Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
The visual pizzazz and originality of the animation show that, if anyone doubted it, you can still make a perfectly decent cartoon the old-fashioned way." Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 87%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
Fans seeking the immediate gratification of random shocks and sudden gore will be disappointed, but anyone savoring a sense of dreadful anticipation and menace will be enthralled." Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 31%
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | "
Humorless, pedestrian and overly flashback-laden, the film’s only distinction is the over-the-top gore made possible by digital effects." Posted Nov 29, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 71%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
Lewis' earlier and even better sports book, Moneyball, also is in a turbulent journey toward the big screen, but after this film, he may hope it never gets there." Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 80%
| Yes Men Fix the World (2009) | "
Gandhi may not have been known for his wicked sense of humor, but one gets the feeling he'd approve." Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
It depicts a world where no one, man or God, has much say in what happens to the planet, and where the survival of one family outweighs the deaths of billions. What does that say about us?" Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
It's a testament to the movie's keen script that, until a disjointed final act, we're able to both laugh at these characters and sympathize with them." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 92%
| Mary and Max (2009) | "
When two-dimensional drawings, computer pixels or lifeless lumps of clay can inspire real feeling, something almost magical is involved. Rarely has this been truer than in the Australian claymation film Mary and Max." Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 48%
| Astro Boy (2009) | "
It's not every kids movie that features the death --nay, vaporization! -- of its protagonist in the first reel, but Astro Boy somehow manages this trick without resulting in massive amounts of juvenile emotional trauma." Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 87%
| At the Edge of the World (2009) | "
A valuable record of folks who put their lives on the line to make sure there are still whales left to save." Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 89%
| No Impact Man (2009) | "
Fortunately for the sake of documentary, Beavan is no humorless eco-scold, and he makes it clear that he's engaged in a lifestyle experiment, not recommending this extreme course for everyone." Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
Lessons are learned, tears are shed and apologies are accepted before it's all over, but humor and humanity keep The Boys Are Back from being a cloying mess." Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
It's a fantastic high concept to wrap the film around, and Gervais comes close to fulfilling its potential, especially when he tells a comforting deathbed lie to his dying mother and accidentally invents religion." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 86%
| Lorna's Silence (2009) | "
With a more linear plot and steadier camerawork than previous efforts, Lorna's Silence is among the Dardennes' more accessible films, despite a drawn-out finale that still doesn't quite satisfy." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 87%
| Big Fan (2009) | "
Oswalt sells Auferio's pasty indecision and makes him a more sympathetic figure than he has any right to be." Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh
| N/A | Milestones (1975) | "
Milestones is probably about as genuine and close-up a view of post-'60s angst as you're likely to come across." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Room (2004) | "
Tommy Wiseau's film oozes sincerity, which is then slathered in a thick coating of oblivious narcissism, and sadly serves as an example that not everyone should follow their bliss." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Z (1969) | "
Its mere existence is testimony to the fact that no matter how hard those in power struggle to conceal their misdeeds, truth will eventually win out." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 79%
| A Woman in Berlin (2008) | "
Like The Reader, this film treads unsteadily over the terrain of German guilt." Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 26%
| Shrink (2009) | "
[The characters'] fates, naturally, intertwine, with a resolution that could only occur in Hollywood." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 77%
| Big Man Japan (2009) | "
The movie doesn't get truly weird until the Power Ranger-style superheroes show up, and the special effects get even more low-rent. Then it really takes off." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| You, the Living (2009) | "
The lack of narrative cohesion eventually starts to wear, but the episodes and images are memorable." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| Somers Town (2009) | "
Shot in the same beautifully desolate black-and-white as Meadows' boxing film TwentyFourSeven, Somers Town takes on the feel of dreamlike instant nostalgia." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 65%
| Adam (2009) | "
When it's not lapsing into disease-of-the-week prose, Adam presents a credible account of the challenges inherent in this misunderstood and often-ridiculed condition." Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Paper Heart isn't the most cloying instance of earnest indie quirk to emerge in the past few months, nor is it the most charming, but the mere fact that such a continuum exists is reason enough to worry." Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 93%
