Tomato 8.6/10 |
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) |
"Even Keener transcends her famous ball-busting screen persona and registers real warmth." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Affliction (1997) |
"Schrader has made his reputation revealing the scarred psyches of American men.... In "Affliction" he creates his most poignant and powerful work." |
Sean Axmaker |
Splat |
Alfie (2004) |
"Shyer is the last guy on earth who could reimagine the scary thrill of 1966 sex in 2004." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 5/10 |
The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) |
"Rebecca Miller is no tragedian like her dad. She’s a lyrical poet with an elliptical turn of mind...despite moments of beauty and mystery, ultimately it’s a muddle." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 8.5/10 |
Batman Begins (2005) |
"Tim Burton's Batman could probably lick Nolan's Batman Begins. But in a fight between Nolan's Batman and Burton's, I know who'd kick whose cape-draped ***.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) |
"Compared to Keitel, he's a fluttery lightweight, whether banging the ivories or his victims. His nature isn't divided. He's no hoodlum--not even Belmondo impersonating Bogart." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat |
Bedrooms & Hallways (1998) |
"(A) genial, funny, but far too flippant little comedy." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 4.5/5 |
Being Julia (2004) |
"Thank God for Being Julia, an Oscar-worthy comeback role that may just save one of our most gifted actresses from a life of way too much leisure." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
Besieged (1998) |
"(Bertolucci) creates an awkward but intense intimacy, a film raw and delicate." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato |
The Blair Witch Project (1999) |
"In it’s own modest, seemingly artless way, "The Blair Witch Project" is the most genuinely scary movie to creep across screens in years." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato |
Boiling Point (1990) |
"I can think of no working director who uses stillness as gracefully and effectively as Takeshi Kitano." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Brick (2006) |
"Though it begins like Bugsy Malone meets River's Edge, the complicated plot grows on you. When did you last see a movie that got better as it went on?
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
Central Station (1998) |
"Central Station tugs the heartstrings with the best of them." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato |
Children of Heaven (1997) |
"Majidi... captures the immediacy and essence of kids: proud, emotional, spirited, and disarmingly sincere." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 7/10 |
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) |
"The kids are disastrous, except for Henley. Her irresistible crooked grin is a triumph over British dentistry. She makes Dakota Fanning look like a calculating android." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Chronicling Narnia (2005) |
"A pale echo of the Tolkien trilogy, worse than Cuaron's third Harry Potter film, better than Chris Columbus' first two, and about on a par with Mike Newell's new one." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Close-Up (1990) |
"... a brilliant mix of contrivance, intimacy, distance, and dramatic closure..." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 8.5/10 |
Crash (2005) |
"Though it lacks Magnolia's messy greatness, you won't hear more fiendishly articulate dialogue on-screen any time soon." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Destiny (1997) |
"... a rollicking intellectual adventure with the emotional tenor of a melodrama." |
Sean Axmaker |
Splat 2/10 |
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) |
"Helen's chaste swain wants intimacy, not sex. C'mon—even Baptists are interested in sex. They just don't do it standing up, because someone might think they were dancing." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 5/5 |
Ed Wood (1994) |
"My favorite deleted scene: Bill Murray as Wood's transsexual wanna-be crony serenading a mariachi band in a meat locker with "Que Sera Sera" in an eccentric sexual swoon." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 8/10 |
The Edukators (2005) |
"The surprise ending is gimmicky, but the character study is consistently enthralling. The Edukators is educational—not intellectually, but emotionally." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 4/10 |
Elizabethtown (2005) |
"Much of it is not half bad. Some moments achieve the transcendence they ache to find. But it's like a concept album with no concept, Singles with fewer hit singles.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Finding Neverland (2004) |
"Interestingly and movingly hints at the sad future fate of his Lost Boys, but it's too timid to follow up on those dark portents.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Gunner Palace (2005) |
"A litmus test for an America scarcely less bitterly divided than Iraq. The risibly dishonest government radio broadcasts play like the satirical radio bits in M*A*S*H." |
