Splat 2.5/4 |
P.S. I Love You (2007) |
"The end dedication (to the producer's late sister) reminds us that even a disposable commercial film can be extremely personal and meaningful for the people involved in its creation." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Painted Veil (2006) |
"An intelligently crafted movie of dull tastefulness that brings nothing to the story that wasn't more artfully evoked in the novel." |
John Beifuss |
Splat '2.5/4' |
Palindromes (2005) |
"Solondz's satiric targets are obvious but his intentions are mysterious -- possibly even to the filmmaker himself." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 4/4 |
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) |
"Unlike many other popular fantasists, del Toro is brave and honest enough to acknowledge that if fantasy is a refuge, it's not necessarily a shield." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Paprika (2007) |
"Offers both eye candy and mind candy -- it's a thoughtful visual treat." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Paradise Now (2005) |
"Today's assignment: Watch 'Paradise Now.' Discuss." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Paranormal Activity (2009) |
"'Maybe we shouldn't have the camera?' Katie asks, raising the interesting if undeveloped notion that the plugged-in generation's endless self-regard and intentional surrendering of privacy invites discontent, disruption, even disaster." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Paris (2009) |
"'Seize the Day.' That's the title of a song that plays during the end credits... It's also the trite message of this tedious tapestry-of-life ensemble piece, in which a prettily dying young man advises his man-less sister to 'take a chance on chance.'" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Paris 36 (2008) |
"Those who like their movies (a) cute and (b) in French will go oui, oui, oui all the way home after spending 120 minutes with this rose-tinted homage to the neighborhood music halls of France..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Passion of the Christ (2004) |
"Overall, it's just another movie, and it can be dismissed with the same short critique we so often apply to other movies: The book was better." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Paycheck (2003) |
"Fails to satisfy as either a Dickian head trip or a Woo-zy thriller..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato '3/4' |
The Perfect Crime (2005) |
"If twisted noir novelist Jim Thompson had scripted the Jerry Lewis vehicle 'Who's Minding the Store?,' the result might have been something like this..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
A Perfect Getaway (2009) |
"Modest but twisty B-thriller is elevated by nice character touches, witty writing and its tropical setting." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Perfect Holiday (2007) |
"In one scene, Terrence Howard kneels in a pair of shoes like Tim Conway in a 'Dorf on Golf' video, licks a lollipop and utters this line: 'I gotta go dookie.' I hope they paid him well." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Perfect Score (2004) |
"Presents itself as the first SAT protest film... but predictably becomes a toothless pep rally for business as usual..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 0.5/4 |
Perfect Stranger (2007) |
"An artifact from an alternate universe where Halle Berry and Bruce Willis star in 'Basic Instinct' rip-offs for Roger Corman's New Horizons Home Video company." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) |
"An extremely ambitious and spectacularly produced thriller indebted to the 1960s tradition of the 'giallo'..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Persepolis (2007) |
" If Charles M. Schulz's 'Peanuts' cast was transported inside 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' the visual result might resemble this film..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Phat Girlz (2006) |
"Almost stunning in its determination to be the ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy vehicle for plus-sized African-American women..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Pineapple Express (2008) |
"Not since 'Pulp Fiction' plunged a needle in the heart of an overdose victim has drug comedy met drug violence with the pop of 'Pineapple Express.'" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Pink Panther (2006) |
"Martin and Levy fail to convince us of Clouseau's belief in his own reality. We find ourselves watching Martin riffing on Sellers rather than a legitimate if ridiculous character." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Pink Panther 2 (2009) |
"No movie is produced to lose money, but the new 'Pink Panther' films have no apparent reason to exist except to wring more dollars from an already throttled franchise..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pirate Radio (2009) |
"Overstates the Establishment-vs.-youth culture impact of Britain's real-life offshore radio stations..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) |
"Here, death has little sadness and no permanence; it's as if the characters, being part of a mostly CGI world, are destined to exist forever in digital limbo, like deleted e-mails." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) |
"The repetitive quests are cut short only by the cliffhanger non-ending..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) |
"'The Haunted Mansion' with Eddie Murphy is scheduled for Thanksgiving. No word yet about possible movies based on the Enchanted Tiki Room or the spinnning teacups..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1/4 |
Planet 51 (2009) |
"A trite compendium of everything that's wrong with non-Pixar computer-animated feature films." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 4/4 |
Ponyo (2009) |
"The sight of the giddy and newly bipedal Ponyo racing atop the waves of a magically roiling flood may be the happiest and most memorable image of the movie year." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Poseidon (2006) |
"Petersen stages some frighteningly claustrophobic sequences, but even the inevitable happy ending can't restore the humanity of characters so completely swallowed up by machinery.
" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 0/4 |
Post Grad (2009) |
"Near the end of the story, Michael Keaton utters what could come to be regarded as the direst threat in movie history: 'From now on, it's Malby time.'" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
A Prairie Home Companion (2006) |
"A gentle, graceful movie so preoccupied with death and the end of things that it seems like the work of a man politely preparing his own funeral service -- corny jokes included -- to save his loved ones the trouble.
" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) |
"Sapphire's story and the film's performances are powerful enough to compensate for Daniels' miscalculations and phony tricks." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Prestige (2006) |
"Part 'Sleuth,' part 'Itchy & Scratchy,' part science-fiction..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat '2/4' |
Pretty Persuasion (2005) |
"Matches the glossy, calculated kinkiness of a pay-cable television series to a story that unfolds like a Young Adult author's stab at a Bret Easton Ellis novel.
" |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Priceless (2008) |
"Worth seeing only for the mysterious adhesion process of Tautou's dresses and for Gilles Henry's glossy cinematography, which treats the luxurious Monte Carlo and Nice locations the way a tongue treats a lollipop." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Pride (2007) |
"Directed by Zimbabwean-born Sunu Gonera, who seems fascinated with 1970s American 'ghetto' atmosphere; he overdoses viewers on afros, hoop earrings and graffiti, which at least keeps the movie watchable." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
Pride and Glory (2008) |
"An efficient if overwrought addition to the evergreen movie tradition of boys in blue behaving very, very badly." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pride and Prejudice (2005) |
"It's quite 'agreeable,' as the fatuous Mr. Collins would say, but there's something disturbing about a Jane Austen adaptation that uses an ampersand as an official part of its title.
" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Primer (2004) |
"Like the 'time boxes' in the film, 'Primer' is a meticulously constructed and compact homemade wonder..." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
Primeval (2007) |
"If the crocodile don't get you, the warlord will." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Princess and the Frog (2009) |
"Say it loud, I'm green and I'm proud: 'It's not slime, it's mucus,' Tiana asserts during the film's final act, after Disney's first African-American princess has spent most of the film in the emerald skin of an amphibian." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Producers (2005) |
"'Everything is show biz, don't you know,' states Lane, and 'The Producers' evangelizes this message with fundamentalist zeal." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Prom Night (2008) |
"If early slasher films, as their critics claimed, punished teens for having sex, the new 'Prom Night' punishes teens for their conspicuous consumption (stretch limos, hotel suites, and so on)." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Promise (2005) |
"In this era of obsessive and globally connected cult cinema fans, it's foolish to give the movie's core target audience an excuse to skip the theatrical experience for the more 'authentic' home edition available uncut on import DVD.
" |
John Beifuss |
Splat '2/4' |
Proof (2005) |
"Among the startling revelations: Math is precise but life is sloppy." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 2/4 |
The Proposal (2009) |
"Tailored to fit Sandra Bullock more snugly than the antique wedding gown altered for the star during the final act, the film begins to fall apart at the seams after its focus wanders from its promising screwball premise..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 4/4 |
The Proposition (2006) |
"As pitiless an Aussie Western as one might expect from the pen of self-consciously gloomy songwriter Nick Cave, who titled one defining album 'Murder Ballads.'" |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
The Protector (2006) |
"The story is incoherent (possibly due to Weinstein cuts in the Thai original), but if you enjoy fight scenes, this is an eye-popping amazement..." |
John Beifuss |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Public Enemies (2009) |
"The great theme of 'Public Enemies' is the inevitability and finality of death." |
John Beifuss |
Splat 0.5/4 |
Pulse (2006) |
"Dead on arrival." |
John Beifuss |
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