Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 59%
| Valentin (2004) | "
The film is plenty charming, but lacks a connection to its time and place that would put Valentin's dilemma in context." Posted May 21, 2004 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 84%
| The Seagull's Laughter (2001) | "
Writer-director Agust Gudmundsson skillfully balances romantic comedy and melodrama with a coming-of-age story and morality play." Posted May 6, 2004 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| James' Journey to Jerusalem (2003) | "
This wise, clever Israeli film reintroduces the once-popular concept of film as allegory, as it follows a Christian pilgrim on his bumpy road to salvation." Posted Mar 11, 2004 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 66%
| Ichi the Killer (2002) | "
Any serious message has been sacrificed on the altar of excess, making us realize why the stylish story probably worked better as a graphic comic book than as a film." Posted Oct 23, 2003 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII (2002) | "
The overriding sense one gets from this short but powerful film is awe." Posted Sep 4, 2003 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 81%
| The Stone Reader (2003) | "
Moskowitz may soon find himself in the same boat as many of the artists he is analyzing, because Stone Reader is going to be one tough act to follow." Posted Jul 10, 2003 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 72%
| Bonhoeffer (2003) | "
[A] well-crafted film." Posted Jun 26, 2003 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Charlotte Sometimes (2002) | "
Byler is too savvy a filmmaker to let this morph into a typical romantic triangle. Instead, he focuses on the anguish that can develop when one mulls leaving the familiar to traverse uncharted ground." Posted May 1, 2003 |
Rotten 2/4
| N/A | S.O.S. Planet (2002) | "
Though its intentions are honorable, SOS Planet turns out to be more convoluted than motivational." Posted Feb 19, 2003 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 97%
| American Experience - Daughter from Danang (2002) | "
It rapidly develops into a gut-wrenching examination of the way cultural differences and emotional expectations collide." Posted Feb 13, 2003 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 8%
| Darkness Falls (2003) | "
A lamebrained attempt at horror that is just a derivative pastiche of ideas lifted from other bad films." Posted Jan 23, 2003 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Shanghai Ghetto (2002) | "
A salute to those who were blessed not only with savvy and courage, but something between an uncanny sense of foresight and an unforeseen stroke of good fortune." Posted Jan 16, 2003 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 20%
| Just Married (2003) | "
I laughed exactly once during the whole film." Posted Jan 9, 2003 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 80%
| Biggie and Tupac (2002) | "
You don't need to know your Ice-T's from your Cool-J's to realize that as far as these shootings are concerned, something is rotten in the state of California." Posted Jan 9, 2003 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 100%
| Fudoh: The New Generation (1997) | "
If you're a connoisseur of this type of gory head-banging, you should be impressed." Posted Dec 19, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 67%
| Berlin Babylon (2001) | "
This film would be an excellent companion piece to Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, which deals with angels looking down on this scarred city." Posted Dec 13, 2002 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 40%
| Some Body (2002) | "
[Bennett's] quite convincing as she tries to figure out what has gone wrong in her personal life -- and how she can fix it before it is too late." Posted Nov 14, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 63%
| Cuba Feliz (2002) | "
A quasi-documentary by French filmmaker Karim Dridi that celebrates the hardy spirit of Cuban music." Posted Oct 17, 2002 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 100%
| Kwik Stop (2001) | "
This is the debut feature for Columbia College graduate Gilio, and it shows great promise." Posted Oct 10, 2002 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 55%
| Uzumaki (2002) | "
Gussied up with so many distracting special effects and visual party tricks that it's not clear whether we're supposed to shriek or laugh." Posted Oct 3, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 57%
| Captain Pantoja and the Special Services (1999) | "
Goofy but enjoyable." Posted Sep 27, 2002 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 63%
| Crop Circles: Quest for Truth (2002) | "
Less a pure documentary than it is a fact-finding mission, with the real story waiting to be presented somewhere down the line." Posted Sep 26, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 69%
| Chaos (1999) | "
It's a difficult film to follow and figure out (I've only seen it once), and yet there is something mesmerizing about the way director Nakata whips the tale to a frenzy and drags us in." Posted Sep 5, 2002 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 71%
| Chain Camera (2001) | "
Absorbing in places, but considering the large and diverse pool the filmmakers had to draw from, it's a surprisingly repetitive and predictable collection of big-city sagas." Posted Aug 29, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 64%
| Eisenstein (2002) | "
