Splat 2/4 |
Take the Lead (2006) |
"Despite Banderas' charm and convincing performances from Rob Brown and Yaya DaCosta as his most difficult trainees, the dramatic portions of 'Lead' are as corny as the Hammer Dance." |
James Sanford |
Splat 2/5 |
Taking Care of Business (1990) |
"Typically bland, light-on-laughs mix-up farce" |
James Sanford |
Splat |
Taking Lives (2004) |
"The chattering couple seated next to me managed to correctly guess every upcoming development -- and they were definitely not on a break from a Mensa convention." |
James Sanford |
Splat 1/5 |
Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990) |
""you'll be terrified -- that you wasted your time"" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 4/4 |
Talk to Her (2002) |
"The offbeat beauty of Almodovar's script lies in its seductive combination of grieving, sensuality, fantasy and passion. Almodovar is incapable of creating dull characters..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) |
"Ferrell has surrounded himself with outstanding co-stars, including John C. Reilly, Amy Adams, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jane Lynch and Gary Cole. Each of them carries on as if this is the movie they've waited a lifetime to make..." |
James Sanford |
Splat 1/5 |
Tango & Cash (1989) |
"Another clunker from Stallone's assembly line" |
James Sanford |
Splat 1/5 |
Taps (1981) |
"Great cast, terrible script, unfortunate results" |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Tarzan (1999) |
"If only the film had taken a few more risks instead of hewing so closely to the patented Disney formula, it might have been a truly outstanding movie instead of merely an entertaining one." |
James Sanford |
Splat |
Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) |
"Any expression beyond a sullen pout seems to take an extraordinary amount of concentration and physical exertion on Van Dien's part; his infrequent attempts at smiles are the stuff nightmares are made of." |
James Sanford |
Splat 0/5 |
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) |
"about as erotic as a Shirley Temple musical" |
James Sanford |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Taxi (2004) |
"It was raining hard in 'Frisco. Jimmy Fallon needed one more fare to make his night. Queen Latifah, up ahead, waved to flag him down... Alas, that's not what 'Taxi' is...
" |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Tea With Mussolini (1999) |
"Cher, in a role ideally suited to her natural flamboyance, sparkles." |
James Sanford |
Splat |
Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999) |
"Mirren singlehandedly rescues the project from being pointless nonsense; this brilliant actress can communicate more with a twitch of a lip or a well-timed flick of her eyelashes than anyone else in the cast can with pages of dialogue." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Team America: World Police (2004) |
"non-stop, unadulterated raunchiness, with a handful of parodies and unwholesome musical numbers thrown in for good measure." |
James Sanford |
Splat 2/5 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - The Secret of the Ooze (1991) |
"if a Vanilla Ice cameo is a highlight, imagine what the rest of the film is like" |
James Sanford |
Splat 2/4 |
Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny (2006) |
"would have been a great HBO Comedy Hour special. It's not so great, however, as a 98-minute feature... eventually starts to seem like one of those drawn-out arena-rock anthems with three drum solos..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) |
"not nearly in a class with either of the Cameron films, yet it's entertaining enough on its own terms: a fast-paced cavalcade of calamities, set to Marco Beltrami's thundering score and packed with perils a-plenty." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Thank You For Smoking (2006) |
"...rolls along at a feverish pace, with most of the cast hurling one-liners and bright banter as if they were in a 1930s-style sophisticated comedy." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 4/5 |
That Darn Cat! (1965) |
"Delightful Disney mystery-comedy; all hail Hayley!" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/5 |
That Touch of Mink (1959) |
""a true antique with Doris and Cary sparring winningly"" |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
The Polar Express (2004) |
"the heart of the material remains uncorrupted. ...But the true genius of the filmmakers' achievement is best appreciated in the 3-D IMAX translation of the movie..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 5/5 |
Them! (1954) |
"Eeek! These ants could spoil any picnic!" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Theory of Flight (1998) |
"a charming bit of whimsy that probably would crash and burn with lesser talents at the controls" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Thing (1982) |
"Wild, gruesome and outrageous" |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
