Tomato B- |
Nacho Libre (2006) |
"However you feel about the story or the characters, the way in which Hess renders it is the most striking thing about Nacho Libre. If he hasn't yet achieved true mastery of sight gags, he's getting there." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato A |
The Namesake (2007) |
"The Namesake doesn't reduce itself to simple ethnic politics and easy critiques." |
Mike Russell |
Tomato B+ |
Nancy Drew (2007) |
"Parents who want smart, harmless movies that don't condescend for their school-age kids -- a rare thing these days -- should be grateful for Nancy Drew." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato B |
Nanny McPhee (2006) |
"Much like Nanny McPhee herself, the movie isn't pretty, but hiding underneath its gaudy exterior are a few worthwhile lessons, a gleefully morbid sense of humor and, best of all, an actual beating heart." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato |
Nanook of the North (1922) |
"That it wasn't exactly accurate does not obscure its importance as a cinematic milestone and a depiction of a vanishing way of life." |
Stan Hall |
Tomato B |
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) |
"He makes Geekus Hollywoodium -- always played by someone such as Ben Stiller, whom we know to be fundamentally cool beneath his nerdy veneer -- look like the fraudulent genus we know it to be." |
Karen Karbo |
Tomato |
Narc (2002) |
"Working his lead actors into a frenzy, Carnahan infuses the film with an energetic texture that calls to mind the works of Quentin Tarantino." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat |
National Treasure (2004) |
"A decidedly less exciting popcorn movie that tries to mix Indiana Jones, The Da Vinci Code and several strands of conspiracy theory in one blandly entertaining package." |
M.E. Russell |
Splat C- |
The Nativity Story (2006) |
"It's entirely too straightforward and awestruck with itself." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato |
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) |
"It's gorgeous and strange, but Miyazaki's later films cover the same ground with greater refinement." |
M.E. Russell |
Splat C- |
Nearing Grace (2006) |
"[It] makes you feel like a heel for not liking it: Independently made and heartfelt, it also happens to have been shot in Portland. Nonetheless, the accumulation of cliches big and small manage to erase whatever goodwill its other features have engendered" |
Marc Mohan |
Splat |
Neil Young - Greendale (2004) |
"So terrible, you can't believe Young isn't simply having a big goof on all of us." |
Karen Karbo |
Tomato A |
Neil Young - Heart of Gold (2006) |
"Heart of Gold feels like an ample slice of the real America, the one truly worth caring for. And it's such a rare thing in this benighted age that the simple clarity with which it's presented feels like nothing less than a miracle." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat |
Never Again (2002) |
"There's something deeply creepy about Never Again, a new arrow in Schaeffer's quiver of ineptitudes." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat C+ |
Never Die Alone (2004) |
"In the hands of a more nuanced actor, David could have been a riveting character; but DMX's limited range means it's never clear why such a remorseless thug was seeking 'redemption' in the first place." |
M.E. Russell |
Splat |
Never Forever (2008) |
"Never Forever has a lot going for it; it's just a shame its inner trashiness is concealed." |
Stan Hall |
Splat D |
New in Town (2009) |
"Reprehensible." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato B+ |
The New World (2005) |
"Malick's artistry, which extends to a stoically slow score by James Horner, is far more assured than in Thin Red Line. He is, after all this time, truly back." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato B+ |
New York Doll (2005) |
"The details, the personalities and the final twist grab you until you're left truly shaken and inspired." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat C+ |
New York Minute (2004) |
"Oh, yes, New York belongs to the Olsen twins, not vice versa. There's enough self-love to fuel a Streisand film." |
M.E. Russell |
Splat |
The Next Best Thing (2000) |
"A tone-deaf disaster of the first order, poorly acted, written with no sense of shame, clumsily staged and shot, and riddled equally with cliches, embarrassments and shocking lapses in taste, judgment and craft." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato |
Next Stop Wonderland (1997) |
"Hope Davis shines!" |
|
- |
Next Stop Wonderland (1997) |
"Hope Davis shines!" |
|
Tomato |
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) |
"[McGrath] makes Nickleby -- a potentially musty story -- vibrant, funny and accessible without betraying the spirit of the original." |
Marc Mohan |
Splat C |
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) |
"Nick and Norah take a question with an immediate, obvious answer -- will they or won't they hook up after they meet cute -- and stretch it out to a very long 90 minutes." |
Stan Hall |
Tomato |
Nico and Dani (2001) |
"Delivers the oft-trod subject of boys' sexuality with intelligence and freshness." |
Kim Morgan |
Tomato B- |
Night at the Museum (2006) |