If you're content with a clever pseudo-bio that manages to have a good time as it doles out pieces of the famous director's life, Eisenstein delivers." Posted Aug 22, 2002 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 33%
| Secret Society (2002) | "
Starts out with tremendous promise, introducing an intriguing and alluring premise, only to fall prey to a boatload of screenwriting cliches that sink it faster than a leaky freighter." Posted Aug 15, 2002 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| The Big Heat (1953) | "
In many ways, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, scripted by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm, laid the groundwork not only for "Dirty Harry," but for the whole sub-genre of 'rogue cop' films that began to surface during the Vietnam era." Posted Jul 20, 2002 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Late Marriage (2001) | "
One of those welcome visitors, a movie that turns out to be much more than we expected." Posted Jul 20, 2002 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 95%
| Johnny Guitar (1954) | "
One of those classic westerns that has maintained its status by reinventing itself every decade since its release in 1954." Posted Jul 11, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 59%
| Siddhartha (1972) | "
Rather than living on as reminder of India in the early 1900s, the film now exists as a period piece of another sort, namely, as a cult film of the psychedelic era." Posted Jul 11, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 100%
| This Sporting Life (1963) | "
It's impossible not to appreciate the remarkable performances (both Harris and Roberts were nominated for Oscars) or the realistic rugby scenes that earned Harris a broken leg." Posted Jun 27, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 75%
| ivans xtc. (2002) | "
I have no way of knowing exactly how much is exaggeration, but I've got a creepy feeling that the film is closer to the mark than I want to believe." Posted Jun 27, 2002 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 87%
| Home Movie (2002) | "
Smith is careful not to make fun of these curious owners of architectural oddities. Instead, he shows them the respect they are due." Posted Jun 27, 2002 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 54%
| The Cherry Orchard (2002) | "
Any Chekhov is better than no Chekhov, but it would be a shame if this was your introduction to one of the greatest plays of the last 100 years." Posted Apr 4, 2002 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| Adanggaman (2001) | "
There are ... images that are shocking and disturbing." Posted Mar 21, 2002 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (2001) | "
Most of all, it is a salute to Shackleton himself, whose calm and grace under extreme pressure helped guarantee that not a single crew member would be lost." Posted Jan 3, 2002 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| The Human Body (2001) | "
My guess is that The Human Body will inspire more than a few enterprising young men and women to consider entering the fields of science and medicine." Posted Dec 29, 2001 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 15%
| The Affair of the Necklace (2001) | "
Shyer ... exhibits little flair for the ebb and flow of a costume caper movie." Posted Dec 24, 2001 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 2%
| Texas Rangers (2001) | "
The end result may not be a full-blown disaster, but it comes close." Posted Dec 6, 2001 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 60%
| A Real Young Girl (2001) | "
An intelligent coming-of-age story about a girl who realizes, for better or for worse, that there's no turning back." Posted Nov 15, 2001 |
Rotten
| Rotten 55%
| Dead or Alive (2001) | "
Ultimately a disappointment because it refuses to take any aspect of itself seriously." Posted Oct 19, 2001 |
Fresh
| Fresh 71%
| Downtown 81 (1981) | "
Gives us a glimpse of the city as it was, suggesting that there was something revolutionary, even inspiring, about those days of not-so yore." Posted Sep 20, 2001 |
Fresh
| Rotten 42%
| China: The Panda Adventure () | "
If you can ignore the cookie-cutter story and wooden characters and focus instead on the natural wonders that are passing us by as we travel up the Yangtze, chances are good that you won't be disappointed." Posted Sep 13, 2001 |
Rotten
| Rotten 4%
| Soul Survivors (2001) | "
The concept of the story is far more interesting than the finished product, which is standard fare at best." Posted Sep 13, 2001 |
Fresh
| Fresh 93%
| Cure (2001) | "
Once again [Kurosawa] takes on a familiar genre, the murder mystery, but he imbues it with so much angst and psychological juice that it takes on a life of its own." Posted Aug 16, 2001 |
Fresh
| Rotten 53%
| Young Girl and the Monsoon (2001) | Kinney is solid, as usual, but it is young Muth who gobbles up the screen. Posted Jul 20, 2001 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| Our Song (2001) | "
Rich with scenes of affection, anger and reconciliation, along with moments of unfeigned humor." Posted Jul 5, 2001 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| Himalaya (2001) | "
Juxtaposes breathtaking cinematography with an ancient, almost epic story." Posted Jul 5, 2001 |
Rotten
| Fresh 86%
| The Closet (2001) | "
We are left with a mildly amusing comedy and the lingering memory of a sterling cast that deserved better material." Posted Jul 5, 2001 |
Rotten
| Fresh 83%
| Lakeboat (2001) | "
This early effort is more a curiosity piece than anything else." Posted May 31, 2001 |
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