Tomato B |
Adam (2009) |
"The movie is not particularly subtle and the direction could be sharper, but the acting of Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne is superb in illustrating an unusual love story and what amounts to a compelling defense of the imperfect." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B+ |
Adoration (2009) |
"After some artistic and commercial flops, Egoyan is back on terra firma with a film that explores a central theme of his work, the impact of the media and technology on our interpersonal communication and formation of identities that are always frail." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Jesse Eisenberg's heartfelt performance is the main reason to see this ultra-familiar youth tale of first love, in which most of the characters are types and all the adults stereotypes." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Agora (2009) |
"Amenabar's revisionist take on the Hollywood epic is admittedly flawed, but it centers on an interesting, rare protagonist, a legendary female scientist who's not defined by gender or sexuality, brought to life in a compelling turn by Rachel Weisz" |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C- |
Amelia (2009) |
"Shallow and conventional, Amelia, yet another version of the legendary aviatrix, is a total misfire, unfolding as a narrated photo album with plot that's all turning points but no real substance, fully fleshed characters or significant issues." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
American Violet (2009) |
"Inspired by true events, the movie may be too simple and earnest, wearing its ideology on its sleeves, but it's powerful story of injustice that needs to be told and it's well performed by Beharie, who may emerge as a dramatic leading actress." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Amreeka (2009) |
"The particular protagonist, her situation, and the tale's tone distinguish the modest and enjoyable but artistically mediocre Amreeka from a growing body of border films about immigrants coming to America." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato A- |
An Education (2009) |
"Carrey Mulligan gives an astounding, Oscar-caliber performance in this touching, poignant, and precise coming-of-age tale of a young British girl who falls for an older Jewish guy, set against London in the pre-swinging era." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Taking seriously the criticism of Da Vinci, new film is a breezy if improbable pyscho-religious action-thriller that's better in structure, plot, casting, pacing and even Hanks' shape and hair, not to mention pragmatic message of science aiding religion." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Antichrist (2009) |
"The film is well made so you can't dismiss it entirely, but in his effort to put a personal stamp on a gruseome horror movie, von Trier piles up allegorical and religious elements (including the title) that his tale can't fully contain." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato A- |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"Inevitable comparisons will be made with the cultish Spinal Tap, but Gervasi' docu-mocku stands on its own merits, offering a touching, loving and funny portrait of the little-known band, which may become more famous as a result of this picture." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato b- |
Armored (2009) |
"Inspired by Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and countless films about seemingly perfect heists that go uproariously wrong, Armored is an unpretentious, fast-moving, action-packed thriller that delivers its generic goods unapologetically." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B+ |
Avatar (2009) |
"An amazing visual achievement, hampered by pedestrian narrative and cardboard characterizatons--Tim Grierson." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato |
Avatar (2009) |
"An extraordinary visual achievement somewhat hampered by pedestrian storytelling and cardboard characterizations." |
Tim Grierson |
Tomato B |
Away We Go (2009) |
"Sharply uneven in humor and poignancy, Sam Mendes' road film, sort of updated version of the far better Lost in America, again reveals his directorial strengths (getting terrific performances) and weaknesses (finding the emotional center and right tone)." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
Adam Resurrected (2008) |
"Jeff Goldblum gives a strong performance as a troubled Holocaust survivor, but it's hard to justify our endurance of such onscreen debasement (of both children and adults) in a film that's sharply uneven and only intermittently emotionally effective." |
Brendan Twist |
Tomato B |
Alexandra (2008) |
"Though not a top-notch Sokurov, his new film is a conceptually fascinating meditation on war seen from the perspective of an older woman who visits the battle front." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
America The Beautiful (2008) |
"Roberts raises interesting questions, but most of the info is familiar and there's no systematic or comparative perspective to illuminate our culture's obssession with beauty vis-a-vis other wealthy media-saturated countries, which made Sicko a good docu" |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato C+ |
American Son (2008) |
"Though well acted and occasionally poignant, this coming of age story of a black soldier on leave is too familiar and conventional to play in competition in a fest like Sundance." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
American Teen (2008) |
"Slick and entertaining but shallow and manipulative, American Teen is a disappointing chronicle of a year in the lives of teenagers (all types) in a largely white middle-class milieu." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"Harris's old fashioned Western, a meditation on honor, courage and camaraderie, is well helmed and acted, but commercially, it might fall between the cracks: It's too grown-up for young viewers and too familiar as a psychological Western for adults." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
August (2008) |
"Rodman's potentially intriguing idea about the 2001 crash of the dot-com biz just months before 9/11 is poorly executed by helmer Chick (XX/XY), who doesn't take full advantage of his star cast, headed by Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris and David Bowie." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C- |
Australia (2008) |
"By far Luhrmann's weakest film, Australia is a banal, anachronistic WWII melodrama that wears its liberal politics on its sleeve and confuses pictorial beauty with genuine art and schmaltz with real emotion." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"Despite the film's coda, the classic All You Need Is Love, you'll need more than love--like patience and tolerance-- for Taymor's overlong (133 minutes), self-indulgent, excessively stylized musical collage, hampered by generic and banal narrative." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Adam's Apples (2007) |
"Director Jensen (who co-scripted After the Wedding) breaks away from Dogme to make a more stylized film, using a controlled surface that disarms us with surreal happenings and well-executed absurdity." |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
Adrift in Manhattan (2007) |
