Splat 2/5 |
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009) |
"There is a real problem with a film that, although thoroughly researched and directed with integrity, struggles to move the audience." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 3/5 |
Baby Mama (2008) |
"If the plot wasn't so dismally familiar, it might have worked." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Babylon A.D. (2008) |
" It’s utter codswallop, yet enjoyable if you unplug your brain." |
James Christopher |
Tomato |
Bad Education (2004) |
"As fatalistic and beautiful as anything Almodóvar has made" |
James Christopher |
Tomato 5/5 |
Badlands (1973) |
"Terrence Malick’s thriller Badlands (1973), is rightly revered as one of the most astonishing debuts in cinema. Its reissue is a wonderful chance to discover why." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
Bandslam (2009) |
"A bizarre tween movie vehicle for the High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens that gradually morphs into a two-hour homily on the perils of adolescence." |
Kevin Maher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Bangkok Dangerous (2008) |
"The Pang brothers take full advantage of their Hollywood budget to paint Bangkok skyscrapers in shimmering midnight blues." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
The Banishment (2007) |
"While the heavenly rays of the Almighty Himself could not have done a more exquisite job lighting the film, its beauty doesn’t compensate for the sparse, slow and unrewarding story." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 5/5 |
Barry Lyndon (1975) |
"It’s a work of technical brilliance and considerable beauty; the slow and deliberate pacing only serves to make Barry’s adventures more fascinating." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 4/5 |
Batman Begins (2005) |
"If Warner Brothers hoped that Nolan would reanimate the corpse of what should have been their most lucrative franchise, it has got its wish" |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Battle For Haditha (2007) |
"I can’t begin to describe how creepy this futuristic movie is." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 5/5 |
Battle of Algiers (1966) |
"Brilliantly directed set-pieces and remarkable thronging crowd scenes make the film a masterpiece; the ominous familiarity of its subject makes it a must-see." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Beaufort (2008) |
"Not a polemical antiwar film, but rather a deeply human elegy for young lives lost." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 3/5 |
Beautiful Losers (2008) |
"Like the art scene it documents, Beautiful Losers is chaotic, anarchic, rambling and populated by charismatic freaks with statement T-shirts, complicated haircuts and impossibly rare trainers." |
|
Tomato 3/5 |
Becoming Jane (2007) |
"Austen’s fans will recognise something of the author’s playful wit in the film, and forgive the dramatic liberties." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Bedtime Stories (2008) |
"It’s a pleasing concept, and Sandler is at his least obnoxious, but surely Adam Shankman’s family comedy could have been wittier." |
Edward Porter |
Splat 1/5 |
Bedtime Stories (2008) |
"Adam Shankman's idea of directing a Walt Disney film is to pump toxic quantities of schmaltz into every available hole. Not a pleasant sight." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Bee Movie (2007) |
"This DreamWorks film is not the sliced-bread marvel it has spent an enormous amount of money pretending to be. But it must be said that Seinfeld’s script is a thing of wonder." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Before I Forget (2008) |
"Tortuously slow but unexpectedly charming." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato |
Before Sunset (2004) |
"What is to all intents and purposes 80 minutes worth of stolen moments, turns out to be one of the most rewarding films of the year" |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 3/5 |
Before the Rains (2008) |
"A brave new chapter in the Merchant Ivory story." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
Belle Toujours (2006) |
"As such, you want it to be a timeless triumph, but sadly it’s a minor work." |
Kevin Maher |
Splat 2/5 |
Ben X (2008) |
"Ben X is about nothing and nothing." |
Kevin Maher |
Tomato 4/5 |
Beowulf (2007) |
"Effortlessly compelling and, at times, moving." |
Kevin Maher |
Splat 2/5 |
Better Things (2009) |
"The young director fails to inject us under the skin of his plotless drama of overdoses and funerals, but he clearly has talent to burn." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) |
