|
A
|
99%
|
Toy Story 3 (2010) |
"
The studio's third outing with the motley crew of talking toys is ridiculously entertaining, tightly plotted, laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally true. It might even be the best in the series."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jun 17, 2010
|
|
A
|
87%
|
The Lookout (2007) |
"
If you enjoyed any of [writer-director Scott] Frank's previous work, or thought Brick was the bomb, you'll love this."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 30, 2007
|
|
A
|
86%
|
The Namesake (2006) |
"
The Namesake doesn't reduce itself to simple ethnic politics and easy critiques."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 23, 2007
|
|
A
|
66%
|
Black Snake Moan (2007) |
"
Black Snake Moan is a gorgeous, life-affirming movie. On paper, it sounds lurid bordering on ridiculous."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 2, 2007
|
|
A
|
51%
|
The Fountain (2006) |
"
It's an ambitious, passionate, grief-stricken work of film art."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 22, 2006
|
|
A
|
100%
|
Deliver Us From Evil (2006) |
"
A compelling piece of journalism arguing O'Grady is one of hundreds of 'sexualized' priests shielded by an absolute bureaucracy that's been corrupted absolutely."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 10, 2006
|
|
A
|
87%
|
The Beauty Academy of Kabul (2006) |
"
The teachers have moxie. The students have courage. Mermin's warm, funny, beautiful and deeply humane documentary certainly honors the latter."
—
Oregonian
Posted Sep 15, 2006
|
|
A
|
86%
|
The Heart of the Game (2005) |
"
Serrill's disciplined, beautifully constructed film is so propulsive, so spiritually triumphant, it's absolutely one of the best sports docs ever."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jul 7, 2006
|
|
A
|
92%
|
Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005) |
"
By presenting murderers as actors and then filming those actors discussing their sins, the line between performance and soul-searching blurs in unnerving ways."
—
Oregonian
Posted Apr 14, 2006
|
|
A
|
92%
|
Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006) |
"
Too many great moments happen to list."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 3, 2006
|
|
A-
|
98%
|
Let the Right One In (2008) |
"
Let the Right One In could be described as a vampire horror romance, but that seems like too easy a label for this beautiful, unnerving little movie."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 14, 2008
|
|
A-
|
84%
|
Rocket Science (2007) |
"
A dry, vicious and deeply moving little comedy that sort of takes the structure of a teen sports movie, then undermines that structure at every turn."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 17, 2007
|
|
A-
|
64%
|
The TV Set (2007) |
"
Savage little morality tale."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 4, 2007
|
|
A-
|
91%
|
Iraq in Fragments (2006) |
"
James Longley's Sundance-winning documentary puts the camera uncomfortably close to scenes of abuse, violence, terror, cynicism and racial hatred amid the rubble of U.S.-occupied Iraq. But at the same time, its texture is frequently beautiful."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jan 26, 2007
|
|
A-
|
84%
|
The Descent (2006) |
"
Though "shock scares" usually feel kind of cheap, The Descent uses them as punctuation marks to enhance the larger sense of dread."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 4, 2006
|
|
A-
|
74%
|
Monster House (2006) |
"
The house itself -- with a porch for a mouth, a carpet for a tongue and a chandelier for a uvula -- is terrifying in the family friendly way old Disney movies are terrifying, and the story packs a few genuine surprises too good to spoil here."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jul 21, 2006
|
|
A-
|
72%
|
Russian Dolls (Les Poupées Russes) (2006) |
"
A sort of wandering rom-com epic -- kicking romantic fallacies in the ribs while capturing something essential about the solipsism and dreams of young urbanites."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jun 30, 2006
|
|
B+
|
90%
|
Attack the Block (2011) |
"
Cornish makes a feature debut here that's almost as stunning as when his pal (and executive producer) Edgar Wright invaded the cineplex with "Shaun of the Dead.""
—
Oregonian
Posted Sep 8, 2011
|
|
B+
|
87%
|
Submarine (2011) |
"
This is Ayoade's feature debut, and it's fairly stunning."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jun 16, 2011
|
|
B+
|
86%
|
Unstoppable (2010) |
"
The stunts here are metal-crushingly spectacular and refreshingly physical, and Scott doles them out sparingly enough that they're dramatic instead of merely noisy."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 11, 2010
|
|
B+
|
79%
|
The Other Guys (2010) |
"
McKay (mostly) pulls off something kind of fascinating here: He's made a huge comedy that ruthlessly rips on corporate corruption through a lens of absurdist gags..."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 6, 2010
|
|
B+
|
84%
|
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (2010) |
"
Did you really just watch 50 guys on trucks and horses blast one another to bits while chasing one guy on a motorcycle? You did. And it was awesome."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jun 3, 2010
|
|
B+
|
91%
|
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) (2010) |
"
The actors give full-bodied, warm, melancholic performances, and their easy chemistry grounds the film even when it flirts with the cliched and the downright bizarre."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 6, 2010
|
|
B+
|
64%
|
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) |
"
The movie's as casual as its lead characters' approach to changing history; it's also lewdly and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious -- especially if you wasted any of your youth watching a certain brand of '80s comedy schlock on HBO at 2 a.m."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 25, 2010
|
|
B+
|
98%
|
How to Train Your Dragon (2010) |
"
Take your kids and start saving up for the DVD, because I suspect they'll be asking you to buy it as soon as they leave the theater."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 25, 2010
|
|
B+
|
90%
|
The Messenger (2009) |
"
Harrelson gives what might be a career performance as a jaded mentor who tries to conduct each notification using a well-rehearsed set of rules of engagement."
