Fresh B
| Fresh 77%
| Invictus (2009) | "
Clint Eastwood brings his usual late-career leisureliness behind the camera to the movie, in an initially frustrating approach that becomes increasingly satisfying as the film moves along." Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
Jason Reitman’s direction nicely translates the seductive appeal of sterile public places while letting the assured performances do much of the work." Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 5%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
Largely forgetting the kids as it subjects its stars to one humiliation after another, Old Dogs doesn't even have the courage to commit to its familiar but serviceable premise." Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 82%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
Broken Embraces welds Douglas Sirk melodrama to the most gracefully unsettling elements of Alfred Hitchcock, wrapping both in the stylish, hushed elegance that’s become Almodóvar’s trademark since his mid-’90s reinvention." Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Independence Day began a game of landmark-destroying one-upmanship. Here, Emmerich takes the competition global, but the soundtrack’s organ-rattling low-end makes a deeper impact than the film’s visuals." Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
The holiday spirit feels real, but the film does not." Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 25%
| Motherhood (2009) | "
The film treats the responsibilities of parenthood like another film would treat cancer, as a dream-killing condition to be endured until it passes or kills you. As a contraceptive device, that works brilliantly." Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 72%
| Habit (1997) | "
This has been a good decade for movies about New York vampires." Posted Oct 20, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
Lying remains sweetly pleasant but threatens to become as bland as the world in which it’s set, and previously took such pleasure in exploring." Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 39%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
Surrogates creates a world it has little interest in exploring beyond the boundaries set by a fairly dull whodunit." Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 86%
| Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) | "
It flits swiftly between easy-but-funny sight gags involving giant food, send-ups of disaster-film clichés, and endearing characters brought vividly to life by a pleasing visual style, plus funny vocal performances." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 84%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
After a compelling opening act and some shocking late-film developments, the film feels disengaged from the action at hand and the issues raised." Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
It’s a studied movie that gives itself over to bursts of intensity, and between them sometimes threatens to become as spellbound by its subjects as they become with each other." Posted Sep 16, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 21%
| Halloween II (2009) | "
Let’s float a notion: Rob Zombie is the greatest horror-movie director never to make a great movie." Posted Sep 1, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Lee’s movie is pleasant enough, but it’s too swept up in the spirit it’s celebrating to ask the relevant questions." Posted Aug 27, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
A little enthusiasm goes a long way, but Rodriguez’s films too often demonstrate that it doesn’t go far enough." Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 9%
| Post Grad (2009) | "
When a film whose cast includes Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch, Fred Armisen, Craig Robinson, Demetri Martin, and the now rarely seen Carol Burnett can’t scare up more than a smattering of laughs, the patient was never meant to live in the first place." Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
There’s a feast here, particularly in the amazing opening, an unexpected essay on King Kong, and performances by Pitt, Laurent, and Waltz. It’s just been placed on a huge table with no consideration of whether it adds up to a meal." Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
Funny ideas bubble up from time to time only to disappear into a morass of stripper jokes and desperation." Posted Aug 13, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
Julie & Julia is two movies in one. That’s one more movie than it needs to be." Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Every beat of Yi’s manufactured crisis of faith feels as pre-programmed in its own way as a Michael Bay movie." Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 9%
| The Pest (1997) | "
It seems to be targeted at eight-year-old boys with attention-deficit disorder, and could have been more competently made by any one of them." Posted Aug 4, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Its turgid pace creates a queasy fascination all its own, drawing viewers into an ever-darkening locus of sin and obsession where even the wish for redemption comes at a terrible cost." Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
It’s refreshingly unformulaic, but a rambling mess. It’s also tremendously funny." Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 95%
| In the Loop (2009) | "
A mercilessly funny film that, beneath the laughs, chillingly falls on the believable side of how politics really gets done." Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 55%
| Orphan (2009) | "
If director Jaume Collet-Serra set out to make a parody of horror-film clichés, he succeeded brilliantly." Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 45%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
