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—
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——
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The Most Fertile Man in Ireland (1999) |
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Apr 4, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
43%
|
The Proposal (2009) |
"
The Proposal often lies flat where it should spark, with director Fletcher failing to maximize her talented cast's potential. The timing is off in several scenes, and a would-be outrageous character inspires more eye rolls than laughs."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Jun 19, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
50%
|
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) |
"
Pelham 1 2 3 ultimately plays as too old-school and low- tech to compete with the summer's other big action films."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Jun 12, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
64%
|
The Girlfriend Experience (2009) |
"
Steven Soderbergh's study of a high-priced Manhattan call girl through the prism of the economic crisis, is meta enough to intrigue yet too removed to truly engage."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Jun 5, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
78%
|
The Hangover (2009) |
"
It distinguishes itself from other what-happens-in-Vegas comedies (practically a subgenre at this point) by setting an especially vivid scene and telling an actual story instead of pasting together random shenanigans the way many modern comedies do."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Jun 5, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
66%
|
The Brothers Bloom (2009) |
"
Rarely allowing substance to interfere with style, filmmaker Rian Johnson occasionally amuses but mostly frustrates with his con-job fantasia The Brothers Bloom."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 29, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
Up (2009) |
"
With Ratatouille, WALL-E and now Up, Pixar Animation Studios has graduated from moviedom's finest animation house to its most consistent producer of great cinematic art, period."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 29, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
43%
|
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) |
"
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian throws everything -- history, high jinks, lots of famous faces in supporting roles -- at the museum walls to see what sticks. Happily, much of it does."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 22, 2009
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|
|
33%
|
Terminator Salvation (2009) |
"
Christian Bale should have taken a vacation instead."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 21, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
73%
|
Rudo y Cursi (2009) |
"
The lead characters might flirt with spiritual and emotional ruin, but Cuarón's filming style is so lively, and Luna and García Bernal's performances so full of energy, that the picture is fun even when it probably shouldn't be."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 15, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
36%
|
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"
Angels & Demons might cause controversy among viewers who like their Tom Hanks films to be of some substance."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted May 15, 2009
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|
3.5/4
|
95%
|
Star Trek (2009) |
"
Abrams' Star Trek strikes a beautiful balance, with enough allusions to Trek mythology to please longtime fans and enough 21st century verve to wow even those viewers who know nothing of Star Trek."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted May 8, 2009
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|
2.5/4
|
37%
|
X-Men Origins - Wolverine (2009) |
"
Another action film that doesn't fulfill its potential."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted May 1, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
56%
|
The Soloist (2009) |
"
Downey, Foxx and director Joe Wright ultimately pierce the more artificial elements to deliver an unusually perceptive film."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 24, 2009
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|
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88%
|
Sin Nombre (2009) |
"
A very southern modern Western, the Spanish-language Sin Nombre offers a treacherous frontier, a conflicted outlaw and fine performances by actors with whom the camera clearly is besotted."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 17, 2009
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|
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84%
|
State of Play (2009) |
"
A serviceable thriller -- one that's tensely paced and enjoyable before the script betrays audience trust."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 17, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
51%
|
Observe and Report (2009) |
"
A sophisticated comedy about an unhinged doofus, Observe and Report falters under the weight of its ambitions."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 10, 2009
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|
1.5/4
|
27%
|
Fast and Furious (2009) |
"
As superfluous sequels go, Fast & Furious makes Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo seem vital."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 3, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
89%
|
Adventureland (2009) |
"
Filled with likable actors and 1980s pop songs, Adventureland ambles, entertains and ... ends ... without ever trying to be more than a tribute to odd jobs, unlikely friends and hanging out."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Apr 3, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
72%
|
Sunshine Cleaning (2009) |
"
Sunshine Cleaning is a small film with small storytelling problems that eventually add up."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 27, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
72%
|
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) |
"
Overall, Monsters vs. Aliens is pleasing without being especially hilarious. Some lines fall flat, and a few bits involving B.O.B. are overused. But a lack of zingers is forgivable in a movie of such visual accomplishment."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 27, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
64%
|
Duplicity (2009) |
"
Duplicity probably improves on second viewing, when one is better acquainted with the basic story. Yet the film is not good enough to see twice â" the Catch-22 of all entertaining but muddled movies."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 20, 2009
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|
2.5/4
|
83%
|
I Love You, Man (2009) |
"
A bang-up comedy for about 40 minutes that hits, misses and meanders after that."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 20, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
43%
|
Race to Witch Mountain (2009) |
"
The head-cracking, explosions and gunplay eventually get out of hand, considering that, revamp or no revamp, Witch Mountain is still a Disney film aimed squarely at kids."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 13, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
85%
|
Wendy and Lucy (2008) |
