Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
These largely self-contained vignettes are harrowing, the source of a font of raw emotional release that could never be otherwise captured except through a presumably invasive documentary process." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 23%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
An illogical, campy joke of a movie that suffers hugely in comparison to F. Gary Gray's earlier ****-the-injustice-system thriller The Negotiator." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
The emotional maturity of a sheltered teen in post-war austerity Britain is thoroughly tested in An Education." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
There's a lot of underlying potential here, but there seems to have been no one around to whip it into shape." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 29, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 39%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
Mostow demonstrates an uncharacteristic lack of subtlety throughout that suggests a diminishment of skills for the man who helmed the crackerjack kidnap thriller Breakdown." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 79%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
It's not Coetzee's assertion that the white minority South Africans must go a ways toward assimilating into African life to remain relevant that invites deep scrutiny, but the narrow vision presented here of Africanization as something akin to wilding." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 45%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
Represents a cornucopia of ideas, both comedy and horror, and the determination of the filmmakers to simply play the odds of getting more elements right than wrong instead of pursuing a purer vision makes it a mixed viewing experience." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Taking Woodstock fails to immerse us in the visceral feeling of being there." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| Fifty Dead Men Walking (2009) | "
Impressively compact in its storytelling and visually sumptuous despite a budget of pocket-change proportions." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 80%
| Bandslam (2009) | "
I Can't Go On, I'll Go On is the name of the bubblegum rock group at the center of Bandslam, as well as a useful mantra for any moviegoer struggling to make it all the way through this depressingly phony approximation of a teen tragicomedy." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 36%
| G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) | "
Sommers seems to be operating under what he perceives as a pact between himself and his 11-year-old fanbase, to simply provide them with as much awesome **** as he's allowed to shovel at the screen." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 26%
| Shrink (2009) | "
Though it never rains frogs in Shrink, the influence of Magnolia on this sprawling portrait of West L.A.'s rich-and-miserable couldn't be more pronounced." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 86%
| A Woman in Berlin (2008) | "
As quickly as possible, the initial, brutal encounters are concluded and the film is hurried along to its second, plot-heavy incarnation as a healing-and-reconciliation drama." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 15, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 31%
| Deadgirl (2008) | "
The appeal of Deadgirl depends exclusively on the intriguing image at its center." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 7, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 96%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
The Girl from Monaco is a frustratingly suspense-free affair" — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 45%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
This third entry in the animated kiddie series appears to be more, um, fair and balanced." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 47%
| The Girl From Monaco (2009) | "
The Girl from Monaco is a frustratingly suspense-free affair." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 47%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
My Sister's Keeper suffers from sheer sloppiness of script that results in scenes of comedic frivolity coming off as screechingly forced." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 38%
| Imagine That (2009) | "
In its minimalism that borders on self-parody, Imagine That is reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
In consistently erring of the side of subtlety, Moreau's performance also proves a perfect tonal match for Provost's subtle, meticulous, and frequently beautiful compositions." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 19%
| Downloading Nancy (2008) | "
An emotionally sterile and self-serious terminal disease drama without a moment of levity to be found from first frame to last." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 1, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
A giddy procession of intermittently successful jump scares and make-you-vomit sight gags strung together by a story so elemental it could be rendered in mural form on a funhouse wall." — Slant Magazine Posted May 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
Like the human skulls crushed under sleek metal feet in those feverish sequences, the Terminator film series is finished." — Slant Magazine Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 22%
| Next Day Air (2009) | "
An incessantly talky, inert crime film that's like a hip-hop poseur, all swagger and mouth but with no real taste for the grittiness of thug life." — Slant Magazine Posted May 8, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
An emotionally tone deaf and, typical of the director, gimmick-laden and aggressively polished adaptation." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 58%
| 17 Again (2009) | "
