Fresh
| N/A | General Della Rovere (1959) | "
Although the film's second half tends to drift toward the stagy and sermonic, Bardone's transformation from a petty chameleon-charlatan to the moral hero and man of conscience is moving and potent, in no small way thanks to De Sica's carefully modulated p" Film.com Posted May 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Danton (1983) | "
...uncompromising and impassioned. [Depardieu's] throat-scraping, rage-against-the-machine speech in court -- "the Revolution is devouring its children!" -- makes Jimmy Stewart's in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington look like a monk's benediction." Film.com Posted May 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| The Odd Couple (1968) | "
...a durable classic, the sort of comedy that doesn't try to yank laughs by cramming its fist down our throats." Film.com Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 40%
| Dodes 'Ka-Den (1970) | "
Dodes'ka-den need not be a grand-scale 'Kurosawa film' on the order of Rashomon, Seven Samurai, or Ran to give us much that's effective, emotive, and beautiful." Film.com Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Pinocchio (1940) | "
Benefiting from modern digital restoration techniques that -- this is vital -- don't lose touch with the film's rich painted-cel brush strokes and artistic authenticity, this new edition of Pinocchio looks and sounds sensational." Film.com Posted Mar 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | "
It's Kaufman mind-melding with Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka while Salvador Dali is pouring the drinks and M.C. Escher is doodling on the napkins. It's the 2001: A Space Odyssey of existential funk, David Lynch without the bubbly joie de vivre." Film.com Posted Mar 10, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Frozen River (2008) | "
Frozen River let me forget I was watching a movie, something that didn't happen often in 2008." Film.com Posted Feb 10, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 97%
| Casablanca (1942) | "
From the absolute crispness and clarity of the first image ... this clean, practically flawless 1080p transfer is now the definitive home video edition." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Funny Face (1957) | "
...can clunk like a tin can in the dryer. But hey, we're talking Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, so that's some mighty elegant slack we're willing to cut here." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) | "
...the final scene, a tender sequence that you can sop up with a sponge, but if you aren't moved by it you probably stick kittens with pins." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Trafic (1971) | "
...in the breezy vapor that amounts to the movie's plot, it's not the destination that counts, but the leisurely, amiably aimless travel you take getting there." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| The Fall (2008) | "
...a movie that not only expected me to pay attention, it assumed that I could." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 50%
| Sex and the City - The Movie (2008) | "
...'Yes,' she said. 'It's Star Trek for women.'..." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Snow Angels (2008) | "
So when the film's moment of horror arrives, it's not with suspense but instead the sort of dully anticipatory inevitability that drains as much energy from the story as from the audience." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 84%
| Kabluey (2008) | "
...a low-key comedy perfectly tuned for our times." Film.com Posted Feb 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| N/A | Upright Citizens Brigade - Asssscat! (2007) | "
But since improv ... is all about the impulsive creative jazz, the immediacy, and the spontaneous energy of a live, you-are-there, no-rules event, does ASSSSCAT work on DVD? It does." Film.com Posted Apr 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 85%
| The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) | "
...probably the purest expression of Gilliam's Rococo imagination..." Film.com Posted Apr 10, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| My Kid Could Paint That (2007) | "
New York Times senior art critic Michael Kimmelman offers sharp insights when he mentions how Marla's painting reflects not just 'innocence' and what our psyches project into them, but also 'the cynicism of the art world.'" Film.com Posted Mar 11, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| 12 Angry Men (1957) | "
From 1957 and first-time director Sidney Lumet, here's the great jury-room drama about the dynamic -- and potentially lethal -- relationship between guilt, suspicion, and prejudice." Film.com Posted Mar 11, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| No Country for Old Men (2007) | "
Both brutal and snowflake delicate all at once, this meditative neo-noir bears rewatching as layers and insights reveal themselves with subsequent viewings." Film.com Posted Mar 11, 2008 |
Fresh
| N/A | Lillie (1979) | "
Annis inhabits Lillie with subtlety and in three dimensions, giving us plenty of room to admire the classy crumpet's self-possession and stick-to-it-iveness in a society that valued conformity and propriety above all else." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| N/A | Slings & Arrows - The Complete Collection (2003) | "
...affectionate, sophisticated, bitingly satirical, hilarious and sexy -- no English degree required. At the same time, it's absolutely essential viewing for theater lovers, who may be blissfully horrified at what goes on when the audience isn't looking." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| City Lights (1931) | "
That final scene. Last week, CNN asked -- in "The Screening Room's Top 10 Romantic Moments" -- whether this was the most touching film moment of all time. Could be. Either way, if it doesn't move you, you're beyond human reach." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Singin' in the Rain (1952) | "
...this one's the Taj Mahal, Armstrong's footprint on the moon, the 2001 Arizona-New York World Series, the Clash's London Calling, and the perfect foamy head on an expertly poured Guinness." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 65%
| Shortbus (2006) | "
Shortbus is not, above all, 'dirty.' What it is, in fact, is a nice movie, one of the nicest to come down the pike since March of the Penguins." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| The Philadelphia Story (1940) | "
Every time Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart connect in a scene, we hear the happy ding! of quality champagne crystal." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 63%