What follows: crude jokes, sweet lessons, Simon Pegg as an adventurer gone insane, and a bunch of decent animation, which select patrons will see in impressive 3-D. Ideally they’ll be about 8 years old and hopped up on Junior Mints." Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 66%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Too much of Public Enemies feels disappointingly smaller than life." Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
Following 27 Dresses, this is the second high-concept, low-impact, wedding-themed comedy in 18 months for choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher. It might be time to move on." Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 25%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
It doesn’t help that neither Ferrell nor McBride bring their best material, with McBride offering yet another variation on an angry redneck, and Ferrell falling back on Ron Burgundy-like bluster and nonsense exclamations." Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 78%
| The Hangover (2009) | "
It’s a film about forgetting that seems designed to be forgotten." Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 81%
| Departures (2009) | "
Here’s a great way to start savoring life: Don’t waste it on pat manipulations like this." Posted May 28, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
As long as McG keeps the action moving, the film remains on solid ground, matching and often surpassing the thoroughly adequate 2003 entry Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines." Posted May 20, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 64%
| The Brothers Bloom (2009) | "
Johnson sets viewers up for greatness, but ultimately offers much milder pleasures." Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 95%
| Star Trek (2009) | "
It boldly goes somewhere different and makes it hard to leave the film not hoping for a return voyage soon." Posted May 7, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 73%
| Objectified (2009) | "
It provides just enough information to invite further study without going into much detail. It’s an intriguing film about what goes on beneath the surface of the objects we take for granted, but one that never digs as deep as it should." Posted May 7, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
A couple of halfway decent action scenes do little to distract from the story’s mounting ludicrousness, or a conclusion that’s only a little more satisfying than a projector breakdown. Maybe." Posted Apr 30, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 11%
| The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2009) | "
Only Sarsgaard shows a pulse, creating a self-destructive, omnisexual rogue who, for all his faults, would probably be great company. The same can’t be said for the film around him." Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 34%
| Alien Trespass (2009) | "
There’s no shortage of either the originals or imitators, so why make Alien Trespass, a send-up of second-shelf ’50s sci-fi so straight-faced, it could almost pass as the real thing?" Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 59%
| Paris 36 (2008) | "
A handsomely mounted but achingly undistinguished film from writer-director Christophe Barratier." Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 28%
| Fast & Furious (2009) | "
A franchise that started as a corrective for distressing action-movie trends becomes what it started out hating. Time for something new." Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 18%
| The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) | "
As a piece of storytelling, The Haunting In Connecticut is pretty lazy. As a horror movie, it’s lazier still, bringing out every annoying shock-cut and disorienting sound-design trick of the last decade." Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 33%
| Knowing (2009) | "
Proyas remains a skilled director of mood and spectacle, but a striking look and a handful of remarkable setpieces -- look out for that plane -- can’t elevate what’s ultimately a silly movie with a queasy subtext." Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
Watchmen deserves credit for staying true to the characters, plot (up to a point), and look of the original material while still generating his own kind of energy, even though that energy sometimes feels misapplied and overcranked." Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 83%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
The particulars of the story, Gray’s moody compositions and feel for the neighborhood, and especially the performances rescue Two Lovers from the obvious." Posted Feb 12, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 32%
| Fanboys (2009) | "
It's hard to imagine any sort of alchemy transforming the script's parade of Star Wars references and tired nostalgic '90s signifiers into gold, or -- this many years after Jar Jar Binks -- make their passion seem anything but sadly misplaced." Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 13%
| The Pink Panther 2 (2009) | "
The Pink Panther 2 plays like an undeserved victory lap for a series that only limped to the finish line the last time." Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 45%
| Hotel for Dogs (2009) | "
There's no disguising fluff this fluffy." Posted Jan 15, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 12%
| The Unborn (2009) | "
What darkness the movie achieves comes solely from the lighting." Posted Jan 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
It’s keenly observed, handsomely mounted, supremely well-acted, and distant in a way the period trappings can’t quite explain away." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
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