ROTTEN TOMATOES: Harvey S. Karten

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HARVEY S. KARTEN

""If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am for myself only, what am I?" -Hillel"

Agrees with the Tomatometer 68% of the time.

Biography: After teaching high school for quite a while, I took an M.A. in Film and Theater from Hunter College in New York and a Ph.D. in Theater from the City University Graduate Center, also in the Big Apple. Having sat through one innocuous Broadway show after another and a great deal of talky off-Broadway productions as a so-called second-night critic, I realized that you don't always get what you pay for. Broadway shows may be $75 a ticket and movies just $9.50 (in New York), but you're more likely to have fun AND take away something of substance from the big screen. The switch from reviewing theater to reviewing movies was an easy one to make.When my application for membership in the New York Film Critics Circle was circular-filed (print media only, sorry), I founded the Online Film Critics Society in January 1997 and three years later, NYFCO (New York Film Critics Online).

Favorites: Favorite films: Amadeus, Schindler's List, Lassie Come HomeBest of 2006: Thank You for Smoking

Publications: Compuserve, Film Journal International, Modamag.com, Rotten Tomatoes, The Cinema Source

Critics' Group: New York Film Critics Online

Total Reviews: 2829

Location: Brooklyn, New York

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

Fresh B	N/A	Jew Suss (1934)	" Too many talking heads, not enough archival film, but mandatory viewing for anyone interested in the Nazi era or in the history of directing." — Compuserve Posted Feb 5, 2010
Fresh B	N/A	The Art of the Steal (2010)	" We in audience leave the theater debating whether in this case, stealing was actually merited." — Compuserve Posted Feb 3, 2010
Fresh B-	N/A	Videocracy (2010)	" Erik Gandini's documentary indicts Italy's prime minister for controlling the lion's share of TV stations and magazines but less convincingly connects the dots between the PM's media empire and his political power." — Compuserve Posted Feb 2, 2010
Rotten D	N/A	To Die for Tano (2010)	" To Die for Tano (Tano da morire in its original Italian-language title) seems to have been on the shelf for a long, long time -- since 1997. The movie should have stayed there." — Compuserve Posted Feb 2, 2010
Rotten C+	Rotten 55%	Edge of Darkness (2010)	" A byzantine plot sinks the movie." — Compuserve Posted Jan 28, 2010
Rotten C	Rotten 33%	From Paris With Love (2010)	" You've never seen Travolta like this. Do not consider that to be a compliment." — Compuserve Posted Jan 28, 2010
Fresh B	N/A	Good Guy (2010)	" A light romantic comedy about a relationship between a hot-shot investment banker and a perky conservationist who learns in time that her boyfriend is a cad." — Compuserve Posted Jan 27, 2010
Fresh B+	N/A	Blood Done Sign My Name (2010)	" A solid, inspirational tale based on a true story of the murder of a black Vietnam veteran in North Carolina which led an all-white jury to free the obvious killers." — Compuserve Posted Jan 25, 2010
Fresh B+	Fresh 75%	Eyes Wide Open (2010)	" Hanky panky among Jerusalem's ultra-orthodox is treated with restraint and authenticity, deserving an audience beyond the assumed target of gays, Jewish-interest, and cinephiles." — Compuserve Posted Jan 22, 2010
Fresh B+	Fresh 82%	7 Days (2010)	" In directing this torture porn, Daniel Grou is intent on dismissing the doctor's oath, 'primum non nocere,' and he does that quite well." — Compuserve Posted Jan 22, 2010
Fresh A-	Fresh 100%	The Most Dangerous Man in America (2009)	" A gut-punching doc that will make its audience consider that substituting the word 'Iraq' for 'Vietnam' makes this a timely lesson. Don't we learn from history?" — Compuserve Posted Jan 21, 2010
Fresh A-	Rotten 56%	The Shock Doctrine (2010)	" A stunning, exquisitely photographed and narrated diatribe against the excesses of capitalism." — Compuserve Posted Jan 20, 2010
