ROTTEN TOMATOES: Emanuel Levy

EMANUEL LEVY

Agrees with the Tomatometer 89% of the time.

Biography: I belong to a small group of scholars who have juggled a dual career, as film professor (Ph.D. Columbia University) and film critic (Variety, Screen International, Financial Times). Among my eight film books are All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Indpendent Film, and the first biography of Vincente Minnelli, Hollywood's Dark Dreamer. I have served on the jury of 44 international Film Festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Taoromina, Montreal, Hawaii, and Sundance.

Publications: EmanuelLevy.Com, Screendaily, Variety

Critics' Group: Broadcast Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Society of Film Critics

Total Reviews: 3609
Total QuickRatings: 10566

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Fresh B-	Rotten 48%	Heaven's Gate (1980)	" A second look at Cimino's 1981 epic Western suggests that it has some merits and certainly is not the total catastrophe some critics consider it to be." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh B	N/A	Sallah (1965)	" One of the most popular films in the history of Israeli cinema, this Oscar-nominated comedy catapulted Topol to international fame, resulting in his getting the title role of the musical Fiddler on the Roof." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	Sahara (1943)	" Like other WWII adventures, Sahara contains elements of propaganda, but it's expertly directed by Korda, well acted by Bogart and the other men, and strikingly photographed by Rudolph Mate who received an Oscar nomination." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh B+	N/A	Saratoga (1937)	" This typical Gable vehicle, a horse racing feature that blends comedy, adventure, and melodrama, marks the very last (and one of the best) appearance of Jean Harlow who died of poisoning before the shoot was over." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 9, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 11%	I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)	" Chris Columbus' high school comedy-adventure is a bland, overly familiar tale in which all the characters are stereotypes." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 8, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 100%	500 Days of Summer (2009)	" Off beat and original, Marc Webb's feature debut is a charming serio comedy that views love and romance from a strictly male POV, reversing both Hollywood and societal norms." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 7, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	Air Force (1943)	" The versatile Howard Hawks combines personal experience and knowing skills in directing this enjoyable WWII propaganda movie, which was nominated for four Oscars, winning one for editing." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 6, 2009
Fresh C+	N/A	Battle Hymn (1957)	" Douglas Sirk's sentimental Korean War tale of guilt and redemption is a weak, uncharacteristic film of the famed director, but it's worth seeing as a panel in his many collaborations with star Rock Hudson." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 6, 2009
N/A	Fresh 100%	Stagecoach (1939)	" How John Ford made a star out of John Wayne in Stagecoach" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 5, 2009
N/A	Fresh 100%	Stagecoach (1939)	" How John Ford made a star out of John Wayne in Stagecoach" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 5, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	The Baron of Arizona (1950)	" Starring Vincent Price, Sam Fuller's second feature is a bizarre noirish Western, marred by preposterous plotting, but extremely well shot by ace lesner James Wong Howe." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 5, 2009
Rotten C	Fresh 81%	The Color Purple (1985)	" Spielberg proves to be the wrong director for this feminist text, making a too clean and neat movie that lacks authenticity in look and feel." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 5, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 83%	Adam (2009)	" The movie is not particularly subtle and the direction could be sharper, but the acting of Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne is superb in illustrating an unusual love story and what amounts to a compelling defense of the imperfect." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 5, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)	" Smart, tense, and funny, Joseph Sargent's thriller is a product of its times, reflecting New York in the 1970s and part of a cycle of urban paranoia movie, such as French Connection and Dog Day Afternoon." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 3, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 96%	The Beaches of Agnes (2009)	" Playful, amusing, and illuminating, Varda's latest docu is at once an engaging personal memoir of a rich life and an informal look at the French New Wave, of which she was a co-founder and the only significant female member." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 3, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 60%	Inglourious Basterds (2009)	" Call it Pulp War Fiction--likely to divide critics, Tarantino's WWII fable interweaves little fact with much fiction, serving as a vessel for his playful, self-reflexive, postmodern commentary on a genre he knows and admires." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 3, 2009
