Splat 2/5 |
Face Addict (2008) |
"Arty-farty, cheap and dreary, Edo Bertoglio’s post-mortem of New York’s Seventies creative in-crowd is exactly the sort of self-absorbed guff that makes people glad to be square." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato |
Fade to Black (2006) |
"Fade to Black is as sleek and attractive as the chrome polished vintage cars Huston travels in, but never truly gets in gear." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 4/5 |
Faintheart (2008) |
"By Odin, it’s a totally unexpected hoot." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Fall (2008) |
"But The Fall defies low expectations, proving the director can now partner his exquisite pictures with a ripping yarn." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 3/5 |
Fame (2009) |
"Fans of the original won't care if this lives forever, but when the kids' High School Musical DVDs finally become too scratched to play, this should be waiting in the wings." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 4/5 |
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) |
"Wes Anderson has come up with the liveliest adventure set on English soil since Wallace and Gromit ran into the were-rabbit." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato 3/5 |
Fear(s) of the Dark (2008) |
"This artiness is everywhere, the movie too busy courting “visually stunning” poster quotes to actually get down to the business of being scary." |
Rob Daniel |
Splat 2/5 |
Feast of Love (2007) |
"You end up rather hoping that when this crew of Cupid's casualties ask for an Americano to go they mean just that." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 2/5 |
Fermat's Room (2008) |
"The possibility of being squished to a pulp always focuses the mind, although, as this by-the-numbers Spanish thriller proves, it doesn't necessarily make arithmetic any more interesting." |
Chris Prince |
Splat 2/5 |
A Few Days in September (2006) |
"Amigorena has an eye for off-kilter camerawork and attractively shoots Paris and Venice as Binoche and the two twenty-somethings flee Turturro, but its existentialist musings and breezy road movie charm are no replacement for espionage movie brains." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato |
Fighting (2009) |
"Shot with pace, energy and gusto, the rucks are worthy of the title. Featherweight, but not without scrappy charm." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Final Destination (2009) |
"You know exactly what to expect: a blood-and-guts joyride with Death In Excess. And the wonderfully in-yer-face 3D will knock your block off." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato 3/5 |
Fine, Totally Fine (2008) |
"Like a plate of cinematic sushi, writer-director Yosuke Fujita’s debut is an off-the-menu mixture of crazy comedy and bland romance that won’t satisfy everyone. But it’s certainly worth a try." |
Elliott Noble |
Splat 1/5 |
Fired Up (2009) |
"Fired Up is cinema as abuse, and its chief victim is any paying audience. To have shelled out cash for this witless farrago of sub-Porky's japery and straight-to-bargain-bin acting would be the airborne spin that broke the cheerleader's back." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 3/5 |
Fireflies in the Garden |
"It may be both both melancholy and intense but it packs an emotional jolt as the prodigal son reaches an understanding - if not a full-blown reunion - with his crotchety old man." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 2/5 |
The Firm (2009) |
"Love's film is ultimately pointless, having nothing new to say on the issues of male bonding, acceptance and tribalism." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato 4/5 |
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life |
"For a story with so many sub-plots it's to Bazancon's credit that he keeps the psychological plates spinning without mishap." |
Tim Evans |
Splat |
First Sunday (2008) |
"Seasoned stars such as Loretta Devine and Regina Hall do their best...but it's an uphill struggle with a script even the good lord would rent asunder." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 4/5 |
Fish Tank (2009) |
"Jarvis is the discovery of the year, while Arnold has just stepped up into the same league as those masters of kitchen sink classics, Ken Loach and Alan Clarke." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 3/5 |
Flame & Citron (2008) |
"Viewers expecting the heroics of Black Book or Female Agents may be surprised at the subdued, procedural pace Madsen opts for." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato |
Flashbacks of a Fool (2008) |
"When the record stops spinning Flashbacks Of A Fool doesn’t amount to much more than “learn from past mistakes and don’t take your life for granted”, but it’s strikingly shot, perfectly played, and rather well scored." |