—
Oregonian
Posted Dec 3, 2009
|
|
B+
|
84%
|
Whip It (2009) |
"
For teenage girls, I could see Whip It being a minor revelation. I hope they see it in droves."
—
Oregonian
Posted Oct 2, 2009
|
|
B+
|
93%
|
Drag Me to Hell (2009) |
"
Raimi as a filmmaker is clearly having more fun than he's had in years. So will his fans."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 29, 2009
|
|
B+
|
75%
|
Elegy (2008) |
"
The film is exquisite on every level, full of sadness and emotional surprise."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 22, 2008
|
|
B+
|
80%
|
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) |
"
Best of all, Waters and his team remember to make the movie about human beings; like E.T., this is a story about dealing with absent fathers that happens to be filled with adventure and outlandish critters."
—
Oregonian
Posted Feb 15, 2008
|
|
B+
|
96%
|
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) |
"
It's Over the Top via Nintendo, and it is stunning to behold."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 24, 2007
|
|
B+
|
98%
|
Ten Canoes (2007) |
"
Despite dancing between a story and a story within a story, something seems simple and effortless about Ten Canoes. Director Rolf de Heer and his all-Yolngu cast offer a take on tribal life that's warm, funny and powerfully alive."
—
Oregonian
Posted Jun 1, 2007
|
|
B+
|
88%
|
Waitress (2007) |
"
It's weird to write that a movie chock-full of adultery, stalking, spousal abuse and hatred of the unborn is the feel-good comedy of the summer."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 11, 2007
|
|
B+
|
71%
|
Fracture (2007) |
"
Fracture sneaks up on you. At first, it plays like it might be another in a long line of dullish legal thrillers. But then, in its modest, grown-up way, it keeps getting better and better."
—
Oregonian
Posted Apr 20, 2007
|
|
B+
|
75%
|
Becket (1964) |
"
O'Toole just keeps turning up the volume, and it's thrilling to watch."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 23, 2007
|
|
B+
|
96%
|
Romántico (2006) |
"
A low-key personal portrait that helps you understand an illegal immigrant's desperate psychology. But mostly, it fills you with an aching empathy for this profoundly decent man, who numbly (even heroically) soldiers on."
—
Oregonian
Posted Feb 2, 2007
|
|
B+
|
72%
|
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) |
"
I loved the little schematic diagrams that track Harold's too-linear existence. Zach Helm's script is very funny and occasionally shocking."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 10, 2006
|
|
B+
|
36%
|
Accepted (2006) |
"
Accepted feels a little like a Montessori Real Genius. It's one of the few genuinely funny comedies in a dismal movie summer."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 18, 2006
|
|
B+
|
51%
|
Down in the Valley (2005) |
"
Odd, beautiful and ambitious."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 19, 2006
|
|
B+
|
78%
|
CSA: Confederate States of America (2006) |
"
A rough-edged but incredibly provocative fake documentary."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 5, 2006
|
|
|
43%
|
Shorts (Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock) (2009) |
"
I'm not sure if parents will be counting out each of Shorts' 89 minutes or not, begging for it to end, but I'm guessing 8-year-olds will absolutely love it."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 21, 2009
|
|
|
25%
|
Four Christmases (2008) |
"
Vaughn and Witherspoon are clearly having a lot of fun snapping each other's synapses, and their sense of play gives the whole easygoing, formulaic enterprise a welcome jolt."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 26, 2008
|
|
|
41%
|
Shrek the Third (2007) |
"
What a pleasant surprise that Shrek the Third mostly connects with a fairly tight story -- even if it feels less like a movie and more like a really good episode of a Shrek TV series."
—
Oregonian
Posted May 18, 2007
|
|
|
40%
|
Beerfest (2006) |
"
It's fun-dumb and definitely not everyone's cup of tea -- I don't want to oversell it -- but Broken Lizard keeps it interesting by refusing to color inside the lines, creating their own silly little universe."
—
Oregonian
Posted Aug 25, 2006
|
|
|
61%
|
Find Me Guilty (2006) |
"
It isn't Lumet's best work, but it does play to Diesel's peacock strengths. In fact, he carries the movie."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 17, 2006
|
|
B
|
86%
|
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) |
"
It starts out as a fairly easy spoof of the pirate-movie tropes resurrected by Depp and Disney but quickly finds humor in Victorian science, awards shows, Jane Austen and Elephant Man cameos while mostly avoiding the easy pop-culture gag."
—
Oregonian
Posted Apr 26, 2012
|
|
B
|
87%
|
Boy (2012) |
"
Waititi does a nice tonal juggling act, balancing eccentric characters, a 1980s setting, child-drawn animation and Maori-inflected restagings of Michael Jackson videos with the painful consequences of parental neglect."
—
Oregonian
Posted Apr 5, 2012
|
|
B
|
52%
|
John Carter (2012) |
"
Stanton is gleefully committed to letting this universe run wild on a big screen. The film's best qualities are its gigantic, densely packed, slightly loopy world-building and its unironic senses of humor and fun."
—
Oregonian
Posted Mar 8, 2012
|
|
B
|
92%
|
Arthur Christmas (2011) |
"
Arthur is sort of a dull hero, but the grandfather is classic, hilarious Aardman -- a thoroughly British eccentric prone to weird nostalgic/fatalistic utterances."
—
Oregonian
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
B
|
36%
|
In Time (2011) |
"
Niccol is practicing the old-school craft of making a barn-broad alternate-reality that forces you to think about the way we all consensually agree to participate in systems -- even when those systems are hopelessly screwed up."
—
Oregonian
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
63%
——
97%
