Rotten C+
| Rotten 50%
| It's Complicated (2009) | "
At its core, it's another glossy rom-com about a woman dithering in an unhealthy relationship while another, better, meeker suitor waits in the wings." Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 28%
| Serious Moonlight (2009) | "
I appreciate that talented people wanted to honor Shelly by making this film. They likely would have better honored her by mounting her script as a play." Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
Harrelson gives what might be a career performance as a jaded mentor who tries to conduct each notification using a well-rehearsed set of rules of engagement." Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten F-
| Rotten 6%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
Really, what it affirms is that studio executives are already making movies for the future-audience from Idiocracy." Posted Nov 29, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 27%
| Splinterheads (2009) | "
The leads have no chemistry; the supporting cast of carnies and eccentrics is bland; the staging is dull; not a single gag lands; and Justin and Galaxy's one get-to-know-you conversation is never heard because it's buried in a road trip music montage." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
You can only get so mad at a movie in which a large crowd cheers and the lone subtitle reads "Hooray." With a period." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
The movie's carnival-barker hard sell is that it's after The Truth. It's really after an opening-weekend gross, of course. It's sporadically clever and chilling, but I'll be shocked if it endures as a Blair Witch-style horror vérité phenomenon." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
The film is competent without being spectacular or thrilling." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 24%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
The movie starts out as a potboiler with a troubling character arc; unfortunately, it ends up becoming a goofy, story-overwhelming Rube Goldberg contraption that would make the producers of the Saw series blush." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| Whip It (2009) | "
For teenage girls, I could see Whip It being a minor revelation. I hope they see it in droves." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
If there's one moment that perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the horror-comedy Zombieland, it's probably this: Woody Harrelson in a cowboy hat, whooping and hollering, picking off zombies with a gun...from a moving roller coaster." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
If I have one real beef with Cold Souls, it's simply this: I don't think it digs particularly deeply into the philosophy or the unanswerable questions dredged up by its premise." Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 46%
| Shorts (2009) | "
I'm not sure if parents will be counting out each of Shorts' 89 minutes or not, begging for it to end, but I'm guessing 8-year-olds will absolutely love it." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 58%
| A Perfect Getaway (2009) | "
If you're willing to have your patience tested, Twohy and his cast reward it." Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 55%
| Orphan (2009) | "
It takes too long to get started, it pulls some key punches, its dialogue is deeply uninteresting, it relies way too heavily on endless jump-scares and its finale is pure slasher-flick formula." Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
Rotten F+
| Rotten 15%
| I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) | "
I was stunned to learn that Beth Cooper was created by actual filmmaking veterans." Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 64%
| The Merry Gentleman (2009) | "
Keaton offers glimpses of a directorial gift, but this odd little piece feels like warm-up for something more compelling." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
The movie's lazy, formulaic story quickly becomes an excruciating waste of talent." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 25%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
I'm pleased to report the new Land of the Lost movie keenly understands that what was once scary is now ridiculous." Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 92%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
Raimi as a filmmaker is clearly having more fun than he's had in years. So will his fans." Posted May 29, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 44%
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) | "
Your 12-and-unders will dig it, and it might even serve as a sort of movie-Bookmobile and get them to read a little history, or at least a little Wikipedia. But otherwise it's utterly dispensable." Posted May 22, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 55%
| Lymelife (2009) | "
The movie's appealing as a rambling actor showcase: As with the better mid-range indies, you enjoy spending time with these people even if a few elements of the movie let you down." Posted May 8, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 27%
| Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) | "
Despite being foolish in most respects, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past keeps you on its wacky rom-com narrative train all the way to the end. But that's probably a testament to the power of Charles Dickens' storytelling more than anything else." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 14%
| The Informers (2009) | "
A grim, open-ended study in smooth surfaces, skin and 25-year-old pop-culture references." Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 50%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
I'm not sure how many lovable schlubs Rogen agreed to play in Judd Apatow comedies to get this dark little piece made, but I'm delighted he took the risk." Posted Apr 10, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 34%