Tim Appelo |
- |
Happy Endings (2005) |
"The director arranged to have a physical obstacle—a countertop, a couch—between Tom Arnold and his gay son in every scene until they reconcile." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Hard Candy (2005) |
"Candy sets up the tense situation, builds it up patiently, masterfully, then has no idea where to go with it. At least Page's career has an obvious direction -- up." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat |
The Harmonists (1997) |
"... a grandly realized and skillfully executed melodrama that seems all too familiar." |
Sean Axmaker |
Splat .5/10 |
Head in the Clouds (2004) |
"Tyrone Power would have more chemistry courting Deanna Durbin in a deep coma. Theron destroys all her Monster acting cred. Cruz squeaks like a hamster huffing helium.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
The Holy Girl (2005) |
"Alche's crooked grin is as gleeful as the nose-wriggling enchantress in Bewitched. The elliptically implicit ending reminds me of Purple Noon minus the murder." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 4/5 |
Hotel Rwanda (2004) |
"Don Cheadle's eyes have an openness and depth like Martin Sheen's in Apocalypse Now: they're the lens through which we can watch this incredible war." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 3/5 |
Hustle & Flow (2005) |
"Terrence Howard soars to casting directors' A-list as an ambitious pimp in the rap-to-riches flick Hustle & Flow." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 8/10 |
Hustle & Flow (2005) |
"Djay is the Fezziwig of pimps. His hit tune, as catchy as "That Thing You Do," also wears out its welcome. But his quest for le mot juste and mo' bling is charming." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Ice People (2009) |
"Global warming is the subtext, I suppose, but Anne Aghion's film is really about the gritty, quotidian nature of science." |
Brian Miller |
Splat |
In the Land of Women (2007) |
"Without all the soppy plot devices, Land of Women might have been someplace worth visiting." |
Jessica Grose |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Inside Deep Throat (2005) |
"A class act about a crass act. But how come porn persecutors keep turning out to be the biggest criminals in America?" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9.5/10 |
Junebug (2005) |
"If the Academy has any brains, heart, and balls, at least one Oscar will go to the quietly brilliant Junebug." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 5/10 |
Keane (2004) |
"A psycho-underworld tour de force like Irreversible or The Machinist, impressive as far as it goes (not far), single-minded but without enough on its mind, a gimmick flick." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 4/10 |
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) |
"As a war hero, Orlando Bloom reminds me of the nickname Truman Capote's father gave him: Little Miss Mouse Fart." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Kinsey (2004) |
"Throws lots of stylish light on sex. But he leaves too much of Kinsey's soul in the closet." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7.5/10 |
Kontroll (2005) |
"A frivolous fable and a fabulous frivol, a lighthearted romp and a dark night of the existential soul—Slacker meets Metropolis." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 5/10 |
Ladies in Lavender (2005) |
"A rigorous test of cineaste sitzfleisch: to savor the Dames' deep acting, you have to endure a story that goes nowhere. You must suffer for this art." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Living Out Loud (1998) |
"... made up of magical moments of revelation that are the film's strength as well as its ultimate weakness." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 9/10 |
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) |
"A welcome entry in the flailing neo-noir tradition." |
Sean Axmaker |
Splat 3/10 |
The Longest Yard (2005) |
"Sandler is trying to outrun his clownish boy-man past, but since everything about Yard is transparently fake, it loses him career yardage." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 8/10 |
Lost Embrace (2005) |
"Sweet but not too, a tangy, teasing valentine to dear hearts and gentle people who start to feel like family. Burman is like Woody Allen with a human face." |
Tim Appelo |
Splat 3/5 |
The Machinist (2004) |
"Mark Twain said that Wagner's music isn't as bad as it sounds. The Machinist isn't as good as it looks. But Bale's fever-dream performance is otherworldly great." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
Mad Max (1979) |
"It's a tough and grimy little piece of cinema, full of ambiance ... and attitude, with occasionally inspired flourishes." |
Sean Axmaker |
- |
The Matador (2005) |
""We came all the way from New Zealand and waited for three hours in the cold," kvetched one couple at Sundance, "and we still couldn't get into The Matador."" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
The Matrix (1999) |
"All style and no substance. So what?" |
Sean Axmaker |
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