Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
The classical structure slowly builds tension before erupting into a decisively gory finish, harkening back to a smarter and more nuanced era of spooky storytelling." — indieWIRE Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
Populated by a handful of assured performances, Up in the Air is first and foremost an actor’s movie." — indieWIRE Posted Sep 15, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 80%
| Earth Days (2009) | "
That Earth Days follows a simple routine in its construction does not detract from the beauty of its earnest design." — New York Press Posted Aug 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| The Cove (2009) | "
It's both an educational work of art and a classic espionage tale." — indieWIRE Posted Jul 29, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 65%
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) | "
Marred by shoddy special effects and half-formed fantastical conceits, Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” has the feeling of a comic fantasia desperately seeking to find its rhythm." — indieWIRE Posted May 22, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| The White Ribbon (2009) | "
A frightening depiction of mortality." — indieWIRE Posted May 22, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 50%
| Agora (2009) | "
“Agora” occasionally hints at the interesting material embedded in its central conceits, but never manages to enliven it." — indieWIRE Posted May 18, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 68%
| Tetro (2009) | "
Neither complete misfire nor triumphant return to form, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tetro” works as a competent family drama right up until the messy final act." — indieWIRE Posted May 16, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
Campion has constructed a highly classical narrative, one driven by archaic British dialogue and the mannerisms to match it." — indieWIRE Posted May 16, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Even with the ever-versatile Ang Lee behind the camera, this messy historical fiction plays like a two hour “Saturday Night Live” sketch, and not a very good one, either." — indieWIRE Posted May 16, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Treeless Mountain (2009) | "
Deeply rooted in the perspectives of its ill-fated heroines, Treeless Mountain finds a place in the modern abandoned-child narratives alongside Ramin Bahrani's Chop Shop and the inferior period piece Blame It On Fidel." — New York Press Posted Apr 22, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
Giamatti the character rediscovers his sensitivity, and Giamatti the actor proves he’s up for anything. Barthes, directing her first feature, proves she’s up for whatever comes next." — indieWIRE Posted Apr 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Goodbye Solo (2009) | "
Bahrani has not told the quintessential American story, but it's certainly a potent one." — New York Press Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 10%
| Memorial Day (2009) | "
Fox’s directorial debut is a strangely fascinating piece of misguided intentions, a crooked attempt to editorialize on the ugliest aspects of human nature gone awry." — New York Press Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 48%
| Donkey Punch (2009) | "
Oliver Blackburn’s British thriller Donkey Punch offers such a unique thrill: It indulges in juvenile scares by placing them in a larger canvas of sophisticated moods." — New York Press Posted Jan 21, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 55%
| Special (2008) | "
A great genre film dissects authentic problems without attempting to supplant them. Reasonably enough, Special belongs to that category with the rest of Magnet’s Six Shooter Series." — New York Press Posted Nov 20, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 54%
| Choke (2008) | "
Despite its occasionally charming, relentlessly sarcastic tone, Choke censors its own aspirations." — New York Press Posted Sep 24, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 53%
| Elite Squad (2008) | "
Elite Squad succeeds at putting the worst of the violent spectacles on screen, primarily through a series of nicely staged shootouts and torture sequences." — New York Press Posted Sep 17, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 80%
| Un Secret (2008) | "
A Secret takes the tired approach of a child viewing history through the quirks of his family, which worked only slightly better in last year’s Blame it On Fidel." — New York Press Posted Sep 3, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| August Evening (2007) | "
[Director] Eska manages to superimpose downtrodden personalities on an authentic setting, making it a compelling exercise in atmospheric storytelling." — New York Press Posted Sep 3, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 39%
| The Rocker (2008) | "
Unfortunately, The Rocker, Wilson’s first lead role in a feature film, emphasizes the wrong quirks." — New York Press Posted Aug 20, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) | "
The subsequent plot offers little in the way of inspiration, but plenty in the way of amusement." — Premiere Magazine Posted Aug 14, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| Tropic Thunder (2008) | "
This one could have the subtitle How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blockbuster." — Premiere Magazine Posted Aug 11, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 55%
| Step Brothers (2008) | "
Step Brothers signals another era of American comedy: It’s the sort of thing that will assist future scholars in crafting histories of 21st-century stupidity." — New York Press Posted Jul 30, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 32%
| The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) | "