Rotten C	Fresh 71%	Limbo (1999)	" Sharply uneven and way overlong, John Sayles' 12th feature contains many of his thematic motifs but you feel cheated by the open-ended last reel." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 2, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 95%	Herb & Dorothy (2009)	" When was the last time you saw older protags, or a happily married couple, in American film? In this charming docu, the Vogels recall vividly their experiences in life and art over the past four decades." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 2, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 83%	Humpday (2009)	" The title suggests a titillating, frivolous film, but it's actually a serio comedy about socio-sexual taboos and the very nature of male friendship." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 2, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	The Lusty Men (1952)	" Ray's last b/w film captures the life of rodeo players with vivid details, lyrical images, and melnacholy mood, centering on a romantic triangle, well played by Arthur Kennedy, Susan Hayward, and especially Robert Mitchum as the aging champ." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jul 1, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 95%	La Promesse (1996)	" The Dradenne brothers feature debut is a stunning achievement, an emotionally powerful coming of age tale infused with the raw power of Italian neo-realism, which shows that humanism and hope can prevail in the harshest economic conditions." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 30, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 100%	Gimme Shelter (1970)	" This seminal docu of the Rolling Stones free concert, in which a black youth was stabbed by Hell's Angels, raises crucial questions about cinema verite style, moral ambiguity, complicity, and mass behavior." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 30, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	The General Died at Dawn (1936)	" Disregarding historical facts, this romantic historical adventure was a good vehicle for Gary Cooper, then at th eheight of his career." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 30, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 100%	That Hamilton Woman (1941)	" Olivier and Vivien Leigh made this romantic historical melodrama at the height of their popularity, which became Churchill's favorite film due to its propaganda elements during WWII." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 29, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 71%	Bruno (2009)	" Wilder and riskier but also more calculated than Borat, Bruno shows outre sexual images, and how can you not like a gay Austrian who decides to repent after realizing that our top stars, Cruise, Travolta and Spacey share one thing, they're all straight" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 27, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 100%	I Vitelloni (1953)	" One of Fellini's greatest films (and first international hit) is a poignant, bitter-sweet satire about a clique of male friends who refuse or can't grow up into adulthood. The movie had influence on Scorsese, Levinson Lucas and other American directors." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 26, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 66%	Public Enemies (2009)	" Opinions will differ about Depp's iconic approach but this supremely mounted, painstakingly researched, well acted gangster epic is Michael Mann's most ambitious film since Heat, with insights about the mythic figure, law enforcement and broader contexts." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 25, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 81%	Lorna's Silence (2009)	" Though not as artsitically or thematically powerful as The Child or Rosetta, the film continues the Dardennes' realistic explorations of working-class (often immigrant) characters that live in the periphery of society." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 24, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 42%	The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)	" Despite the heroic efforts to save the troubled production due to Heath Ledger's death, Gilliam's film is a misfire, a summation work that contains many of his favorite themes but suffers from problems that plague most of his movies." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 24, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 44%	My Sister's Keeper (2009)	" Cameron Diaz gives a strong dramatic turn in Cassavetes uneven family melodrama, which begins well with poignant probing of timely issues like social engineering before turning into conventional courtroom tale that deviates from the book's tone and ending" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 22, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 74%	Betty Blue (1986)	" Beinex's Oscar-nominated, quintessentially French amour fou tells of a love relationship that descends into madness, splendidly played by Dalle as the free-spirited troubled femme; one scene of self-inflicted violence is truly tough to watch." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 20, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 19%	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)	" Bay will be blamed for the shortcomings of this loud and long sequel, but the main problem is not the dominance of spectacular effects or huge explosions but the silly, old-fashioned tale, borrowing from the Raiders series, which doesn't make any sense." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 20, 2009
