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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 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 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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Tomato 9/10 |
The Matrix (1999) |
"All style and no substance. So what?" |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 5/5 |
Moolaade (2004) |
"Sembene nails down an entire society in a series of immortally ordinary moments worthy of Satyajit Ray, with the regular-guy (or gal!) heroism of Howard Hawks.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) |
"In the annals of no-sex-please Brit nudie revues, this Oscar hopeful falls between the The Full Monty's Rabelaisian stew and Calendar Girls' charming but thin broth." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Oliver Twist (2005) |
"Fails to topple Lean's untoppable version; still one of the best movies of 2005. Startlingly unemotional, but for the stormy torments behind Fagin's overhanging eyebrows." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 5/5 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) |
"Are the DVD extras worth the doubloons? Arrgh, heartily, matey! They're a very three-disc treasure chest worth a keelhauling to own." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 8/10 |
Pride and Prejudice (2005) |
"The 1940 version had its flaws, too--who wants to **** Mrs. Miniver? Knightley is a Lizzie for our profane time.
" |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7.5/10 |
Rent (2005) |
"Rent works best as a centaur creation: half-movie, half-play, plunging into theater world in all its mindless, cheesy, sentimental splendor." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Rolling Stones - Rock and Roll Circus (1968) |
"Spiffily restored and bursting at the seams with extra features. One-third of the performers were on heroin, including John Lennon." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 9/10 |
Run Lola Run (1999) |
"Run Lola Run is a high-octane pulse-pounder driven by style, speed, deviously clever flourishes, and a driving techno-beat--a film that moves so fast it almost breaks free of its limited orbit." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 5/5 |
The Squid and the Whale (2005) |
"The most impressive debut at Sundance was Noah Baumbach's wickedly, heartbreakingly funny divorce drama, The Squid and the Whale. A time-capsule keeper." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Tell Them Who You Are (2005) |
"That the two can come to any understanding at all is one of the film's miracles, since -- professional competitiveness aside -- their past is a minefield of unexpressed resentment." |
Sheila Benson |
Tomato |
The Thin Red Line (1998) |
"... one of the richest and lushest films ever to emerge from Hollywood." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 9/10 |
The Third Man (1949) |
"Reed rises to the challenge of Graham Greene's screenplay." |
Sean Axmaker |
Tomato 4/5 |
Thumbsucker (2005) |
"Has the gentle off-kilter charm of early Cameron Crowe; Pucci's performance evokes early River Phoenix or Leo DiCaprio. Polyphonic Spree's harmonies are like choral hydrate." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato 7/10 |
Tony Takitani (2005) |
"Impressively reduces Murakami's hard-boiled word world to a floating-picture world. But like Lish's edits of Ray Carver, it mutes a story that was nearly mute to begin with." |
Tim Appelo |
Tomato |
Touch of Evil (1958) |
"...Welles' baroque border-town murder mystery is a wild masterpiece, a sleazy, grimy, jittery, and ultimately dazzling work of cinematic magic." |
Sean Axmaker |
RSS Feeds