Splat |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"Linklater's low-key, meandering humanism is a bad match for Dick's obsessive, clammy suspicion. We never feel the desperation of these characters. They're merely painted figures on a screen -- shimmering somewhere far away.
" |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) |
"Spielberg has never walked such a dangerous tightrope, never made a movie so fearless." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"I saw a film today, oh boy." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Adaptation (2002) |
"Playfully profound... and crazier than Michael Jackson on the top floor of a skyscraper nursery surrounded by open windows." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Like a John Hughes movie directed by Francois Truffaut...gangly, deeply felt and just lovely." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) |
"In order to review a movie, the first step is to look at the screen, which is sadly something I could not bear to do throughout most of Sharkboy and Lavagirl." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"Slack, ambitionless Elmore Leonard-lite. Brett Ratner has matured into one of the dullest young filmmakers working today." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
The Agronomist (2004) |
"Rousing, heartbreaking... and occasionally discombobulated. Still, the movie is aglow with its subject's clear-eyed optimism." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Alexander (2004) |
"Alexander is Oliver's most stupidly awesome (and awesomely stupid) movie since The Doors." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Alfie (2004) |
"This funnier, glossier Alfie is a mite too watered down. In the end, we're having so much fun we don't feel his soul-sickness. It's lightweight desolation.
" |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Ali (2001) |
"A challenging, uncompromising film with the same hardheaded integrity as the man it profiles." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Alien 3 (1992) |
"Fox's DVD restoration/mea culpa of Fincher's original edit is cause for celebration. The studio cut seemed glibly nihilistic --this time when she jumps, it means something." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Alien vs. Predator (2004) |
"When not busy contradicting the lore we picked up in the previous pictures, Alien Vs. Predator is the world's murkiest, most incomprehensible video game." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"Sometimes I wish they'd just cancel the Oscars, because then gaseous, lumbering elephants like All the King's Men would have no reason to exist." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
All the Real Girls (2003) |
"Girls is front-loaded with strange, offbeat non-sequitors subtly coloring in the lines of this community. Alas, the film shrinks as it goes along." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Along Came Polly (2004) |
"Timid and predictable, yet almost worth seeing for two fantastic supporting performances (by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alec Baldwin) that seem to have come from outer space." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Amarcord (1974) |
"Watching the movie feels like flipping through a cartoon sketchbook of Fellini's vivid remembrances and formative experiences." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Amelia (2009) |
"Eventually I just wanted her to crash the damn plane so I could go home already." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
An American Carol (2008) |
"Zucker's film reeks of a deeply insecure psychosis, one that's often insultingly mislabeled as patriotism -- which is how it gets away with wrapping itself in red, white and blue while simultaneously ridiculing our Bill Of Rights." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
American Gangster (2007) |
"Even a stale old tune can sound great if it's covered properly..." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
American Splendor (2003) |
"But it's hard to shake the feeling that the movie is less than the sum of its parts. I called it 'brilliant' the day I saw it, and I haven't thought about it once since then." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Amreeka (2009) |
"As much as I enjoyed spending time with these characters, it's hard not to bristle at the overall After-School Special vibe." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
An Education (2009) |
"Tenderly looks back upon statutory rape as a rite of passage, and it's a testament to fine performances that the film only feels icky in retrospect." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Ron Howard's funniest film since Splash!" |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
The Answer Man (2009) |
"For all intents and purposes an uncredited remake of As Good As It Gets, which was kind of a crap flick to begin with..." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Antichrist (2009) |
"Provocative, sloppy and intellectually retarded -- the entire picture feels like it's sprung forth from Von Trier's Id without a second thought as to the consequences." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Anything Else (2003) |
"Unlike the wan doodles Woody's been cranking out for the past few years, this dark, often hilarious cacophony boasts a mile-wide ugly streak I found immensely satisfying." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Apocalypse Now Redux (2001) |
"...a more user-friendly, politically correct Apocalypse Now with kinder, gentler characters, blabbermouth political diatribes, comic relief and mind-numbing repetition." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Apocalypto (2006) |
"A work of searing, go-for-broke intensity... these relentless, lunatic ravings feel like what would happen if Werner Herzog directed Rambo IV. Mel Gibson might be a cretinous, bigoted drunkard, but he's a fascinating filmmaker." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
The Aristocrats (2005) |
"The movie is a scandal. It is an outrage. It is a joy." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Around the Bend (2004) |
"...the kind of movie that gives sincerity a bad name." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Art School Confidential (2006) |
"An admittedly amusing, completely miserable picture filled with too-easy yuks that make you feel cheap and dirty the second you're done chuckling.
" |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Ask the Dust (2005) |
"Eventually, I was on the edge of my seat... wondering what kind of wrong choice Towne could possibly make next." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"The mosaic of moods conjures something that feels both ancient and startlingly contemporary -- with the same doom-laden DNA as great druggy, fatalistic 1970s anti-Westerns like McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) |
"A case study devoid of empathy, it's Taxi Driver from Cybill Shepherd's point of view." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) |
"...attempts to update John Carpenter's 1976 no-nonsense drive-in classic--primarily by adding an enormous amount of nonsense." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato B |
Atonement (2007) |
"It's impossible not to marvel at Wright's technical virtuosity." |
Sean Burns |
Splat |
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) |
"Every joke is repeated at least four times. Every joke is repeated at least four times. Every joke is repeated at least--annoying, isn't it?" |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Auto Focus (2002) |
"At times Auto Focus feels so distant you might as well be watching it through a telescope. Yet in its own aloof, unreachable way it's fascinating." |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
The Aviator (2004) |
"Marty's most crowd-pleasing, well-behaved movie -- The Aviator is the first Scorsese picture that feels housebroken.
" |
Sean Burns |
Tomato |
Away From Her (2007) |
"It's heartening that a movie so wise, patient and thoughtful can come from a filmmaker so young." |
Sean Burns |
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