ROTTEN TOMATOES: Michael Drakulich

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MICHAEL DRAKULICH

Agrees with the Tomatometer 76% of the time.

Biography: I am a newspaper reporter and film critic for the Star Newspapers (not the supermarket tabloid) in suburban Chicago.

Favorites: All time: Amadeus, The Deer Hunter, Mulholland Drive, The Crying Game, Joe Gould's Secret, Chariot's of Fire.

Publications: Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL)

Total Reviews: 49
Total QuickRatings: 45

Location: Chicago, Illinois

LISTING OF ALL REVIEWS & ARTICLES

Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Fresh 3/4	Fresh 93%	Iron Man (2008)	" The visual effects are bound to give you goosebumps and maybe you'll find yourself uttering an audible "whoa."" Posted Jul 7, 2008
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 36%	You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008)	" Why does Adam Sandler continue to make these comedies that aren't funny? Because your neighbor's 13-year old kid keeps going to see them." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 50%	Sex and the City - The Movie (2008)	" What does that say when a self-admitted narcissist receives such a following? In playing the victim card so often, Sarah Jessica Parker's character is one of the most unlikable characters I've seen in a long time." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 77%	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)	" An iconic film character deserved a better story than this." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 66%	The Incredible Hulk (2008)	" The Hulk is one of Marvel Comics more unsuccessfully developed superheroes. He is more of a scared animal striking out at his tormentors rather than a thinking being that acts with a conscience." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 72%	Wanted (2008)	" Too ridiculous to be entertaining and too long to keep everyone's attention. If fate were only so virtuous as this film would have us believe." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 96%	WALL-E (2008)	" This film is a real treasure, one that can make you laugh when you are in your worst of moods." Posted Jul 7, 2008
Fresh	Fresh 92%	Hotel Rwanda (2004)	" This was a story that needed to be told because the ethnic war that raged in Rwanda in 1994 is often forgotten by the rest of the world." Posted Dec 27, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 91%	Kinsey (2004)	" While �Kinsey� will give insight into the man to a whole new audience, director Bill Condon has not quite made him as human as he may have intended." Posted Dec 27, 2004
Rotten	Rotten 43%	National Treasure (2004)	" This is Bruckheimer�s niche. Don�t ever expect him to adapt a Nicholas Sparks book into a film any time soon." Posted Dec 27, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 97%	Sideways (2004)	" Payne's beautiful command of his content diverts your attention away from the fact it's a typical road movie." Posted Nov 12, 2004
Rotten	Rotten 58%	I, Robot (2004)	" This is jaw-droppingly juvenile and insulting to my intelligence. Perhaps its subject matter is obsolete. Asimov deserved better." Posted Aug 19, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 65%	Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)	" Generally, the film makes good on its humorous potential. " Posted Aug 19, 2004
Rotten	Fresh 78%	Two Brothers (2004)	" Annaud�s methods are misleading which undermine his admirable intent." Posted Aug 19, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 96%	Control Room (2004)	" Bush and Rumsfeld have called Al-Jazeera "the mouthpiece of Osama Bin-Laden." You might find truth to that statement next to Saddam Hussein�s weapons of mass destruction." Posted Aug 19, 2004
Rotten	Rotten 50%	The Passion of the Christ (2004)	" When audiences walk out of theaters in stunned silence, I�m not sure it is for the same reasons director Mel Gibson wanted." Posted Mar 24, 2004
Rotten	Fresh 69%	Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)	" The gist of this film can be summed in one short phrase: 'Sorry. My bad.'" Posted Mar 24, 2004
Rotten	Rotten 13%	Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)	" I hope kids see through this film's slick production value and realize Lindsay Lohan's character is only a shade above contemptible much less worth their admiration." Posted Mar 24, 2004
Rotten	Fresh 71%	Cold Mountain (2003)	" Beauty and skill bereft of passion or personality." Posted Jan 13, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 82%	The Barbarian Invasions (2003)	" Sweet and poignant; perceptive and true." Posted Jan 13, 2004
Fresh	Fresh 77%	The Cooler (2003)	" While everything works on a superficial, plot-driven level with Bernie and Natalie, there is a broader theme at work that adds depth not frequently found in this genre." Posted Jan 13, 2004
Rotten	Fresh 65%	The Last Samurai (2003)	" Any exhibition of tenderness or subtlety is followed by scenes that are logically inconsistent or go for a tawdry effect" Posted Dec 13, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 82%	21 Grams (2003)	" Inarritu plots the story in a non-linear style that mirrors randomness. He does it so exceptionally well, we almost forget about the film�s deficiencies." Posted Dec 13, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 71%	Elephant (2003)	" Director Gus Van Sant should be applauded for resisting the temptation to extrapolate the motives of his two central characters and apply them universally." Posted Dec 13, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 59%	The Missing (2003)	" Had lesser actors been cast in the two lead roles, The Missing could have been no better than an average episode of Bonanza." Posted Dec 13, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 85%	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)	" This is not Crowe's greatest performance, but could be one of the most likable characters he�ll ever play." Posted Dec 13, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 37%	The Matrix Revolutions (2003)	" It is just another good looking action flick. The ignominious fate of being forgotten amidst all the others in the same genre is not what this franchise deserves. " Posted Nov 13, 2003
