Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 65%
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) | "
Despite a shaky framework, the magic works. It's a chance to see Ledger one last time in the act of doing what he loved. Take it." Posted Dec 22, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| The White Ribbon (2009) | "
Don't let anyone tell you too much about this spellbinder from Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke." Posted Dec 22, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| It's Complicated (2009) | "
You don't have to feel guilty for lapping up this froth. Just don't expect nourishment." Posted Dec 22, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 68%
| Sherlock Holmes (2009) | "
Ritchie is all about the whooshing and headbanging, leaving no space between Holmes' words to savor their meaning. Downey is irresistible. The movie, not so much." Posted Dec 22, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 38%
| Nine (2009) | "
Rob Marshall's flawed but frequently dazzling Nine is a hot-blooded musical fantasia full of song, dance, raging emotion and simmering sexuality." Posted Dec 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| Avatar (2009) | "
It extends the possibilities of what movies can do. Cameron's talent may just be as big as his dreams." Posted Dec 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 76%
| Invictus (2009) | "
Eastwood's modest approach to these momentous events shames the usual Hollywood showboating. In a rare achievement, he's made a film that truly is good for the soul." Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Crazy Heart (2009) | "
It's a juicy, career-crowning role, and Bridges -- a master of subtle brilliance -- plays the hell out of it." Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 40%
| The Lovely Bones (2009) | "
The novel never flinched, the movie does. But Jackson, who builds jolting suspense when Susie's sister enters the killer's lair, is drawn to a spiritual dimension." Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
Ford is a true visionary, but it's his humanity that gives the love story a ravishing, bruised grandeur." Posted Dec 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 70%
| The Last Station (2009) | "
Helen Mirren is a lusty, roaring wonder playing, of all things, the long-suffering wife of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer in peak form)." Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
One-word reaction: bravo." Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
What do you say about a movie that proves Zac Efron can act, introduces a master thespian in Christian McKay and launches a charm assault that is damn near irresistible?" Posted Nov 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Road (2009) | "
In this haunting portrait of America as no country for old men or young, Hillcoat -- through the artistry of Mortensen and Smit-McPhee -- carries the fire of our shared humanity and lets it burn bright and true." Posted Nov 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
I can't comment on the acting because I didn't catch Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner doing any. They basically primp and pose through the same humdrum motions they did before." Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
The Messenger, showing humanity under siege, opens wounds inflicted by the Iraq War -- not on the battlefield but in the hearts of the families of soldiers who never made it back home." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
The boat nearly sinks from character overload, and Curtis brakes when you most want him to gun it. But there’s no denying the comic energy of the cast." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 93%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
An adventure in pure imagination that plays to the smart kid in all of us." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 44%
| The Box (2009) | "
Instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. Damaged goods." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
It's hard to resist a satire, even when it wobbles, that insists the most unbelievable parts are the most true." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
Michael Jackson's perfectionism fails him in This Is It, and we're all the better for it." Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Jammed with story threads that don’t cohere, Cirque commits the cardinal sin for a vampire movie: It’s bloodless." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 21%
| Amelia (2009) | "
"Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?" Amelia asks in a voice-over. And you want to shout, "This movie does, honey." There’s not a real or spontaneous minute in it." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 24%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
An exercise in illogic and Death Wish cribbing that lets a bunch of good actors collect big paychecks for playing way less than their A game." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 50%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
Von Trier says he was suffering from severe bouts of depression when he shot the movie. See Antichrist, and you'll know the feeling." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
For all the money spent, the film's success is best measured by its simplicity and the purity of its innovation. Jonze has filmed a fantasy as if it were absolutely real, allowing us to see the world as Max sees it, full of beauty and terror." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
A quiet miracle of a movie that quickly disabuses you of the idea that you've seen it all before." Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
The cast got to spend a month shooting on Bora Bora. So that explains why they're in the movie. Why you'd spend good money for a ticket to watch them have all the fun and not have any fun yourself passes understanding." Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 78%
| Bronson (2009) | "
Tom Hardy is pure dynamite in the role, beefing up 35 pounds to play Britain's most notorious prisoner." Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 83%
| Whip It (2009) | "
Screenwriter Shauna Cross dulls the edges of her novel Derby Girl, which the skate action and rockin' soundtrack can't disguise." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
It's no fun watching Gervais work out a tired fantasy of turning hot babes into chubby chasers. We want Gervais in all his merry, malicious glory. That's no lie." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
This seriously funny movie, artfully photographed by the great Roger Deakins, is spiritual in nature, barbed in tone, and, oh, yeah, it stings like hell." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
Director Ruben Fleischer mixes fright and slapstick with bloody glee. And the surprise star cameo is a wowser. Enough said." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
With a $15,000 budget too puny to empty a petty-cash drawer, the no-frills Paranormal Activity comes packed with thrills." Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 74%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
Moore sees our abusive relationship with capitalism as a growing plague. His movie, a genuine and welcome rabble-rouser, lays out the history of how democracy got corrupted." Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
OK, it sounds like a tear-jerker, and sometimes it drifts dangerously close. But Owen, in a heartfelt, award-caliber performance, never goes soft. It's his core of toughness that makes the movie so funny, touching and vital." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 77%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
Shooting fast and digital in just 30 days, Soderbergh invests the film with the breathless pace of a thriller and the gravity befitting a nation's soul sickness. Damon makes Whitacre recognizably human." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 84%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
A literate, lyrical love story in the age of Hollywood crass. I must be dreaming." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 44%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
Director Karyn Kusama is torn between duty to female empowerment and slasher convention. But Fox shows a comic flair that Transformers never investigated." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 4%
| Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) | "
What I can’t figure out is how director Peter Hyams can remake a 1956 movie from the great Fritz Lang and not learn anything about suspense, pacing and storytelling in the process." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
Wintour steers a tight ship. Coddington reminds her that Vogue has a history based on something more than profit. In the end, they’re a winning combination." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 96%
| Crude (2009) | "
Here’s a powerhouse of a documentary that makes you feel mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 0/4
| Rotten 6%
| All About Steve (2009) | "
[An] unwatchable, unbearably unfunny farce in which Sandra Bullock hits the lowest point of her career..." Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
Right in time for the economic downturn comes Extract, a smart and potently funny workplace comedy about running a small business just as small businesses get routinely run into the ground." Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 87%
| Big Fan (2009) | "
Robert Siegel makes a potent directing debut with a scrappy movie that refuses to sentimentalize or ridicule its besieged hero worshipper." Posted Aug 26, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 48%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
All the tie-dye, reefer, skinny-dipping, split-screen cinematography (from Eric Gautier) and acid-trip psychedelics courtesy of Tiber's encounter with hippies (Paul Dano and Kelli Garner) can't make up for the film's major sin of omission: the music." Posted Aug 26, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 100%
| Passing Strange (2010) | "
The invigorating result, zestily edited by Lee's own inside iron man, Barry Brown, is in every way a knockout." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
Will Basterds polarize audiences? That's a given. But for anyone professing true movie love, there's no resisting it." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 78%
| It Might Get Loud (2009) | "
Does this sound like rock heaven? It is." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
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