Tomato 3/4 |
Hairspray (2007) |
"A straightforward, unfussy musical comedy, one that entertains twice as much as the dour Dreamgirls." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Half Nelson (2006) |
"A slice of life that's rich with spontaneity...a script that vehemently refuses cliché." |
Peter Canavese |
- |
Hamlet 2 (2008) |
"Steve Coogan: 'He's very effusive and emotionally open in a way that's not very masculine. And certainly not British...someone who sort of waves his arms around a lot and clutches his bosom. It's like he actually thinks his life is a movie.'" |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Hamlet 2 (2008) |
"It's Coogan's show, in a grotesquely overstated performance that makes sense for the character but isn't always easy to watch." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
The Hammer (2008) |
"Adam Carolla fans will feel they've died and gone to heaven...Unfortunately it all adds up to something more like a viral video than a full-fledged film." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Hancock (2008) |
"The second half gets so worked up over itself that Hancock becomes nearly unrecognizable as the movie we were all enjoying twenty minutes earlier." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 1/4 |
Hannah Montana The Movie (2009) |
"The way this movie ends is so wrong that it doesn't deserve a pass as frothy entertainment. Why? Because it's actively sending a bad message to kids. [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
The Happening (2008) |
"It's engrossing one minute and stupefying the next, off and on, off and on, for ninety minutes." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Happy Endings (2005) |
"Secrets and lies laid bare by a strong cast make Roos’ happy endings cathartic and reassuring." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Hard Candy (2005) |
"Skews just enough toward Death and the Maiden and away from Saw III." |
Peter Canavese |
- |
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) |
"[John Cho:] We seem to be at the limit. I mean, maybe we'd have to switch drugs. Go harder. I don't know...I think we have to go to heaven. 'Harold and Kumar go to Heaven.'" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) |
"It's a latter-day Abbott and Costello flick, where the monster they encounter isn't Frankenstein, but the Bush Administration." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) |
"'This night is about the American dream,' Kumar promises, and you know what? It sort of is. [Blu-Ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) |
"Newell's film, unlike its predecessors, fails to generate fresh wonder...but on balance Rowling's creative opus--roiling with hormonal consequences and eye-popping effects--continues to earn its crowds." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) |
"Emerson said, 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,' but in this franchise--where you're likely to spot a hobgoblin or two--the consistency isn't foolish but miraculous." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) |
"The latest workmanlike entry in what must be regarded as an unprecedented film series has plenty of flaws, but also the franchise's reliable draws." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Harsh Times (2006) |
"It takes only a small leap of imagination to get from Jim Davis to GI Steven Green, the 21-year-old alleged rapist-murderer...men like Jim are trying to unwind from something worse than a bad day at the office." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008) |
"If the film meanders at times, reaching for significance in the wrong places, football fans will nevertheless find it charming. [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
He's Just Not That Into You (2009) |
"Couples who want to stay happy might want to think twice before seeking out a movie about how the majority of relationships end up making people paranoid and miserable." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
Head in the Clouds (2004) |
"Flashes of wit [aside]...flimsy narration and flaccid acting (particularly from Townsend in a central role) do nothing to bolster this well-intentioned but forgettable film." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Head-On (2005) |
"Head-On is not for the faint of heart, with its depressive magnetism to bloody violence...[a] twisted, rough-hewn mad-love story." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Heart of the Game (2006) |
"[An] inspirational tale, which values team spirit even as it celebrates the will of two talented individuals." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 4/4 |
Hearts and Minds (1975) |
"Elicits a palpable emotional and intellectual effect...strikes the same sad note of discord thirty years later." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Heights (2005) |
"Diverting and well-acted...There are eight million stories in the naked city, and Heights is five of them." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Hellboy (2004) |
"Ron Perlman--the Lon Chaney of our time--plays Hellboy with grit, humor, and a depth of feeling which, barely, grounds the movie." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) |
