Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 37%
| Nine (2009) | "
I understand the metaphor: Director Contini turns his experiences into movies, often suppressing gritty realities and whipping up elaborate, emotionally hollow fantasies. I just wish director Marshall hadn't done the same thing." Posted Dec 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 83%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
Few films can simultaneously celebrate the future and the past of animation, but this one does." Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
The best war movies don't preach against war: They remind us of the costs for soldiers and families and ask us to consider whether those costs are worth paying." Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
It's strictly for devotees who won't balk at plot absurdities, clunky dialogue and patchy characterizations. I suspect loyalists will be pleased, but I can't imagine anyone else wanting to jump into the tale here." Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
It's Clooney who holds this film together with his charismatic personality and inscrutable demeanor. Cassady may be crazy, but there's enough evidence that he isn't to keep us in suspense." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
It's a blurry vision that comes into focus only intermittently." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
The characters' clumsy emotional growth shows us there's hope even for a stumbling father and two sons groping toward peace." Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
For a while, Woodstock represented a spirit of peaceful sharing that sometimes makes America great. That's what this native-born writer and immigrant director want us to remember." Posted Aug 27, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
As Child would have told you, a soufflé isn't a filling meal." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
Harry must enter the mists in anxiety and emerge stronger. Everything about his world is uncertain, not to be trusted – and who among us hasn't felt the same way, even if witches didn't lurk around our corners?" Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
This is one of those rare films where seeming plot holes turn out not to be holes, after all." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
The spine of the story has been entrusted to Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, who make all their moments in The Soloist count." Posted Apr 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 83%
| Beauty in Trouble (2008) | "
The movie begins with a flood that threatens Prague literally; it ends with a flood of emotions that threaten to undermine a potentially happy relationship." Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 29%
| The Golden Boys (2009) | "
You don't have to be a geezer to grin at these goings-on." Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
You can't root for Ronnie. You can't identify with him. You can't hope he gets the girl – any girl -- or the police job or even the crook. But you may want to look on with stunned fascination as he ticks away, ready to explode." Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Adventureland (2009) | "
Mottola also wrote the screenplay, which is most fresh and honest when dealing with supporting characters." Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 83%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
If Phoenix's rap career doesn't work out, I'm sure there'll be a leading part for him in Gray's next picture." Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
Visual gimmicks and puns change from decade to decade, but worthwhile ideals go on forever." Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 83%
| I Love You, Man (2009) | "
This fluffball is as toothless as an octogenarian lion." Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 33%
| Knowing (2009) | "
The slovenliness of the filmmaking is embarrassing." Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
Zack Snyder's sprawling film stays faithful to Moore's tale, cleverly trimming and reshaping it to retain essentials." Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| Che, Part One (2008) | "
Through it all, the title character is scarcely delineated. The guy who for many of us is a scowling face on a T-shirt worn by student radicals remains that way." Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 76%
| Che, Part Two (2008) | "
At this length, that's an unforgivable sin." Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Rotten 3/4
| Fresh 90%
| I've Loved You So Long (2008) | "
The movie's fascinating when it tracks Juliette's tentative, almost unwilling progress back into society." Posted Feb 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 44%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
This would be more than enough material for any self-respecting romantic comedy-drama, but director Ken Kwapis and writers Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein think they're making the kind of statement that needs to be dragged out to 125 minutes." Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 89%
| Coraline (2009) | "
I suspect you could turn the sound off and still be terrified, amused and delighted." Posted Feb 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
Emotions ooze slowly out of [Rourke's] creased and battered face in Darren Aronofsky's latest heart-wrenching, hard-to-market drama." Posted Jan 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 47%
| Chandni Chowk to China (2009) | "
Chandni Chowk is the kind of madness to which you surrender unconditionally or not at all. You'll find the trans-Asian journey from the market street in Delhi to the tyrannized village in China bewitching or bewildering, with little room in between." Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 56%
| Defiance (2008) | "
Ed Zwick has cornered the market on movies about nearly forgotten wartime battles between members of a minority and the dominant culture that's oppressing them." Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 70%
| Last Chance Harvey (2008) | "
Writer-director Joel Hopkins adheres to the timeworn Hollywood pattern with clumsy determination, never daring to freshen the romantic comedy formula." Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 50%
| Notorious (2009) | "
If you give this fictionalized film biography a try, you may find yourself caught up in his troubled and complicated rise to prominence -- like me." Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
Director Sam Mendes, who covered similar ground in American Beauty, evokes the Eisenhower years in every detail and sets a reasonable pace for the script. Yet the path is so familiar that not a step along it takes us by surprise." Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 80%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
Alas, the preposterous ending fritters away much of the goodwill the film has slowly gained." Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 91%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
If Frost/Nixon were merely a beautifully shaped re-creation of a moment in history it would be worth a look. But as a reminder of the world we live in 31 years later, it's as sadly topical as any documentary about the Iraq War." Posted Dec 30, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 62%
| The Reader (2008) | "
A movie easier to admire than to love." Posted Dec 30, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 78%
| Doubt (2008) | "
Blessedly, the kernel of the writing remains undisturbed, and its arguments are still powerful." Posted Dec 30, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 71%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
Button has a wide-eyed innocence that almost never palls. It strays far from the mind of F. Scott Fitzgerald, but often enough it came near to my heart." Posted Dec 30, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 60%
| Valkyrie (2008) | "
It's slickly executed, handsomely acted for the most part and utterly easy to forget." Posted Dec 30, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 27%
| Seven Pounds (2008) | "
[Smith] gets my thanks for embarking on projects, however flawed, that take emotional risks." Posted Dec 18, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 94%
| Milk (2008) | "
Whatever you think of gay people (or politicians), you may find the movie compelling viewing." Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 93%
| Slumdog Millionaire (2008) | "
However improbable those circumstances get, Boyle and writer Simon Beaufoy (who adapted a novel by Vikas Swarup) keep us rooting for Jamal Malik to slay his dragons." Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 20%
| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) | "
There was no way to re-make The Day The Earth Stood Still properly today." Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 85%
| JCVD (2008) | "
The gentler Van Damme may disappear after just two pictures. If he does, I'm happy at least to have made his acquaintance." Posted Dec 5, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 68%
| Cadillac Records (2008) | "
Writer-director Darnell Martin regularly twists or obscures the truth, without illuminating characters beyond superficialities." Posted Dec 5, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 67%
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | "
Watching the film is also wearying, like assembling a puzzle from a box into which a sadist continually pours new pieces." Posted Nov 25, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 54%
| Australia (2008) | "
Australia is an unbroken string of clichés. Director Luhrmann does the obvious at every turn, making each character an archetype and every action a crowd-pleasing, grandiosely predictable moment." Posted Nov 25, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 97%
| Let the Right One In (2008) | "
A tale that proves there's life in the undead yet, when they fall into the hands of imaginative storytellers." Posted Nov 25, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 25%
| Four Christmases (2008) | "
Vaughn delivers every line with his usual deadpan glibness, which suits the part. But I smiled as I watched the big-bellied, multi-chinned actor connecting with the porcelain, model-thin Witherspoon." Posted Nov 25, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 92%
| Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) | "
Scenes that would be throwaways in most films -- girls gabbing on their night out, a walk by the seaside -- have been set up to tell us a lot about the people in them, if we'll only pay close attention." Posted Nov 21, 2008 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 64%
| The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) | "
Those problems won't concern anyone caught up, perhaps for the first time, in a story that has the potential to rend any hearts that remain open to it." Posted Nov 21, 2008 |
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