Tomato 2.5/4 |
Miracle at St. Anna (2008) |
"Lee shows a knack for combat scenes and both the brutality and brotherhood of man. Opportunism, barbarism and hope mix in the most piercing, cathartic scenes. But his grudge match with Clint Eastwood weighs too heavily, and it's an ambitious mess." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
Miss March (2009) |
"At its best, this lewder, cruder spin on last year's "Sex Drive" has a disarmingly daffy shaggy-dog touch a la "Half-Baked" or "The Brothers Solomon." But by the time a woman enjoys champagne spiked with dog urine, "Miss March" is all turn-offs." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato |
Mission: Impossible III (2006) |
"Proves that J.J. Abrams is the best at the espionage action thriller genre. I'm just sad that this will solidify him as a film director. I want my fix every week." |
Fred Topel |
Tomato 3/4 |
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) |
"Inked more by its influences than originality, "Monsters" gets exhaustive with its rapid-fire references. That said, if this works as a shiny primer to one day introduce children to classic sci-fi, satire, fantasy and anime, well, more power to it." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3/4 |
Moon (2009) |
"Sam Rockwell's work is a light on the dark side of "Moon." It's not that the man behind the curtain isn't worth attention, it's that he's just not as interesting. It's predictably plotted, but unpredictably mournful and elegiac a la Philip K. Dick." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
My Name is Bruce (2008) |
""My Name is Bruce" won't give you sugar, baby. Not on its budget. But Splenda works fine as a substitute for this Kool-Aid, which Campbell knows fans will happily drink. A little bit of purposefully lousy filmmaking winds up going a long way." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) |
""Before Sunrise" for the Stereogum set. It's easy to get swept up in this romance thanks to vibrant nocturnal cinematography, realistic dialogue Diablo Cody can't hang with and solid acting. If she's smart, Kat Dennings may be the next Diane Keaton." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3/4 |
Orphan (2009) |
"David Johnson's script plays fair with red herrings before a devilish denouement with all the torque of a good twist. Esther doesn't just want to topple the Colemans' house of cards. She wants to torch it, and "Orphan" is gruesome, gripping material." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
Outlander (2009) |
"A mead hall party feels like a Iron Age version of "Cheers," right down to the "Norm!" greeting for one character. It's one of many leaden diversions from what should be a lean, economical, brutal B-movie of aliens, Vikings and alternate timelines." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Pandorum (2009) |
"Not without its scuzzy charms and eye-catching creature attacks, "Pandorum" generates all the stylish muster it can. Still, it feels like a Christopher Lambert film that would have gone straight to VHS about 15 years ago." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
Paranormal Activity (2009) |
"Good horror films command a surplus of attention. They don't cater to its deficit. Depressingly overused sensory cues clue the audience into whenever something spooky's happening, as if saying it's time to stop Tweeting or texting. An overhyped bust." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato |
Poseidon (2006) |
"The most pure action/adventure romp since Batman Begins... makes Titanic look like a sailboat." |
Fred Topel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Pride and Glory (2008) |
"Relentlessly grim, appropriately abrasive and beautifully filmed, "Pride and Glory" recalls Sidney Lumet's heyday. It proves there's still meat left on the bones of bad-cop thrillers, but it wisely doesn't offer a Handi-Wipe after its final course." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Public Enemies (2009) |
"It's no "Heat." For skirting the lawman's story, call it "Warmth." Still, it bulks up, with Midwestern muscle, from a violent version of "The Aviator" into Mann's "Gangs of New York" - unwieldy and imperfect, but compelling, exciting and thoughtful." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 1/4 |
Push (2009) |
"Light fixtures are the true stars in "Push," constantly reflecting, twinkling and popping. Its best moments are when guns levitate and fire themselves. When you don't even need actors to hold pistols, it's the ultimate in autopilot filmmaking." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3/4 |
Quantum of Solace (2008) |
"Daniel Craig still dazzles, but it's all go-go-go - an efficient, mostly entertaining action-packed revenge coda to "Casino Royale" that nevertheless feels like tossed-off transition than tactile Bond. Let's just do this jittery journeyman bit once." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Quantum of Solace (2008) |
"This time around, Bond's biggest adversaries are those behind the camera." |
Rob Humanick |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Quarantine (2008) |
"As the first-person POV conceit goes, it's not the nocturnal nightmare of "Cloverfield," but it's more compelling than the dog-eared "Diary of the Dead." It's stylish, and the sound design is superb, but it eventually gets too dumb to be very scary." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 4/4 |
Rachel Getting Married (2008) |
"The plot sounds like a downer, but it culminates in a dreamily exuberant wedding-and-reception scene. By examining the slow and incomplete, but true, power of pure rehabilitative strength and forgiveness, this is one of the very best films of 2008." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Revolutionary Road (2008) |
"The cinematic equivalent of watching a balloon deflate slowly, agonizingly, through a microscopic pinprick." |
Rob Humanick |
Tomato 4/4 |
A Serious Man (2009) |
"Yet another masterpiece from the Coen Brothers. Something like an existential Alfred Hitchcock movie crossed with Jewish spirituality, a touch of mysticism and the Coens' insistence that the rates of mortality and morality are rigidly intertwined." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
