|
A+
|
83%
|
The Raid: Redemption (2012) |
"
THE RAID is, quite simply, an absolutely badass film, an instant classic."
—
Filmfest
Posted Mar 12, 2012
|
|
B+
|
71%
|
Red (2010) |
"
If you don't smile at the image of a stunningly beautiful Dame Helen Mirren, resplendent in a gorgeous white gown, plowing down gunmen with her 50mm caliber tripod mounted gun, then you simply can't be helped."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 28, 2010
|
|
A+
|
92%
|
Armadillo (2011) |
"
This is gritty, engaging, smart, gorgeously shot, an intimate epic. Armadillo is simply an extraordinary feat of filmmaking and another masterpiece from the film minds in Denmark."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 27, 2010
|
|
B-
|
85%
|
Reel Injun (2010) |
"
At its heart this is a well made, provocative made-for-television documentary, a mix of movie clips and talking head interviews."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 4, 2010
|
|
A
|
74%
|
Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) (2010) |
"
Micmacs, if light and silly, is still a wonderful thing to behold, as clever and beautifully constructed as the wonderful automata that populate the tinker's workroom in the film."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
B+
|
87%
|
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) |
"
There's a dark, dark humour throughout that keeps the film from plunging into over-the-top farce. In the end, BLT is a rambunctious, ridiculous feat of cinematic excess."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
F
|
——
|
Excited (2009) |
"
Canadian crap, an absolute embarrassment to our country's cinema. Awful, terrible performances, sloppy direction, and yet another example of just how terrible a film of this ilk can be."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
C+
|
100%
|
Deliver Us From Evil (2006) |
"
Certainly worth a view, but not the breakout Danish film that I've come to expect year after year."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
B
|
89%
|
My Dog Tulip (2010) |
"
This is at its heart a love story between a man and his dog, and the adventures that unfold are a mix of sweet, ridiculous and absurd. A charming little piece, a pleasurable distraction from more heady films."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
A-
|
83%
|
Hipsters (2011) |
"
The music's fun, the production design top notch, this unexpected little treasure was an absolute joy."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
A+
|
60%
|
Mr. Nobody (2009) |
"
This is thought provoking without pretentiousness, full of ideas and passion that deserves a wide audience...Giving oneself over to the film is a pleasure that's not soon to be repeated."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
B+
|
81%
|
Panique au village (A Town Called Panic) (2009) |
"
This is just silly fun, a bunch of plastic people that seem at times, shockingly, to have quite a bit of character depth and nuance. Mostly, however, it's gag after gag, and does run out of steam towards the end."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
F
|
——
|
Mai tian (Wheat) (2009) |
"
Another dynastic Chinese historical epic gone awry - this one's even worse than you might expect."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
A-
|
89%
|
Eastern Promises (2007) |
"
"It starts very well, and we're immediately drawn into this world of dead pregnant teens, the Russian mob, the hermeneutics of tattoos and the archetypal disappointment of a father with his son.""
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
A
|
91%
|
Up in the Air (2009) |
"
Reitman proves with Up in the Air that the sky's the limit for his career - he has proven with his three films to be one of the premiere directors of his generation."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
B+
|
81%
|
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2010) |
"
A highly interesting film from writer/director Blakeson, a fine low- budget thriller with good performances, with a clever yet archetypal plot."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
A-
|
48%
|
Ong Bak 2 (2009) |
"
Let me be blunt - Ong Bak 2 is an incoherent mess...[Yet is] awesome, stupid, incoherent fun."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
B+
|
49%
|
Last Night (2011) |
"
Keira Knightley gives one of her most nuanced performances, showing extraordinary range without ever coming across as showy... This is a well crafted, enjoyable ensemble piece with a captivating conclusion."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 1, 2010
|
|
A+
|
77%
|
I'm Not There (2007) |
"
Sit back, and enjoy one of the finest biographical films ever made... This is a fiction about a lie more true than the truth, the story of the story, with metaphors writ large on the screen, metaphors about the smiling simile that is Bob Dylan."