"In a triumph of animal wrangling and CGI tinkering, the canine cast turn in better performances than some of the humans." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 1/5 |
Beyond the Fire (2009) |
"The acting, script and production values rarely rise above film-school level and, once she has drawn him some anatomical diagrams (really!), the bedroom scenes are just awful." |
Ed Potton |
Splat 1/5 |
Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) |
"A performance of profound and unmitigated dreadfulness." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Bicycle Thief (1948) |
"Bicycle Thieves is a postwar classic from the school of Italian Neo-Realism." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
Big Fish (2003) |
"This is a film that pasteurises both plot and sentiment with the efficiency of a Swiss milking machine." |
James Christopher |
Tomato 3/5 |
Big River Man (2009) |
"There’s something undeniably charming about such an amateurish attempt to establish a world record." |
Toby Young |
Splat 1/5 |
Bigga than Ben (2008) |
"It’s a depressing, grubby-looking little film with an undercurrent of particularly mean-spirited misogyny. You wonder what Suzie Halewood, the director, was thinking." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
BirdWatchers (2009) |
"BirdWatchers just about manages to hold your interest, but it can’t seem to decide whether it’s a contemporary western or a retelling of Romeo and Juliet." |
Toby Young |
- |
Black and White (1999) |
Click here to see the review. |
|
Tomato 3/5 |
Black Gold (2006) |
"While the film is quick to posit fair trade as a solution, it fails to answer why, even with Meskela’s admirable initiatives, his coffee farmers still struggle to buy shoes." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Black Sheep (2007) |
"There are plenty of decent laughs, but the shadow of the far superior British zombie romcom looms large." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Black Snake Moan (2007) |
"It’s so profoundly, mind-blowingly offensive that you almost have to admire the writer/director Craig Brewer’s nerve." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Black Water (2007) |
"There are some nice creepy chills to be had from the directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki's low waterlevel camera work, but ultimately the outlandishness of their real-life adventure deadens the visceral impact." |
Kevin Maher |
Tomato 4/5 |
Black White + Gray: A Portrait Of Sam Wagstaff And Robert Mapplethorpe (2007) |
"This is a terrific documentary by James Crump about the unsung collector, Wagstaff, and his lopsided relationship with his hungry young lover, Mapplethorpe." |
James Christopher |
- |
Blade Runner - The Director's Cut (1982) |
Click here to see the review. |
|
Tomato 3/5 |
Blades of Glory (2007) |
"I can't remember a time when I have laughed so long and hard at a decapitation gag." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 1/5 |
Blind Dating (2007) |
"The whole thing ends with a jolly multicultural dance montage so gruesome that temporary blindness would be a blessed relief." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Blindness (2008) |
"A sour and unexpected shock." |
James Christopher |
Splat 2/5 |
Blindness (2008) |
"His actors do their best, and Moore certainly remains a powerhouse presence whenever she’s on camera. But mostly they struggle to be seen beneath the leaden messages." |
Kevin Maher |
Tomato 4/5 |
Blindsight (2008) |
"A strikingly photographed documentary that unfolds into a story of human achievement and a study of the East-West culture clash." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 2/5 |
Blood Diamond (2006) |
"So bleak and depressing you will never look at a gemstone again without idly wondering how many lives it might have cost." |
James Christopher |
Splat 1/5 |
A Bloody Aria (2006) |
"It’s slow, bloody and pretty much devoid of merit." |
Wendy Ide |
Splat 1/5 |
A Bloody Aria (2006) |
"A laboured and unpleasant meditation on power and violence." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 3/5 |
Blue Eyelids (2008) |
"Not an awful lot happens but the acting is first-rate, if low-key, and the choice of Ray Davies’s This Strange Effect as a recurring motif on the soundtrack brings a melancholy sweetness to the story." |
Wendy Ide |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Blues Brothers (1980) |
"Formless, chaotic and lazy, and quite brilliant because of it." |
Kevin Maher |
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