Rotten
| Rotten 38%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Not a thing in this movie is subtle, from its cheesy special effects to its by-the-numbers storyline to its cardboard cutout characters." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
What Whip It does make clear is that all girls are expected to perform, whether expectations are embodied by parents or audiences." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
Zombieland does well enough in its early minutes, then picks up a little unexpected speed when Columbus meets another "noncannibal survivor" (played by a perfect Woody Harrelson)." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 65%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
Coco Before Chanel cannot get out from under the romantic fabrications and excesses that ostensibly annoyed its subject." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
If the story of Jenny's inevitably hard lesson is standard, An Education comes up with a few moments that give pause." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 20%
| Amelia (2009) | "
Amelia provides only a cursory look at Earhart's commercialization, more a way to delineate her marriage troubles than investigate her self-image or her treatment as a pop star." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Feelings of loss and frustration, acted out so loudly, raucously, and repeatedly, are at the center of Where the Wild Things Are." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 59%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
Pirate Radio leaves out any mention of the usual historical and cultural background, say, sex as a potential means of mixing races and classes." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Intergenerational dilemmas -- how to be foxes, to be individuals and also parts of communities -- form the complicated heart of Fantastic Mr. Fox." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| N/A | Loot (2009) | "
A treasure hunter who has travelled far and wide looking for long-lost fortunes, Lance Larson's questing serves as point of departure for the beguiling documentary, Loot." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| The Maid (2009) | "
Full of tension, the first scene in The Maid (La Nana) sets up Raquel's grim and limited world." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
As much as This Is It recalls Jackson's genius, it perpetuates the exploitation that shaped his life." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 83%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
The titular and sometimes distressing activity in Paranormal Activity serves as a mostly banal metaphor for the couples relationship." — Nitrate Online Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 23%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
Jamie Foxx's Nick mostly repeats the part played by Denzel Washington in Ricochet, the superior first incarnation of Law Abiding Citizen." — Nitrate Online Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
It's some kind of trick when a film can make Jason Bateman look unsubtle." — Nitrate Online Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (2009) | "
Work is at the center of Frederick Wiseman's absorbing documentary, La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet." — Nitrate Online Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
Where is Fox Mulder when you need him?" — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
Setting up easy targets, The Men Who Stare at Goats seems less clever than behind the times." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is concerned with lasting effects of poverty -- on individuals and especially, on communities." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 37%
| 2012 (2009) | "
As the action becomes less fabulous and more repetitive over 2012's 150 minutes, the philosophical debate ratchets up." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 77%
| The Good Soldier (2009) | "
The familiar format helps to underscore what's extraordinary about these stories, the fear and indignity felt by the soldiers." — PopMatters Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 9/10
| Fresh 85%
| Lorna's Silence (2009) | "
Even as the camera follows Lorna, it never quite keeps up, though it's unclear whether she's eluding your interpretation or her own." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Paper Heart is increasingly focused on the tension between Cera and Yi's supposedly real romance and the camera's imposition of structure and self-consciousness." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Rotten 58%
| A Perfect Getaway (2009) | "
The home video sets up A Perfect Getaway's frank understanding of itself as formula." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 5/10
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
Julia Child's letters home are vivacious, illustrating her generosity and wit, her resolve and sense of humor." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 1/10
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
The Goods' vulgarity is not new or clever or even comically shocking. It is, instead, prosaic and repetitive." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 3/10
| Rotten 38%
| The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) | "
The question of her own "free will" niggles at the edges of Clare's experience throughout the movie named for her." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 80%
| Bandslam (2009) | "
Knowing that you know the drill, Bandslam leaves out most too-explanatory details, and lets the kids be kidlike rather than movie-kidlike." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
In District 9, racism provides the white guy with a very special growth experience." — PopMatters Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Rotten 26%
| Shrink (2009) | "
As all of Shrink's seemingly disparate stories begin to fall too cleverly into each other, it's easy to be distracted by some fine performances." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 15%
| The Ugly Truth (2009) | "
Concerns about truth and untruth can't mean much in a movie called The Ugly Truth." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 24%
| G-Force (2009) | "
G-Force's dedication to egregious stereotypes is hackneyed and indefensible: this is how racism lives on." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten 5/10
| Rotten 55%
| Orphan (2009) | "
It's not a bad idea for a horror movie, that the seeming victims are not innocent and their complicated past weighs on their present." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Rotten 4/10
| Rotten 43%
| Fragments (2009) | "
Even as it makes a show of complexity Fragments seems determined to pull together its various story strands." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 93%
| Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2009) | "
Russell Mulcahy and other artists look back fondly on Australian exploitation films for Not Quite Hollywood, sometimes wondering just how they were able to get away with it." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 95%
| The Cove (2009) | "
In between the exciting sequences of the team setting up equipment and being nearly captured, The Cove includes interviews with persuasive sea life experts and not-so-convincing local Japanese authorities." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 85%
| Flame & Citron (2008) | "
Throughout this compelling film, the assassins want to believe they're doing righteous work: they're fighting Nazi occupation forces, after all." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Full of ache and desire, Tae-ju seems the ultimate embodiment of the title of Park Chan-wook's new film, Thirst (Bakjwi)." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 81%
| Beeswax (2009) | "
If it's rare to see sisters at the center of a smart, mature, and artful movie, it's even more surprising to see them so keenly in tune." — PopMatters Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 64%
| The Disappeared (2008) | "
A complicated family dynamic is the point of departure for The Disappeared, part horror movie, part psychological study." — PopMatters Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Fresh 7/10
| Fresh 92%
| The Way We Get By (2009) | "
The Way We Get By stays focused on the greeters' mix of loneliness and determination, the pleasure of feeling needed and the pain of growing old." — PopMatters Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Fresh 5/10
| Fresh 64%
| Off Jackson Avenue (2009) | "
In Off Jackson Avenue, Olivia is gutsy, shrewd, and fed up in a way that makes her look ripe for a Quentin Tarantino movie." — PopMatters Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
In The Beaches of Agnès, the "game" of cinema is endlessly fascinating, as what was and what can be come together on screen." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 54%
| Cheri (2009) | "
Chéri's saga of bad parenting ostensibly has to do with designs and rituals of love." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 54%
| The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) | "
The gallant, educated, and sensitive outsider, will do right by Soraya, unlike the loathsome, fearful, and petty neighbors who killed her." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 67%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Sensational and turbulent, the relationship between John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis sold newspapers and attracted newsreel audiences. It was good for business." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 6/10
| Fresh 96%
| Burma VJ (2009) | "
Burma VJ articulates a circular, daunting, and inevitable logic: visibility = life." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 89%
| Moon (2009) | "
In brief, stark moments, Duncan Jones' movie makes plain how awful it is to be so solitary, how utterly impossible it is to consider this existence a "living."" — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 5/10
| Fresh 93%
| Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (2009) | "
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is amiable and formally conventional, a portrait that doesn't mean to provoke, but to revere." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 8/10
| Fresh 75%
| Humpday (2009) | "
In Humpday, Andrew can't help but compete with Anna, who has stolen his bro, or more precisely, his slowly receding notion of himself." — PopMatters Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
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