Splat C- |
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006) |
"The Santa Clause films may speak to the need for family connections, but this third movie represents another part of the season: the need to move product." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C |
Saw II (2005) |
"It's an unpleasant film with grotesque imagery, but Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" video is more unsettling than this mostly predictable bloodbath." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D |
Saw III (2006) |
"Saw III is essentially a grim schoolyard game of 'would you rather...?' rendered in nasty vignettes." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Scary Movie 4 (2006) |
"The humor is supposed to come from the recognition that another movie or entertainment world incident from the pages of Us Weekly is having fun poked at it." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Schultze Gets the Blues (2005) |
"Like the films of Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismäki, Schultze Gets the Blues uses dry humor to extract laughs out of mundane situations." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat F |
See No Evil (2006) |
"Assuming there are no other credit cookies, the final image in See No Evil is a dog urinating in an eye socket. There couldn't be a better way to describe the experience of watching this film." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
The Shaggy Dog (2006) |
"This remake is heavy on the special effects...but the biggest difference is how the film becomes another commentary on the lamentable state of today's parents." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Shark Tale (2004) |
"Nine years after Toy Story, the novelty of computer animation has worn off. Story and character need to capture our imagination." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Shaun of the Dead (2004) |
"Writer-director Edgar Wright and co-writer and star Simon Pegg have terrific fun riffing on zombie lore." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C |
She's The Man (2006) |
"She's the Man is cleverer than the average teen movie, but it gets so wrapped up in plot mechanics that it loses the characters" |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Shine a Light (2008) |
"Shine a Light doesn't break any new ground for Scorsese or the Stones, but it's an enjoyable showcase for the prodigious skills the director and band have." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A- |
Sideways (2004) |
"Payne and Taylor excel at getting underneath these tough exteriors and portray these people for what they are, warts and all." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
Silent Hill (2006) |
"As a nightmarish vision of hell on earth, Silent Hill is a triumph of production and art design. As a coherent story, it's little more than a string of video game scenarios." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Silver City (2004) |
"Sayles traces how rumor, conjecture, and outright lies seep into the [political] discussion and drive it." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Sin City (2005) |
"Its kinetic energy and embrace of film noir tropes provide a surge of adrenaline and testosterone for the fanboy universe." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) |
"The pleasant actresses compensate for the originality and surprises that Sisterhood lacks." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
The Skeleton Key (2005) |
"The Skeleton Key conjures a spooky atmosphere steeped in the mystique of folk magic and medicine and suspicion of the deep South." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) |
"Kerry Conran imagines an adventure cobbled together from serials, comic books, and radio dramas of the 30s and 40s, making something derivative yet unique." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Slither (2006) |
"Inspired by 50s invasion B-movies and Troma films, Slither elicits a fine balance of laughs and armrest-grabbing moments." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A |
Small Change (1976) |
"Truffaut is so precise with his observations and unintrusive with the camera that we feel as if we are seeing a documentary instead of contrived movie scenarios." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D+ |
Smokin' Aces (2007) |
"The rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and 70s trappings of Smokin' Aces is pure Tarantino, although like the countless imitators, it isn't as clever as its inspiration." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
Snakes on a Plane (2006) |
"Snakes on a Plane may not be a good movie by conventional standards, but with the proper amount of love via audience participation, this genre picture is exactly the sort of silly fun that mega-priced, B-grade tentpole films often fail to be." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B+ |
Snow Angels (2008) |
"Snow Angels can painfully burrow into one's heart, but such is the cost of empathy, or any human connection for that matter." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat D- |
Son of the Mask (2005) |
"There’s no story to speak of, just a string of scenarios usually resulting in everything in sight getting smashed." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Spanglish (2004) |
"Brooks struggles to define Spanglish, garbling the storylines in an unfocused film that only skims the surface in its two hours plus running time." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B- |
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) |
"SpongeBob’s resilient, Pollyana-like nature is hard to resist." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A- |
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring (2004) |
"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring provides an oasis from contemporary rhythms." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
The Squid and the Whale (2005) |
"A deeply personal and unsparing film, The Squid and the Whale finds humor in the heartache and harpoons the notion that divorce has no casualties." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) |
"Clones is far from perfect, but when it clicks, it revives the old spirit that made a generation become so obsessed with all things Star Wars in the first place." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C+ |
Stick It (2006) |
"For a film whose characters value authenticity and natural talent, it's ironic that Stick It's rebellious nature is more of a fashion statement than state of mind and its showstopping physical feats...are computer-aided." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat C- |
Strange Wilderness (2008) |
"Instantly forgettable and proudly lazy, Strange Wilderness feels like it's being made up on the spot." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B+ |
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) |
"Ultimately it's about fully embracing life rather than staying locked in our habits and comfort zones, hardly a new moral to the story in the history of cinema, but Stranger Than Fiction brings vitality to the shopworn message." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Splat F |
Super Sucker (2003) |
"Simply put, this movie about sweeper salesmen is a comedic vacuum." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato A- |
Sweet Land (2006) |
"Sweet Land values interconnectedness -- in a couple, among a community, with the land, and with ancestors -- and powerfully illustrates it within the story's emotional and visual content." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
Tomato B |
Syriana (2005) |
"Syriana demands patience to see how the pieces come together in a fascinating mosaic of politics, capitalism, and corruption." |
Mark Pfeiffer |
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