| Summer Hours (2009) | "
A keenly observed, typically high-quality family drama of the sort only the French seem capable of making anymore." Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 54%
| The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) | "
It gets its point across with all the subtlety, sorry to say, of a rock upside the head." Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 89%
| O'Horten (2009) | "
Director Bent Hamer keeps things drily amusing throughout." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 51%
| Easy Virtue (2009) | "
Said husband, as well as the family's other members, are as bland and forgettable as the 1920s British cuisine on display." Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 68%
| Adoration (2009) | "
Once all the pieces of the story are assembled, the whole thing turns out to be not that big of a deal." Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
There are some impressive action scenes, most notably a lengthy chase scene involving a fuel-filled tanker trailer trying to outrun a flying hunter-killer drone over a canyon-spanning bridge." Posted May 22, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 56%
| Enlighten Up! (2009) | "
Rosen makes a good correlative for all of us who don't doubt that flexibility and fitness are worthy goals but who cringe at some of the quasi-religious babble that seems inextricably bound up with yoga." Posted May 15, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 95%
| Goodbye Solo (2009) | "
The acting is flawless, the world feels utterly real, and the finale accomplishes the miracle of finding in the everyday world something profound." Posted May 15, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| N/A | Good Food (2009) | "
Little more than a regional morale-booster and a filmed record of hard work by many truly commendable folks." Posted May 8, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 66%
| Is Anybody There? (2009) | "
A kid-meets-curmudgeon comedy that transcends its formulaic skeleton thanks both to the veteran actor's charm and a smarter-than-average screenplay." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
The result, despite Hugh Jackman's game, if overly earnest, performance, is simultaneously overstuffed and undernourished and just plain sloppy." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 59%
| Paris 36 (2008) | "
Nostalgic and formulaic, Paris 36 comes to life at moments thanks to a game and likable cast, but those moments are too rare to make the film worthwhile for any but the most ardent Francophiles." Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 90%
| Hunger (2008) | "
An alternately harrowing and poetic take on the fatal 1982 hunger strike of Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands, Hunger is also one of the most impressive feature directing debuts in years." Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 88%
| Sin Nombre (2009) | "
Cary Fukunaga makes an impressive feature directing debut with the lacerating immigration tale Sin Nombre." Posted Apr 10, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 92%
| Tokyo Sonata (2009) | "
Only in the slightly overlong last act, as the family's misfortunes become truly existential, does director Kiyoshi Kurosawa take things to another level." Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| N/A | Pig Hunt (2008) | "
Despite the retro-dirt-track ambience of a Rob Zombie film, Pig Hunt comes off more like a SciFi Channel B movie." Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 16%
| Crossing Over (2009) | "
Some will win and some will lose their encounters with unbending American bureaucracy, but all deserve better, which should leave viewers eager for an even-handed take on this issue crossing over into disappointment." Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 83%
| I Love You, Man (2009) | "
A typical Hollywood comedy with this plot could have easily descended into a litany of gay-panic moments and not-so-veiled homophobia. But I Love You, Man thankfully avoids that trap." Posted Mar 20, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 18%
| New in Town (2009) | "
Reprehensible." Posted Jan 30, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 56%
| Defiance (2008) | "
Without neglecting the ultimate horror of those years, the film presents a tangible example of potential victims fighting against their oppressors and even achieving victory. And, better yet, it's based on a true story." Posted Jan 16, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 83%
| Beauty in Trouble (2008) | "
[A] well-observed tale, one with no heroes or villains, just people trying to make something of the situations in which they find themselves." Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 43%
| Yes Man (2008) | "
Allows Carrey to deliver his best comedic performance since The Truman Show and, like that film, satisfyingly falls halfway between the juvenile antics of his earlier movies and the ponderous range-stretching of fare like The Majestic." Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 85%
| Azur and Asmar - The Princes' Quest (2006) | "
The backdrops and settings are ornate and stunningly, vividly colored, while the people are depicted with a two-dimensionality like that of a historical tapestry." Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 20%
| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) | "
Overall, this rehash, from the unheralded team of screenwriter David Scarpa and director Scott Derrickson, is better than expected, updating and revising its inspiration in often interesting ways." Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 88%
| Ballast (2008) | "
The overall thrust of the story -- that downtrodden folks in desperate circumstances have the capacity for goodness -- is one too rarely seen." Posted Dec 5, 2008 |
IGN RSS Feeds