Splat 2/5 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"A fast-paced and serviceable thriller, dressed in second-hand religious mumbo jumbo, that relies on constant forward momentum to ensure its audience doesn't have time to stop and think about it too much." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3/5 |
Bandslam (2009) |
"The suprise packet of the film is Vanessa hudgens, cast against type as the Goth-ish girlfriend." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 4/4 |
Beautiful Kate (2009) |
"Part outback mystery, part kitchen-sink drama, Beautiful Kate is a remarkably assured directorial debut from Ward, who has honed her craft on short films." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Box (2009) |
"Like Donnie Darko, The Box's eerily effective atmosphere of paranoid conspiracy would not hold up to too much scrutiny. Fans of that twisted sci-fi conundrum will need no further encouragement to see this follow-up in the same vein." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 2/5 |
Bride Wars (2009) |
"Eighty-eight minutes and 14 seconds of pure, unadulterated piffle." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2/5 |
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) |
"Fisher is wonderful for much of this movie, despite some of the irksome material shoved her way." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2/5 |
Couples Retreat (2009) |
"Couples Retreat turns out to be a sloppy, choppy mess." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 4/5 |
District 9 (2009) |
"The world Blomkamp has created in this original creature feature is at once familiar and distinctive." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 4/5 |
Drag Me To Hell (2009) |
"A funny, inspired and genuinely thrilling horror movie [and] the best thing to happen to the genre in yonks." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Every Little Step (2009) |
"This fascinating American made documentary tracks a disparate group of dancers trying out for a range of roles in a Broadway revival of the iconic stage musical A Chorus Line." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato |
Fame (2009) |
"Hardly necessary, but highly enjoyable." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2/5 |
Fast & Furious (2009) |
"Early, pre-credit scenes are so meticulously choreographed and expertly edited that you just cannot wait for the real film to begin. However, minutes later, you can't help wishing the thing would just hurry up and finish." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Fragments (2009) |
"Each character's unique journey towards processing their shared horrific experience is handled with sensitivity and honesty." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3/5 |
Funny People (2009) |
"It's a good deal more interesting than your average mainstream comedy." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 1/5 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) |
"This ultra-violent, incoherent and utterly underwhelming action flick cost more than $200 million to produce." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Gomorrah (2009) |
"It is a challenging approach, and while there is suspense and action (including a spectacular car crash), there is frustration as a result of the regular cutting from one story to another." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 4/5 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) |
"Harry Potter trades hocus pocus for real dramatic magic in Half-Blood Prince." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 4/5 |
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) |
"A fun-tastic adventure that virtually guarantees enjoyment for the whole family." |
Ben McEachen |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) |
"For a film that lost one of its key players, Heath Ledger, mid-way through production, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is remarkably cohesive. Marks a return to form for Gilliam." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 2/5 |
Love The Beast (2009) |
"It is diverting for a few minutes, but the enterprise really needs something more interesting than one man's relationship with his car." |
Des Partridge |
Splat 2/5 |
My Life in Ruins (2009) |
"The film feels slighter than its hugely successful predecessor." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3/5 |
My Sister's Keeper (2009) |
"A morally ambiguous tearjerker with a twist." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 2.5/5 |
Notorious (2009) |
"While the script provides ample illustrations of Wallace's tough life, there is not enough focus on what set the recording star apart from his peers or why he became so incredibly popular so quickly." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 3/5 |
Orphan (2009) |
"Enough jump-out-of-your-seat moments to make this nonetheless trashy, implausible thirller watchable." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 3/5 |
Public Enemies (2009) |
"Public Enemies finds [Mann] a bit slower on his feet. The film lacks the narrative dexterity of Collateral and The Insider. And the end result veers between solid and stolid." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3/5 |
Quiet Chaos (2009) |
