Tomato 4/4 |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"The first film to capture the author's transience and his art." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
Accepted (2006) |
"Too much of the plot is eaten up with clichéd assaults on a stodgy mainstream college and its pretty, gel-afflicted frat boys, who care waaayyy less about the liberal arts than whacking around pledges with a wooden spanker." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"...Julie Taymor's rhapsodic mash note to John, Paul, George and Ringo falls just short of breathtaking." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Adam (2009) |
"Sure, it's complicated, but isn't that always true of romance? And doesn't it blow the hinges off the universe -- every single time?" |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"The youths of Superbad were a little bit younger, a little more likable, their dirty-virgin wit more hilarious [than in Adventureland]." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"After the Sunset is about as flat-footed a heist caper as I've ever seen: clumsy where it should be graceful, lumpy where it should be sleek." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 1/4 |
All About Steve (2009) |
"There's no footing in reality. Nothing about it feels authentic." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"It's too full of itself; it's too convinced of its own value to be much of any to audiences." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat .5/4 |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Recovering from the Harlequin bathos of The Notebook, writer-director Nick Cassavetes directs this bogus-homeboy scenario as though his street cred depended on it." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
American Dreamz (2006) |
"In American Dreamz, the people are stereotypes, and the context is fake: It's broad, it's thin, it's a big easy target. And ultimately, its dreamz are hollow." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
American Gangster (2007) |
"It's a much better film than nine-tenths of what's out there on any given Friday, and if you're a fan of steak-and-potatoes crime drama, I highly recommend it." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
American Teen (2008) |
"They all have their stories tell, some more complicated than others." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
American Violet (2009) |
"A conventional but wholly gripping docudrama." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"It’s too lurid, too long. Too much is telegraphed." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Apocalypto (2006) |
"It is Mel Gibson's latest proof that as a director, his ambition is boundless and his energy nearly so, but his judgment is sorely lacking." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"From its first, mournful brass theme, Ed Harris's Appaloosa nails the look and feel of a classic Western. This is an old-style, laconically macho, six-shooting horse opera made with an obvious and unapologetic love of the genre." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Arctic Tale (2007) |
"It's aimed at kids, and it hits them squarely: My 6-year-old and his friend sat stock still, hypnotized." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Are We Done Yet? (2007) |
"Are We Done Yet? isn't much more than a middling middle-class fantasy, but it has a few sweet admonitions nestled amid the tomfoolery." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Are We There Yet? (2005) |
"Ice Cube is an essentially soft-screen presence despite the assumed belligerence of his shtick. His knotted scowl hides a mushy middle of basic human decency." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Art School Confidential (2006) |
"Zwigoff's angry exposé of this intense, tiny subculture isn't fair to anyone in the art world, but if you can stomach the overstatement, it's often scathingly funny. And it's sometimes scathingly smart." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
As It Is in Heaven (2004) |
"It tells its tale of love, community and redemption with soap-operatic mood swings and a true believer’s faith in the transcendent powers of music." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Astro Boy (2009) |
"Awesome. Truly." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat 2/4 |
The Astronaut Farmer (2007) |
"Look, there's Bruce Willis, an old astronaut buddy from Farmer's aeronautics-training days! No, Mission Control, this isn't Armageddon. Ben Affleck is nowhere in sight..." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
ATL (2006) |
"A mellow and engrossing coming-of-age film about a young crew on the south side of Atlanta." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato |
August Rush (2007) |
"The goal is to drive mothers everywhere insane with the urge to rescue him and brush his hair (or the other way around), and in my case it worked." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3/4 |
Australia (2008) |
"Comedy and tragedy, action and melodrama, full measures of quirk and swoon: It’s just a plain good time at the movies." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Avatar (2009) |
"The most-hyped movie of the year just about merits it." |
Amy Biancolli |
Tomato 4/4 |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Sarah Polley's sad, wise and simply dazzling directorial effort beams with warmth." |
Amy Biancolli |
Splat C |
Adaptation (2002) |
"Mired in the inertia of Charlie's writer's block, as if the real Kaufman never found his own passion for the material." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 1/4 |
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) |
"Squinting through cardboard glasses you get at the door, you see washed-out colors, blurred images and not enough pop-out to merit the trade-off." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato 3/4 |
After Innocence (2005) |
"After Innocence is a crusading documentary driven by DNA testing that's brought freedom for men who served years in prison for crimes they didn't commit." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2/4 |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"In my book it's high camp -- a thrill ride for emotion junkies." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat D+ |
Against the Ropes (2003) |
"It's hard to buy this minor melding of Rocky and Erin Brockovich as anything but a punched-up star vehicle for an actress in a slump." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat C+ |
Agent Cody Banks (2003) |
"A mundane, kid-empowerment fantasy distinguished only by Frankie Muniz's agreeable blend of haplessness and heroics." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato B |
The Alamo (2004) |
"[Hancock's] Alamo may be flawed, but it tells a tale that still has the power to stir our souls." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato B+ |
Alex and Emma (2003) |
"Imitating that life, Alex & Emma is more artifice than art. But chemistry is the key to a romantic comedy, and this one has enough to unlock guarded hearts." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2/4 |
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006) |
"Even fantasies need a nod or a wink to assure viewers, 'Yes, it's ludicrous -- but isn't it fun?'" |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato A |
Alien (1979) |
"A genuine fright classic." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato 3/4 |
Alien vs. Predator (2004) |
"Though sometimes marred by murky lighting and quick-cut incoherence, the action is sudden and sensational." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato A |
Alien: The Director's Cut (2003) |
"A monster movie with class." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 1/4 |
Alone in the Dark (2005) |
"Frighteningly bad cinema is the only thing scary about Alone in the Dark, which gives video-game movies an even worse name, if that's possible." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato B+ |
Along Came Polly (2004) |
"Though Polly packs ample comic punch, it also demonstrates that life isn't about the safe past or the uncertain future but the journeys we make each day." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"Director Michael Apted tells the story with dry devotion to parliamentary procedurals and a worshipful approach to Wilberforce. But [actor] Gruffudd lacks the intensity and charisma to pull it off." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2/4 |
American Hardcore (2006) |
"Instead of an insightful look at disaffected youths finding an outlet for angry energy in rock rages, American Hardcore is a slanted history lesson coming solely from its subjects." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato |
American Pie 2 (2001) |
"Unlike most such sex comedies, it's not mean-spirited. Instead, like the original, it's an odd mix of ribaldry and innocence, titillation and tenderness, lasciviousness and love." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Amityville Horror (2005) |
"Like good drive-in fare from the '70s, this is all about sensation." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Tomato B |
Analyze That (2002) |
"Your response to its new sequel, Analyze That, may hinge on what you thought of the first film." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat C- |
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) |
"Overly broad humor with little on its mind." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2/4 |
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004) |
"Its close-ups of belted numbers command attention without truly commanding our hearts." |
Bruce Westbrook |
Splat 2/4 |
Angel-A (2007) |
"[The] plot is warmed-over Capra, and it's no wonderful-life yarn." |
Bruce Westbrook |
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