| Alien Trespass (2009) | "
One gets the sinking feeling as Alien Trespass drags on that [director] Goodwin thought he could build a whole movie out of a few formal gags about bad editing." Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 28%
| Fast & Furious (2009) | "
This will personally go down as the flick that really made me realize how much I hate CGI stunts." Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 32%
| Fanboys (2009) | "
Fanboys kind of made me want to stop being one." Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 65%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
Gilroy's technique can feel like complication for complication's sake, but stick with the story and the dramatic rewards are real, or at least the punch line's pretty clever." Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 42%
| Race to Witch Mountain (2009) | "
The Rock charms you through the worst of it, but the effects are cheap, the dialogue is about as challenging as a Hannah Montana episode, and the pace manages to be both brisk and numbing." Posted Mar 13, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 44%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
Scratch the surface, and the movie's underpinnings are an insult to women everywhere -- the film is slick stupid propaganda for the myth of The One True Love that wastes the talents of fine actresses." Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 57%
| Taken (2009) | "
Taken is a stripped-down action flick offering a single bloodlusty pleasure: You get to spend 90 minutes watching a world-class leading man cut a totally justified swath of violence through an army of central-casting scumbags." Posted Jan 30, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 39%
| Inkheart (2009) | "
Inkheart takes a great idea and then refuses to do much with that idea -- including, I'm afraid, explaining it clearly to the audience." Posted Jan 23, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 15%
| The Spirit (2008) | "
The Spirit is a loony, embarrassing mess that takes the late Will Eisner's classic comics creation and beats it senseless with a giant toilet bowl (literally, at one point)." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 25%
| Four Christmases (2008) | "
Vaughn and Witherspoon are clearly having a lot of fun snapping each other's synapses, and their sense of play gives the whole easygoing, formulaic enterprise a welcome jolt." Posted Nov 26, 2008 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 97%
| Let the Right One In (2008) | "
Let the Right One In could be described as a vampire horror romance, but that seems like too easy a label for this beautiful, unnerving little movie." Posted Nov 14, 2008 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 54%
| What Just Happened (2008) | "
Levinson keeps the film locked into a sort of low-key middle-age depression." Posted Oct 31, 2008 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 61%
| Changeling (2008) | "
Eastwood and [screenwriter] Straczynski also give the story roughly 50 endings, and the director can be too melodramatic or on-the-nose." Posted Oct 31, 2008 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 34%
| Pride and Glory (2008) | "
Like We Own the Night before it, Pride and Glory is the most depressing sort of not-that-great movie because it really wants to be an epic drama and a serious actor showcase, but it just can't close the deal." Posted Oct 24, 2008 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 69%
| Religulous (2008) | "
Atheists should find it good for an easy laugh." Posted Oct 3, 2008 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 47%
| Towelhead (2008) | "
The coming-of-age molestation drama Towelhead is beautifully acted and accomplishes exactly what writer/director Alan Ball set out to accomplish." Posted Sep 26, 2008 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 54%
| Choke (2008) | "
Whatever Choke lacks in Fight Club-style slickness and epic-manifesto scope, it makes up for with filthy humor, likable performances and a surprisingly light touch." Posted Sep 26, 2008 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 47%
| Lakeview Terrace (2008) | "
Lakeview Terrace grabs a fistful of hot-button story elements -- race, sex, politics -- and promptly mixes them into the thriller equivalent of tapioca." Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 74%
| Elegy (2008) | "
The film is exquisite on every level, full of sadness and emotional surprise." Posted Aug 22, 2008 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 19%
| The Clone Wars (2008) | "
Getting worked up over this is like getting worked up over a Saturday-morning cartoon. Unlike its predecessors, this one doesn't even try to aspire to myth. It aspires only to merchandising." Posted Aug 15, 2008 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 14%
| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) | "
Every vestige of the first Mummy movie's wit and charm is buried in an avalanche of noise and motion. It's exhausting." Posted Aug 1, 2008 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 53%
| Mamma Mia! (2008) | "
I can see how Mamma Mia! might be a fun stage musical. As a movie musical, it's a train wreck." Posted Jul 18, 2008 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 61%
| Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) | "
It's inoffensive and shiny and competent and kids will dig it, and I can already barely remember a single thing that happened." Posted Jul 11, 2008 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 68%
| Redbelt (2008) | "
A fascinating, beautifully acted study in philosophical tension." Posted May 9, 2008 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 28%
| What Happens in Vegas (2008) | "
You know how some movies feel like they were made by a committee? What Happens in Vegas feels like it was made by checklist." Posted May 9, 2008 |
RSS Feeds