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman (2007) | "
Despite [director] Fox's excruciating level of self-involvement, she manages, more than once, to lay bare critical questions that are at once familiar and compelling." — Chicago Tribune Posted Sep 13, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 54%
| Across the Universe (2007) | "
If you can get past its relatively minor failings, it's hard not to be seduced by the big heart of this chaotic, colorful movie." — Chicago Tribune Posted Sep 13, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 13%
| Mr. Woodcock (2007) | "
[A] marginally promising -- but ultimately unfunny -- comedy." — Chicago Tribune Posted Sep 13, 2007 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 52%
| Manufacturing Dissent (2007) | "
Manufacturing Dissent comes across less as an expose of a polarizing public figure than as the realization of a personal and not especially interesting grudge against a once-admired colleague who has moved on to bigger things." — Chicago Tribune Posted Aug 30, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 62%
| Them (2007) | "
Taut and remorseless, Them, which is allegedly based on actual events, is the perfect antidote to the stomach-churning gore served up by so many in the current crop of horror films." — Chicago Tribune Posted Aug 23, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 38%
| Hot Rod (2007) | "
Some hilarity does, in fact, ensue, but the laughs are interspersed with long stretches of dead air." — Chicago Tribune Posted Aug 2, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 27%
| Evening (2007) | "
If you've not read Susan Minot's 1998 bestseller Evening, you will be happily oblivious to the movie's glaring departures and free to settle into this languid, gorgeously shot film, which bears only a passing resemblance to the novel." — Chicago Tribune Posted Jun 28, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 81%
| Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard (2007) | "
The usual pyrotechnics are intact, the corpses pile up and McClane even gets to spit out his signature battle cry." — Chicago Tribune Posted Jun 26, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 48%
| We Are Marshall (2006) | "
'Restrained' and 'tasteful' are not words normally associated with McG, the director best known for countless music videos and the Charlie's Angels movie franchise. We Are Marshall could change that." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 21, 2006 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| Ever Again (2005) | "
What makes this movie worth seeing, is, ironically, exactly what may deter potential audiences: It's a rigorous, almost academic examination of a venomous hatred rooted in the past, primed to poison the future." — Chicago Tribune Posted Dec 7, 2006 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 61%
| 10 Items or Less (2006) | "
Silberling demonstrates an unerring ear for the natural, often discomfiting rhythm of two strangers tentatively forging a connection." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 30, 2006 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 45%
| Bobby (2006) | "
A daring, messy and strangely rewarding patchwork that's straining at the seams." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 22, 2006 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 6%
| Deck the Halls (2006) | "
... Deck the Halls has little to recommend it." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 21, 2006 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 31%
| Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) | "
A revelatory, challenging and deeply affecting portrait, anchored by what may be Kidman's most profoundly moving performance to date." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 16, 2006 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 25%
| A Good Year (2006) | "
It's no surprise that you can see A Good Year's plot twists and clunker of an ending from a mile away." — Chicago Tribune Posted Nov 9, 2006 |
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