Rotten
| N/A | The Silent Army (2008) | "
Scribe-helmer Jean van de Velde puts his considerable filmmaking talent at the mercy of a screenplay riddled with cliches and improbabilities." — Variety Posted Oct 3, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 83%
| [Rec] 2 (2009) | "
A sequel to the Spanish cult hit that offers an explanation for something that was far more effective when left largely unexplained." — Variety Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | Nem Vagyok a Barátod (2009) | "
Cynical, love-themed criss-crosser set in Budapest features plenty of jiggly vid footage but the improvised characters played by nonpro actors feel so arbitrary it's hard to care about any of them." — Variety Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 55%
| Ricky (2009) | "
Because Ozon doesn't develop his characters once Ricky shows his true nature, the movie's slightly overcooked working-class realism quickly morphs into a grotesque story of a mutant baby. The film's two halves feel almost mutually exclusive." — Variety Posted Jun 8, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | The City of Your Final Destination (2008) | "
Languid, multi-accented adaptation of the contempo novel by Peter Cameron suffers from an unfocused screenplay and direction." — Variety Posted Jun 8, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Countess (2009) | "
Wacky tale of a woman who killed virgins for their blood to keep her skin wrinkle-free might get some traction in Central Europe, where it is set, but won't make it past the Europudding label elsewhere." — Variety Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | Buddenbrooks (2008) | "
Big-name German cast is aces, but helmer Heinrich Breloer struggles to lift his big-budget sudser to the level of epic tragedy." — Variety Posted Jan 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Butterfly Tattoo (2008) | "
Helmer Phil Hawkins and young thesps get the awkward first moments of infatuation just right, but the screenplay's limping second half may hamper theatrical prospects." — Variety Posted Dec 8, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Opium War (2008) | "
As in Osama, the Afghan writer-helmer again uses a non-pro cast, but the result is stifled by poorly written English dialogue and a failure to reconcile apparent realism with occasional detours into absurdist tragicomedy." — Variety Posted Dec 8, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | And a Warm Heart (2008) | "
A surprisingly simplistic morality tale that offers few laughs and even less involving drama." — Variety Posted Dec 8, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 87%
| The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009) | "
An explosive performance by Johanna Wokalek gives some relief to an otherwise long and humdrum series of characters, blow-'em-ups and prison locations." — Variety Posted Sep 29, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Bahrtalo! (2008) | "
Pic is refreshingly honest in its warts-and-all portrayal of friendship, though its lack of narrative hooks and genuine comedic sparks will make this a hard sell anywhere." — Variety Posted Aug 25, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | R(evolution) (2008) | "
Portrays the culture of those seeking knowledge in recreational drugs and around bonfires on palm-lined beaches with a seriousness the subject doesn't deserve." — Variety Posted Aug 25, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Bathory (2008) | "
More of a cinematic curiosity than true blockbuster material, despite its scale." — Variety Posted Aug 20, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Ca$h (2008) | "
Feels more like a cheap hypermarché knock-off with a fancily designed label than the real deal." — european-films.net Posted Jul 2, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Mataharis (2007) | "
Having three different protagonists is perhaps too much, as Bollain and Rodríguez' screenplay only succeeds in reducing each woman's story to its soap-opera essentials." — european-films.net Posted Jun 30, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 75%
| The Last Mistress (2008) | "
French director and provocatrice extraordinaire Catherine Breillat is finally tamed by a partially stilted adaptation of an early 19th century literary classic." — european-films.net Posted Jun 25, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 60%
| Animals in Love (2008) | "
The documentary Les animaux amoureux (Animals in Love) might seem cute on paper but lacks the rigour of recent documentary hits such as La marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins) and Earth." — european-films.net Posted Mar 10, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 76%
| Cargo 200 (2008) | "
Unflinching would be a gentle word to describe this portrayal of a doomed humanity, but the exact point of the film beyond its doomsday message is never really clear." — european-films.net Posted Sep 27, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Trap (2009) | "
Klopka (The Trap) starts off as a fascinating post-Milosevic film noir but ends up somewhere in the land of day-time soap circa 1985." — european-films.net Posted Sep 24, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 72%
| In the Valley of Elah (2007) | "
In the Valley of Elah David slew Goliath and Canadian director Paul Haggis tries to slay the US myth on the Good War in Iraq, though David was certainly more successful than Paul." — european-films.net Posted Sep 2, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 90%
| Michael Clayton (2007) | "
Legal miracle workers or "fixers" hide simple truths behind a calculated barrage of extraneous smoke and mirrors, which is exactly the tactic screenwriter-turned-director Tony Gilroy employs for his directorial debut Michael Clayton." — european-films.net Posted Sep 1, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | A Casa Nostra (2006) | "
The intersecting stories are connected by themes of money, power, corruption and the absence of love, though more often than not they play in full-on melodrama mode and are used simply to wring compassion from the audience in the way soap operas do." — european-films.net Posted Aug 20, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Rokonok (2007) | "
