Splat C+ |
U-571 (2000) |
"Like the rusted old subs deployed in the story, the picture seems designed to stay in the safe shallows and not to plumb any real dramatic depths." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C+ |
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) |
"A solid but unremarkable piece...will be more at home on the tube." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
U2 3D (2008) |
"While there's no denying that this is a fine concert film that should certainly please fans, it's not a watershed picture of its kind." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Uber Goober (2004) |
"While one has to make allowances for its home-movie quality, this little movie's affectionately lowbrow treatment of an often-maligned subculture has a certain homely charm." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D |
The Ugly Truth (2009) |
"Plays like a busted Fox sitcom pilot, though heavier on the raunchiness and dragged out to a literally painful hour and a half." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato 5/5 |
Ulee's Gold (1997) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D+ |
The Ultimate Gift (2007) |
"If one learns by suffering, as grandpa keeps saying here, this movie offers a good deal of instruction." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Ultimate X: The Movie (2002) |
"Visually as buffed as the athletes it celebrates, but also as
airheaded as most of them seem to be." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat F |
Ultraviolet (2006) |
"An unholy combination of comic book and video game,...so awful that you'd swear it had been directed by Uwe Boll." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Un Secret (2008) |
"Avoiding histrionics and overstatement, Un Secret reveals a story about a family's past suffering that may not be unique, but in this telling is quietly powerful." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D+ |
Unaccompanied Minors (2006) |
"Brash, annoying juvenile slapstick comedy...Once word gets around, these Minors probably won't be as much unaccompanied as unattended." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
The Unborn (2009) |
"Shouldn't have been brought to term." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Unbreakable (2000) |
"Most viewers -- especially those swept up by The Sixth Sense -- are likely to find it a grave disappointment." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat 2/5 |
Uncle Buck (1989) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Uncle Nino (2003) |
"There's a place for a movie like this--but it's really on the Hallmark Hall of Fame rather than in an auditorium you have to pay to get into." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004) |
"Basically preaching to the choir, of course. But that doesn't mean that the sermon isn't one that needs to be heard." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Undead (2005) |
"Doesn't even have the idiotic charm one might expect of a 'Plan 10 from Outer Space'...a home movie that ought to have stayed there." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato 4/5 |
Under Fire (1983) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat 2/5 |
Under Siege 2 - Dark Territory (1995) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Under Suspicion (2000) |
"The makers hit us over the head with visual tricks ... that have the odd effect of diminishing the emotional wallop." |
Frank Swietek |
- |
Under the Same Moon (2008) |
"Interview with Patricia Riggen" |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Under the Same Moon (2008) |
"Engaging and touching--a manipulative tearjerker, but an effective one." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Under the Sand (2001) |
"While ultimately the picture is somewhat frustrating as simple
narrative, Rampling's extraordinary performance makes it a
powerful depiction of grief." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Under the Sea 3D (2009) |
"The extraordinary images compensat[e] for its lack of structure, less than stellar narration and musical missteps." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Under the Skin of the City (2003) |
"Strikes a melodramatic, soap operatic tone...doesn't penetrate deep enough to touch a raw emotional nerve." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) |
"Part travelogue and part Lifetime liberated-woman-of-the-week movie...little more than a standard-issue (and standard-tissue) women's picture." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Undercover Brother (2002) |
"A smart, shrewd, even charming spoof...easily beats 'Austin Powers' at his own game." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Undertow (2004) |
"Connoisseurs should find it the sort of dark cinematic delicacy that, if still more poetic reverie than prose narrative, is ultimately more filling than standard fare." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Underworld (2003) |
"For a movie about a centuries-old battle between vampires and werewolves, Underworld proves to be a surprisingly toothless affair." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat F |
Underworld: Evolution (2006) |
"It's round two of the battle between vampires and werewolves. I won't reveal who wins, but the audience certainly loses." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) |
"Every bit as inane and tedious as its predecessors." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Undiscovered (2005) |
"Just about the quality of a busted WB Network pilot, 'Undiscovered' certainly deserves to remain that way." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Undisputed (2002) |
"The only thing indisputable here is that lots of talent has been frittered away on a really silly and formulaic story." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D |
Unfaithful (2002) |
"Slick, steamy smut served up in a series of scenes framed
like Rembrandt paintings, with a soupcon of phony
meaningfulness on the side." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
An Unfinished Life (2005) |
"An extremely old-fashioned story that comes across as a starrily-cast, determinedly middlebrow Hallmark Hall of Fame special." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B+ |
The Unforeseen (2007) |
"A thought-provoking documentary that's both informative and strangely poignant--as well as beautifully shot and edited." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Uninvited (1944) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D |
The Uninvited (2009) |
"A prosaic thriller that needed a touch of visual poetry to make the grade...Kim's original is far scarier; come to think of it, so is Lewis Allen's The Uninvited from 1944." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato A |
United 93 (2006) |
"A viscerally lacerating, emotionally wrenching experience...that melds the starkness of documentary with the power of drama." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
The United States of Leland (2004) |
"Deadly serious, almost funereal...a pretentious, dreary film, which is also frustratingly unenlightening." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat 1/5 |
Universal Soldier (1992) |
No article available. |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Unknown (2006) |
"Almost everybody's got amnesia in Unknown, and after watching it you might pine to be similarly afflicted." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Unknown White Male (2005) |
"Amnesia has been a staple of movies from time immemorial, but few, if any, of them have cut to the bone the way this modest documentary does." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Unleashed (2005) |
"High-concept schlock...mingles a thoroughly ridiculous action movie with an incredibly mawkish melodrama." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
An Unreasonable Man (2007) |
"By presenting both sides, even if unequally, the film manages to do something like justice to an important if controversial figure." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Untraceable (2008) |
"Police procedural meets torture porn...sleazy and absurd rather than clever and surprising." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato A |
Up (2009) |
"An animated movie that's far more human than most live-action ones, and easily maintains the exalted standards we've come to expect from Pixar. It's guaranteed to raise your spirits." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Up and Down (2005) |
"While parts of 'Up and Down' are effective, as a whole it doesn't measure up to its laudable ambition...the last word of the title proves more accurate than the first." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato C |
Up at the Villa (2000) |
"The result is entirely unconvincing as drama, but amusing as pulpish melodrama." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Up for Grabs (2005) |
"A jovial commentary on the cult of celebrity in modern America and a wonderful metaphor for today's crass commercialization of the sports industry." |
Frank Swietek |