Fresh B	N/A	Eclipse (2010)	" A ghost story, a romance, a gentle film with a leisurely pace against a lovely background in seaside Ireland." — Compuserve Posted Jan 14, 2010
Rotten C	Rotten 45%	The Book of Eli (2010)	" Nothing novel or unpredictable, despite an unnecessary twist at the conclusion: at least it's more entertaining than 'The Road.'" — Compuserve Posted Jan 13, 2010
Fresh B-	Fresh 85%	North Face (2010)	" Awesome scenery and bourgeois banality combine to produce an overlong, occasionally scary film about extreme mountain climbing." — Compuserve Posted Jan 12, 2010
Fresh B-	Rotten 44%	Creation (2010)	" A great performance by Bettany as the Darwin you've never before seen is married to an awfully slow production." — Compuserve Posted Jan 11, 2010
Rotten C	Rotten 11%	Saint John of Las Vegas (2009)	" A trite, unfunny, road-and-buddy movie." — Compuserve Posted Jan 7, 2010
Rotten C	Rotten 40%	44 Inch Chest (2010)	" The interminable macho bluster overwhelms the senses and makes for a dull time at the movies." — Compuserve Posted Jan 6, 2010
Fresh B+	Fresh 71%	The Girl on the Train (2010)	" A delightfully complex plot brings to life an actual event that consisted of a young woman's false accusation of an anti-Semitic attack." — Compuserve Posted Jan 6, 2010
Fresh B+	Fresh 94%	Terribly Happy (2009)	" An eerie spellbinder featuring inbred folks from a small, evil, Danish town." — Compuserve Posted Jan 4, 2010
Fresh A-	Fresh 71%	Youth in Revolt (2010)	" The frustrations of puppy love are on greatly entertaining display." — Compuserve Posted Jan 2, 2010
Fresh B+	Fresh 80%	Waiting for Armageddon (2010)	" It's scary to see how many of my fellow Americans believe this stuff." — Compuserve Posted Dec 24, 2009
Fresh B+	Rotten 28%	Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2009)	" Tennessee Williams fans will eat it up." — Compuserve Posted Dec 19, 2009
Rotten C+	Rotten 13%	Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)	" This fish out of water rom-com is predictable and sappy but the contrast between New York and Wyoming, filmed with fine production values, makes for some interest." — Compuserve Posted Dec 15, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 100%	Vincere (2009)	" Exquisite mixture of archival film and current takes on a doomed romance between Benito Mussolini and his alleged first wife." — Compuserve Posted Dec 14, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 82%	Avatar (2009)	" A mostly motion-capture movie featuring the Mother of all battles." — Compuserve Posted Dec 11, 2009
Rotten C	Fresh 66%	The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)	" Lots of eye candy, but where's the story?" — Compuserve Posted Dec 10, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 58%	It's Complicated (2009)	" It's adulterated." — Compuserve Posted Dec 10, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 93%	Crazy Heart (2009)	" Jeff Bridges continues to astonish, in this case even making an ordinary movie into something better." — Compuserve Posted Dec 9, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 77%	Invictus (2009)	" Though too conventional in its presentation, the film makes us appreciate the wisdom and gentle discipline of Nelson Mandela in averting civil war in South Africa." — Compuserve Posted Dec 4, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 83%	A Single Man (2009)	" A serious work that makes one question Tennyson's belief that "'tis better to have loved and lost/ Than never to have loved at all.'" — Compuserve Posted Dec 4, 2009
Rotten C+	Rotten 36%	The Lovely Bones (2009)	" The fancy visuals serve only to distract from the emotional impact." — Compuserve Posted Dec 4, 2009
