Rotten
| Fresh 87%
| Amreeka (2009) | "
Writer-director Cherien Dabis too easily resolves or dismisses the characters' problems, making way for an upbeat ending." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
Provost and cowriter Marc Abdelnour explore the mutable boundaries between spirituality, naivete, genius, and madness, showing how the two outsiders and polar opposites cultivated a mutual understanding." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 17, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 47%
| Battle for Terra (2009) | "
This 3D computer animation is more otherworldly than most sci-fi films, and its environmentally conscious theme couldn't be more timely." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 16, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 92%
| Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (2009) | "
It is only in the sequence about Berg's popular costar Philip Loeb that Aviva Kempner's documentary resonates." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 16, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Skin (2009) | "
Provocative." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 15, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 83%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
A welcome return to the Disney tradition of 2-D animation." — Chicago Reader Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 6%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
A total train wreck." — Chicago Reader Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 41%
| New York, I Love You (2009) | "
The project is lush and seductive as a whole, though some segments are especially vibrant." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Mixing horror and comedy while minimizing the gore, writer-director Paul Weitz serves up a witty adventure fantasy with a tasty dollop of schadenfreude." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 48%
| Astro Boy (2009) | "
Osamu Tezuka’s groundbreaking 60s anime series gets a stylish CGI update in this sci-fi animation." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
The various therapies -- talk, yoga, massage -- serve only to set up tired insult humor and smarmy sight gags." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 27%
| Fame (2009) | "
The high school is so sanitized that there are no drugs, cutthroat competition, or—inconceivably for a theatrical milieu—no gay students." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 50%
| The Providence Effect (2009) | "
This uplifting documentary breaks no new ground stylistically, but the story it tells is urgent and compelling." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 79%
| A Woman in Berlin (2008) | "
No one is guiltless—not the Russian commander (Yevgeny Sidikhin) who takes the heroine as his lover, nor her bourgeois landlady (Fassbinder alumnus Irm Hermann), who welcomes the occupiers for their black market goods." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 81%
| Unmistaken Child (2009) | "
Films that address faith and love as eloquently as this moving 2008 documentary are rare." — Chicago Reader Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 32%
| The Burning Plain (2009) | "
The result is confusion, not catharsis." — Chicago Reader Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Ang Lee’s 11th collaboration with producer James Schamus starts out strong and funny before getting mired in 60s nostalgia." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 27, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
Magic vies with technology in this exuberant adventure comedy, which unfolds achronologically in a series of zany, effects-laden vignettes." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 18%
| Spread (2009) | "
The film becomes unintentionally funny when he falls for another hustler (Margarita Levieva) with even less conscience, their grand passion leading to ludicrous behavior and soap-opera dialogue." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 91%
| Ponyo (2009) | "
One of the anime master's weaker efforts." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 45%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
The manic pace quickly grows tiresome, as does the influx of cloying baby animals." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
A dark indie comedy that's distinguished by a sci-fi theme and surrealistic touches but ends without a payoff." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Revanche (2009) | "
Writer-director Gotz Spielmann (Antares) avoids the clutter and manipulation of most thrillers, escalating tension almost solely through the characters' turbulent emotions." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 96%
| The Cove (2009) | "
Directed by Louie Psihoyos, this well-intentioned documentary exposes the harvesting of dolphins by Japanese fishermen, yet its theatrics suggest a cross between reality TV and Mission: Impossible." — Chicago Reader Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 20%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
The special effects are better and the dialogue slightly more humorous than in the first movie, but the anti-Arab subtext is repugnant." — Chicago Reader Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
[A] buoyant vehicle for Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, whose chemistry is a happy surprise." — Chicago Reader Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| The Lemon Tree (2008) | "
The two Israelis who take her side are female, which underscores the film's message: a little less machismo might save a lot more than trees." — Chicago Reader Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 38%
| Imagine That (2009) | "
Director Karey Kirkpatrick mines laughter from human fallibility, aided by a strong supporting cast that includes Martin Sheen as the boss and Thomas Haden Church as an office rival." — Chicago Reader Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Everlasting Moments (2009) | "
Mischa Gavrjusjov keys the camera work to the characters' moods, inky blacks portending a thunderous alcoholic outburst, golden washes signaling the heroine's late blooming." — Chicago Reader Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 62%
| Eldorado (2008) | "
Avoids a formulaic ending, reflecting instead on the impermanence of human connections and the inescapable baggage of the self." — Chicago Reader Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 81%
| Departures (2009) | "
Director Yojiro Takita uses the changing seasons to echo the characters' moods; the score by Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) has a suitably majestic sweep." — Chicago Reader Posted May 29, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
Writer-directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson present hilarious insights into bird brains and canine psychology and treat thornier human emotions deftly." — Chicago Reader Posted May 28, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 44%
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) | "
Bloated with visual effects." — Chicago Reader Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 36%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
A movie that's more streamlined and action-packed than the original." — Chicago Reader Posted May 14, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 45%
| Management (2009) | "
This quirky indie romance is beguiling at first but later succumbs to artifice." — Chicago Reader Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 55%
| Lymelife (2009) | "
Thanks to a strong ensemble cast, it's poignant and funny." — Chicago Reader Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 27%
| Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) | "
Jennifer Garner is sweet and radiant as McConaughey's childhood friend and former lover; Lacey Chabert steals scenes as the woman marrying McConaughey's brother; and Robert Forster and Anne Archer are good as her parents." — Chicago Reader Posted May 1, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 93%
| IMAX - Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey (2006) | "
Stomp veteran Keith Middleton acts as master of ceremonies, his gigantic close-ups suggesting a tap-dancing genie freed from his lamp." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 59%
| Paris 36 (2008) | "
Essentially a pastiche, as musty as a flea market." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 71%
| Our City Dreams (2009) | "
Chiara Clemente, a documentarian for Italian TV, gets in close enough to record her subjects' techniques but not close enough to reveal what makes the women tick." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Earth (2009) | "
[The directors] know how to craft a sequence (lions and elephants uneasily drinking at the same water hole), have an eye for the telling shot (baboons mincing across a flood plain), and mercifully avoid making the fauna look human." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 41%
| Fighting (2009) | "
The screenplay about a hunky street vendor turned underground fighter (Channing Tatum of Stop-Loss) is sloppy and false." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 24, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Tokyo Sonata (2009) | "
Kiyoshi Kurosawa switches gears from supernatural horror to poignant social satire." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 17, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| 17 Again (2009) | "
The ancient body-switching premise is animated by a breezy script that briefly addresses some of its darker implications before returning to a celebration of adolescence." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 16, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 63%
| Theater of War (2008) | "
Engrossing and timely, this crackles with ideas about art, politics, religion, and the terrible costs of war." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Sin Nombre (2009) | "
Writer-director Cary Fukunaga keeps the story lean while peppering it with realistic details." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 75%
| Shall We Kiss? (2008) | "
Gayet and Cohen generate enough heat in their section to upstage the leads." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 34%
| Alien Trespass (2009) | "
Sinks under the weight of its homage." — Chicago Reader Posted Apr 3, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 77%
| Valentino: the Last Emperor (2009) | "
Part celebrity dish, part business journalism...illuminating 2008 documentary." — Chicago Reader Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 79%
| 12 (2007) | "
The tradition of Russian stage acting enriches this satisfying update of Reginald Rose's TV play Twelve Angry Men." — Chicago Reader Posted Mar 27, 2009 |
RSS Feeds