Rokonok feels somewhat dusty around the edges, though it is certainly solid as an adaptation of a 1932 literary work." — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | In A Dark Place (2007) | "
In A Dark Place, while certainly competently directed, acted and shot, is too overstuffed with possible explanations to make any sense." — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | The Unpolished (2007) | "
Bad memories as unfocussed tableaux vivants from a neo-hippy child." — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Does It Hurt? (2007) | "
Watching Boli li? would turn the film into a self-fulfilling prophecy, giving the makers exactly the fame they crave, even if it is only for the film’s drawn-out 90 minutes. Do you want to play that game?" — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Cover Boy: The Last Revolution (2007) | "
An intelligent treatment of themes such as hard big city life and the exploitation of the male body is overshadowed by what feels like of a case of Ozpetek interruptus." — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Madonnas (2007) | "
A Madonna-whore variation on the stark dramas that the Dardennes seemed to have a patent on, but Speth is not as accomplished a storytelller as the Belgian siblings." — european-films.net Posted Jul 16, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Je Ne Suis Pas Là Pour Être Aimé (2005) | "
This quintessentially French item mistakes silence for profundity and has a strangely uneven performance by Patrick Chesnais at its centre." — european-films.net Posted Jul 13, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 75%
| My Best Friend (2007) | "
This is the type of dramatic comedy that often gets labelled as pleasant, which means that it is not laugh-out-loud funny and inoffensively hobbles along to an ending that could have been spotted miles away." — european-films.net Posted Jul 13, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Une Vieille Maitresse (2007) | "
French director and provocatrice extraordinaire Catherine Breillat is finally tamed by a partially stilted adaptation of an early 19th century literary classic." — european-films.net Posted May 25, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Gegenüber (2007) | "
Interesting for its portrayal of a type of domestic violence rarely seen on screen, but offers little else beyond this new angle and two very brave performances." — european-films.net Posted May 23, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 93%
| The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) | "
An arresting true story and a ravishing visual creation, but the two remain separate entities that do not support one another but get in each other's way instead." — european-films.net Posted May 23, 2007 |
Rotten
| Rotten 49%
| My Blueberry Nights (2008) | "
Could it be that the director feels less certain he gets his message across in a language that is not his? Voice overs from several characters are used to make explicit what should ideally have been inferred from what transpires on screen." — european-films.net Posted May 19, 2007 |
Rotten
| Rotten 44%
| The Color of Freedom (2007) | "
Europudding in chocolate sauce." — european-films.net Posted Apr 11, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 70%
| Eden (2006) | "
Two touching performances only partially compensate for a weak script that never seems interested in challenging the superb Bella Martha (Mostly Martha)." — european-films.net Posted Apr 2, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 65%
| My Life Without Me (2003) | "
A gigantically amoral cliche of a film." — european-films.net Posted Apr 1, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 80%
| Yella (2007) | "
Yella comes off as too intellectual an exercise to be thoughtful or serious entertainment." — european-films.net Posted Mar 21, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | Poltergay (2006) | "
Wastes a potentially brilliant premise for a cult classic with pedestrian execution, lame jokes and sequins instead of character development." — european-films.net Posted Feb 7, 2007 |
Rotten
| N/A | I Giorni dell'abbandono (2006) | "
Margherita Buy gives a performance that lends some sparkle to an otherwise convoluted and unoriginal story." — european-films.net Posted Feb 7, 2007 |
Rotten
| Rotten 23%
| Seven Swords (2005) | "
Looks gorgeous, but ultimately collapses under its own weight, as if it were a Chinese Kingdom of Heaven." — european-films.net Posted Jan 18, 2007 |
Rotten
| Fresh 85%
| Azur and Asmar - The Princes' Quest (2006) | "
Anyone still in primary school will love the second part, which means adults are in the difficult position of having to decide whether to give Ocelot the benefit of the doubt." — european-films.net Posted Dec 30, 2006 |
Rotten
| N/A | Masz na imie Justine (2005) | "
Though appropriately claustrophobic and technically on its toes, the film suffers from underdeveloped characters." — european-films.net Posted Nov 6, 2006 |
Rotten
| Fresh 82%
| Days of Glory (2006) | "
It is telling when a film's only truly emotional sequence is the one brought about by spectacular CGI explosions and digitally enhanced gunfire." — european-films.net Posted Oct 20, 2006 |
Rotten
| N/A | Those Happy Days (2006) | "
The film's cast is spot-on but the film's script and editing take a few too many detours to make the trip really worthwhile." — european-films.net Posted Sep 20, 2006 |
Rotten
| N/A | Untouchable (2006) | "
Never really touches on anything beyond the physical presence of Isild Le Besco, which is impressive but not barely enough to carry such a slight film." — european-films.net Posted Sep 17, 2006 |
Rotten
| Fresh 71%
| Golden Door (2007) | "
Proof of the director's unwillingness to improve on the scattershot ideas and shaky character development that also plagued his previous effort Respiro." — european-films.net Posted Sep 15, 2006 |
Rotten
| N/A | 7 Ans (2006) | "
The film's ideas are intriguing but Hattu, who makes his directing debut here and co-wrote the script, fails to completely bring his material into focus." — european-films.net Posted Sep 15, 2006 |
Rotten
| Rotten 25%
| Falling (2007) | "
Consciously mannered and using broad brushstrokes and pumping music, Fallen follows five female friends for 36 hours." — european-films.net Posted Sep 15, 2006 |
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