The Third Man (1949) |
"succeeds both as a thriller and as a mood piece, evoking a joyless world in which almost everyone has a past they won't discuss and a future they can't fathom." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Thirteen (2003) |
"One of the qualities that sets 'Thirteen' apart from the hundreds of other 'teen tragedy' stories that have been presented over the decades is its unwillingness to fall back on convenient labels and the usual soap operatics." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/5 |
This Island Earth (1955) |
"Eye-filling sci-fi, although it's even better as the basis of 'MST3K: The Movie'" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) |
"Dated, to be sure, but oh so chic..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Thomas Crown Affair, The (1999) |
"This 'Crown,' a smarter and more exciting film than the original, is essentially a two-hour excuse to get this beautiful couple into one compromising position after another..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
A Thousand Acres (1997) |
"at the heart of this sometimes strident movie are two magnificent performances, which redeem everything that surrounds them." |
James Sanford |
Splat .5/4 |
Thr3e (2007) |
"Perhaps on the page this was spellbinding; on the screen, it's frequently hilarious... The embarrassing, jaw-droppingly dumb finale is stolen directly from a situation in director Spike Jonze's 'Adaptation.'" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) |
"one of those offbeat dramas that would never have gotten produced without the clout of a major star behind it. ...a challenging, unpredictable film that never allows the audience to get too comfortable." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Three Kings (1999) |
"(The) screenplay abruptly changes tone after the first half-hour, eventually incorporating some genuinely harrowing sequences... The final picture becomes something noticeably deeper and smarter than its first reels suggest." |
James Sanford |
Splat 1/5 |
Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) |
"Lame sequel, but what did you expect?" |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) |
"It's the unholy alliance of Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe. ... The voice work is first-class, the stop-motion work is delightful..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato 5/5 |
The Time Machine (1960) |
"Pure delight, a sci-fi fantasy you will never forget" |
James Sanford |
Splat |
The Time Machine (2002) |
"In the year 802,701, mankind has split into two races, animal life is nowhere to be found, the Earth has been pulverized by the accidental destruction of the moon and Cher is still undoubtedly enjoying a successful recording career." |
James Sanford |
Splat 2/5 |
A Time of Destiny (1988) |
"Confused mess maroons a gifted cast" |
James Sanford |
Splat 0/5 |
Time Rider (1983) |
""100 percent pure turkey"" |
James Sanford |
Tomato 4/5 |
Titanic (1953) |
"Exciting, well-acted version of the infamous voyage" |
James Sanford |
Splat 1.5/4 |
TMNT (2007) |
"Might have some momentary curiosity value, like eating a sugary cereal you haven't had since third grade. Unfortunately, the movie isn't witty or imaginative or even particularly exciting, and the flat, grungy-looking animation is barely up to video-game." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Together (2001) |
"From the bare bones of the plot, it would be easy to mistake "Together" for a sexy romp. Moodysson has more on his mind than that, however." |
James Sanford |
Splat 1/5 |
Tom and Huck (1995) |
"Mark Twain's rascals are hard to recognize in this scrubbed and polished retelling" |
James Sanford |
Splat 0/4 |
Tomcats (2001) |
"So what happens when everyone making a skin flick gets Puritanical about showing skin? A plot, that's what, and 'Tomcats' offers a yarn that's truly yawn-provoking." |
James Sanford |
Splat |
Torque (2004) |
"...could be considered a good 'popcorn movie' only if the popcorn that accompanies it was made three weeks ago..." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Touching the Void (2004) |
"if you've considered heading for the high ground, the movie might steer you toward a less taxing hobby -- perhaps chainsaw-juggling or organizing piranha water ballets.
" |
James Sanford |
Splat |
Town and Country (2001) |
"a Waterford crystal candy dish full of dusty mints ... an episodic, paper-thin story that seems to have been lifted from a 35-year-old Jack Lemmon movie." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Toy Story 2 (1999) |
"A friend recently told me he considers "Toy Story 2" to be "The Godfather, Part 2" of animated movies; he may very well be right." |
James Sanford |
Tomato |
Training Day (2001) |
"The camera is frequently pushed in for extreme close-ups of the characters, sometimes as they're just about to explode. It's as if Fuqua wants the viewer to feel the heat radiating from these people, to face them unguarded at point blank range." |
James Sanford |