Rob Daniel |
Splat 2/5 |
Flawless (2007) |
"“Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea…” said Michael Caine at the end of The Italian Job. Presumably he didn’t mean waiting 40 years before pulling off a caper that wouldn’t blow the bloody doors off a rabbit hutch." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato |
The Flight of the Red Balloon (2008) |
"With a fondness for reflective surfaces and long takes, Hou picks up an everyday situation, observes it from various angles, gives it a gentle shake, then puts it down again, seemingly without comment." |
Elliott Noble |
Splat 2/5 |
Fly Me To The Moon (2008) |
"Yet there's still enough to hold the attention - the actual Apollo equipment has the ring of authenticity - and it's worth taking the trip just to gawp at the sheer beauty of the programmer's art." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 2/5 |
Fool's Gold (2008) |
"To inject drama, the anaemic plot contorts to spin danger out of Finn’s debt to an island owning gangsta rapper (Kevin Hart), and his rivalry with his mentor." |
Rob Daniel |
Splat 2/5 |
The Foot Fist Way (2008) |
"This could have been The Karate Kid done as The Office, but in the end drops to its knees as The Flat-Foot Ham-Fisted Way." |
|
Splat 1/5 |
Four Christmases (2008) |
"But as syrup and cynicism congeal into one painful clot, there is never any doubt that this is a major studio's crack at the Yuletide market." |
Elliott Noble |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Fox and the Child (2008) |
"Perhaps a shade too long to hold the youngest viewers in permanent thrall, this is a family film in the truest sense - only the grouchiest bear won’t find something to like." |
Elliott Noble |
Splat 2/5 |
Franklyn (2009) |
"You have to give the debut director his due for an absurdly ambitious attempt to do something genuinely different in an age cursed with tired formula and dollar-obsessed convention." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 1/5 |
Fred Claus (2007) |
"This is one of those flicks that attempts to appeal to adults at a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, more salacious level while keeping the kids happy. It never really works." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 1/5 |
Free Jimmy (2006) |
"They say an elephant never forgets. But even the most anally-retentive pachyderm would be desperate to banish this misfiring mess to the darkest reaches of memory." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 4/5 |
French Film (2008) |
"This is a rich, beautifully written exploration of romantic self-delusion. The playing - particularly Bonneville - is assured and the dialogue constantly fires off cracking one-liners." |
Tim Evans |
Splat 2/5 |
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009) |
"A good effort, but ultimately one that may have been more suited to a TV special than a fully-fledged feature, FAQ… is like that geeky friend you really want to like - if only they'd sort out their BO problem and stop talking about Deep Space Nine." |
Chris Prince |
Splat 2/5 |
Friday the 13th (2009) |
"This suspense vacuum has all the momentum of a Jason victim post-filleting." |
Rob Daniel |
Tomato 4/5 |
From Russia with Love (1963) |
"One of the finest Bond outings, this flourished in the paranoia of the times before the franchise was devalued by an over-reliance on gadgets, camp quips and a skittish lack of focus or direction." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 4/5 |
Frost/Nixon (2008) |
"The two-hour plus running time zooms by as the so-called "thinking man's Rocky" plays like an intellectual boxing match with Nixon effortlessly dodging Frost's hesitant jabs and the young challenger looking like he won't last the distance." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 4/5 |
Frozen River (2008) |
"Cold yet never calculating, it's a fine film featuring a heart-rendingly knockout performance of steel and strength from Leo." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 3/5 |
Fugitive Pieces (2008) |
"An intermittently powerful, if not entirely successful, piece." |
Chris Prince |
Splat 3/5 |
Funny People (2009) |
"At almost two-and-a-half hours, this is stretched way beyond the length the story warrants, with overlong segments that slow the narrative down and a central section that sags dramatically." |
Tim Evans |
Tomato 4/5 |
Funuke domo, kanashimi no ai wo misero (2007) |
"Crisply shot with visual flourishes punctuating the unfussy direction, despite a lack of carnage, this is an accomplished and impressive depiction of some absolute barnpots. Those who like their laughs lightly flavoured with ash should check it out." |
Rob Daniel |
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