Rotten C
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
...there isn't much to fall in love with in Robert Zemeckis's visually overpowering motion-capture-animation..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
A piecemeal attempt at putting a bow on Michael Jackson's overblown and bankrupt career, this clinical behind-the-scenes collage of the rehearsal process for MJ's doomed London performance schedule is more propaganda than documentary." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Fresh 76%
| The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) | "
"The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" doesn't know whether it's a drama, a comedy, or a random slice-of-life expose. Neither will you." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 79%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
The filmmakers would have done better to make a film called "Orson Welles at the Mercury," and construct it around Christian McKay's impeccable interpretation of the man he played on the New York stage in "Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles."" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 70%
| The Road (2009) | "
"The Road" is like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest when no human or animal is around. Whether or not it makes a sound is a moot point." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 21, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 30%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
For easily impressed audiences that equate big lowest-common-denominator box office receipts with quality, here is a perfect movie for them to constantly check their cell phones as they sit in the dark..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 21, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 82%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
...what we see here is a flawed sampler of comedy, noir, melodrama, and luscious compositions." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 15, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 85%
| Red Cliff (2009) | "
John Woo fulfills on "Red Cliff's" reputation as the most expensive Chinese-language film ever made with a mesmerizing war epic that concentrates on ancient techniques of war strategy as played out on a grand stage." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 95%
| The Honeymoon Killers (1970) | "
Made in 1969, "The Honeymoon Killers" presaged elements of David Lynch's filmic approach, and clearly informed John McNaughton's similarly-themed stomach-churner film "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Romantic dysfunction never looked so banal, brutal" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Sure the blu-ray DVD will look great on your home theater as ambient background for your next house party, but that's about it." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 13%
| Labor Day (2009) | "
There's only so much rah-rah-sis-boom-ba you can take about a President elected on the premise of ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, who has merely followed in his predecessor's footsteps of starving the U.S. into dirt." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 59%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
...there's some great music and a the movie sustains a groovy vibe..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 47%
| The Box (2009) | "
Riffing on a Twilight Zone-themed morality tale, writer/director Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko") sets the table for a three-course meal of supernatural events but serves up an anemic narrative entree instead." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
...even if "The Fourth Kind" came out ten years ago it still wouldn't stand up to overrated "Blair Witch Project."" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 50%
| Uncertainty (2009) | "
For all of the earnest effort that Collins and Gordon-Levitt exert on characters that they created much improvised dialogue for, you're always aware of the narrative artifice surrounding them." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 8, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Anderson's lavish attention to visual detail supports the dry wit on display in a highly original animated film geared to appeal equally to adults and children." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 8, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
"The Men Who Stare at Goats" falls into the politically impotent sub-genre of lightweight satire of which "Charlie Wilson's War" and "The Informant" are recent touchstones." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh C+
| Fresh 77%
| Collapse (2009) | "
Chris Smith's fiery and provoking documentary provides a searing platform for police-officer-turned-reporter Michael Ruppert to articulate his gloomy vision and, in his view, doomed fate of the world." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 88%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
The film is a perfectly pitched old-school horror homage to a '70s/'80s-era of cinema that should have been." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 2, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 76%
| The Young Victoria (2009) | "
"Young Victoria" is a well crafted period romance made personal by Emily Blunt's disarming performance." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 27, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Just as ridiculous as the title implies, this ill-conceived sequel to Abel Ferrara's masterpiece ("Bad Lieutenant" - 1992) picks up some grains of muscular grit under the unlikely Werner Herzog's guidance, but flails every step of the way." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 27, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 68%
| Dancer in the Dark (1999) | "
Everything about Bjork and Dancer in the Dark is enigmatic in an uncomfortable dissecting way that shows beauty in the crudest way, and crudeness in the complexity of advanced social mores." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 100%
| Rembrandt's J'accuse (2009) | "
More than merely a resource for art historians and students, "Rembrandt's J'Accuse" is a gift from an underestimated genius of cinema. You might just might want to see it a second time." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
Egos, etiquette, and envy go a long way in this atypical comedy of manners." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 24, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 45%
| Saw VI (2009) | "
Headache-inducing, and featuring one of the worst D-movie performances of the aughts from Costas Mandylor, the latest "Saw" franchise addition is more of the same torture-punishment-rehab-porn audiences have come to expect." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 87%