"
The current economic crisis has turned this fictional story of one woman's string of bad luck into a tale that seems real and relatable."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 6, 2009
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|
|
64%
|
Watchmen (2009) |
"
This adaptation of the acclaimed 1980s graphic novel never fully satisfies, despite powerful fight scenes and one superb performance."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Mar 5, 2009
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|
|
80%
|
Un Secret (A Secret) (2008) |
"
In Un Secret, French filmmaker Claude Miller expertly weaves together a family history, merging the personal and political, the celebratory and the tragic, while incorporating three distinct time periods."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Feb 27, 2009
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
Il y a Longtemps que Je T'aime (I've Loved You So Long) (2008) |
"
Claudel has made a very special kind of star vehicle -- the kind that's also a very good movie overall."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Feb 20, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
59%
|
The International (2009) |
"
A stylish but standard thriller centered on an international bank's malfeasance, The International fails to resonate even on a bank-hating level."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Feb 13, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
42%
|
He's Just Not That Into You (2009) |
"
That a star-filled romantic comedy based on a pop best-seller adheres to convention doesn't surprise, but the filmmakers go too far by forcing two of the most pathological characters together."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Feb 6, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
90%
|
Coraline (2009) |
"
This PG-rated film, though visually splendid and thoroughly engaging, is also too eerie for most kids."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Feb 6, 2009
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|
|
27%
|
New In Town (2009) |
"
Whereas Bridget stands as the best Hollywood romantic comedy of the past decade, New in Town hovers somewhere near the middle of the subpar pack."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Jan 30, 2009
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|
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39%
|
Inkheart (2009) |
"
A few of the creatures, as well as one startling moment, might unsettle little ones in the audience. But the greater danger is that they'll fall asleep."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Jan 23, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
50%
|
Notorious (2009) |
"
The film might have been just another middling musical biopic had the lead role not been so perfectly cast."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Jan 16, 2009
|
|
2/4
|
68%
|
Revolutionary Road (2008) |
"
Revolutionary Road, an essay on the emptiness of 1950s suburban life, leaves one with an empty feeling."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Jan 9, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
Gran Torino (2009) |
"
Gran Torino gives us an opportunity -- growing rarer each year -- to watch a national treasure for two hours. Make that a national treasure who continues, as a filmmaker, to challenge ideas about what it means to be an American."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Jan 9, 2009
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
Doubt (2008) |
"
The face-offs between these two form the foundation of Doubt, a close- quartered but psychologically expansive film directed and written for the screen by John Patrick Shanley, based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 29, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
72%
|
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) |
"
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button does what technically masterful films so rarely do, inspiring a tremendous sense of warmth as well as admiration."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 29, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
64%
|
Marley & Me (2008) |
"
Marley & Me allows its human as well as its canine characters flaws while delivering a nice message that dogs, like children and marriages, require commitment and work."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 29, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
14%
|
The Spirit (2008) |
"
The Spirit starts out flat and stays that way, offering unimpressive special effects and fight scenes that mostly lie there. The people part of the effects-actor equation is faulty as well, with iffy-to-bad performances among the supporting ranks."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 29, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
26%
|
Seven Pounds (2008) |
"
Aiming for profound, Seven Pounds stalls at maddeningly coy."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 19, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
45%
|
Yes Man (2008) |
"
This PG-13 rated film is perfectly appropriate for any 13-year-old who has served time in an adult prison."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 19, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Frost/Nixon (2008) |
"
Frank Langella doesn't impersonate Richard M. Nixon in Frost/Nixon. He goes one better. He makes him a sympathetic movie character."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 12, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) |
"
Slumdog Millionaire bursts with life, delighting, shocking and constantly engaging through lively visuals and the rags-to-maybe-riches adventures of a young man who travels from the slums to the hot seat of the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 12, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
51%
|
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) |
"
The umpteenth holiday-family-gathering film to hit theaters in the past few years, Nothing Like the Holidays distinguishes itself from the pack with fine acting."
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Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 12, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
21%
|
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) |
"
Who goes to a sci-fi film to be reminded about conservation? I get enough of that from my recycling bin, which, by the way, is far more visually exciting than The Day the Earth Stood Still, as well as more pleasing to the ear."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 12, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
Milk (2008) |
"
Director Gus Van Sant's storytelling approach, expansive yet always intimate, works in tandem with Sean Penn's masterful performance to create a loving, humanistic tribute to a San Francisco icon."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 5, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
68%
|
Cadillac Records (2008) |
"
With this cast doing its own singing, and history this rich, it's close enough for rock 'n' roll."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Dec 5, 2008
|
|
|
55%
|
Australia (2008) |
"
For much of its more than 2 1/2- hour length, this sweeping film from Aussie director Baz Luhrmann provides old-fashioned thrills and entertainment."
—
Sacramento Bee
Posted Nov 26, 2008
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