—
Filmfest
Posted Sep 11, 2007
|
|
D-
|
44%
|
Ex Drummer (2011) |
"
Ex Drummer is a mess of a film, a tawdry, bizarre tale that has enough visual style to set it apart, barely, from being a complete waste of several hours of your life."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 8, 2007
|
|
A+
|
94%
|
My Winnipeg (2007) |
"
Part documentary, part autobiography, part psychotherapy, Maddin's smooth narration and pithy asides take us in his inimitable style on a journey through what he dubs "the coldest city in North America"."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 8, 2007
|
|
A-
|
75%
|
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) |
"
With an almost aching restraint in the performances and storytelling, Assassination makes for a quite enjoyable film if you give yourself over to its pacing and style."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 8, 2007
|
|
A+
|
95%
|
No Country for Old Men (2007) |
"
This is a film that pulls no punches - it's brutal, violent and at times perverse. It is almost sadistic in how it removes all sense of catharsis from the audience, yet does so with such grace and efficiency that you're constantly shaking your head in ama"
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 8, 2007
|
|
A
|
94%
|
Juno (2007) |
"
It's a thinking person's teen flick, a feel-good film that earns its earnestness. It's got the-little-film-that-could spirit that could see it succeed like Little Miss Sunshine, but for my money it's the better of the two..."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 7, 2007
|
|
B
|
90%
|
Michael Clayton (2007) |
"
A story rich in ideas that doesn't blow valuable time proselytizing its message."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 7, 2007
|
|
B-
|
72%
|
Lust, Caution (2007) |
"
It's a film to admire, but not an easy one to fall in love with."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 7, 2007
|
|
C
|
43%
|
The Brave One (2007) |
"
In the end it's a film that doesn't know what it wants to be - on the one hand it's visceral entertainment (B-thriller?), and on the other hand it tries for some arch conservative, Reaganesque view of conflict resolution."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Sep 7, 2007
|
|
A-
|
——
|
Chicken Rice War () |
"
The Montagues and Capulets are replaced by the Wong's and Chan's, as an age-old rivalry between two Chicken Rice sellers has dragged on for generations."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 25, 2007
|
|
A-
|
50%
|
Sheitan (Satan) (2006) |
"
Kids-in-the-country vibe mixes teen horror with Deliverance"
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
B+
|
68%
|
Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin valot) (2007) |
"
Another weird, frigid tale by Kaurismaki."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
C+
|
70%
|
Amazing Grace (2007) |
"
While the subject matter is ripe for investigation, the film isn't quite up to the challenge."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
D+
|
——
|
Invisible Waves (2007) |
"
The story of betrayal, poisoning, karaoke and manky cruise ships is often convoluted despite the deliberate pace."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
93%
|
Flirting (1990) |
"
Animation is used here clearly to allow the story to be told with a certain amount of distance, yet the constant shift in tone and introduction of video elements keeps the film intensely unsettling."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
B-
|
——
|
Tales of the Rat Fink (2006) |
"
Bubble cars and air-brushed flames abound...Interesting and accessible."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
B-
|
——
|
No Place Like Home () |
"
The classic reggae of the soundtrack (interspersed with MOR 70s schmaltz) keeps the film chugging along."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A+
|
63%
|
Severance (2006) |
"
A slasher film with a brain, cleverly constructed with strong performances and storyline....The Office meets Deliverance...."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
86%
|
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006) |
"
It's pretentious, arch, and often times ridiculous (as well as being philosophically incoherent, trying to sound smarter than it actually is), but it's in the end a lot of fun."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
B+
|
79%
|
Sharkwater (2007) |
"
Pretty, if polemical look at Sharks, the illegal harvesting of fins, and one man's journey into radical activism."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
C-
|
38%
|
Ye yan (Legend of the Black Scorpion) (The Banquet) (2006) |
"
A beautiful, if incomprehensible and interminable film with fest-fav Zhang Zi-Yi."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
D-
|
38%
|
Bonneville (2006) |
"
This is Pablum masking as a tragi-comic chick flick, and should be avoided by all thinking people."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
76%
|
Black Book (Zwartboek) (2007) |
"
Carice van Houten is an astonishing find, and if someone were on the ball she'd be world famous sooner rather than later."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
B+
|
33%
|
Breaking and Entering (2007) |
"
A convoluted plot of break-ins, architectural redevelopment and mid-30s life crises mask a fairly standard tale of a love triangle."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
C-
|
——
|
Remembering Arthur (2006) |
"
Overly long, with stories that end up going nowhere, the filmmaker is clearly to close to the subject (his friend Arthur), and this eulogy does little but hold up his closest friends to scrutiny that is not sustainable."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
95%
|
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) |
"
A film with vision..."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
D
|
36%
|
Trapped Ashes (2008) |
"
A horrible mess of horror movie cliches..."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
90%
|
Rescue Dawn (2007) |
"
A very accomplished film, and Bale continues to impress with his craft."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
91%
|
So Goes the Nation (2006) |
"
The star of the show is Paul Bagala, who in no uncertain terms points out the foibles of his own side's defeat."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
F
|
25%
|
Copying Beethoven, (Klang der Stille) (2006) |
"
A horrid mess of a film, only the music elevates it from being a total dud."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
|
A-
|
66%
|
Shortbus (2006) |
"
Incredibly sexy without being titilating, this is a very well crafted flick that deserves a bigger audience than it will inevitably receive."
—
Film Scouts
Posted Jun 21, 2007
|
62%
——
97%