| Skin (2009) | "
"Skin" is an Apartheid-era drama made with conviction and perspective by a promising filmmaker." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
"Ong Bak 2" is so obviously contrived for the sole purpose of showing off Tony Jaa's martial arts weapons expertise that the film soon wears out its welcome." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 38%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Scattershot and comically unbalanced, "Cirque du Freak" is a wannabe horror film that feels like it was filmed underwater." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 11%
| The Stepfather (2009) | "
Shallow and inert, "The Stepfather" goes through the motions of a suspense film without ever broaching the horror genre that director Joseph Ruben employed in the original. Talk about "unclear on the concept," this remake doesn't even get the genre right." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 18, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 22%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
Gerard Butler's scene-chewing performance holds interest even as the story alternately melts and congeals like a mobile bowl of poorly mixed Jell-O." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 18, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
While not an "instant classic," "Where the Wild Things Are" does what it sets out to achieve as a literal but also embellished translation of a literary classic." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 12, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 100%
| Visual Acoustics: The Modernisms of Julius Shulman (2009) | "
"Visual Acoustics" offers a history lesson, biopic, and visually harmonic essay via Julius Shulman's gifted focus." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 11, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 92%
| Mary and Max (2009) | "
"Mary and Max" is a highly inventive claymation tragicomedy told from a very personal perspective. It's not intended to be everyone's cup of tea." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 83%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Compared with a precision horror film like Lars von Trier's terrifying upcoming shocker "Antichrist," "Paranormal Activity" is just kid's stuff." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 10, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Fresh 61%
| Peter and Vandy (2009) | "
The only enjoyment of watching inarticulate modern day American love birds Peter (Jason Ritter) and Vandy (Jess Wexler) interacting in Manhattan, comes from deciding which one is more insufferable." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 29%
| Free Style (2009) | "
Soft-peddled father issues, and race relations get coasted over like so much conveyor-belt product in director William Dear's oh-so-safe kids' romantic sports drama." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 6, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
"Precious" is an unforgettable drama whose intrinsic truth outweighs any exploitation or politics that might attend such material. If you want a gritty socially conscious movie, this is it." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 100%
| The Maid (2009) | "
Here is a profound story of a woman who breaks out of a social cage that she maintained as much as her perceived masters." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
Watching a 12-year-old Abigail Breslin killing zombies with semi-automatic weapons doesn't do much for me, but I'm sure there are many audiences that will remark, "cool." Gratuitous violence never seemed so cheap." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh A+
| Fresh 95%
| Reservoir Dogs (1992) | "
In 1992 Quentin Tarantino did something that hadn't been done since 1986 with David Lynch's "Blue Velvet;" he reinvented cinema." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 3, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 76%
| Afterschool (2009) | "
Antonio Campos's character study of a prep school social misfit named Robert (Ezra Miller) is an intimate psychological journey into a coded juvenile mindset." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 3, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Rotten 57%
| As Seen Through These Eyes (2009) | "
Hilary Helstein offers a historically significant documentary reportage of Holocaust survivors who utilized art as their primary coping mechanism inside Hitler's concentration camps." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Fresh 67%
| The Bluetooth Virgin (2009) | "
So pretentious it stinks from the screen, "The Blue Tooth Virgin" is a stillborn experiment in screenwriting 101." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 67%
| Beer Wars (2009) | "
Even if "Beer Wars" works best as a brief introduction to craft beers, and inspires audiences to explore craft breweries in their area and beyond, then the film works." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 86%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
It's not so much that "A Serious Man" isn't accessible--it is that. But the film never sets down parameters." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 78%
| Bronson (2009) | "
A kind of second cousin to Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo" (2008), "Bronson" shares that film's mechanical sense of ambivalent regard for its subject'" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 27, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 69%
| Paris (2009) | "
French auteur Cedric Klapisch achieves a sublime use of the City of Lights as a living and breathing body of humanity." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 27, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 39%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
If you keep your expectations low, there are some sci-fi pleasures of visual appeal to be had, but it's tough getting past director Jonathan Mostow's wet noodle brand of storytelling." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 27, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 86%
| The Age of Stupid (2009) | "
Educational and inventive, the documentary speaks with a strong editorial voice from a backward-looking vantage point. It's a narrative device that proves most effective." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 26, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 73%
| More Than a Game (2009) | "
Even non-basketball fans should enjoy this terrific human interest drama of skill, loyalty, and passion." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Sep 26, 2009 |
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