"[Moretti delivers] a complex and complete performance..." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 3/5 |
Red Cliff (2009) |
"The most beautiful Asian epic since Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar triumph, The Last Emperor, 22 years ago." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato |
Star Trek (2009) |
"There is a good blend of character development and action in Star Trek which is why it will resonate so well with audiences." |
Stephen Fenech |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) |
"Sure to hit the spot for anyone with an appetite for sweet, unselfconscious romantic fantasy." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 2/5 |
The Ugly Truth (2009) |
"One of the uglier truths about The Ugly Truth is that its screenplay was co-written by three women who have really sold their gender down the river. Way to represent the cause, ladies." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2.5/5 |
The Uninvited (2009) |
"The good work done by the Guards earlier in the picture -- continual layering of one new level of mystique upon another -- is tainted by a sudden desperation to explain away everything with several clumsy flashbacks." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3/5 |
Watchmen (2009) |
"For all of the ferocious flashes of brilliance achieved by wunderkind director Zack Snyder, there are almost as many fatal flaws." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2.5/5 |
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) |
"It's also too adult in its concerns to be fully understood by most children. And paradoxically, it's also too child-like in its construction to be appreciated by most adults." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3/5 |
Whip It (2009) |
"Whip It is not the most original flick to come along this year, the knockabout (and knock 'em flat) way in which Barrymore captures the wired atmosphere of roller derby is genuinely irresistible." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 2/5 |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) |
"Fans of the many comic books in which Wolverine has featured will rue what has become of their favourite characters." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3/5 |
American Teen (2008) |
"Presents a neat and compact overview of youth under pressure to conform, perform and mature." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Splat 1/5 |
Babylon A.D. (2008) |
"If Kassovitz really believed he had a classic in the making, why didn't he take a stand and nix the casting of Diesel while he had the chance?" |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3/5 |
Body of Lies (2008) |
"By the end, Body Of Lies is revealed as just another big-budget movie designed to cash in on the real-enough Middle East conflicts. It's a gangster movie without cops and criminals." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Bottle Shock (2008) |
"In the same way Good Night And Good Luck sends you hurtling for whisky and a Malboro, and Sideways prompts a pining for pinot noir, Bottle Shock will have you craving a chilled glass of Californian chardonnay." |
Amy Harris |
Tomato 3/5 |
Brideshead Revisited (2008) |
"A timely update on a deserving classic." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Changeling (2008) |
"A deftly handled tale about one woman's quiet and determined struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3/5 |
Choke (2008) |
"Gregg, with his first directing job, has risen to the challenge, and adapted Choke without sacrificing anything and resulting in a less conventional film." |
Des Partridge |
Tomato 3/5 |
Death Race (2008) |
"Petrolheads and gorehounds, this backfiring blast of cinematic carbon monoxide is your film of the year." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Defiance (2008) |
"Zwick lets the amazing story of the Bielskis' achievement unfold in a conventional, even old-fashioned storytelling way, and even finds time for a spot of romance..." |
Des Partridge |
Splat 1/5 |
Disaster Movie (2008) |
"Since they have so little material to work with in the first place, Friedberg and Seltzer flog each joke well beyond its limits." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 4.5/5 |
Doubt (2008) |
"As close to a blood sport as is humanly possibly for something that doesn't involve any physical contact." |
Vicky Roach |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
The Duchess (2008) |
"A handsome costume drama that highlights the relationship between the Cinderella outfits and the restrictive privilege of the society from whence they came." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 2.5/5 |
Eagle Eye (2008) |
"The film unfolds at such breakneck speed that the credits are rolling before it becomes fully apparent that the storyline actually ran out of gas some way back." |
Vicky Roach |
Splat 1/4 |
Four Christmases (2008) |
"An imperfect storm of horrible writing, awkward casting and questionable taste gathers soon after the opening credits and dumps downpours of buzz-killing humour at depressingly regular intervals." |
Leigh Paatsch |
Tomato 4/5 |
Funny Games (2008) |
"We're left with the nasty taste of our own bloodlust long after the credits have rolled." |
Vicky Roach |
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