| Death at a Funeral (2007) | "
It's no classic, but it did prompt me to watch those great old Ealing Alec Guinness comedies again." Film.com Posted Mar 4, 2008 |
Fresh
| N/A | Beatles - Ed Sullivan Presents the Beatles: 4 Complete Shows (1964) | "
Beatles aficionados should leap on these raw performances -- shot live with no studio post-production gloss, only the boys in their rare natural state -- as primary documents from the pre-Revolver, pre-Sgt. Pepper years...." Film.com Posted Feb 9, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Best in Show (2000) | "
...it's always a pleasure to watch this ensemble of gifted talents do what they do best -- be spontaneous and funny and surprising. What we get is a master-class demonstration of the distinction between comic actors and comedians who try to act." Film.com Posted Feb 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 85%
| 2 Days In Paris (2007) | "
...an impressive, funny urban comedy of manners from a suitably distinctive voice that I hope we'll hear again soon." Film.com Posted Feb 5, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| Petulia (1968) | "
...an anti-The Graduate ... an essential film from and about America in the dying days of the '60s, yet the modernism of its style and ambitions makes Petulia impressively ahead of that time." Film.com Posted Jan 25, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 80%
| The President's Analyst (1967) | "
If Philip K. Dick had worked for Mad magazine, he might have come up with The President's Analyst." Film.com Posted Jan 18, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Saving Sarah Cain (2007) | "
...will probably find a welcome reception among the nominal "family values" audience, but they deserve "nice" and "decent" movies that offer more engaging and challenging fare than this..." Film.com Posted Jan 15, 2008 |
Rotten
| N/A | Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest (2007) | "
The duplicated scenes from A New Hope are so shot-for-shot faithful that the whole project feels boxed in by its reverence rather than freed up to cut loose with the fearless bravado that we tune into Family Guy for." Film.com Posted Jan 15, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 5%
| Good Luck Chuck (2007) | "
What isn't forgivable, though, is being boring, and Good Luck Chuck has all the engaging magnetism of an unflushed toilet." Film.com Posted Jan 15, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 38%
| The Ten (2007) | "
...brings to mind the fondly remembered Kentucky Fried Movie/Amazon Women on the Moon anthos from the '70s and '80s." Film.com Posted Jan 15, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 20%
| Death Sentence (2007) | "
Bacon, as usual, is very good even when he's slumming, and as a trashy B-movie redo of Death Wish the movie works well enough for a Saturday afternoon with a case of brewskies." Film.com Posted Jan 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 62%
| Joshua (2007) | "
...a bewildering extension rather than a retread of this played-out subgenre." Film.com Posted Jan 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Zodiac (2007) | "
Fincher, more subdued ... and aching for a return to smart suspense films from the likes of Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula, pulls us by the collar into the frame and cranks the sense of menace taut without cheap tricks or cop-out gimmicks." Film.com Posted Jan 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| 3:10 to Yuma (2007) | "
Mangold's film is more than sufficiently subtexty and cynical for our modern sensibilities while simultaneously embracing Mangold's obvious pleasure in the Westerns' time-honored swinging saloon doors and stern masculine traditions." Film.com Posted Jan 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Shoot 'Em Up (2007) | "
...an affectionate, often very funny Simpsons parody of its whole eponymous genre. It's a live-action McBane as co-directed by Quentin Tarantino and Chuck Jones.... Shoot 'Em Up is Hot Fuzz gone to the Dark Side." Film.com Posted Jan 2, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| The Lion in Winter (1968) | "
Director Anthony Harvey opened up Goldman's play into authentic spaces far from any proscenium, and remained faithful to an energetic drama propelled by its performances and dialogue." Film.com Posted Dec 21, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 97%
| Once (2007) | "
Once doesn't plop its emotions on its characters' sleeves, and it trusts us enough to leave some of the best stuff unstated. In other words, it trusts us to know that half the music lies between the notes." Film.com Posted Dec 19, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 76%
| Stardust (2007) | "
Like the star that falls to Earth near the beginning of the movie, Stardust is glittery and pretty and possesses its own pleasing-enough personality, but it won't set the world on fire." Film.com Posted Dec 19, 2007 |
Rotten
| Rotten 17%
| The Last Legion (2007) | "
There are, after all, aimed at young audiences plenty of movies more mean-spirited, indiscriminate and obnoxious than The Last Legion. But at the same time there are plenty that are, alas, less frustrating." Film.com Posted Dec 17, 2007 |
N/A | Fresh 100%
| Futurama the Movie: Bender's Big Score (2007) | "
...I chatted with David X. Cohen, who, besides being a creative force behind Futurama, holds a physics degree from Harvard, where he wrote for and served as president of the Harvard Lampoon, and a master's in computer science from Berkeley." Film.com Posted Nov 30, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Junebug (2005) | "
...one of many reasons to love Junebug is how often it offers us spaces to fill in ourselves, the faith it shows in handing us small puzzles -- Eugene's hand-carved bird, for instance -- to chuckle over or think on afterward." Film.com Posted Nov 30, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Waitress (2007) | "
Waitress is not a perfectly cut, factory-line Safeway-brand slice. It does, though, serve up a generous deep-dish portion, homemade and heartfelt, that leaves a sweet taste goes down." Film.com Posted Nov 28, 2007 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| Colma: The Musical (2007) | "
It's not a great film, but we sure enjoyed it more than many bigger films that try harder to convince us they're great." Film.com Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
N/A | Fresh 78%
| Outsourced (2007) | "
For instance at one of the early script readings there was this Indian woman who said, 'We love your script, but an Indian woman, she would never do this.' Then a younger Indian woman stood up and said, 'Oh, yes we would!'" Film.com Posted Nov 20, 2007 |