The Soloist (2009) |
""The Soloist" is not a film in which you anticipate Robert Downey Jr. will be twice doused in urine. Such are the territorial markings of Joe Wright, whose directorial quirks undermine moving moments and committed performances in this musical biopic." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
The Spirit (2008) |
"Certifiably, but agreeably, insane, "The Spirit" plays like "Dick Tracy" on brown acid. Dialogue is bleated, not spoken. Artifacts are used as snuggle blankets. And it's aggressively bizarre, but it's the definition of guilty-pleasure entertainment." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 0.5/4 |
The Spirit (2008) |
"[There is] no consistency or rhythm to its visual tangents, which splotch about frantically, desperately, like diarrhea spraying about the outside of its porcelain target." |
Rob Humanick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Sunshine Cleaning (2009) |
"Megan Holley's script feels like it's been Sundance-workshopped to death. However, the cast - led by Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin - establishes a vibrantly odd family bond that sustains "Sunshine Cleaning" through its dimmer portions." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
Sunshine Cleaning (2009) |
"Not entirely insubstantial, even as the bulk evaporates from the mind." |
Rob Humanick |
- |
Superman Returns (2006) |
"The connections to the original series are subtle and wonderful. It's full of great gags, like the film is saying, "Yeah, we're Superman."" |
Fred Topel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Surrogates (2009) |
"An efficient, engaging B-movie parable that grapples with technology, civil liberties, terrorism, freewill and religious subtext all in 89 minutes. It's also a true rarity: A good movie in which usually bald Bruce Willis sports a full head of hair." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) |
"The interminable final act of Tony Scott's heretofore modestly entertaining thriller turns the modulated cool of a Michael Mann film into a brash, loud Viagra ad. This is the great disappointment of the summer so far." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3/4 |
Terminator Salvation (2009) |
"McG's tone is "Apocalypse Now" by way of Philip K. Dick, and the film packs a war-movie wallop to go with its sleek blockbuster sensibilities. Tough, fast and exhilarating, it's a worthy addition to the franchise even if Christian Bale is not." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 2/4 |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) |
""Beginning! Middle! End! Condense! Details! Plot!," yells John Turturro's G-man at a robot somewhere in the middle of the morass "Revenge of the Fallen" becomes. Forget "More than meets the eye." Michael Bay should have more so heeded that cry." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Trick 'r Treat (2009) |
"Just as it would be alongside a fire, the spooky power of the myths and legends being spun is all in the style of the storyteller. This delivers the nasty goods with fluid grace and demented glee and is bound to become Halloween appointment viewing." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 4/4 |
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) |
"Every image, sound, and color ultimately clicks into place, like a puzzle one is only subconsciously aware of." |
Rob Humanick |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Valkyrie (2008) |
"As the film eschews self-importance, it engages more directly and universally, if only in a rudimentary fashion that fails in terms of overall staying power." |
Rob Humanick |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
W. (2008) |
"Aided by an Oscar-worthy turn from Josh Brolin, what "W." attempts is something far bolder than badgering. Instead, Oliver Stone spews a subtler invective than normal here - insightful and indicting of a country's complicity up to a point." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
W. (2008) |
"When [Stone] looks into Bush's eyes... he's reflecting on the long, tormented nights of many an American soul." |
Rob Humanick |
Tomato 4/4 |
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) |
"The film encourages embracing all that we are, but it's not presumptuous to suggest what "it" is, as it differs for every child. Profoundly thoughtful, unexpectedly moving, adventurous in spirit and unforgettable, it's one of the best films of 2009." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 4/4 |
Whip It (2009) |
"A moving meditation on the importance of seizing the now early, whatever that might be. Twee and tough, the film elbows aside sports-movie clichés with thoughtful intelligence, emphasis on self-reliance and all-too-rare portrayals of strong women." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat 1/4 |
Whiteout (2009) |
"It takes slightly longer than three minutes for diminished mental capacity to set in during this Antarctic murder mystery with a fatally low body temperature. Kate Beckinsale is unrepentantly lazy, dialogue is awful and its misdirection is obvious." |
Nick Rogers |
Splat .5/4 |
Year One (2009) |
"Producer Judd Apatow has gone from comedy gourmand to McDonald-izing in four years. And when in doubt, director Harold Ramis makes Jack Black eat his own feces and Michael Cera pee in his own mouth. Yes, this is at the level of YouTube monkey comedy." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 3/4 |
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) |
"Using a cheesy Live song during Zack and Miri's porn scene does Kevin Smith no favors. But the physical-emotional flashpoint Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks find within it is surprisingly tender, and chemistry triumphs over Smith's worst instincts." |
Nick Rogers |
Tomato 4/4 |
Zombieland (2009) |
"Hands down the decade's best zombie movie and one of its best comedies. It's what the good, but overpraised, "Shaun of the Dead" sought to be - a rambunctiously funny, relatively weighty loosey-goosey exercise in controlled fear and nervous laughter." |
Nick Rogers |
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