X-Files: I Want to Believe is not a good movie, but its flaws are revealing. Carter’s intention of injecting topicality into the movie only testifies to his desperation." — New York Press Posted Jul 30, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 70%
| Full Battle Rattle (2008) | "
The movie fails to become a document of our time and settles for the dopey synthetic version instead." — New York Press Posted Jul 9, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| WALL-E (2008) | "
The plot, when it finally arrives, has a few unforgivable holes, but the thing never stops being a marvel to behold." — New York Press Posted Jul 2, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 57%
| Kicking It (2008) | "
Plain-spoken and smoothly paced." — New York Press Posted Jun 25, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008) | "
Activism lives on: Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Chris Bell’s smartly assembled documentary about the great American steroid controversy, takes on the subject as though counteracting the blacklist." — New York Press Posted May 28, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 8%
| Postal (2008) | "
It's Boll's knuckleheaded misinterpretation of topical humor that really gets me." — New York Press Posted May 21, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 84%
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) | "
Forgetting Sarah Marshall crassly dissolves the gender balance in a vat of acidic testosterone." — New York Press Posted Apr 16, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Frownland (2008) | "
Some have said that Taxi Driver has lost its immediacy because the city no longer carries an overtly dour impact; but Frownland finds it again." — New York Press Posted Mar 5, 2008 |
Fresh
| N/A | Violent Saturday (1955) | "
Violent Saturday seems rooted in tradition, but as an exciting pulp story with a profound center, it manages to break all the rules." — New York Press Posted Feb 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Jar City (2008) | "
Gorgeously shot against a seaside backdrop and filled with local color, Jar City unfolds like a noir from another planet." — New York Press Posted Feb 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 79%
| Chicago 10 (2008) | "
Morgen displays obvious admiration for the Yippies’ festive mentality in the shadow of authority, but he makes a valiant effort to avoid treating them as relics." — New York Press Posted Feb 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (2008) | "
The times have changed, but [Romero's] unflinching portrait of humanity’s innately self-destructive tendencies hasn’t frayed a bit." — New York Press Posted Feb 14, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Band's Visit (2007) | "
Pretty, resonant and utterly approachable as a gentle comedy, The Band’s Visit is conventionally low key." — New York Press Posted Feb 6, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 10%
| Fool's Gold (2008) | "
An unfunny and overlong sea romp." — New York Press Posted Feb 6, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 5%
| The Hottie & the Nottie (2008) | "
I wouldn’t say it’s particularly good, but certain measured elements of the genre create something surprisingly passable." — New York Press Posted Feb 6, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Caramel (2008) | "
If nothing else, Labaki suggests a calm alternative to the ugly pronouncements of Middle East disasters broadcast on CNN: the modern chick flick." — New York Press Posted Jan 30, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 13%
| The Air I Breathe (2007) | "
It’s particularly frustrating to watch Whittaker, the strongest thespian of the bunch, desperately mine for gold in a narrative landslide." — New York Press Posted Jan 23, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 77%
| Cloverfield (2008) | "
Too bad the movie is a less-than-satisfying experiment with contrived fake documentary aesthetics." — New York Press Posted Jan 16, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 82%
| Teeth (2008) | "
A twisted inversion of the standard rampaging murderer story." — New York Press Posted Jan 16, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Last Year at Marienbad (1961) | "
Consistent with his other great works, Marienbad transcends reality. Resnais’ projects haven’t aged because they defy time." — New York Press Posted Jan 16, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 0%
| One Missed Call (2008) | "
When it comes to scary movies, the Japanese have it figured out. Unfortunately, commercial filmmakers in the United States usually don’t." — New York Press Posted Jan 9, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 54%
| The Signal (2007) | "
The Signal has a cosmic sense of justice that's often hilarious; a sense of irony about the suggestion that we really could amuse ourselves to death." — New York Press Posted Jan 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Jour De Fete (1948) | "
The originality of its design makes Tati's cinema unfold as it were a series of Looney Tunes episodes envisioned by Robert Altman." — New York Press Posted Jan 2, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 38%
| The Killing of John Lennon (2008) | "
Unlike Chapman, The Killing of John Lennon is no phony." — New York Press Posted Jan 2, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| Persepolis (2007) | "
Persepolis creates a fresh approach to interpreting the graphic novel format, taking cues from the experiences of illustrator Marjane Satrapi." — New York Press Posted Dec 19, 2007 |
Rotten
| Rotten 53%
| The Walker (2007) | "
If Schrader was willing to enliven the pace, The Walker would easily become a riveting thriller, but the situation gets resolved with too much ease." — New York Press Posted Dec 19, 2007 |
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