Splat 2.5/5 |
An American Affair (2009) |
"The immersion of a titillating, gender-altered Lolita story into the political framework of 1963 strikes a chord of wanton misuse of dramatic license." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
American Son (2009) |
"Meticulously crafted, low-budget, excellently performed character piece that resonates with integrity as it shows us one more example of what an American son looks like." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
An Education (2009) |
"Scherfig transmits lessons of morality and irony in a well cast and produced ensemble piece." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Not much heresy hereabouts but timid apologies for negative Vatican history attempts to whitewash things that can't be denied nor diminished. Me? I prefer my Dan Brown unadulterated and I'm satisfied with most of it." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) |
"Two musical wannabes in a perpetual reach for the brass ring. But where it will lead remains unanswered by anything more than what they've always had in great quantity. Hope." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Adam Resurrected (2008) |
"Might have been a touching story of deep irony if Schrader's approach didn't suffer so much from narrative confusion in an effort to convey the disorientation at its center." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/5 |
America The Beautiful (2008) |
"Intercutting the costs of American women's chase-after-beauty story (suggesting much waste and futility) with Gerren's personal one never quite blends into an organic whole." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/5 |
Appaloosa (2008) |
"Where the film lets you down is in the boundaries of the dramatic map which needs a more dynamic (and cinematic) driving force." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Australia (2008) |
"It takes a continent's worth of nerve and extravagance to make a film like this in this way, throwing melodramatic romance, greed, racism and aboriginal spirituality into the fantasy mix." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/5 |
Across the Universe (2007) |
"Proves compelling enough to give meaning to the whole as a successful experiment and stylization, if predictable and sentimental." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Adam's Apples (2007) |
"I just wasn't, it turns out, the ideal audience for man's allegorical way of dealing with the demonic weightiness of the world." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
Alpha Dog (2007) |
"Tension and high emotional level of the players is the style of Cassavetes' docudrama and, for the most part, it works toward keeping you fascinated with a truly singular case in the annals of drug crime." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"TV in vision, structure and execution. To think feature film as a delivery vehicle for it is more ambitious than this telling of a worthy, under-appreciated story justifies." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
American Gangster (2007) |
"A muscular treat for lovers of all cinema crafts, but compromised by the length and the derivative factor." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Angel-A (2007) |
"There's as much credibility in this match-up as color on the screen." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"Develops a curious mood of impending fate and final destiny that rides along with the action." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3.5/5 |
Atonement (2007) |
"Cleansing by self atonement doesn't hack it, and the resolution provided is something far less than satisfying." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3.5/5 |
Away From Her (2007) |
"I'd just as soon seek such material out in TV land when I'm more in the mood and less inclined to be irreverent." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/5 |
A Scanner Darkly (2006) |
"This is not just scanning darkly, it's close to opaque." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
Akeelah and the Bee (2006) |
"This is a film that couldn't be more predictable or more joyful. I just hope I haven't misspelled anything." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Al Franken: God Spoke (2006) |
"What I was really itching for was for him to leave the political battlefield long enough to give us a scripted stand-up act as he'd do it for an audience at The Improv." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
All The King's Men (2006) |
"Flaws of theatricality are everywhere, but I channel my condemnation mostly to what writing excess brings in the way of subject fatigue." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
American Dreamz (2006) |
"Satire attracts a tough crowd and is always a challenge to pull off. This one duz, and makes the complexity look easy." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4.5/5 |
Apocalypto (2006) |
"In this family-values action film, you could never accuse Gibson of being unconvincing where blood and sadism are concerned." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Aurora Borealis (2006) |
"A tale that has more human reality to offer than dramatic sparkle. Its greatest offering is in what the story inspires in the form of performances." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2.5/5 |
Aeon Flux (2005) |
"Theron makes a mark in the video game action flick genre with this, and thereby widens her portfolio. As though she needed to." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Asylum (2005) |
"All the passion dynamics of a Harlequin novel but an outstanding cast offers the drama considerable therapy." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2.5/5 |
After the Sunset (2004) |
"Well, maybe they're just fine actors, but Brosnan and Hayek have a perfectly rowdy way of making comedy romantic." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/4 |
The Agronomist (2004) |
"An illuminating portrait of the courage that is as much a part of this Haitian broadcaster for human rights and democracy as vanity, pride and almost fanatical fearlessness." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Alamo (2004) |
"The filmmakers seem to have been working out of over-reverence to legend to create more than distant shapes of the people and the sacrifices involved." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Alexander (2004) |
"If there ever was an historical figure deserving of study for what he accomplished in expanding empire and political geography, it would be Alexander leading all others." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Alfie (2004) |
"Charm isn't a substitute for emotional nuance, but the trick pulled off here to justify the remake is Law's seductively engaging performance." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) |
"An above average genre specimen -- despite a predictable nature from which there's no escape." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/5 |
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004) |
"As a very deep fan of Rossum's, I can't fawn too abjectly over her pliant
delicacy as the emotional center of this highly conspicuous story." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/5 |
Around the Bend (2004) |
"The film is a modest vehicle for large talents and should have earned its
funding as a matter of product placement." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 3/5 |
Around the World in 80 Days (2004) |
"This live action cartoon creates a world that has nothing to do with the real one, so it can be as exaggerated as it wants to be without getting lost in earthbound details." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/5 |
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) |
"A study of the psychological breakdown of a man reaching extremes
of self-worthlessness." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
The Aviator (2004) |
"Scorsese maintains a steady stick as he pilots his bio-pic with dexterity and balance." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.8/5 |
Alex and Emma (2003) |
"The movie works. Well, it does for me. And, I suspect, it will for anyone who isn't looking for Dostoevsky." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3.5/5 |
Alibi (2003) |
"The pairing of two unlikely characters in a game of subterfuge pays off, with Okonedo's uniqueness as fascinating as it is rewarding." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 1/4 |
Anatomy 2 (2003) |
Click here to see the review. |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 4/5 |
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen (2003) |
"Ladies and gentlemen, Claude Lelouch gives you a love story. Or, should that
be a double love story? Or, a disease of the month story? Or, the
fitful adventures of a master thief? Or, the twisted dreams of a ravishing lounge singer? In that" |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/4 |
Anger Management (2003) |
Click here to see the review. |
|
Splat 1/5 |
Anger Management (2003) |
"Since seeing the movie, the thing I'm trying most to manage is my anger at
not leaving the theater after 20 minutes of this inane drivel. Now, if you
want to know what I really think of it, read on..." |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/4 |
Anything But Love (2003) |
Click here to see the review. |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 2/4 |
About Schmidt (2002) |
Click here to see the review. |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/4 |
Adaptation (2002) |
"Cage is very impressive as Charlie and Donald. His choices for delineating the two unique personalities are contained and so precisely on the mark that there's never confusion about which brother is which." |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/4 |
All or Nothing (2002) |
Click here to see the review. |
Jules Brenner |
Splat 1/4 |
Auto Focus (2002) |
Click here to see the review. |
Jules Brenner |
Tomato 3/4 |
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) |
"My wish would have been for a story line and a central character that were less unsavory in spirit and unlikely in motivation. Which is not to say there isn't a vision here worthy of our support." |
Jules Brenner |
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