Rotten C-
| Rotten 17%
| I Hate Valentine's Day (2009) | "
A charmless rom-com about an exhaustingly vivacious florist." Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 83%
| Humpday (2009) | "
Writer-director Lynn Shelton sweetly, mischievously tracks Ben and Andrew as they jaw, shoot hoops, roughhouse, and hug it out." Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 10%
| I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) | "
The story is timeless; this could have taken place when [screenwriter] Doyle graduated in '76 -- or any year, really, since the effects of high school linger throughout adult life and nerds are forever." Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 56%
| The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) | "
A reasonable person might well add the issue to the agenda after enduring this at times unbearably violent agitprop drama, based on the true story of an Iranian woman stoned to death after being falsely accused by her husband of adultery." Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 66%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
With its measured, team-produced screenplay by Mann, Ronan Bennett, and Ann Biderman, Public Enemies makes heavy business of the notion that Hoover ushered in
 an era of ethically elastic law-enforcement procedures still recognizable today." Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 44%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
Their message in My Sister's Keeper? Cancer sucks, but there's always the balm of beach scenes and an emo soundtrack." Posted Jun 26, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 66%
| Dead Snow (2009) | "
Cheery, silly, splattery, and respectful of its elders, this bloody/cheesy subtitled Scandinavian lark is written and directed
by Tommy Wirkola, who has a nice touch with severed limbs." Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 80%
| $9.99 (2009) | "
Using the droll, wise stories of Etgar Keret as her guide, Israeli filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal concocts an artful film that
expresses deep thoughts, lightly." Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 97%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
An intense, action-driven war pic, a muscular, efficient standout that
simultaneously conveys the feeling of combat from within as well as what it looks like on the ground." Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 46%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
The fact that Allen wrote the script in the '70s explains something about why his newest movie feels so old." Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 46%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
The chemical energy between Bullock and Reynolds is fresh and irresistible." Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 50%
| The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) | "
An open-hydrant whoooosh of an action thriller about a hijacked NYC subway train with passengers held as hostages -- a caffeinated update of a 1974 city-on-fire cult classic that cracked wise with a cynical, now nostalgia-inducing, graffiti-era veracity." Posted Jun 10, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 87%
| O'Horten (2009) | "
Jack Nicholson's dyspeptic retiree in About Schmidt would no doubt identify with O'Horten's entertaining pain." Posted Jun 3, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 82%
| Pontypool (2009) | "
Think of this witty, economically gory little tour de force as 28 Days Later written by
linguist Noam Chomsky." Posted May 27, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 45%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
It's one good-looking, publicity-grabbing provocation, with an overlay of pseudo-Christian allegory thrown in to deflect a reasonable person's accusations of misogyny." Posted May 18, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 97%
| Up (2009) | "
As buoyant and richly tinted as the balloons that figure so prominently in its story, Up is also thoroughly grounded in real emotion and ideas of substance." Posted May 16, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 61%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
The movie is undergroovy and overplotted." Posted May 16, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 93%
| Summer Hours (2009) | "
Summer Hours, director Olivier Assayas' tender, sun-kissed, Chekhovian drama, brims with life and loveliness even as it meditates on the loss of childhood." Posted May 13, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 37%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
Angels & Demons barrels along with a confidence -- and, more fundamentally, a pulse -- missing from director Ron Howard's first encounter with the best-selling novels of Dan Brown." Posted May 13, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 73%
| Objectified (2009) | "
You'll never look at your next toothbrush (or your next any product) in quite the same way after watching this astute, elegant inquiry into the purpose and process of industrial
design, Objectified." Posted May 6, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 68%
| Julia (2009) | "
This overlong, lurchy homage to John Cassavetes' 1980 film Gloria is a mess, but a fascinating one, given Swinton's desperately avid performance in the title role." Posted May 6, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 70%
| Rudo and Cursi (2009) | "
Rudo y Cursi is a sly miniaturist pleasure on its own terms, a piquant fable about the bouncing ups and downs of success, failure, competition, and comradeship." Posted May 6, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
Heroes and villains clash, then rise up to clash again, just because that's what X-Men do. The truth is, it doesn't matter Y." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 46%
| Battle for Terra (2009) | "
Earthlings who have fled their unsustainable environment are the belligerent, culturally insensitive visitors, and aliens with big, moist eyes out of a sad-clown painting are the home team in this gentle, dreamy animated sci-fi tale." Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Fresh 67%
| The Merry Gentleman (2009) | "
Set during a joyless Chicago Christmas (hence the carol-like title), this Debbie Downer of a drama is a bitter slog." Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 90%
