Splat 73/100 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"The '80s-centric atmosphere means that viewers over a certain age will probably connect to the material to a greater extent than their younger counterparts. In fact, the nostalgia factor might be enough for some people to overlook Adventureland's flaws." |
AskMen.com Staff |
Splat 73/100 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"The '80s-centric atmosphere means that viewers over a certain age will probably connect to the material to a greater extent than their younger counterparts. In fact, the nostalgia factor might be enough for some people to overlook Adventureland's flaws." |
David Nusair |
Splat 59/100 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Despite its lofty aspirations, Angels & Demons is no less artificial and forced than the latest Fast & Furious sequel. Different target audience, same motive: easy money." |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 8/10 |
Avatar (2009) |
"Rarely a boring moment or unnecessary scene. Avatar isn't going to redefine movies as we know them, but on the level of pure visual spectacle, the bar has certainly been raised." |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 9/10 |
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) |
"A movie that ultimately has more cult than mass appeal, how much you enjoy Bad Lieutenant will probably come down to how much you like Werner Herzog rather than Nicolas Cage. A notoriously eccentric director, his latest film is nowhere near as mainstream" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 64/100 |
Brothers (2009) |
"Despite its title, Sheridan's film is less concerned with sibling rivalry (romantic or otherwise) and more with post-traumatic stress disorder -- which would be fine if it had anything particularly new or profound to add to the conversation. Unfortunately" |
Rick Mele |
Splat 60/100 |
The Brothers Bloom (2009) |
"The central characters are not as compelling as they should be, and only Rachel Weisz makes a lasting impact. Despite their best efforts, Ruffalo and Brody are unable to transform their characters into figures worth caring about." |
David Nusair |
Tomato 69/100 |
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) |
"You might say Moore has been making this movie his entire career. He attempts to expose corrupt bottom line-minded corporations that are in league with Capitol Hill as the cause of America's ills. He's been doing just that since the days of Roger & Me<" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 93/100 |
The Conversation (1974) |
"Coppola shows off his arty aspirations by doing for audio technology what Antonioni did for photography. But The Conversation is a different animal entirely, steering clear of the existential dilemmas in Antonioni's film and creating a character pi" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 48/100 |
Crossing Over (2009) |
"Crossing Over has been surrounded by controversy ever since it wrapped up shooting way back in 2007..." |
David Nusair |
Tomato 87/100 |
The Deer Hunter (1978) |
"The friendship between the three central characters, as well as their shared association with the men from their small hometown, is truthful and realistic in a way that most guys will find impossible to resist." |
David Nusair |
Tomato 97/100 |
District 9 (2009) |
"Far from your average monster debauchery or invasion extravaganza, District 9 operates as an allegory for apartheid, xenophobia, corporate malfeasance, gentrification, and the dog-eat-dog nature of living in poverty under hostile and oppressive conditions" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 92/100 |
Double Indemnity (1944) |
"Writer/director Billy Wilder cements all the hallmarks of a style that comes into its own with this wicked and suspenseful portrait of capitalist greed and post-war anxiety." |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 89/100 |
Drag Me To Hell (2009) |
"Sam Raimi returns to his Evil Dead roots with this white-knuckle horror flick that has the ability to scare the pants off you one moment then cause the giggles the next." |
AskMen.com Staff |
Tomato 69/100 |
Duplicity (2009) |
"Duplicity ultimately comes off as a breath of fresh air amid a movie season rife with bleak horror films, hopelessly juvenile comedies and bloated superhero epics." |
David Nusair |
Tomato 64/100 |
Everybody's Fine (2009) |
"To dismiss Everybody's Fine as clichéd holiday schmaltz is to stereotype without appreciating the finer details. Clearly working within an established genre without the gall to overstep his boundaries, Jones elevates the material by showing conside" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 76/100 |
Extract (2009) |
"With Extract, Office Space (1999) creator Mike Judge returns to familiar ground: A comedy about an average Joe unsatisfied with his lot in life and reaching the breaking point. Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner of an extract manufacturing" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 86/100 |
Fight Club (1999) |
