Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 85%
| Red Cliff (2009) | "
Many people see Red Cliff as Hong Kong actioneer John Woo's return to form. I'm not one of them. John Woo has never once made a film I've liked. Until now." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 73%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
Potentially culturally offensive and overly schmaltzy, The Blind Side instead threads an almost impossible needle, pulling off a surprisingly moving and inspirational story of compassion, self-discovery and hope." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Cheeky, original, funny, satisfyingly silly and even a bit profound, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, like Where the Wild Things Are, is a quirky delight for children and the child hopefully still residing in every adult." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 70%
| The Road (2009) | "
Breathtaking in the totality of its harrowing vision, The Road is an unflinching contemplation on the astonishing duality of the human animal." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans is a magnificent mess of the sort only Herzog can get away with making." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 30%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
Walking out of New Moon, I was struck by the odd sensation that I was living in an alternate universe peopled by vampires and the movie we'd just seen was their version of Days of our Lives." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
It is better that the world ends here, right now, this instant, in a calamitous and civilization-decimating apocalypse before anyone else has to suffer through the disaster of a disaster film that is 2012. You'll thank me later." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Precious is one of the most harrowing films you will ever see, with one of the most monstrous villains in movie history. Yet it earns both a levity and a hope that somehow never feels out of place, an almost impossible balancing act to pull off." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Rotten 47%
| The Box (2009) | "
The Box...breezes right past slick, pre-packed sci-fi to find a resting place somewhere in the outlandish and exceedingly eccentric world of artists so true to themselves that their work inspires and infuriates in equal measure." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
In a very real sense, this version of A Christmas Carol is the most faithful to Charles Dickens' original text ever filmed." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
If looks could really kill, this film would already be dead." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 8.5/10
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
Carey Mulligan...allows us to observe and participate in something truly special %u2014 the birth of a major talent." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
Ong Bak 2, which bears absolutely no relation to the film that preceded it other than a title and a lead actor, is cinematic proof that you can indeed have too much of a good thing." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Rotten 38%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
The first image of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant tells us everything we need to know about what kind of film this is going to be: we open on a tub full of popcorn." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Rotten 48%
| Astro Boy (2009) | "
The icon's first big screen appearance is sure to be a let down for his long-time fans, too light for their sophisticated tastes and too dark for the simpler appetites of their children." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Where the Wild Things Are is too simple to be understood by adults. Only a child can truly grasp it (even though this film is in no way intended for them). Reach down deep and find the child who still lives within you." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 86%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
A Serious Man is exquisitely, perhaps even flawlessly, realized. If one were to say that the Coens have stopped evolving as filmmakers, it is only because one cannot improve upon perfection." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 83%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Paranormal Activity is not a movie; it is a participatory sport, an amusement park haunted house complete with the obligatory shrieking teenaged girls clinging to each other for solace." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
Couples Retreat is an unending parade of offensive scenes, a tedious cavalcade of miserable, shallow people with whom we are no doubt supposed to identify but with whom we should hope to see nothing in common." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Rotten 56%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
The Invention of Lying is a small comedy with big things on its mind. At its core beats an almost Capra-esque heart. But its reach exceeds its grasp and unfortunately, it fizzles in the end, falling far short of its lofty goals." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
It's fitting that much of the film takes place in an amusement park, because Zombieland is one thrill ride after another." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
Surprisingly moving and pervasively funny, this celebration of female camaraderie is, to borrow a word, pure bliss. Miracle...whip!" — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
As a child, my mother taught me that there was always a kernel of truth in every bit of criticism; always some veracity in every condemnation, no matter how outlandish the claim or the claimant." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
Bland, uneventful and going in circles for most of its second half, The Boys are Back never really gets to the point." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
[O]ne of the finest films about the life of an artist ever made." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 39%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
Surrogates is a compelling set-up buttressed by slick effects and impressive production values that ultimately proves to be as hollow and superficial as the technology it conjures." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
...some of the most fun I've had at the theater all year." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 85%
| Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) | "
I loved, loved, loved this movie! Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is easily the best non-Pixar animated film to come out in our post-Pixar world." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 45%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
There is a fine, almost invisible line between the satire and the B-movie, and unfortunately for Cody, her new film spends nearly two hours looking for it, without any success." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Rotten 18%
| Love Happens (2009) | "
[The director] goes for the melodramatic jugular, knocking over the pitcher of lemonade his characters have so faithfully made from their lemons, and souring the entire film." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Rotten 3.5/10
| Rotten 6%
| Whiteout (2009) | "
Perhaps it would have been better if I'd blacked out for most of Whiteout." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 10, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 56%
| 9 (2009) | "
9 is enthralling and beguiling, a flawed but gripping narrative suffused with wonder, imagination and dread-tinged awe." — Christianity Today Posted Sep 10, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
...moves with all the speed of celluloid being pulled through a vat of oatmeal." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 85%
| World's Greatest Dad (2009) | "
World's Greatest Dad is Ferris Bueller's Day Off %u2026 with autoerotic asphyxiation." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
A piece of bravura filmmaking, a scrumptiously over the top revenge fantasy that melds high comedy with tragic melodrama for pure hypnotic effect. I've never enjoyed a Tarantino movie more." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
Easily one of the best and most surprising films of the summer, an edge-of-your-seat actioneer that represents the very best that science fiction has to offer." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
[I]f not all of Funny People works, who of us matured into adulthood without first struggling though some growing pains?" — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 28, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 65%
| Adam (2009) | "
Adam and several other movies like it, are the antidote to the summer blight, delivering smart, hilarious, moving and cosmically life-affirming stories." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 28, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 15%
| The Ugly Truth (2009) | "
The Ugly Truth is two movies for the price of one, but don't get too excited. You're not getting twice the entertainment, just twice as ripped off." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 87%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
You are wrong sardonic, omniscient narrator. This is a love story. I am in love with this film." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 16, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
According to Newtonian physics, the universe is ruled by entropy, an unfortunate principle that states that, given enough time, any system will advance from order to disorder. Obviously no one informed the folks behind the Harry Potter franchise, because" — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 14, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 67%
| Bruno (2009) | "
The reason Bruno doesn't rise to the level of Cohen's earlier work %u2014 besides the inevitable diminished returns of revisiting now familiar territory %u2014 is that this time around the film is more interested in making fun than in making a poin" — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 89%
| Moon (2009) | "
Moon is, quite simply, an astonishingly good debut, supremely confident and assured." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
The Hurt Locker is an extraordinarily uncomfortable movie to watch, not because it is poorly made, but because it places its audience directly in the crosshairs of hell." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 67%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Public Enemies is Heat with fedoras, a gangster epic that is easily the best thing Mann has done in more than a decade, an intensely visceral tour-de-force." — Christianity Today Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Rotten 47%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
If My Sister's Keeper feels melodramatic and contrived, it is, at least, sincerely so." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jun 26, 2009 |
Rotten 2/10
| Rotten 19%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen suffers from the same malady as its predecessor, an almost pathological aversion to taking itself seriously." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jun 23, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
I know it is not as fashionable to say this as it once was, but I love Woody Allen." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 15%
| Year One (2009) | "
Year One is little more than Religulous with fart jokes." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
Despite its less than original pedigree, The Proposal is a perfect example of a predictable, formulaic script elevated by fine acting and palpable chemistry." — BrandonFibbs.com Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
IGN RSS Feeds