| Il Divo (2009) | "
You need know nothing about Italian politics to completely enjoy the fantastical, Fellini-fied, tragi-comic, biographical fun-for-all Il Divo." Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 71%
| American Violet (2009) | "
An artlessly powerful performance by newcomer Nicole Behaire anchors American Violet, an instructive, sturdily built drama based on a true story worth teaching." Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 85%
| Earth (2009) | "
Spectacularly photographed, gracefully edited, and effectively matter-of-fact in demonstrating the effects of of climate change." Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 86%
| Tyson (2009) | "
The term isn't generally applied to the subject of a nonfiction film, but 'starring' is the right description for Mike Tyson's participation in James Toback's provocatively sympathetic, impressionistic documentary portrait, Tyson." Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 56%
| 17 Again (2009) | "
A slack do-over fantasy in which Zac Efron, as a basketball star, looks baffled as to why he hasn't been asked to sing and dance." Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 96%
| Tulpan (2008) | "
There's no room for mush in filmmaker Sergey Dvortsevoy's triumphant, intimate drama, not when the necessities of daily life are so elemental, and so tenderly observed." Posted Apr 8, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 55%
| Lymelife (2009) | "
[An] overworked if heartfelt indie." Posted Apr 8, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Rotten 51%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
A crazy mosaic of Americana with tiles scattered and missing. Need I observe and report that the view isn't for every taste? It sure is for mine." Posted Apr 8, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 76%
| Shall We Kiss? (2008) | "
[An] enticing, weightless divertissement, a distant Gallic cousin to Woody Allen's talky comedies of romantic fumbling." Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 35%
| Alien Trespass (2009) | "
That warm tone, along with the picture's bright, saturated, anti-CGI look, is a welcome respite from jokes, irony, and the postmodern malaise of know-it-all-ness." Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 28%
| Fast & Furious (2009) | "
In the jammed landscape of mass-market new releases, it offers an attractive getaway route from self-importance, snark, and chatty comedies about male bonding. Here, stick shifts do the talking." Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 77%
| Valentino: the Last Emperor (2009) | "
Matt Tyrnauer's sharp-eyed documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor follows the luxury-loving pooh-bah and his indispensable, since-forever lover and business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, through a season of magical dresses and minor diva snits." Posted Mar 25, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 17%
| Spinning into Butter (2009) | "
Shelf mold encrusts this misshapen adaptation of Spinning Into Butter, and Rebecca Gilman's 1999 play about racism and toxic political correctness at a small Vermont college
is lumpy enough as it is." Posted Mar 25, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
Monsters vs. Aliens sacrifices soul and edge for safety and bland blue goo." Posted Mar 25, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 92%
| Tokyo Sonata (2009) | "
Known for distinctive horror movies like Cure and Pulse, inventive Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa finds just the right melancholy tone to suit a new and all too familiar kind of horror: economic downsizing." Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 90%
| Hunger (2008) | "
For your art-house pleasure and discomfort, here's one of the most talked-about film-festival triumphs of 2008, a disturbingly avid re-creation of the last six weeks in the life and slow, self-imposed wasting of Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands." Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 66%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
Duplicity doesn't have depth -- but it does have Julia Roberts, in full Hollywood movie-star mode. And for filmgoers with scaled-back expectations, that news may be enough." Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 73%
| Sunshine Cleaning (2009) | "
Truly lovely performances by Adams and Blunt pierce the thoroughly artificial climate." Posted Mar 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 93%
| Must Read After My Death (2009) | "
File this 'therapeutic' movie, well made and creepy, on the dysfunction-as-art shelf
next to Capturing the Friedmans." Posted Feb 25, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 22%
| Jonas Brothers - The Concert Experience (2009) | "
For those of us dwelling outside the Jonas demo, the small charms in the 'candid' moments have little to do with the boys' talents as actors, and a lot to do with the revered icons whose cheeky behavior they're imitating." Posted Feb 25, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 90%
| Katyn (2007) | "
The great Polish director Andrzej Wajda musters the power of classical filmmaking and personal emotional investment
to dramatize a stunning atrocity long covered up." Posted Feb 18, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 91%
| Gomorrah (2009) | "
Don't look for resolution, romanticism, or comic relief in this underworld tour, shot
with a fast, you-are-there look and no pity; you won't find picaresque goodfellas or Sopranos-style ziti eaters here. Instead, there's the power of damning truth" Posted Feb 18, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
The star of the pic may well be NYC's Guggenheim Museum and Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, both of which figure in cool action chase sequences that pay handsome dividends." Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 22%
| Push (2009) | "
A weightless, style-driven thriller set in a photogenically chaotic Hong Kong." Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 32%
| Fanboys (2009) | "
Real-life fanboys know that the release of this mildly cute, mildly drooly, majorly too late spoof/homage has been delayed for more than two years." Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
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