"The last great male-centric movie of the last millennium just arrived on a spectacular new Blu-ray disc for its 10th anniversary, providing the opportunity to relish every aspect of David Fincher's ultimate dissection of Gen-X masculinity. Fight Club |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 56/100 |
Fighting (2009) |
"Fighting would appear to be perfect for a guy's night out, but it ultimately comes off as a dull, hopelessly watered-down drama geared towards undiscerning teenagers." |
David Nusair |
Splat 47/100 |
The Final Destination (2009) |
"The newest incarnation of Final Destination is really just 80 minutes of watching people die in variously ridiculous and implausible ways. It seems as if the filmmakers had more interest in constructing Rube Goldbergesque death traps than character" |
AskMen.com Staff |
Tomato 94/100 |
Full Metal Jacket (1987) |
"Visually poetic, darkly humorous, uncompromisingly brutal, and subversive in every way, Full Metal Jacket is easily one of the best war movies without being remotely similar to your standard issue war flick." |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 57/100 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) |
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra contains two hours of cartoon violence, wildly exaggerated high-speed car chases and more than enough laser beams and bomb blasts to keep the kid inside you entertained. If you're going in expecting anything else, you're" |
AskMen.com Staff |
Splat 60/100 |
Gamer (2009) |
"There's a reason Neveldine and Taylor have been heralded by action junkies as potential saviors of the genre -- after years of interchangeable formulaic entries, they're giving audiences something different yet familiar at the same time. Is it perfect? Ha" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 77/100 |
The Godfather Part II (1974) |
"Often ranked as the greatest movie sequel ever produced, The Godfather: Part II follows Al Pacino's Michael Corleone as he teams up with gangster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) in an effort to expand his empire into the lucrative world of gambling." |
David Nusair |
Tomato 3/4 |
Gran Torino (2008) |
"Clint Eastwood's steady directorial hand proves instrumental in smoothing over the few overtly ineffective elements within Nick Schenk's admittedly far-from-subtle screenplay." |
David Nusair |
Splat 45/100 |
Halloween II (2009) |
"While Halloween II starts out as a character study in post-traumatic stress, it's safe to assume that's not what most horror fans will be looking for. And though Zombie maintains the motif of nightmarish visions throughout, the movie eventually cha" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 90/100 |
Heat (1995) |
"The director's signature sleek and romantic aesthetic is reason enough to take a seat for this operatic three-hour marathon." |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 73/100 |
The House of the Devil (2009) |
"The House of the Devil is not only set in the early '80s, but director Ti West chose to shoot and structure the film in a way so as to make it feel like it was made in the early '80s. In a way, this throwback style is reminiscent of what Quentin Ta" |
AskMen.com Staff |
Tomato 78/100 |
Humpday (2009) |
"Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) are two college friends whose lives have taken very different paths. While Andrew's gone globetrotting, Ben settles down with a wife (Alycia Delmore) and a white picket fence. When Andrew shows up at Ben's do" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 92/100 |
The Hurt Locker (2009) |
"Departing from archetypes set by WWII and Vietnam movies, Bigelow's tough-as-nails film develops its own signature. It's not a message movie, but a tactile experience. It feels gritty, real and current." |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 31/100 |
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009) |
"Made up of strung-together stories from Tucker Max's best-selling book of the same name, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a painfully unfunny celebration of dim misogyny and unabashed narcissism. Matt Czuchry plays Tucker as he ropes his best frie" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 6/10 |
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) |
"As impressive and as wild as Gilliam's acid-laced visuals can be -- and yes, they are often stunning and hilarious -- it's not enough to keep us engaged in a movie with a plot that spins circles around our heads and characters who are really nothing more" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 35/100 |
Imagine That (2009) |
"There's not much in Imagine That to appeal to critics -- or to anyone with an even marginally cynical disposition. Every A-list funnyman seems contractually obligated to do a high-concept family comedy like this, but it's a lot less fresh this time" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 85/100 |
In the Loop (2009) |
"A war-room farce in the proud tradition of Dr. Strangelove, the satire is sharp and biting, and the comic incompetence and witty bickering that's become a hallmark of recent British comedy exports is absurdly terrifying when it's also found in the" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 76/100 |