Fresh A-	Rotten 37%	Nine (2009)	" When Daniel Day-Lewis's character daydreams, the screen is on fire." — Compuserve Posted Dec 4, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 70%	The Last Station (2009)	" Helen Mirren's stunning performance centers this story of Tolstoy's last year, equally about love and politics." — Compuserve Posted Dec 1, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 90%	Up in the Air (2009)	" As a send-up of both technology and the myth of the happy bachelor, 'Up in the Air' is fly." — Compuserve Posted Nov 27, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 94%	Ajami (2010)	" As complex as Paul Haggis's film "Crash," this one may be confusing the first time around but affords the viewer an emotional picture of life in one of Israel's toughest neighborhoods." — Compuserve Posted Nov 19, 2009
Fresh B-	Fresh 64%	Missing Person (2009)	" Not the most riveting of noir dramas, this film exists mainly to project the talents of Michael Shannon in the role of a drunk private eye." — Compuserve Posted Nov 18, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 83%	Me and Orson Welles (2009)	" A stunning performance by Christian McKay as the great Orson Welles lifts this from what could have been just frothy entertainment into the sphere of the sublime." — Compuserve Posted Nov 18, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 28%	Serious Moonlight (2009)	" Its claustrophobic setting prevents these two talented performers literally from strutting their stuff." — Compuserve Posted Nov 17, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 85%	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)	" Refreshingly loopy, as only Nic Cage can loop." — Compuserve Posted Nov 15, 2009
Rotten C	Fresh 79%	Before Tomorrow (2009)	" With its glacial pace and lack of action,this sample of Arctic artiness may be appreciated principally by anthropologists and social studies teachers and those who can enjoy seeing remote cultures through their own, aboriginal eyes." — Compuserve Posted Nov 13, 2009
Fresh B-	Rotten 57%	Uncertainty (2009)	" A young couple between a rock and a hard place must choose whether to go to a family dinner or run from gangsters, but only the latter choice is intereting." — Compuserve Posted Nov 12, 2009
Rotten C	Rotten 39%	2012 (2009)	" Apocalypse new? No such luck: more like apocalypse same ol'." — Compuserve Posted Nov 9, 2009
Fresh A-	Fresh 85%	Defamation (2009)	" Intelligent, muscular documentary filmmaking that asks all the right questions about anti-Semitism today." — Compuserve Posted Nov 4, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 91%	The Messenger (2009)	" A well-performed example of male bonding in the army." — Compuserve Posted Nov 3, 2009
Fresh B+	Fresh 97%	A Prophet (2010)	" An intense performance by Tahir Rahim is at the center of a prison drama that conforms only slightly to the usual genre." — Compuserve Posted Nov 2, 2009
Rotten C+	Fresh 77%	The Good Soldier (2009)	" A well-intentioned but uninvolving anti-war documentary." — Compuserve Posted Oct 29, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 88%	Fish Tank (2010)	" Think of this as "Precious: The White Sequel"" — Compuserve Posted Oct 27, 2009
Fresh A-	N/A	You Cannot Start Without Me: Valery Gergiev - Maestro (2009)	" The year's most electrifying documentary to date features a charismatic composer who conducts segments from Europe's great classical, operatic and ballet composers." — Compuserve Posted Oct 26, 2009
Fresh B	Fresh 74%	Police, Adjective (2009)	" The joy of lex is on display in this slow-moving policier chock full of dry humor, satirizing Romania's stagnation years after deposing communism." — Compuserve Posted Oct 21, 2009

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A-	DeparturesOffsite
B+	Star TrekOffsite
B	Pressure CookerOffsite
B-	ThirstOffsite
C+	Angels & DemonsOffsite
C	Away We GoOffsite
C-	What Goes UpOffsite
D	Land of the LostOffsite

A	The IllusionistOffsite
A	Thank You For SmokingOffsite
A	The Polar ExpressOffsite
A	Being JuliaOffsite
A	DogvilleOffsite
4/4	Winged MigrationOffsite
4/4	ChicagoOffsite
4/4	Road to PerditionOffsite
4/4	AmadeusOffsite
4/4	Mulholland Dr.Offsite

F	VirginOffsite
F	The Whole Ten YardsOffsite
0.5/4	Teddy Bears' PicnicOffsite
0.5/4	Bubble BoyOffsite
D	To Die for TanoOffsite
D	Year OneOffsite
D	Land of the LostOffsite
D	SplinterOffsite
D	QuarantineOffsite
D	Semi-ProOffsite

HARVEY S. KARTEN

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