Fresh B-	N/A	Blockade (1938)	" Set against the Spanish Civil War, Blockade was one of Hollywood's first anti-fascist dramas, which back in 1938, was considered a bold act; director Dieterle's future career suffered because of the film's politics." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh C+	Fresh 80%	A Yank in the RAF (1941)	" Made in 1941, this pro-British propaganda item was initiated by Zanuck, who chose his top stars, Tyrone Power and Betty Grable, for the assignment." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 18, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 80%	A Guy Named Joe (1943)	" What begins as a nice romantic fantasy turns into a schmaltzy melodrama about love and war, but it reflected the national mood and thus became a huge commercial hit." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 18, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 45%	Antichrist (2009)	" The film is well made so you can't dismiss it entirely, but in his effort to put a personal stamp on what's essentially a horror movie, von Trier piles up pretentious allegorical and religious elements (including the title) that it simply can't contain." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 18, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 100%	Woodstock (1970)	" A seminal docu on any number of levels, musically, sociologically, and historically, Woodstock is a unique chronicle, at once summing up the zeitgeist and signaling the end of an era; for once Oscar voters were right." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 17, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 97%	The Hurt Locker (2009)	" After some disappointing films, the gifted Bigelow puts to excellent use her strongest skills in this thrillingly kinetic, tightly-focused, utterly compelling portrait of one bomb squad, a highlight of a weak cycle thus far of Iraq war movies." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 16, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 56%	The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009)	" The movie suffers from problems that plague other message-social protest films and from helmer's lack of technical experience, but there's no denying of its thematic significance in stressing sexism, barabric punishment, mob rule and mass tyranny." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 13, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 82%	Thirst (2009)	" The addition of some realist elements from Zola's novel and other noir mellers doesn't work, but Park's striking visual style and solid acting partly compensate for the weaknesses of this confused, twisted vampire saga." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 12, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 89%	Moon (2009)	" Though there is a considerable gap between his level of ambition and execution, Jones deserves credit for making an intelligent sci-fi that respects the genre's conventions (and limitations) and doesn't rely much on f/x." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 10, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 50%	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)	" Scott's loose remake of Sargent's 1974 classic is mixed blessing: While Helgeland's characterizations are deeper and sharper, the film suffers from helmer's excessive stylistic flourishes and a preposterous third reel that almost negates the good elements" — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 9, 2009
Fresh B+	N/A	Les herbes folles (2009)	" Resnais, the oldest (87) director in 2009 Cannes Film Fest, has made yet another subtle and amusing fable of morals and manners, populated by eccentric characters, splendidly acted by Sabene Azema and the rest of the cast." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 7, 2009
Rotten D+	Rotten 11%	My Life in Ruins (2009)	" In this utterly formulaic romantic comedy, even Greece's gorgeous sites and Vardalos' mildly appealing persona can't compensate for the pile of national stereotypes and cultural cliches (stuffy Brits, boozy Aussies, loudmouthed Yanks)." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 2, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 78%	The Hangover (2009)	" The male trio is so funny, the situations so wacky, the lingo so foul, and other characters and props so eccentric (absent groom, missing tooth, lost chickens, a tiger, Mike Tyson singing) that you gladly and joyously join the wild ride." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted Jun 1, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 66%	Away We Go (2009)	" Sharply uneven in humor and poignancy, Sam Mendes' road film, sort of updated version of the far better Lost in America, again reveals his directorial strengths (getting terrific performances) and weaknesses (finding the emotional center and right tone)." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted May 26, 2009
Fresh A	Fresh 100%	The White Ribbon (2009)	" Thematically provocative, visually impressive and ideologically haunting, Haneke's chronicle of the banality of evil and roots of violence in pre-WWI Germany is arguably his masterpiece and one of two or three best films at this year's Cannes Film Fest." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted May 24, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 86%	Amreeka (2009)	" The particular protagonist, her situation, and the tale's tone distinguish the modest and enjoyable but artistically mediocre Amreeka from a growing body of border films about immigrants coming to America." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted May 24, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 89%	Broken Embraces (2009)	" Stylistically compelling but thematically familiar, Almodovar's 17th film is a summation work in which he reworks ideas, characters and genres that had intrigued him for three decades without breaking new grounds, though Penelope Cruz is mesmerizing." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted May 20, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 93%	Drag Me To Hell (2009)	" Revealing Raimi in top form as a maestro of the genre that launched his career, this film is an extremely satisfying small-scale supernatural horror, relying more heavily on characterization, acting, tone and mood than on special effects per se." — EmanuelLevy.Com Posted May 19, 2009

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EMANUEL LEVY

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