Tomato 3/4 |
Nacho Libre (2006) |
"Another tale (like 'Napoleon Dynamite') of a dreamy misfit seeking recognition and innocent love in an appealingly hermetic land of living cartoon characters.
" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Nancy Drew (2007) |
"The film begins by mocking the validity and relevance of its own source material, but somehow Nancy Drew survives." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Nanny Diaries (2007) |
"With Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti bravely acting their brains out..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Nanny McPhee (2006) |
"Mary Poppins as imagined by Lon Chaney." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) |
"Leaves viewers with a welcome and all too rare feeling of movie-induced giddiness..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
National Treasure (2004) |
"Yeah, it's got a lot of gab in it about unalienable rights, but wouldn't the Declaration of Independence really be something if there were a treasure map on the back?" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
National Treasure 2 : Book of Secrets (2007) |
"Absurd second installment in the Indiana Jones-for-idiots franchise..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Nativity Story (2006) |
"Not entirely disconnected from Hardwicke's previous work: It's the tale of an unwed pregnant teen whose parents worry about her getting stoned. The difference here is that the pregnant teen is a virgin, and we're talking about actual stones." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Neil Young - Heart of Gold (2006) |
"The songs situate the performer within the continuum of not just family but music history..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Never Die Alone (2004) |
"This 'gangsta noir' is a worthy heir to both 'blaxploitation' and to the Warner Bros. gangster classics that linked economic hardship and the allure of crime..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1/4 |
New in Town (2009) |
"In one scene, the townsfolk, candles in hand, gather around an outdoor Christmas tree to sing about Jesus; at the end of the performance, I kind of expected them to lead Zellweger, the outsider, off to a large wicker man." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
The New World (2005) |
"Tedious, mesmerizing and ultimately quite moving..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
New York Minute (2004) |
"The twin millionaires bust up an international piracy ring to help make the world safe again for the manufacturers of overpriced CDs and DVDs..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Next Day Air (2009) |
"Forty years from now, this may be fascinating for its relentless early 21st-century 'urban' slang and attitude. Let's hope it also seems antique for the idea that guns are as accessible as Kleenex..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) |
"...wonderfully entertaining and remarkably coherent.." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Night at the Museum (2006) |
"The liveliest museum piece here is 86-year-old Mickey Rooney, who doesn't look a day older than the film's resurrected mummy but is a lot more entertaining." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) |
"Amy Adams adds plenty of welcome 'moxie' (and a tight pair of aviator's britches), but otherwise there's not much here besides noise, chaos and monkey-slapping." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Night Listener (2006) |
"Leaves us in the dark, with no real answers -- you know, just like life!" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Night Watch (2005) |
"The Cold War re-imagined as an eternal balancing act between good and evil..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Nim's Island (2008) |
"A more enjoyable saga of girl power than Breslin's highly touted followup vehicle, 'Kit Kittredge.'" |
John Beifuss |
Splat '2/4' |
Nina's Tragedies (2005) |
"A film about the whole panoply of life and love and death, blah blah blah." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Ninja Assassin (2009) |
"Never tries to be anything but a slick update of the cheap martial arts thrillers distributed by Cannon Films in the 1980s..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
No Country for Old Men (2007) |
"May be the most faithful screen adaptation of a novel since John Huston directed 'The Maltese Falcon' in 1941..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
No End in Sight (2007) |
"The film is not anti-war but anti-arrogance and anti-idiocy." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato '4/4' |
Nobody Knows (2005) |
"Profoundly metaphorical and almost unbearably heart-wrenching in its recognition of the essential aloneness of life..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Noëlle (2007) |
"Catholics upset over 'The Golden Compass' should direct their ire at this film instead." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 0.5/4 |
Norbit (2007) |
"From start to finish, Norbit is dismally unfunny, inspiring this Sign of the Apocalypse observation: Big Momma's House 2 was better." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Northfork (2003) |
"The sympathetic might describe 'Northfork' as a cinematic poem or allegorical fairy tale. The uncharitable might prefer such terms as 'hokum' or 'hooey'..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Notes on a Scandal (2006) |
"A not-quite-comedy about teacher-student sex, emotional blackmail and soul-curdling loneliness that recalls the phrase that used to appear on the cover of Mad magazine: 'Humor in a jugular vein.'" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Nothing But the Truth (2008) |
"Should find favor with audiences eager for movies driven by characterization, ideas and the performances of actors whose screen presence offers as much justification for the existence of cinema as any camera trick, flashy montage or special effect." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Notorious (2009) |
"Lacks the irresistible bump of Biggie's music and the flow of his rhymes; unlike Wallace, the filmmakers don't create anything fresh from the elements 'sampled' from the art (in this case, musical movie biographies) of the past..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Notorious Bettie Page (2006) |
"Shots of the later-in-life Bettie dressing for a day of street evangelizing remind us that standard woman's fashions can be as binding as Irving Klaw's getups." |
John Beifuss |
Splat '2/4' |
November (2005) |
"A sort of 'Occurrence at Owl Creek Convenience Store' for moviegoers more familiar with Nine Inch Nails videos than Ambrose Bierce..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Nowhere in Africa (2003) |
"...generates its power through first-rate performances, believable character behavior and an accumulation of convincing detail..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 0.5/4 |
The Number 23 (2007) |
"Trying to find something of interest for your mind to cling to as you watch this film is like trying to grab a fistful of windowpane." |
John Beifuss |
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