Tomato B- |
Adam (2009) |
"Sounds like the stuff of a Hallmark Hall of Fame telefilm, but happily Mayer's sensitivity and the skill of Dancy and Byrne raise it to another level." |
Frank Swietek |
- |
Adam (2009) |
"Interview with Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne and Max Mayer" |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B+ |
Adoration (2009) |
"Those who make an effort to respond to its challenges will find it an absorbing and haunting experience." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C+ |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Yet another quirky coming-of-age tale, it's amiable enough but rather lackadaisical, and generates neither the laughs nor the insight needed to set it apart from the pack." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Alien Trespass (2009) |
"It doesn't want to be camp, but it inevitably becomes so, because the very effort to replicate its models is so knowing that it comes across as insufferably arch." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Aliens in the Attic (2009) |
"Isn't all that bad...but it lacks magic, and except as a harmless diversion for the youngsters on a rainy afternoon, you can safely hold off until it shows up on DVD." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat F |
All About Steve (2009) |
"One might be tempted to call it perfectly dreadful if it didn't seem inappropriate to utter the word 'perfect' anywhere within miles of it." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) |
"Isn't much worse than the original, but unfortunately it's no better." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Amelia (2009) |
"Comes off more like a museum exhibit than a vital drama...Amelia never takes flight, but it certainly crashes." |
Frank Swietek |
- |
American Violet (2009) |
"Interview with Tim Disney" |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
American Violet (2009) |
"Offers a message we've heard before, but it's one that bears repeating, and it's reasonably well delivered." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Amreeka (2009) |
"An earnest comedy-drama, which covers familiar territory but in an unpretentious, and so reasonably pleasant fashion." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B+ |
An Education (2009) |
"Takes what's essentially a soap-operatic plot and spins it into something very like cinematic gold...instructive about how a very familiar story can be given new vibrancy by filmmakers and actors working at peak form." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"As far as preposterous pulp is concerned, Angels & Demons is livelier than The Da Vinci Code. But it's still just preposterous pulp." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Antichrist (2009) |
"Very hard to watch, and in the end it's doubtful it's worth the effort. But it has moments you won't forget, however much you may want to." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B+ |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"Affectionate but revealing...a deeply human piece that's hilarious one moment and touching the next." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Armored (2009) |
"The heist goes awry, but not as badly as the movie." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Astro Boy (2009) |
"Decked out in snazzy computer-generated animation, but comes across as more rote than exhilarating." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Avatar (2009) |
"The technical wizardry is at the service of a recycled plot and a script rife with cardboard characters...and dialogue that sounds as though it had been lifted from the pages of a third-rate comic book." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Away We Go (2009) |
"The limberness of the leads and the affable nature of Mendes' treatment soften the material's harshness and make it go down easily. You should tag along with Burt and Verona on their journey of discovery." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Adam Resurrected (2008) |
"Grapples with important themes and is expertly made, but is simply too odd and off-putting to be anything more than an almost grotesque curiosity." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B+ |
Alexandra (2008) |
"One of those pure films that's devoid of excess and overstatement...simple but searing." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Allah Made Me Funny (2008) |
"The performers are amiable, but the material is only mildly amusing." |
Frank Swietek |
- |
American Teen (2008) |
"Interview with Nanette Burstein" |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
American Teen (2008) |
"May be no more revealing than similar television treatments of kids--and has been molded so smoothly as to sometimes seem staged--[but] it's an engaging portrait." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C+ |
The Animation Show 4 (2008) |
"A very mixed bag -- visually interesting throughout, but only sporadically funny, and too often seeming like little more than technical exercises." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"Takes the old western conventions and juggles them in very odd but mostly satisfying ways." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Australia (2008) |
"Not just long and extravagant but woozy and ultimately rather silly...Luhrmann might have been aiming, Selznick-like, for a new Gone With the Wind, but his picture ends up feeling more like a second Duel in the Sun." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
The Abandoned (2007) |
"Abandon all hope of entertainment, ye who enter here...dreary as well as dull." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"The Beatles survived Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees, so they'll survive Julie Taymor, too." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
After The Wedding (2007) |
"In less accomplished hands might have been dismissed as mawkish and contrived, but...comes across as surprisingly honest and affecting." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) |
"Not good, mind you, but probably about as efficient an example of an unnecessary sequel as was possible under the circumstances." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C+ |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Flashy but skin-deep...all the sound and fury can't disguise the fact that Alpha Dog doesn't signify much." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) |
"Arguably the most irritating novelty act in record history gets a CGI-updating...and the result is pretty annoying itself." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
The Amateurs (2007) |
"A strong ensemble cast spruces up a weak script in this trifle...the little picture that, ultimately, doesn't." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"Though it's not as inspiring as its makers might have wished, it's a solid, respectful treatment of a significant episode in the anti-slavery movement." |
Frank Swietek |
- |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"Interview with Ioan Gruffudd" |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
American Gangster (2007) |
"It's not a bad movie, just not the classic one it's obviously striving to be...should prove solid entertainment if you don't go expecting too much." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat F |
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres (2007) |
"The Boston cops had it wrong: the promotional gizmos put up in public places to advertise this movie weren't bombs, it's the picture itself that's one." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
Arctic Tale (2007) |
"An overly cutesy, ludicrously anthropomorphic critter feature, even if it is in a good cause." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Are We Done Yet? (2007) |
"As much a broken-down wreck as the house at the center of the plot." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato A |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"The cinematic equivalent of a Homeric epic...an ambitious, mesmerizing evocation of the mystique of celebrity and the strange mixture of admiration and envy it generates." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C |
The Astronaut Farmer (2007) |
"Apparently calculated to lift your spirits but will probably cause your jaw to drop instead." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato A- |
Atonement (2007) |
"A film of rare refinement and artistry...an impeccable adaptation." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D |
August Rush (2007) |
"So gloriously, astonishingly nutty that it almost qualifies as an instant camp classic...the visual flamboyance only adds to the pretentious goofiness of it all." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B- |
Avenue Montaigne (2007) |
"Though the picture's like a souffle that occasionally goes soggy, for the most part it's a tasty treat." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D- |
Awake (2007) |
"A would-be psychological thriller without much psychology and even fewer thrills, Awake is more likely to put you to sleep." |
Frank Swietek |
Tomato B |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Straightforward but not detached, touching but not maudlin, it's an honestly moving, if modest, portrait of a marriage affected by a terrible wasting disease." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat C- |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"A bummer clearly." |
Frank Swietek |
Splat D+ |
Accepted (2006) |
"Wants to be a new Animal House, but it's more like a rerun of PCU." |
Frank Swietek |
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