Splat .5/4 |
Jackass: Number Two (2006) |
"I don't know what to say about Jackass: Number Two. What is there to say, after all, about a 95-minute foray into feces, intestinal gas, horse semen and a beer funnel inserted into a body cavity that's quite obviously not someone's mouth?" |
Jessica Reaves |
Splat 1/4 |
Jackass: The Movie (2002) |
"Maybe the best way to look at Jackass: The Movie is as a piece of conceptual art. How far and low will these guys go? What's the pinnacle of pointlessness?" |
Mark Caro |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Jacket (2005) |
"What sounds formulaic is elevated by strong performances -- particularly from Brody -- interesting plot revelations and an approach that forces you to look into your soul, one of the scariest places for many of us." |
Kevin M. Williams |
Tomato |
Jackpot (2001) |
"Gries and Morris play this luckless, clueless pair with such understanding and presence that they make Sunny and Lester come alive in every scene." |
Michael Wilmington |
Splat 2/4 |
Jakob the Liar (1999) |
"I never lost awareness that I was watching actors speaking lines, not real people." |
Mark Caro |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
James' Journey to Jerusalem (2003) |
"This wise, clever Israeli film reintroduces the once-popular concept of film as allegory, as it follows a Christian pilgrim on his bumpy road to salvation." |
John Petrakis |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) |
"The Jane Austen Book Club is an admirable mix of heady and fluffy, the kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy that needn’t make filmgoers ashamed of what they wished for." |
Tasha Robinson |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Japanese Story (2004) |
"Brooks and Collette make us see how fragile our grip on outer reality can be, how quickly it can change, and how the Earth remains eternal beneath those temporal shifts above." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Japon (2003) |
"It is the work of a remarkable new talent." |
Patrick Z. McGavin |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Jarhead (2005) |
"A good, not great movie." |
Allison Benedikt |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Jason X (2002) |
"Jason X conjures up more giggles than scares, assuming you make it through the first 15 minutes." |
Robert K. Elder |
Splat |
Jawbreaker (1998) |
"Not particularly funny or trenchant." |
Mark Caro |
Splat |
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) |
"Will likely be incomprehensible in 50 years and wouldn't make much sense now to anyone not steeped in the world of movies, particularly Smith's." |
Mark Caro |
Tomato 3/4 |
Jay Z - Fade to Black (2004) |
"Whether a legend was born (or retired) that night at the Garden remains to be seen, but even on film, it was one killer show." |
Allison Benedikt |
Tomato 3/4 |
JCVD (2008) |
"The film sags in the middle section, and it's more a novelty item than a fully formed work. But it's very entertaining. And Van Damme proves himself a brave, possibly foolhardy actor." |
Michael Phillips |
Splat .5/4 |
Jeepers Creepers (2001) |
"Plays like an amateur debut effort written over a weekend during which its writer wasn't entirely sober." |
Robert K. Elder |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) |
"Horror movies don't have to make sense in the real world, but when you have to help their internal logic along this much, it's pretty much a cue for heckling -- or checking your watch." |
Ellen Fox |
Splat 2/4 |
Jennifer's Body (2009) |
"The tone wavers, the direction’s slackly indecisive and visually drab, and in the middle of it is a thinly conceived antagonist played by Megan Fox. Honestly, she’s a pretty bad actress. She doesn’t seem to get Cody’s sense of humor. At all." |
Michael Phillips |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Jersey Girl (2004) |
"Big, gooey (but often likable) misfire." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 3/4 |
Jesus Camp (2006) |
"What Ewing and Grady have accomplished here is remarkable -- capturing the visceral humanity, desire and unflagging political will of a religious movement." |
Jessica Reaves |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Jet Lag (2003) |
"Slender but surprisingly smart and pleasing." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
A Jihad for Love (2007) |
"For various reasons, many of the subjects are interviewed with their faces blurred or hidden, understandably preserving anonymity but maintaining a distance that's unfortunate." |
Sid Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood (2004) |
"Wedding a fairly complex mystery with show-biz satire against the real-life festival backdrop requires more structure and maybe more scripted scenes." |
Michael Wilmington |
Splat 2/4 |
Jimmy Carter Man From Plains (2007) |
"Carter comes off as compassionate and intelligent. But the complex issues brought up in his book don't get much more than a superficial debate." |
Sid Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001) |
