Tomato 3/4 |
Adam (2009) |
"The beautifully crafted Adam offers no pat or easy answers to wrenching questions." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Adoration (2009) |
"Adoration, which hinges on a number of coincidences, contains some really fine performances, including a surprising one from Canadian utility player Scott Speedman as the student's rough-hewn uncle and guardian." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Adventureland isn't as clever as Kicking, and not nearly as hilarious as Superbad, but it's still a sweet little memory ache, a Proustian cookie co-flavored with semiotics and Whitesnake." |
Kyle Smith |
Splat 1/4 |
Adventures of Power (2009) |
"So would-be hip it hurts, Adventures of Power is barely watchable, despite the presence of such pros as Michael McKean and Jane Lynch." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Afghan Star (2009) |
"British filmmaker Havana Marking's entertaining first feature documentary." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Afterschool (2009) |
"Though thin on story, the film shows poise and vision, using bleak cinema-realite techniques with chilling effect. Campos promises to be heard from again." |
Kyle Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Alien Trespass (2009) |
"Alien Trespass, with a rating notice that mentions 'brief historical smoking,' is at least better than last year's official remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still." |
|
Splat 2/4 |
Amelia (2009) |
"The film discreetly tiptoes around rumors of Earhart's reputed bisexuality ("Maybe at one time," she says) and her relationship with aviation pioneer Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor impersonating a department-store dummy)." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 2/4 |
An American Affair (2009) |
"Even Oliver Stone would giggle." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
American Swing (2009) |
"American Swing doesn't have a particularly well-defined point of view, but it is a succinct, entertaining and valuable record of a time that in some ways now seems as remote as the Roaring '20s." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 1/4 |
American Violet (2009) |
"Its blaring earnestness and thin characters (all of whom practically wear badges identifying them as good or evil) fail to add nuance to a story that keeps making the same point in virtually every predictable scene." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
An Education (2009) |
"Despite the lingering aroma of Victorian rot shrouding 1961, An Education is excitingly young." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Angels & Demons has some exciting sequences, a spectacular ending with a terrific twist and a grounding in the debate about science versus religion that could hardly be more timely." |
Kyle Smith |
Splat 1/4 |
The Answer Man (2009) |
"I could see the sparks flying, but they were being generated by my back teeth." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Antichrist (2009) |
" Please don't take anything I've said to indicate that Antichrist isn't difficult to watch. It most certainly is, but as somebody (the Marquis de Sade, perhaps) once said: No pain, no gain." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3/4 |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"The inspirational doc concentrates on the group's founders and mainstays, lifelong buds Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 2/4 |
Art & Copy (2009) |
"When all is said and done, Art & Copy is little more than an ad for advertising." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 2/4 |
As Seen Through These Eyes (2009) |
"Unfortunately, Angelou's detached and often superfluous narration lessens the film's impact." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3/4 |
Astro Boy (2009) |
"This computer-animated adaptation of the 1950s-created future boy from Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese manga, is actually a sweet and endearing movie." |
Billy Heller |
Tomato 3/4 |
At the Edge of the World (2009) |
"I'm a big fan of Japanese food, but after watching At the Edge of the World, I'll be thinking twice about ordering sushi." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3/4 |
Audience Of One (2009) |
"Somewhere above us, God is watching Audience of One and chuckling. Mere mortals will be doing likewise." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Avatar (2009) |
"It’s rarely less than absorbing and never boring over its nearly three-hour length." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 2/4 |
Away We Go (2009) |
"Director Sam Mendes fails to make them as beautifully fragile as he wants to." |
Kyle Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Adam Resurrected (2008) |
"A semi-unbearable attempt at profundity set in a mental institution 15 years after WWII." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Alexandra (2008) |
"Alexandra is a much more modest undertaking, but is just as compelling. And Galina Vishnevskaya, an 81-year-old opera singer, is wonderful as Alexandra." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Allah Made Me Funny (2008) |
