Tomato |
P.S. (2004) |
"A movie that is wonderfully idiosyncratic, yet frustratingly misguided on occasion." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat |
The Pacifier (2005) |
"Making the audience wish they were seeing an old Hulk Hogan movie is simply sad." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Page Turner (2007) |
"The characters are sophisticated. The subtexts involve class and snobbery and sex. The mood is uncomfortably chill." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
The Painted Veil (2006) |
"Naomi Watts is far too good for most of her roles, sitting in an ape's paw or watching spectral videotapes. The Painted Veil is a welcome exception." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 1/4 |
Palindromes (2005) |
"Solondz has said he wanted to play with conventions of audience identification and sympathy, but the whole gimmick is about as playful as a bucket of water poised over the theater door." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 4/4 |
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) |
"Childlike but never childish, fabulist but never fantastical, it's a triumph." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Paparazzi (2004) |
"A vigilante fable so boorish, brainless and mean-spirited, everyone involved should be locked up for assault." |
Lisa Rose |
Tomato |
Paper Clips (2004) |
"Despite its flaws, the movie does have some valuable lessons to teach and uplifting words to share." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Paprika (2007) |
"The anything-goes dream logic is confusing, and the question of why, late in the game, the nighttime fantasies start becoming real, is left mostly unexplained." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Paris, Je T'aime (2007) |
"Some shorts work. Others don't. It is fascinating, though, to see which ones do, and why." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Party Monster (2003) |
"Both pointless and grotesque, it accomplishes nothing but the impossible: It makes the charismatic look merely tiresome, and dangerous decadence look deadly dull." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Passenger (1975) |
"The Passenger can make one nostalgic -- mostly, for a time when foreign films mattered." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
The Passion of the Christ (2004) |
"As a true reading of the Gospels -- the director's much-vaunted aim -- the film falls abruptly short." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Passionada (2003) |
"Afraid to trust the strength of its simple story, it clutters it up with subplots, some of which seem to have been forgotten in the editing." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Patti Smith - Dream of Life (2008) |
"Even the crudest punk rocker learned three chords (Smith brags of having five) before they plugged in an amp. Steven Sebring would have done better to have had a few lessons in editing and structure before picking up his camera." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Paycheck (2003) |
"The whole project bears the marks of a bored director, and a script in constant flux." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
People I Know (2003) |
"Miscast and badly thought out, People I Know needed more -- and less -- than it got." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
A Perfect Getaway (2009) |
"A Perfect Getaway is one of those very clever whodunits that keeps you guessing for quite awhile. But on the way home, as you replay its tricks, you may feel more conned than charmed." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
The Perfect Man (2005) |
"Inoffensive doesn't make movies. And unless she starts improving her projects soon, neither, soon, will Hilary Duff." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
The Perfect Score (2004) |
"Strains to be a hip splice of Ocean's Eleven and The Breakfast Club, but plays more like a never-ending civics lecture, trying to mask its pervasive lameness in visual zip and savvy reference points." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 1/4 |
Perfect Stranger (2007) |
"Layered with improbable plot twists and hypocritical commentary, the movie is lurid and outdated when it wants to be hip and provocative." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat |
Peter Pan (2003) |
"What it is lacking is any kind of wonder. True fairy dust is in decidedly short supply and without it, the movie sinks like a cannonball." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato |
Pieces of April (2003) |
"Economically paced and emotionally satisfying, Pieces of April is a good example of what small independent movies can do." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3/4 |
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2007) |
"It's Timothy Spall who really carries the film." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
Pineapple Express (2008) |
"The sloppy script (which Rogen co-wrote) aspires to nothing more than old Cheech and Chong routines, built around frustrating, circuitous conversations." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Pink Panther (2006) |
"The film has its stumbling points, but it offers a sufficient amount of laughter." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2/4 |
Pirate Radio (2009) |
"If rock ’n’ roll is about joy and rebellion, then a movie about it should be joyful and rebellious, too. But Pirate Radio is staid and stolid." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 1.5 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) |
"Even longer and less coherent [than Dead Man's Chest]. Consider it a companion piece to the similarly indulgent Spider-Man 3." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2/4 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) |
"Rum, monotony and the lash." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato |
Pistol Opera (2001) |
"Nothing in Pistol Opera ever seems remotely possible, but it's still gorgeous art -- like a dream David Lynch had after watching too many John Woo movies." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Pokemon - Heroes: The Movie (2003) |
"Directors Kunihiko Yuyama and Jim Malone pull off a few striking visual effects. But it's still a Pokemon movie." |
Bob Campbell |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Pontypool (2009) |
"For a while, this claustrophobic little horror movie is a dark little treat." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
Ponyo (2009) |
"Miyazaki's artwork can be lovely -- and the delicate, watery colors of Ponyo are particularly well done -- but he's still a slave to the genre's peculiar traditions." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
Poseidon (2006) |
"Poseidon doesn't say much about society today, except that Hollywood continues to pour buckets of money into frivolous projects." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2/4 |
Post Grad (2009) |
"The story that writer Kelly Fremon wants to tell in Post Grad -- recent college grad strikes out at finding a job, moves back home with her wacky family and finds true love -- is pretty tired." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
A Prairie Home Companion (2006) |
"For the rest of us, this is a woebegone world we not only don't know but don't particularly want to visit." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) |
"The whole thing begins to feel like The Color Purple as rewritten for a poetry slam, heaping on the abuse like a horror film." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
Premonition (2007) |
"The script could have used some analysis itself. After proceeding for an hour in its fairly obvious supernatural path, suddenly the movie decides to get religious." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 2/4 |
The Prestige (2006) |
"Unfortunately the script is too smart for its own good." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Pride (2007) |
"The dialogue and plot may be cliché, but Howard's slow-burn portrayal redeems the weak writing." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pride and Glory (2008) |
"It's bearable for two acts, but eventually sensation overtakes sense." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3/4 |
Pride and Prejudice (2005) |
"The film is faithful to its source material, but not in a rigid, stodgy way. It's the rare adaptation that should please purists and dilettantes alike." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2/4 |
Prime (2005) |
"A wildly uneven picture that is confused at its core." |
Lisa Rose |
Tomato 3/4 |
Primo Amore (2005) |
"The scenario is ludicrous, yet it's filmed and performed in such a way that it creates unbearable tension." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat |
The Prince & Me (2004) |
"Sappily-ever-after fairy tale." |
Stephen Whitty |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Princess and the Frog (2009) |
"It’s gaily colored, handmade art, with a straight stylistic link to old Baby-Boom offerings of the ’50s and ’60s." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat |
Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) |
"Though the picture is often trite and occasionally exasperating, the leading ladies give it a spoonful of sugar and a hint of enchantment." |
Lisa Rose |
Splat 2/4 |
Private Fears in Public Places (2007) |
"French art films aren't generally known for their feel-good endings, but a total lack of resolution can be just as cloying as happily ever after." |
Lisa Rose |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) |
"[It announces] that a very good actress is back and ready to start a new and interesting life of her own." |
Stephen Whitty |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005) |
"The basic, based-on-a-true-story plot -- plucky '50s homemaker provides for her family by entering jingle contests -- is pure Lifetime weepie." |
Stephen Whitty |
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