"Read Sundance 2007 Wrap-up: Ranking of each of the 16 films in the dramatic competition in terms of artistic quality and overall impact." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato C+ |
Adrift in Manhattan (2007) |
"Better directed than written, de Villa's meditation on loss, loneliness, and alientaion in urban New York is downbeat, slow, studied, and a bit pretentious, but it's nicely acted by the entire cast, particularly Victor Rasuk and Dominic Chianese." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"This Oscar-nominated melodrama again shows Bier's ability to turn simple character drama into gripping, almost operatic filmmaking, but unlike her last marvelous film Brothers, here, she juggles too many story threads to offer a similar emotional wallop" |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
The Age of Ignorance (2007) |
"Denys Arcand's follow-up to the superb Barbarian Invasion is a disappointingly acid-streaked, misanthropic satire about a Walter Mitty-like Everyman whose elaborately imagined fantasy life masks deep, unflinching pathological resentment" |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Film hovers between sociology (story is from headline news) and cinema, between the social-issue movie genre and exploitation flick--Cassavetes can't find the dramatic core--but it's not boring to watch due to injection of energy and excessive style" |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"Based on the true story of one man's crusade to end slavery in 18th-century Great Britain, Michael Apted's film is a conventional social injustice drama, immenseley helped by Iown Gruffudd's captivating lead performance." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C- |
An American Crime (2007) |
"Poorly conceived and helmed, O'Haver's fact-based drama of the horrific 1965 child abuse, is an excruciating experiece of watching violence onscreen witout any illuminating angle or insight; Catherine Keener gives her most problematic performance to date" |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
An American Crime (2007) |
"A misfire and the most problematic film at Sundance, this fact-based tale of child abuse is disturbing, appalling, and voyeuristic due to poor conception and execution by writer-director O'Haver who ironically has been wanting to make it for 20 years." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B+ |
American Gangster (2007) |
"Under Scott's bravura helming, this sprawling saga, combining the best elements of the classic crime-gangster genre with a fact-based drama of Harlem's drug lord and folk hero, critiques the American Way of Life of mobility, consumerism and success." |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"Dominik promises a new take on the outlaw and his obsessed nemesis in a story done many times before, in Jesse James (1939) with Tyrone Power, and the superior sequel (1940), Return of Frank James, by German Fritz Lang with Henry Fonda as the brother." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato A |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"Like Bonnie & Clyde, Dominik's seminal Western is a brilliant, poetic saga of America's legendary criminal as well as meditative deconstruction of our culture's most persistent issues: link of crime and fame, myths of heroism and obsession with celebrity" |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato A- |
Atonement (2007) |
"Wright's worthy follow-up to Pride & Prejudice combines the novel's literary qualities with highly polished acting and production values, resulting in a classy tale of a doomed romance, with touching turns from Keira Knightley and James McAvoy." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
August Rush (2007) |
"When a movie is as disappointing and simplistic as this family melodrama, showing deleted scenes in the DVD edition (March 2008) only exposes more the film's shortcomings." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C |
August Rush (2007) |
"Following in the footsteps of her father Jim Sheridan (In America), helmer Kirsten has concocted a contrived, sentimental urban fantasy--a reworking of Oliver Twist-- far more impressive in music, sound, and imagery than in plot, dialogue, and words." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B- |
Avenue Montaigne (2007) |
"Devotion to art by afficionados or practitioners can give life meaning but the demands can also be trying. Underneath the lustrous images of Parisian society that message comes through in Thompson's film, France's entry for the Foreign Language Oscar." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato A- |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Actress Polley makes a remarkable feature debut with a subtle, complex, beautifully acted tale of the effects of Alzheimer's on one durable marriage; it's an honorable addition to classic anatomies of marriage by Bergman, Cassavetes, and others." |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Julie Christie should receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination (her fourth) for her subtle, understated, utterly compelling turn as a long-time married woman diagnozed with Alzheimer." |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"The toughest challenge was to remain faithful to the book and keep the comedy and tragedy of the story at the same time--Linklater." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato 3/5 |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"Though not as impressive as Waking Life, and failing to update Dick's concerns, Scanner Darkly is a serviceable rotoscoping of the 1977 work with some striking set pieces and a dazzling hologrammed suit worn by Keanu Reeves with grand style." |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"The toughest challenge was to remain faithful to the book and keep the comedy and tragedy of the story at the same time--Linklater." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Absolute Wilson (2006) |
"Though more celebratory than truly critical, and dealing more with the artist than the private eperson, being the first docu of one of the century's most innovative creators has both historical and aesthetic merits." |
Emanuel Levy |
Tomato B |
Al Franken: God Spoke (2006) |
"Though not as thorough as War Room, docu is still highly entertaining and poignant, if not too critical or deep, offering a portrait of a new kind of American folk hero, more iconoclastic (not to mention witty and charming) than Michael Moore." |
Emanuel Levy |
Splat C- |
Alatriste (2006) |
"In this adaptation of the popular Spanish novels, there's political intrigue, unrequited love, and epic battle scenes but the sheer quantity of events can't distract from the film's lack of quality moments and depth; U.S. theatrical prospects are iffy" |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"Everything you need to know about Robert Penn Warren, whose Pulitzer-prize winning novel is the basis for Zaillian's remake, and the real-life Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, whose life inspired the film's character Willie Stark, played by Sean Penn" |
Emanuel Levy |
- |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"We transported the tale from the 1930s to the 1950s because we felt that any period before WWII is less contemporary and more nostalgic, but the message is universal: It's a story of idealism that gives way to cynicism and then to accommodation--Zaillian" |
Emanuel Levy |
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