The Informant! (2009) |
"The Informant! is a provocative character study on a brainy, but utterly complicated and persistently distracted, executive who probably gets confused by which sock should go on the right foot. Soderbergh gets a rise out of his scenery, recreating" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 86/100 |
Inglourious Basterds (2009) |
"Tarantino engages with the power of language, not only spoken but cinematic language in particular. He relishes the way movies speak to an audience, the manipulative power of cinematic dialect to tell facts differently, and how film language can replace m" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 73/100 |
It Might Get Loud (2009) |
"It Might Get Loud stands as an effective primer into the world of rock 'n' roll that holds plenty of appeal for hardcore fans and neophytes alike." |
AskMen.com Staff |
Splat 57/100 |
Jennifer's Body (2009) |
"Jennifer's Body is about as scary as Mean Girls, which makes a lot of sense since Diablo Cody's comedy about evil high school girls is really just a gory and potty-mouthed version of the Lindsay Lohan movie. Megan Fox is game for Cody-speak," |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 65/100 |
Julie & Julia (2009) |
"The film features a typical bio on the one side -- the making of the legend that is Julia Child -- and a coming-of-age rom-com on the other, with the good but underused Amy Adams pouting her way through New York City and a cookbook; the only shared ingred" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 37/100 |
Land of the Lost (2009) |
"On the Ferrell scale, Land of the Lost ranks squarely below Anchorman and leagues above Semi-Pro, landing right in that murky middle-ground Talladega Nights territory. Let your tolerance level for the comedian be your guide. If" |
Rick Mele |
Splat 60/100 |
The Last House on the Left (2009) |
"Iliadis knows a little something about mounting dread, as his slick camera work is constantly looking just past the brush for something creepy that may or may not be there. That's about as far as the praise goes for The Last House on the Left." |
AskMen.com Staff |
Splat 41/100 |
The Limits of Control (2009) |
"[The shots in The Limits of Control are] beautiful to look at, but it all goes nowhere in a movie that's all simulacra -- all form and theory with no substance, like a shiny disco ball that reflects everything but is still empty inside." |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 22/100 |
Little Ashes (2009) |
"An intriguing and muddled relationship between three brilliant artists is downgraded into a tedious and lurid art-world soap opera full of convoluted love triangles." |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 73/100 |
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) |
"There's not much action in The Men Who Stare at Goats, despite ostensibly being a "war movie" -- but then again, that's about what you'd expect from a film about a military unit trained to fight with their minds instead of guns. And while the satir" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 71/100 |
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) |
"Originally meant for Michael Jackson's own personal library prior to the pop superstar's untimely death in June 2009, This Is It chronicles four months in the King of Pop's life as he prepared for a string of sold-out concerts that were set to have" |
Rick Mele |
Splat 24/100 |
Mutant Chronicles (2009) |
"Every guy has watched an action film and wondered when we'd get to the good stuff, but from minute one we're given "the good stuff," but it's just not executed well enough, and the film is too kitschy to really be enjoyed." |
AskMen.com Staff |
Splat 3/10 |
Nine (2009) |
"Lost are Fellini's autobiographical nuances, the deep philosophical and psychoanalytical ramblings, the artistic construction of identity, and the very film specific deconstruction at play. They even scrap the circus! It just makes you wonder what the poi" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Tomato 60/100 |
Observe and Report (2009) |
"Comparisons to the similarly set and massively popular Paul Blart: Mall Cop will inevitably pop up, but where the Kevin James comedy played things broad and safe, Hill's latest is anything but. Unlikable characters, gratuitous male nudity, a dry and somet" |
Rick Mele |
Tomato 89/100 |
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) |
"Sergio Leone loaded up for another Spaghetti Western and shot out his magnum opus with this follow-up to the Dollars trilogy. Charles Bronson stars as an ominous stranger known only as Harmonica -- on the account of that instrument being the only other th" |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
Splat 44/100 |
Orphan (2009) |
"House of Wax director Jaume Collet-Serra returns to the horror genre with Orphan, a clumsy thriller that elicits far more laughs than genuine scares. Like too many horror films these days, the movie is so rife with false scares or misleading" |
Rick Mele |
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