Splat C |
Mad Hot Ballroom (2005) |
"The kids are cute and the intentions are good, but ultimately [the film] plays like a teacher's presentation to the school board about the importance of arts education." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D- |
Madea's Family Reunion (2006) |
"If Tyler Perry worked in construction, he'd use a sledgehammer when a tack hammer would get the job done. At least that's the impression given by his didactic film." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat F |
The Man (2005) |
"The Man is a stale mismatched buddy comedy in which not a single interesting thing happens." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Man of the House (2005) |
"Man of the House is an amiable trifle that might be a guilty pleasure if it were better.
" |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
Margot at the Wedding (2007) |
"After choking on laughs for a period, the question becomes whether Baumbach has anything to deliver beyond his misanthropic floggings." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B+ |
Maria Full of Grace (2004) |
"Maria Full of Grace provides an authentic and compelling view of a drug mule’s experience." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C |
Marie Antoinette (2006) |
"The fashion-conscious Marie Antoinette looks great. Imagine what this attractive but empty shell of a movie might have been with something inside it." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Marley & Me (2008) |
"The deft touch with which it addresses spouses' and parents' professional and personal trade-offs proves this to be a more substantial and poignant picture than expected." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A |
Match Point (2005) |
"Match Point is not a declaration of the value of firm belief--it denounces theodicy, after all--but a caution against the outright rejection of it." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A- |
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) |
"If Todd Solondz were a humanist, he might make something like performance artist Miranda July's winning debut feature film." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
Meet the Fockers (2004) |
"Mildly amusing...but joke repetition and a greater emphasis on outrageousness and vulgarity release a strong scent of the writers’ desperation." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Meet the Robinsons (2007) |
"The mantra in Meet the Robinsons is 'keep moving forward', but it's in going back to traditional narrative and filmmaking values that helps set this animated romp apart from many of its contemporaries." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat F |
Meet the Spartans (2008) |
"At the risk of praising with faint damning, Meet the Spartans isn't the worst film I've ever seen; however, I'm not suggesting that this feature-length parody of 300 is good in any way." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Melinda and Melinda (2005) |
"The film feels like a summary work, as if [Allen] is reevaluating his career twenty-five years after exploring similar territory in Stardust Memories." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) |
"Like the dolled-up women, the film is pleasing to the eyes and inscrutable. The mystery, though, is tedious rather than captivating." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D |
The Messengers (2007) |
"The film's problems boil down to story. The Messengers has none, or nothing beyond the sketch of an idea: family with troubled past moves into spooky new home." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A |
Million Dollar Baby (2004) |
"Million Dollar Baby is an exceptional boxing movie, but Paul Haggis’ screenplay...amounts to something greater than the familiar underdog sports tale." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A- |
Millions (2005) |
"Boyle demonstrates that a family film with a moral message mustn’t necessarily be a musty affair." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D+ |
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) |
"For the sequel Bullock’s as likeable as ever, but she can only do so much when working from a mundane script that relies heavily on repeating gags from its predecessor." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) |
"Shot in widescreen, all the better to appreciate the swanky art deco sets, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day can feel static...but the wonderful lead actresses provide the momentum that the composition and editing fail to provide." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Mission: Impossible III (2006) |
"With Mission: Impossible III [Abrams] has essentially designed the most expensive episode of Alias ever made." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Monster-in-Law (2005) |
"The nastier comedy that Monster-in-Law demands is a bad fit for [Luketic]." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005) |
"More attention is lavished on the fight and chase scenes than the relatively superficial message, but you don’t go to a big budget summer movie in search of Ingmar Bergman." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Mr. Brooks (2007) |
"Where the character cannot maintain well-adjusted behavior over sociopathic indulgences, the film fails to strike a balance between the serious and outlandish." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D+ |
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) |
"Broken into storybook-like chapters...the film implies that it possesses literary roots; however, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium comes across as a quickie knockoff attempting to capitalize on a more popular title's success." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) |
"Naked ladies may be the enticement, but the main attraction of Mrs. Henderson Presents is Dench and Hoskins squabbling like the old married couple that they aren't." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A+ |
Murderball (2005) |
"While it’s an effective sports film...the players and their enormous spirits take precedence over the outcome of the games." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A |
Music and Lyrics (2007) |
"Like a catchy pop song you can't stop humming, the sublime romantic melody of Music and Lyrics puts a smile on your face and love in your heart." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Must Love Dogs (2005) |
"For better and worse, the pieces comprising Must Love Dogs are borrowed from every other romantic comedy." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Must Read After My Death (2009) |
"The obvious but effective tactic of contrasting words and visuals scrapes off the veneer of domestic bliss that people put on for the world and which gets pasted in scrapbooks and hung on walls." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
My Sister's Keeper (2009) |
"My Sister's Keeper might have earned its weepy moments if it had played fair with its central dilemma rather than putting forward a false choice." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
My Summer of Love (2005) |
"Coupled with...picturesque cinematography, Press and Blunt's natural performances communicate a palpable sense of the summer's heat and the hazy days of adolescence and ardor." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
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