Tomato B- |
Adam (2009) |
"It's the kind of movie that lives or dies by its leads, and Adam benefits from Dancy's tricky work conveying Adam's specialized intelligence, and the warm, generous contribution of Byrne, just nominated for an Emmy for her work on FX's Damages." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Adventureland is not as uproarious as Superbad, but has a little more heart, and is a cut above most one-crazy-summer teen movies." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C+ |
Amelia (2009) |
"Glossy, stodgy and unfailingly conventional, Amelia sets out to inspire an audience but never feels inspired itself." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
American Casino (2009) |
"It may be a little too Jack Webb for the masses, but there is value to its sober, just-the-facts approach." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
American Violet (2009) |
"American Violet is an earnest muckraker about the justice system that won't win points for style, but wins plenty for substance." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato A- |
An Education (2009) |
"The way one character bounces off another in An Education is endlessly interesting. No role, no matter how small, is thrown away." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"What happened to reliable old Tom, perennial Oscar nominee? It's like he left the actor part of him on that island in Castaway." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C+ |
The Answer Man (2009) |
"The movie's many parallels leave it feeling schematic when it isn't focused on Daniels and Graham, who have such good comic timing they overcome all flaws." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
Antichrist (2009) |
"On the whole, I'd rather be dragged to hell by Sam Raimi." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"The movie is a small wonder, because it's not the work of a practiced filmmaker - Sacha Gervasi is a writer and Anvil fan who shot the movie on a whim, but he has a great eye, and is evidently an editing whiz." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B- |
Astro Boy (2009) |
"The movie never soars like Astro Boy, but it does rise above the lack of promise that prevails in the early scenes, which is a tough thing for any movie to do." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
Avatar (2009) |
"In Avatar Cameron creates an Oz that's as tactile and tangible as if it were made of real materials and real tissue." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C+ |
Away We Go (2009) |
"Away We Go is a cute, likeable movie. For about 10 minutes." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
American Teen (2008) |
"American Teen feels like truth, and it's still stranger than fiction." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Another Gay Sequel (2008) |
"Includes clever references to the straight raunchfests Porky's and American Pie. But his film feels more like a collection of skits than a cohesive story. His characters aren't even half-dimensional and, except for Nico, are boorish bores." |
Tirdad Derakhshani |
Tomato B |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"The first hour bored me nearly to tears, but I'm glad I stuck it out, since the last half hour is fresh, diverting and original in the context of a neo-Western. Or a neo anything." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Australia (2008) |
"Australia is a wildly over the top look at Down Under, about what we might have expected from Aussie director Baz Luhrmann." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Cassavetes is more interested in docudrama than commentary, but he does manage to create an interesting tone for the movie -- somewhere between the satire of the unvarnished America in Borat and the red flag waved by Apocalypto." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"[Director] Apted gives the movie a reasonably good period feel. Working with an obviously limited budget, it feels like something you might see on the History Channel, but that's not necessarily a knock." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
American Gangster (2007) |
"It's a rare instance of a movie gangster, though wrapped in the unavoidable cloak of big-screen glamour, being held to account for the retail-level destruction caused by his criminal operation." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Astronaut Farmer (2007) |
"A movie with a surplus of intriguing ideas but a deficit of credibility. We understand the movie is intended as something of a fable; still, it's a pretty far-fetched premise, and the Polish brothers never really sell us on the reality of the machine." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B- |
Atonement (2007) |
"An impressive expenditure of talent and craft on a complicated, stubbornly book-bound story that remains at a frustrating emotional distance." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
August Rush (2007) |
"It doesn't really work, and looks especially messy and corny next to a beautifully simple, music-driven romance like Once." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
Away From Her (2007) |
"Polley, borrowing from a story by Alice Munro, and maybe some of its wisdom, gives us more. Here, time rewards compromises and commitment to a flawed arrangement, and we get a rare portrait of the intimacy that can come with endurance." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"Dick does not share Linklater's decency and humanism ... and the cynical, hopeless characters in Scanner sit uncomfortably with Linklater's natural sensibility." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Akeelah and the Bee (2006) |
"Akeelah isn't quite in the class of the movies that inspired it. But it captures the spirit of what made Spellbound so likeable ..." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006) |
"I think older kids will like its uptempo blend of action and camp." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"It's not good, but there's some good stuff in it, as might be expected with a trio of Oscar-winning actors gnawing on a script by director Steve Zaillian." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
American Dreamz (2006) |
"There's a message here about the culture of spin and the tyranny of the gullible, but it's buried under a pile of punchless jokes. You can see the subject handled more successfully in Thank You for Smoking." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
American Hardcore (2006) |
"If band names like Circle Jerks, D.O.A., Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat resonate with you, then this documentary celebrating their short-lived, pummeling breed of thrash-and-burn rock music will surely get your blood boiling all over again." |
Jonathan Takiff |
Splat |
Annapolis (2006) |
"A movie that brazenly steals from Top Gun and An Officer a Gentleman and makes no attempt to hide the theft." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The Ant Bully (2006) |
"... it's hard to dislike a movie that teaches useful lessons about team play." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Apocalypto (2006) |
"You have to hand it to Mel Gibson -- when he makes a visceral film, he gives you the actual viscera." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) |
"The movie makes no sense, in any of its three dimensions." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Aliens of the Deep (2005) |
"There are impressive rock formations and many other fine things to see, along with an interesting science lesson." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Are We There Yet? (2005) |
"Does a good job of capturing the aspect of child-parent and child-adult relationships. And although funny, the movie does touch on a few social issues." |
Damon C. Williams |
Tomato |
The Aristocrats (2005) |
"Interesting and informative." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) |
"The movie is a loud, vulgar, sub-credible blunt instrument that beats on you for about two hours." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Asylum (2005) |
"The movie, short as it is, feels trumped-up, overblown, and ultimately silly." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"There isn't a single good thing about this movie." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) |
"An inane sequel." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The Agronomist (2004) |
"A profile, often moving, of the quixotic figure at Haiti's hopeful center, Dominique." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The Alamo (2004) |
"The Alamo wants to wring the mythology out of its famous story, and I can't think of a better way than casting Bad Santa as Davy Crockett." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Alexander (2004) |
"One of the year's authentic disasters, the kind of shlockbuster that at first invites derision, then, as the hours drag on, pity." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Along Came Polly (2004) |
"Like Feffer, things go better for the movie when it abandons its original aims." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B- |
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) |
"Add it all up, and you get something that often meets the standard of being funny. Whether it meets the standard of being a movie is another question." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004) |
"The songs simply have more impact when they are performed live, in front of you, for your benefit." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Around the Bend (2004) |
"It feels shaky as a theatrical feature, but could play better as a late-night cable curiosity." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Around the World in 80 Days (2004) |
"A two-hour version of the Jules Verne story that is only intermittently fun, despite lavish expenditures on CGI and stunt work." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The Aviator (2004) |
"It's not as moving as it's probably meant to be, but as a whole The Aviator is fast (even pushing three hours), entertaining and provocative." |
Gary Thompson |
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