"The line from special effects whiz Ray Harryhausen to director Guillermo del Toro has never been so clearly visible..." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
Henry Poole Is Here (2008) |
"Despite an excellent performance by Luke Wilson and a promising start, Henry Poole is Here ends up an overindulgent misfire. [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Her Majesty (2005) |
"Her Majesty has worse problems than a lack of realism, namely mediocre direction and acting that’s at the level of bad community theatre." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) |
"Herbie: Fully Loaded, with its emotional-roller-coaster story beats, will work like gangbusters with kids." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 4/4 |
Hero (2004) |
"A balance of colorful visual and aural poetry, elegant plot structure, and battles marked by a swift graphic intensity and epic scope." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Heroes - Season 3 |
"Heroes still has some way to go in restoring the cohesion of its initial run, but Fuller has helped the show to prove it's capable of hitting a stride and mining fresh stories that deepen the mythology... [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
- |
Heroes Season 1 (2007) |
"James Kyson Lee: 'I wrote in my journal, like, he's a big Elvis fan. The guy would probably go karaokeing in Tokyo and start singing Journey...'" |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Hide and Seek (2005) |
"Hide and Seek is trashy, but there's no fun to be had in its ugly child-endangerment psychoses....The hidden-in-plain-sight "secret": another crappy movie." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
High School Musical (2006) |
"There's no denying the tween audience was hungering for this movie, without even knowing it. [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) |
"Knows its priorities: to make the legions of High School Musical fans dewy-eyed, toe-tapping, soul-soaring happy, and to pave the way for High School Musical 4." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) |
"As skillfully made and genuinely horrific as it is a pointless rehash....there's more than a whiff of smug cynicism in the dry air of this conflicted satire." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
The History Boys (2006) |
"The greatest adventure and saddest irony--taught alike by teachers to students and students to teachers--is that the big picture of history is writ small and ruthlessly unforgiving in each life--indeed, in every moment." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
A History of Violence (2005) |
"[Cronenberg] investigates his own cinematic propensity for violence and skill at purveying it...sex and violence can be random, can be animal, and certainly can be satisfying. [Blu-ray]" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Hitch (2005) |
"An urban fantasy, with florid observations about life and love...Sometimes, competent direction and a brace of star power are enough." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) |
"Audiences can be grateful for the unique absurdist dimensions and freewheeling irreverence of Adams, which place the film in its own category of science-fiction comedy." |
Peter Canavese |
- |
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) |
"Robbie Stamp on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Hoax (2007) |
"What should we expect...other than being taken for a ride? Just as Irving does, Hallstrom picks out a sexy convertible for the job." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
The Holiday (2006) |
"At one point Amanda remarks, 'In the world of love, cheating is not acceptable.' Also no longer acceptable: romantic comedies set in 'the world of love.'" |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato 3/4 |
Holly (2007) |
"Moshe and co-screenwriter Guy Jacobson use their white protagonist not cynically to exploit white guilt, but to excavate it and examine its possibilities and failings with an anthropological eye." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Hollywood Dreams (2007) |
"The director lets actors do their thing, to a fault, which makes Frederick's blitzkrieg of a performance often off-putting but occasionally mesmerizing." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
Hollywoodland (2006) |
"In what may be the single most damaging performance in any film this year, Affleck puts on extra pounds, a fake honker, and a horrifyingly bad debonair act." |
Peter Canavese |
Tomato |
Hollywoodland (2006) |
"An appropriately moody sampler of 1950s music." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
Honeymooners (2005) |
"The Honeymooners, though not bad, is hardly ever good, either." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Hoodwinked (2006) |
"Too seldom clever, too often tiresomely busy, and wasteful of its voice cast, it's Hoodwinked that is the crime." |
Peter Canavese |
Splat 2/4 |
Hoot (2006) |
"Jimmy Buffet may be known for his Hawaiian shirts, but there's something undeniably plaid about Hoot." |
Peter Canavese |
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