"The jokes are tepid and generic, better suited to late-night Comedy Central than the big screen." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 2/4 |
America The Beautiful (2008) |
"Interesting but messy." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 0.5/4 |
An American Carol (2008) |
"Even if it weren't three years too late to parody Moore (ineptly played by Kevin Farley), Moore's ridiculous tribute to Cuban health care in Sicko is far funnier than anything in this desperately laughless farce from David Zucker." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 2/4 |
American Teen (2008) |
"Ultra-slick and predictable." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Anamorph (2008) |
"A serial-killer flick told like an art lecture, Anamorph manages to be gruesome yet dull." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Animation Show 4 (2008) |
"A collection of 20 or so some times raunchy, often offensive and always entertaining animated shorts from around the world." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3/4 |
Anita O'Day - The Life Of A Jazz Singer (2008) |
"A high point shows O'Day, in a black-and-white hat and form-fitting dress, singing "Sweet Georgia Brown" at the Newport Jazz Festival. That scene alone confirms O'Day's place among the greats." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 1/4 |
Another Gay Sequel (2008) |
"Another Gay Movie was actually funny with some heart, but Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild is merely a crude series of sketches loosely revolving around an ersatz game show presided over by drag queens RuPaul and Lady Bunny." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"Beautifully photographed by Dean Semler, Appaloosa is the best Western since Open Range and shows there's still life in this most unfashionable of genres." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 0.5/4 |
August (2008) |
"Only an amusing cameo by David Bowie enlivens things, but he's onscreen for just about two minutes at the end." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Australia (2008) |
"Never boring but often exhausting, Australia finally pulls itself together for an emotionally satisfying ending. Or six. Pass the gravy." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story (2007) |
"Abduction uses interviews, vintage photos and re-creations to tell the sad story of love and hope in riveting, suspenseful style. So powerful is this film, it brought tears to my eyes." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"An interesting failure, not a fascinating one." |
Kyle Smith |
Splat 1/4 |
Adam's Apples (2007) |
"I'm sure there's a decent black comedy in the material, but Adam's Apples, by Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen, isn't it." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 2/4 |
Adrift in Manhattan (2007) |
"...overall, his [Alfredo De Villa's] latest flick is dramatically tepid." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"[Director] Bier has lots [of] surprises up her sleeve to keep After the Wedding humming for two solid hours." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Agnes Martin: With My Back to the World (2007) |
"Well-made." |
V.A. Musetto |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Air I Breathe (2007) |
"Brendan Fraser is Pleasure, Sarah Michelle Gellar is Sorrow, Kevin Bacon is Love, Forest Whitaker is Happiness, and the director is Pretension." |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Alice's House (2007) |
"Writer-director Chico Teixeira, who started out making documentaries, watches from afar as his middle-class characters go about their day-in, day-out activities, most of which revolve around sex." |
V.A. Musetto |
Tomato 3/4 |
Alone With Her (2007) |
"Far superior to the generic thrillers churned out by the big studios." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Irresponsible, uncommercial but surprisingly watchable." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 0/4 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) |
"For adults, it's like being hit over the head with a mallet every 10 seconds for 90 minutes. Two days later, I still had a headache." |
Lou Lumenick |
Tomato 3/4 |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"Amazing Grace isn't quite an accurate title for this entertaining history lesson, but no one will ever write a song titled 'Amazing 20-Year Period of Parliamentary Maneuvering to End Britain's Role in the Slave Trade.'" |
Kyle Smith |
Tomato 4/4 |
American Gangster (2007) |
"One of the year's best movies -- and surely a major Oscar contender." |
Lou Lumenick |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Angel-A (2007) |
"If Besson's eye is Angela, though, his writing is Andre: awkward, misshapen and earthbound. Andre must learn a lesson in self-esteem that would have embarrassed Capra -- maybe even Oprah." |
Kyle Smith |
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