Rotten 0.5/5
| Rotten 7%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
Director Becker treats the comedy in Old Dogs the same as if he were treating a case of mange: Apply two gags, rub in liberally, and call in the morning with the box-office totals. Aarf." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
One of the rare movies that communicates honestly and artfully about the real casualties of war: the surviving combatants." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Both the character and the movie overcome their handicaps to become the kind of success stories that the American mythmaking machinery loves to love." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 27%
| Splinterheads (2009) | "
Amiable and proficient, this indie romantic comedy is never more or less than reliable." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
Everything about Scherfig’s coming-of-age story about a girl in the London suburb of Twickenham in 1961 is spot-on." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 59%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
The film is a series of episodic scenes which spotlight a host of characters who, without narrative material, become a mere collection of quirks, costumes, and gestures." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/5
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
The performances here are all stellar, and narrative movies that take the making of art seriously are a rare breed indeed." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 0/5
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
Gentlemen Broncos pushes beyond the perimeter of the previous films’ massive in-jokes to create a universe that is not only nonsensical but unappealing and off-putting to boot." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
It’s not that Carrey fails in this serious guise, but, rather, it strips the comic actor of everything that makes him so special." — Austin Chronicle Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 89%
| No Impact Man (2009) | "
No Impact Man is certain to raise questions among viewers – questions about the Beavans, questions about ourselves, questions about degrees of sustainability. And asking questions is what it’s all about, isn’t it?" — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
Michael Jackson’s posthumously released film about the preparations for his 50-concert comeback extravaganza is a strange creature indeed." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 28, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 25%
| Adventures of Power (2009) | "
Not even the always reliable talents of McKean and Lynch can help pull this comedy out of its ironic slump." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 65%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
It’s a perfectly nice period piece and biographical backgrounder, but the film feels as though it’s a meal of tasty side dishes that lacks a main course." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 86%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
The Coen brothers have made one of their best and most personal movies. It is rich with ideas and contemplations and packed with the sort of existential jokes that tickle the Coen boys so." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 95%
| Crude (2009) | "
It will certainly remain in your mind the next time you stop for gas." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Revanche (2009) | "
Spielmann’s deft storytelling is coupled with immaculate compositions that constrain the characters as confidently as any prison bars." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 0/5
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
Before booking a ticket, I urge you to retreat." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| N/A | Lord, Save Us from Your Followers (2009) | "
Although it’s somewhat messy in its organization and execution, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers is a great example of the modern essay film in action." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
All these episodes are accompanied by Moore’s typically dramatic background music choices and unrigorous analysis." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 81%
| Under Our Skin (2009) | "
The information it presents is eye-opening for medical consumers and health professionals of any stripe. And the film incidentally makes a great case for health care reform." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
The tears will definitely trickle from your eyes. It’s distinguishing the trickle from the treacle that becomes the problem." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
Teeming with girl-power spirit, Barrymore’s film exudes an all-encompassing benevolence rather than strident one-upmanship. These girls just want to have fun." — Austin Chronicle Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
Campion’s story of a tubercular poet and his lady love recasts the hackneyed old stanza in refreshing new verse." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 86%
| Big Fan (2009) | "
Big Fan, however, sticks to its guns and gives in to none of the sappiness or redemptive qualities of The Wrestler." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
Damon is rock solid as the pudgy, toupé-wearing informant, as is Lynskey as his loving wife." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
Without real scares, only intermittent laughs, and a trite flashback structure that narrates the movie via Needy’s perpetual voiceover, Jennifer’s Body is hardly robust." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 86%
| Lorna's Silence (2009) | "
Lorna’s Silence echoes long after the movie ends." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
The September Issue really has only as much depth and relevance as fashion itself, but when we travel through the looking glass, it’s not usually the simple image on the other side for which we are searching." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 85%
| World's Greatest Dad (2009) | "
World’s Greatest Dad ultimately offers some ironic amusement but wallows too long in the sins of its father." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
It’s a vivid indictment of the way in which we all stumble along, yet the film never musters full-throated chagrin at our dull complacency." — Austin Chronicle Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
The film’s focus on one man’s story instead of the event itself is a solid narrative choice; the execution, however, is uneven and disappointing." — Austin Chronicle Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
Rodriguez’s technical wizardry is less showy here than in his other recent outings, which helps Shorts connect with kids on a basic human level. Parents will, no doubt, be renting this electronic babysitter for a long time to come." — Austin Chronicle Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
The film’s tone, however, never fully congeals." — Austin Chronicle Posted Aug 13, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 24%
| Little Ashes (2009) | "
Sexual repression claims yet one more victim." — Austin Chronicle Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 95%
| The Cove (2009) | "
The Cove exposes the dark secrets that underpin the world’s dolphin mania." — Austin Chronicle Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 54%
| The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) | "
It is possible to support the journalistic ideal that no stoning should be left unturned while also championing better storytelling." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 15%
| The Ugly Truth (2009) | "
Any comic banter is dulled by Butler’s strained effort to swallow his Scottish brogue and deliver his lines in some kind of inscrutable American accent and Heigl’s halfhearted attempt to dial down her glamour quotient." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 66%
| The Merry Gentleman (2009) | "
Filled more with character studies than narrative intrigues, The Merry Gentleman also provides only sketchy personality details and background information." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Management (2009) | "
Management should have definitely been called on to make some adjustments." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
Consider our enthusiasm curbed." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 19%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
This film is a poster child for the idea that more does not always equal more." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jun 24, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 51%
| Easy Virtue (2009) | "
Biel is not completely miscast in this role of the Other in the drawing-room midst, but she exudes a thoroughly contemporary air that never jibes with the Twenties tenor of the English manor-born in the decade after the Great War." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/5
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
See it for the performances -- they are delights from the leads on down to the characters in the episodic vignettes. But the film’s vision of Gen-Y nesting is liable to leave you up a tree." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten .5/5
| Rotten 10%
| My Life in Ruins (2009) | "
The bland cinematography fits with the unimaginative script and the drab direction of Petrie." — Austin Chronicle Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
Pixar tops itself with its new animated offering Up, a movie so visually and emotionally skillful that it makes Monsters, Inc. look positively antic, Toy Story seem like mere child’s play, and WALL-E appear as sentimental fluff." — Austin Chronicle Posted May 28, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 61%
| The Girlfriend Experience (2009) | "
Soderbergh’s new film is interested in labor arrangements and working practices. However, he has few ideas regarding the commodification of sex that haven’t been heard and seen before." — Austin Chronicle Posted May 22, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 73%
| Rudo and Cursi (2009) | "
Rudo y Cursi is appealingly tough and corny but contains little that causes these elements to congeal into anything greater." — Austin Chronicle Posted May 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 76%
| Shall We Kiss? (2008) | "
Shall We Kiss? is not without charms, but the crux of the characters’ quandary is about as monochromatic as the clothes they wear." — Austin Chronicle Posted May 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 19%
| Obsessed (2009) | "
Obsessed delivers in its limited way, as the audience audibly responds to the characters’ choices and actions, even though we know exactly what to expect." — Austin Chronicle Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| N/A | Not Forgotten (2002) | "
The plot is a tightly wound mystery that gradually reveals itself, saving most of its surprises for third-act revelations." — Austin Chronicle Posted Apr 30, 2009 |
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