Tomato 3/4 |
Adam (2009) |
"Dancy gets the juiciest role and wisely underplays it." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Adoration (2009) |
"It never adds up to a satisfying whole." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"If his plot falls into a predictable pattern, Mottola is able to work some attractive variations with his strong cast." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1/4 |
All About Steve (2009) |
"Maybe a sitcom laugh track would have helped. At least it would provide a hint of where we’re supposed to chuckle." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2/4 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) |
"As tedious as it is inevitable, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is as ho-ho-hum as can be." |
Jason Heck |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Amelia (2009) |
"This film, coming 72 years after Earhart vanished -- plays it awfully safe." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
American Violet (2009) |
"Put on your outrage cap." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Amreeka (2009) |
"You can try to resist it, but by the time Cherien Dabis’ writing/directing effort is over, you’ll be completely sucked in." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"By the time it’s all over audiences may feel they’ve been had by a fiendishly manipulative storyteller. But then, being had is one of the reasons we go to the movies." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"There’s humor in all this misfortune. But the more you watch, the more you empathize." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Avatar (2009) |
"The film’s trailers don’t fully convey the credible magnificence of Cameron’s vision, one that sucks us in and makes us believe." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Away We Go (2009) |
"Away We Go is a road-trip comedy. It’s also one of the best films about love I’ve ever seen." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Absurdistan (2008) |
"Absurdistan lives up to its name with its virtual nonstop drollery. And in Malerova the film has a most appealing leading lady." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1/4 |
All Roads Lead Home (2008) |
"It’s not that the film is too complicated, it’s just unwieldy." |
David Frese |
Tomato 3/4 |
American Teen (2008) |
"There are many times when you simply can’t believe you’ve eavesdropped on such personal moments. The triumphs and pains of teenage life are captured here in all their marvelous, maddening complexity." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
Anita O'Day - The Life Of A Jazz Singer (2008) |
"It’s lovingly made, with jazzy movement, and though it’s no great technical achievement, its low-budget aura hardly detracts from the mission." |
Steve Paul |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"It lacks the substantial story that would make it memorable." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2/4 |
Australia (2008) |
"A big mess: emotionally incoherent, laughably simplistic and narratively graceless." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"After the Wedding is a sad film in many ways, but it’s also surprisingly uplifting. Thanks to [director] Bier and her cast, any tears shed in the audience will be perfectly natural." |
Loey Lockerby |
Tomato 3/4 |
Air Guitar Nation (2007) |
"For every dork who has stood before the home stereo speakers and banged away on an invisible instrument, here at last is validation." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2.5/4 |
American Gangster (2007) |
"Unlike the Godfather saga, what you see here is all you get." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2/4 |
Arthur and the Invisibles (2007) |
"Apparently Besson became so enamored of CG animation’s possibilities that he forgot basic rules … such as the one about animation thriving on clear-cut, distinctive characters whose personalities are established in the first few seconds they’re on screen." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Astronaut Farmer (2007) |
"The closer the character gets to actually firing up his rocket, the less fun the film becomes. The Polish brothers lose their goofy sense of humor, and The Astronaut Farmer turns serious and, heaven help us, inspiring." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
August Rush (2007) |
"Although Williams seems to be in another film altogether, Russell and Rhys Meyers make an attractive and believable would-be couple, and Highmore may actually be the best child actor working today." |
Loey Lockerby |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Sarah Polley gives us one of the year’s best films." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2/4 |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"A Scanner Darkly has virtually no action and is so slow to reveal itself that it dissipates whatever dramatic clout the novel may have had." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Accepted (2006) |
"Accepted is enjoyable in spite of itself." |
Loey Lockerby |
Tomato 3/4 |
Akeelah and the Bee (2006) |
"... it's never preachy." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2.5/4 |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"It’s well acted by Sean Penn and Jude Law. The only problem is I didn’t care." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 3/4 |
America: Freedom To Fascism (2006) |
"If America: From Freedom to Fascism is right only 10 percent of the time, we're in big trouble." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
American Dreamz (2006) |
"American Dreamz has plenty of laughs. You’ll leave the theater feeling not outraged but actually rather cheerful." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2.5/4 |
American Gun (2006) |
"Despite a few effective moments, Gun ... never makes the big statement it seems to be reaching for." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
The Ant Bully (2006) |
"The Ant Bully is too flawed to be a true classic, or even the best of this busy year. But when it stops talking and starts moving, it reaches breathtaking heights that almost make up for its lows." |
Loey Lockerby |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Apocalypto (2006) |
"The difference between a great movie and a merely acceptable one often isn’t a matter of what you put in, but what you leave out. Apocalypto could have done more with less." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Art School Confidential (2006) |
"Despite running out of juice in its last half-hour, Art School Confidential has enough solid laughs and insider jokes to become a cult perennial." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 2/4 |
ATL (2006) |
"ATL is unlikely to inspire any emotion stronger than vague indifference." |
Loey Lockerby |
Splat 1/4 |
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) |
"The story is impossible, the acting generally awful and the 3-D effects so unremarkable that you're tempted to yank off the glasses and watch it with the naked eye." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1/4 |
Aeon Flux (2005) |
"Charlize Theron has her Oscar. Now she has her Catwoman." |
David Frese |
Splat |
Alone in the Dark (2005) |
"As an audience-participation midnight movie, Alone in the Dark has potential." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat |
The Amityville Horror (2005) |
"After a while, it's more annoying than scary, as niceties like suspense and atmosphere are ignored in favor of making people spill their popcorn. It's the laziest possible way to direct a horror movie." |
Loey Lockerby |
Tomato |
The Aristocrats (2005) |
"The results are unbelievably gross and -- once you get with the program -- side-splittingly funny." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Ask the Dust (2005) |
"Utterly forgettable." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato |
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) |
"My advice is to ignore such questions and go with the flow." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato |
Asylum (2005) |
"The film's great strength is a cast of supporting players who steal scene after scene from their leading lady." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1.5/4 |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"This is the kind of film that exists solely to show off pretty actors and scenery." |
Loey Lockerby |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Alamo (2004) |
"This is the best Alamo movie ever -- the most accurate, the best-acted, the most sumptuously mounted." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Alexander (2004) |
"There's no joy here, no fun, no excitement. It's a 178-minute-long wall hanging." |
Robert W. Butler |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Alfie (2004) |
"If there was ever a film that begged not to be remade, the 1966 black comedy Alfie is screaming to be left alone in a loud Cockney accent." |
Dan Lybarger |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Alien vs. Predator (2004) |
"For 90 minutes it held my interest on a purely visceral level." |
Robert W. Butler |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Along Came Polly (2004) |
"Unpromising premise proves an ideal showcase for the comic talents of Ben Stiller and, to a lesser extent, supporting player Philip Seymour Hoffman." |
Robert W. Butler |
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