Rotten	Fresh 60%	Secondhand Lions (2003)	" 'There is something to be said for reminding audiences of simple truths found amidst complex circumstances. But here, the film becomes a series of hokey contrivances and the simple truth it illustrates is so reductive it is almost insulting.'" Posted Oct 22, 2003
Rotten	Fresh 68%	Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)	" 'One area Rodriguez has not managed to nail down is telling a compelling narrative.'" Posted Oct 22, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 90%	The Magdalene Sisters (2003)	" 'It is an unflinching, harsh but engrossing glimpse into what rural Irish families and the Catholic Church did to exterminate sex.'" Posted Oct 22, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 9%	Grind (2003)	" Brings Out The Worst Of A Fringe Sport That Fights For Mainstream Acceptance...this Film Fails So Completely In Almost Every Aspect." Posted Oct 22, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 78%	Seabiscuit (2003)	" Gary Ross' work is skilled and sublime from almost all angles, transcending a sporting drama into a multifaceted film that enthralls and captivates." Posted Aug 11, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 78%	Seabiscuit (2003)	" Gary Ross' work is skilled and sublime from almost all angles, transcending a sporting drama into a multifaceted film that enthralls and captivates." Posted Aug 11, 2003
Rotten	Fresh 61%	Hulk (2003)	" Director Ang Lee is to be commended for at least at-tempting to go beyond what could have been an empty special effects bonanza. But the subject of strained child/parent relationships is treated superficially." Posted Jul 16, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 36%	2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)	" The film relies on kinetic energy as its entertainment hook. There is plenty of action, no doubt, but hardly any of it inventive." Posted Jul 16, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 98%	Finding Nemo (2003)	" It was one of those instances where I found myself recounting out loud the funniest moments to someone who just saw the movie with me." Posted Jul 16, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 35%	The In-Laws (2003)	" *If the CIA really did every-thing so openly as one of its operatives does in The In-Laws, it's amazing any of them could stay under cover.*" Posted Jul 16, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 73%	The Matrix Reloaded (2003)	" Its akin to a computer network, which is generally easy enough to grasp, but its specifics can become frustrating." Posted Jul 16, 2003
Fresh	Fresh 96%	Catch Me If You Can (2002)	" It's Spielberg who pulls the con by leading us down a familiar path only to rup the rug out from under us." Posted Jul 16, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 34%	Tears of the Sun (2003)	" 'Tears of the Sun is great PR for United States foreign policy and its military. Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld could not have crafted a more pro-United States script, nor could they have hoped for a more valorous portrayal of its soldiers.'" Posted Mar 31, 2003
Fresh	Rotten 43%	The Recruit (2003)	" *'What keeps The Recruit* from being a waste is good chemistry between Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. It is by no means a great film but not a half bad way to sepnd a couple of hours.'**" Posted Mar 31, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 29%	Dreamcatcher (2003)	" 'This is such B-movie material, I'm surprised Roger Corman didn't direct.'" Posted Mar 31, 2003
Rotten	Rotten 8%	Gods and Generals (2003)	" 'We witness a disjointed, unfocused, unwieldy monster with only limited appeal and whose themes have been handled much more succinctly and artistically in previous films.'" Posted Mar 2, 2003
Fresh	Rotten 36%	Equilibrium (2002)	" Equilibrium is what George Orwell might have imagined had today's mood-altering drug therapy been envisioned by chemists in 1949." Posted Dec 18, 2002
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 65%	Solaris (2002)	" Solaris does not reduce the complex dilemma it creates for itself down to a simple set of conditions solved by a simple set of rules." Posted Dec 17, 2002
Fresh 4/5	Fresh 86%	Career Girls (1997)	No article or quote available Posted Dec 11, 2002
Rotten	Rotten 59%	Die Another Day (2002)	" James Bond movies are like first dates with empty-headed beauty pageant contestants: you get something beautiful to look at but through the course of the evening, you find there is not much depth or substance to match." Posted Nov 29, 2002
Fresh	Fresh 91%	Far From Heaven (2002)	" [Todd Haynes] illustrates what could have and should have been by painstakingly reproducing a 1950s look and style and coupling it with social content not discussed openly until years afterward. He envisions a more legitimate genre had it been allowed to" Posted Nov 27, 2002
Rotten 2/4	Rotten 10%	Bad Company (2002)	" In this film we at least see a study in contrasts; the wide range of one actor, and the limited range of a comedian." Posted Jun 17, 2002

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MICHAEL DRAKULICH

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