"It's hard to argue with the movie's knowledge-as-power message: To outwit the living artifacts, Stiller has to bone up on history." |
Mike Russell |
Splat C+ |
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) |
"Your 12-and-unders will dig it, and it might even serve as a sort of movie-Bookmobile and get them to read a little history, or at least a little Wikipedia. But otherwise it's utterly dispensable." |
Mike Russell |
Tomato B |
The Night Listener (2006) |
"Director Patrick Stettner chooses to film the latter bits of Gabriel's [Williams] mundane investigation as a full-blown psychological thriller, and it mostly works." |
Mike Russell |
Tomato |
The Night of the Hunter (1955) |
"As crude, direct, rattling, mystifying and exciting as American movies get." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato B |
Night Watch (2005) |
"Working from Sergei Lukyanenko's novel, director Timur Bekmambetov has piled visual inventiveness, thick atmospherics, dry wit and a lot of dark, splashy, grungy violence." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato |
Nightmare Alley (1947) |
"One of the odder products of Hollywood's golden age." |
Marc Mohan |
Splat |
Nijinsky: The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2002) |
"Jacobi, the most fluent of actors, is given relatively dry material from Nijinsky's writings to perform, and the visuals, even erotically frank ones, become dullingly repetitive." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat C- |
Nim's Island (2008) |
"Nim's Island never finds its focus, and there's never a real sense of danger." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato B- |
Nina's Tragedies (2005) |
"Israeli society is one that has ample experience processing grief, and Nina's Tragedies explores that challenge with humanity and humor." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato B |
Nine Lives (2005) |
"The snaky cinematography pulls you through even when the writing doesn't, and the best performances keep you hoping that you'll feel the next one or the one after that just as powerfully." |
|
Tomato |
Nine Queens (2002) |
"A David Mamet-inspired chess game that's bolstered by the real and charming gifts of Darin." |
Kim Morgan |
Splat D+ |
Ninja Assassin (2009) |
"Humorless, pedestrian and overly flashback-laden, the film’s only distinction is the over-the-top gore made possible by digital effects." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato |
No Country for Old Men (2007) |
"A muscular, exact and thrillingly cool movie." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato B+ |
No End in Sight (2007) |
"The point of [Ferguson's] film seems to be that even though the invasion was unnecessary and wrong, it still could have turned out much better than it has, and he tries to pinpoint key errors during the first weeks and months after March 2003." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato B+ |
No Impact Man (2009) |
"Fortunately for the sake of documentary, Beavan is no humorless eco-scold, and he makes it clear that he's engaged in a lifestyle experiment, not recommending this extreme course for everyone." |
Marc Mohan |
Splat C- |
No Reservations (2007) |
"The romance is boring. Everything is blandly good-looking. The emotional beats are so programmed, you can predict the entrance of every single note of the Philip Glass dirge of a score. And the title means nothing beyond its double-entendre." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato |
Nobody Knows (2005) |
"There's real drama and pathos in the story, in the blend of matter-of-factness and potential catastrophe, in the depiction of innocence imperiled." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat C- |
Norbit (2007) |
"In Norbit, Murphy is back playing multiple roles. But this time the magic isn't there." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato B- |
North Country (2005) |
"Director Niki Caro was a critical darling for her first feature, Whale Rider, and her Hollywood debut confirms a legitimate talent." |
Marc Mohan |
Tomato |
Northfork (2003) |
"What [the Polish brothers] got here is a lot of quirky ideas piled up neatly next to one another and trying, sometimes too desperately, to harmonize and mean something big. They don't, but there's real fascination in watching them try." |
Shawn Levy |
Tomato |
Not Another Teen Movie (2001) |
"Laugh-out-loud funny at times, comic bits that, no matter how stupid or base, make it virtually impossible to suppress a chuckle." |
Kim Morgan |
Tomato B+ |
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2009) |
"It’s a ribald and entertaining documentary, filled with great yarns and astonishing images from not only the finished films but from the making of them." |
Shawn Levy |
Splat C |
The Notebook (2004) |
"The movie's dragged down by a droopy male lead, narration that would sound saccharine in a bad airport paperback, music the filmmakers lean on like a car horn and an insulting, inconsistent approach to elderly dementia." |
M.E. Russell |
Tomato A- |
Notes on a Scandal (2006) |
"Notes on a Scandal packs more heat, acid, danger and drama into its brief running time than most films of nearly double the length." |
Shawn Levy |
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