"This is a movie that is neither sentimental nor cheap; it never takes itself too seriously, and it has faith in the intelligence of its audience." |
Patrick Z. McGavin |
Splat |
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (2001) |
"I liked the idea of the movie more than the movie itself -- though sections of it are mind-blowing." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 3/4 |
Jindabyne (2007) |
"Jindabyne is wonderfully acted by Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, two first-rate performers working close to the bone and concerned foremost with making an audience understand their characters, as opposed to merely liking them." |
Michael Phillips |
Splat 1/4 |
Joe Dirt (2001) |
"Killed by blah characters, lame jokes and clichs you can see coming a mile away." |
Robert K. Elder |
Splat |
Joe Somebody (2001) |
"If American Beauty were a bland comedy, it would be Joe Somebody." |
Robert K. Elder |
Tomato 3/4 |
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (2007) |
"The singer's life is compressed into a two-hour montage of interviews, vintage video snippets and artsy filigree in Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten." |
Greg Kot |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001) |
"Though Ghosts of Mars is watchable and even exciting, it's not one of [Carpenter's] best." |
Michael Wilmington |
Splat 2/4 |
John Q (2002) |
"Content merely to lionize its title character and exploit his anger - all for easy sanctimony, formulaic thrills and a ham-fisted sermon on the need for national health insurance." |
Mark Caro |
Splat 2/4 |
John Tucker Must Die (2006) |
"Despite its various shortcomings, John Tucker isn't a terrible movie. It just isn't terribly funny or terribly interesting, although I suspect that its intended audience won't mind very much." |
Jessica Reaves |
Splat 2/4 |
Johnny English (2003) |
"So abominably blah that you'll fall asleep in your popcorn." |
Robert K. Elder |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Johnny Guitar (1954) |
"One of those classic westerns that has maintained its status by reinventing itself every decade since its release in 1954." |
John Petrakis |
Splat .5/4 |
Johnson Family Vacation (2004) |
"Johnson Family Vacation is simply a bad trip." |
Allison Benedikt |
Splat 2/4 |
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) |
"Theology aside, why put someone who ultimately doesn't learn at the center of a kids' story?" |
Mark Caro |
Splat 2/4 |
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) |
"Nothing more than a cutesy movie strapped with a bad and obvious idea: marketing gone amok." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 3/4 |
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) |
"I can't tell you how this film looks in 2-D, which is how the majority of the nation's customers will partake of it. I saw it in 3-D. I liked it. It's dopey, but I liked it." |
Michael Phillips |
- |
Journey to the Sun (2001) |
Click here to see the review. |
|
Tomato 3/4 |
Joy Ride (2001) |
"There's good pulp and bad pulp, and for most of its duration, Joy Ride is quality stuff." |
Mark Caro |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Joyeux Noël (2006) |
"Carion has given it exactly the qualities that often appeal most strongly to moviemakers and humanists: social breadth, warmth, humor, sympathetic characters and a passionate sense of justice." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato 3/4 |
Julie & Julia (2009) |
"One can’t help but wonder if Ephron would’ve been better off focusing exclusively on Child: She’s simply more interesting screen company. But Ephron’s commercial touch serves her well here." |
Michael Phillips |
Tomato |
Juliet of the Spirits (1965) |
"A mad, resplendent peacock of a film, a cinematographic riot of color and sensuality that evokes its era -- the swinging mid-'60s -- as much as any movie made during those giddy years." |
Michael Wilmington |
Tomato |
Jump Tomorrow (2001) |
"A fresh, funny feature film debut with heart, winning performances and promise." |
Robert K. Elder |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Jumper (2008) |
"Is there something innately vexing about a story whose premise opens the door so wide, to so many geographical possibilities? Jumper, the film, goes everywhere and nowhere." |
Michael Phillips |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Junebug (2005) |
"Adams is so pure-hearted and touching that she redeems the film, just as her character redeems, or tries to, the blighted lives around her." |
Michael Wilmington |
Splat 2/4 |
Jungle Book 2 (2003) |
"The music here, though at times toe-tapping, is uninspired." |
Allison Benedikt |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Juno (2007) |
"It takes Juno about 15 minutes to calm down and get its joke reflex in check. ... And by the end you've fallen in love with the thing." |
Michael Phillips |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Jurassic Park III (2001) |
"Dinosaurs rule movie but flimsy screenplay undercuts intense action." |
Michael Wilmington |
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