When 17 Again isn't pilfering from its betters, it's engaging in the most Pavlovian button-pushing." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| The Lemon Tree (2008) | "
Riklis is ultimately unable to center his attention on any one of its multiple fissures and reflexively allows Lemon Tree to rest on its aura of subliminal female solidarity." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 14, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 44%
| Hannah Montana The Movie (2009) | "
It's all in good fun, even if it isn't actually much fun." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 11, 2009 |
N/A | Fresh 84%
| Wendy and Lucy (2008) | "
Reichardt recently invited Slant down to Manhattan's Oscilloscope Labs to talk about the film and its political bearings, as well as to debate what success means for an ultra low-budget filmmaker." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 4, 2009 |
N/A | Fresh 83%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
My interview with James Gray, conducted at the offices of Magnolia Pictures, touches on the complexities of Two Lovers and the nature of criticism." — Slant Magazine Posted Apr 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 65%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
A romance aiming at a tone of jazz-riff larkishness but somewhat undermined in that pursuit by the washboard-stiffness of its main characters." — Slant Magazine Posted Mar 17, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
The International isn't pitching itself at Jack Ryan territory, but weirdly, at The Da Vinci Code." — Slant Magazine Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 44%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
He's Just Not That Into You can't help but approximate its unsatisfying elevation of chit-chat into a primary mode of rom-com narrative communication, a bad omen for the genre going forward." — Slant Magazine Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 32%
| Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) | "
Hiistorical events referenced in the first two installments of the Underworld franchise are brought to life in this passionless, idea-deprived prequel" — Slant Magazine Posted Jan 24, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 36%
| While She Was Out (2008) | "
A half-assed re-filming of First Blood." — Slant Magazine Posted Jan 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 69%
| Alone With Her (2007) | "
What sets the film a notch above standard genre fare is its ability to ask bigger questions about a stalker like Doug." — Cinematical Posted Oct 28, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 52%
| Leatherheads (2008) | "
Leatherheads isn't poorly made, but it's easy, hang-back material from a director who's already proven himself up for a challenge, and that's hard to accept." — Premiere Magazine Posted Apr 4, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 26%
| Drillbit Taylor (2008) | "
Drillbit Taylor presents nothing blindingly new for fans of Apatow- or Sandler-style humor and when watching it, one can hear the faint rustling of old scripts being yanked from drawers for a timely cash-in." — Premiere Magazine Posted Mar 21, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| Caramel (2008) | "
The penetrating musical score, with its memorable shadings of emotional danger, the snappy and confident pacing and the emergence of 33-year-old Labaki as an international talent to watch all combine to make the film satisfying confection." — Premiere Magazine Posted Feb 1, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 13%
| Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) | "
I can't recommend it as a good movie on its own merits, stocked as it is with cardboard cutout characters and a barely coherent plot, but it's miles more interesting than the last Alien vs. Predator film" — Cinematical Posted Jan 2, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 65%
| Brick Lane (2008) | "
A depressing, static drama that will have heads lolling backwards and eyes drooping wherever it plays." — Cinematical Posted Sep 22, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 89%
| Eastern Promises (2007) | "
This is a film with a lot of big emotions, but not a lot of big moments." — Cinematical Posted Sep 22, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 68%
| Love Comes Lately (2007) | "
One of the most ill-conceived films to come down the pike in a long, long time." — Cinematical Posted Sep 20, 2007 |
— | Fresh 69%
| The Girl in the Park (2007) |
Click here to read article — Cinematical Posted Sep 18, 2007 |
Fresh
| Rotten 47%
| Towelhead (2008) | "
The long-awaited directorial debut of Alan Ball does not disappoint." — Cinematical Posted Sep 18, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| It's a Free World (2007) | "
Works on every level -- the performances are compelling, the drama feels grounded and real, and we brush up against an issue so large and overwhelming that you can easily see why no one thinks it's their problem to solve." — Cinematical Posted Sep 18, 2007 |
— | N/A | Deficit (2007) |
Click here to read article — Cinematical Posted Sep 15, 2007 |
Fresh
| Rotten 24%
| The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) | "
Not as profound in its revelations as it wants to be, but with strong acting and a strong visual palette, it's a success." — Cinematical Posted Sep 15, 2007 |
Fresh
| Rotten 44%
| Redacted (2007) | "
I tend to think that even bad De Palma -- movies like Snake Eyes and The Black Dahlia -- are still better than most of the tripe we have to sit through, so even if Redacted falls under that category, it's still worth recommending." — Cinematical Posted Sep 14, 2007 |
Fresh
| Rotten 51%
| Then She Found Me (2008) | "
Sometimes charming, occasionally funny, it never draws attention to itself as the work of a director with training wheels on." — Cinematical Posted Sep 14, 2007 |
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