Splat D |
S.W.A.T. (2003) |
"Is there an actual character in S.W.A.T.? A plot? A single intelligent or exciting sequence?" |
Nick Schager |
Splat |
Saw (2004) |
"Saw’s overly elaborate, sporadically effective do-or-die games ultimately don’t make the cut." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
Scarface (1983) |
"A slyly ironic vision of America’s still-thriving meritocracy." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Scarlet Diva (2000) |
"The cinematic equivalent of scabies ... and I mean that as a compliment." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
The Science of Sleep (2006) |
"Instinctively and ecstatically captures the freeflowing, stream-of-association nature of the cluttered unconscious mind." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Scoop (2006) |
"Appear[s] to have been slapped together without any consideration for jovial, snappy rhythm." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato A- |
Séance (2000) |
"Its portrait of spiritual estrangement generates profound unease." |
Nick Schager |
Splat |
Secret Window (2004) |
"Depp's ... wonderfully frazzled portrait of seething resentment almost makes this minor thriller seem fresh." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Serenity (2005) |
"Has a simultaneously sprawling yet intimate quality." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
A Serious Man (2009) |
"Isn't drawn in one-to-one cause-effect lines, its obliqueness lending suspense and interpretative depth to the Job-like suffering of Larry." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1987) |
"A lame documentary-flavored horror story." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
The Seventh Continent (1989) |
"Confirms -- through its narrow portrait of life as unrelentingly bleak -- its own gloomy cynicism." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Shadows (1959) |
"The film’s underlying strength is its wrenching portrait of resigned despair over the world’s inescapable prejudice." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
Shakedown (1950) |
"Sluggish and not nearly sordid enough." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato A- |
Shaolin Soccer (2002) |
"A blitzkrieg of hilarious kung fu craziness." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Shattered Glass (2003) |
"Ray stages the film not as a mystery but as a case study in all-consuming denial and professional and psychological self-destruction." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Sherrybaby (2006) |
"Even more than the immature Sherry herself, it's Sherrybaby's storytelling that's truly underdeveloped." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Shocker (1989) |
"A revisitation of the director's favorite themes (alternate realities, parent-child dynamics, lunatics spouting one-liners) that pitifully attempts to replicate A Nightmare on Elm Street." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
Shortbus (2006) |
"Never amounts to more than a case of hardcore triviality." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
A Shot in the Dark (1964) |
"Perhaps the series’ most effervescent entry." |
Nick Schager |
Splat |
Shrek 2 (2004) |
"Delivers neither less, nor more, than its wildly popular predecessor." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato |
Sideways (2004) |
"Maintains a deft balance between breezy joviality and understated poignancy." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
Signs of Life (1968) |
"Exhibits the director's off-kilter sense of the absurd." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
The Simpsons Movie (2007) |
"One of the year's funniest theatrical releases, [but] it's also tough to shake a feeling of mild disappointment." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
The Skeleton Key (2005) |
"A blundering New Orleans-set thriller under the spell of archaic stereotypes about Southern Bayou blacks." |
Nick Schager |
Splat |
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) |
"The epitome of CGI’s best and worst attributes." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C- |
Slacker (1991) |
"An exercise in meandering self-importance." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Sleepaway Camp (1983) |
"Still the finest Sleepaway Camp, if only because of its memorable final shot." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
Sleepaway Camp 2 - Unhappy Campers (1988) |
"You’ll never look at an outhouse the same way again." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C- |
Sleepaway Camp 3 - Teenage Wasteland (1989) |
"Both aimless and, more problematically, humorless." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Slumber Party Massacre (1982) |
"A gruesome, T&A-filled feminist tract about female fears of mature male sexuality." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C- |
Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987) |
"Uninterested in scaring its audience." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Smiley Face (2007) |
"A limp, unfunny time-waster." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
The Spanish Apartment (2003) |
"[Its] cheery characters are ultimately stuck wending their way through wackily contrived scenarios fit for a sitcom." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
Spartan (2004) |
"Barely memorable." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
Special Effects (1984) |
"A significant (if ultimately chaotic) entry in the director's canon of ramshackle tributes to the dark, dangerous, voyeuristic allure of the cinema." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Spellbound (1945) |
"One of the director’s most laughably dated films." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato |
Spider-Man 2 (2004) |
"A sensational summer treat." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Spider-Man 3 (2007) |
"A hollow shell of a saga devoid of both thrilling action and rousing passion." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring (2004) |
"Somber, serene and stirring." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C+ |
Stage Beauty (2004) |
"Danes, as usual, overplays her character’s every emotion." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B- |
Standard Operating Procedure (2008) |
"A semiotics-tinged investigation into the nature of images themselves: how the contents, arrangement, and manipulation of the frame all affect interpretation and help define meaning." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B- |
Stander (2004) |
"A rather entertaining (if style-over-substance) portrait of insane illicitness." |
Nick Schager |
Splat C |
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) |
"Nominally better than its immediate predecessors thanks to a pervasive atmosphere of catastrophic doom." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
Starship Troopers (1997) |
"More effective as a satire than as an action extravaganza." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B- |
Starting Out in the Evening (2007) |
"Shrewder than it initially lets on, primarily because it refuses to schematically pigeonhole its characters." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B |
The Station Agent (2003) |
"A pleasurably quaint tale." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
The Stepfather (1987) |
"Ruben's surprisingly resonant and durable tale ... cannily reflects, in a larger way, the era of its creation" |
Nick Schager |
Tomato |
Still Walking (2009) |
"Its sincere consideration of its characters' longing for acceptance and approval rings true." |
Nick Schager |
Tomato B+ |
The Story of the Weeping Camel (2004) |
"Exudes a subtle spiritual power." |
Nick Schager |
IGN RSS Feeds
