Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 81%
| Departures (2009) | "
This Japanese film’s receipt of the award for best foreign-language picture at this year’s Oscars was a case of the Academy favouring bland sentimentality." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 63%
| The Girlfriend Experience (2009) | "
This may one day be an interesting time capsule, but it’s a lacklustre drama." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 64%
| The Merry Gentleman (2009) | "
The subdued relationship that develops between the two characters is out of balance with the fanciful contrivances that bring them together." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 84%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
If you know the novel, you’re likely to feel that something has been lost here; if you don’t, you still have the film’s monotonous pacing to contend with. Still, Jacobs has directed an intelligent, intriguing drama." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 89%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
It’s a plodding film in its storytelling, but with a sensitive attitude to its subject. In its best moments, it simply wonders at the rapturous state in which this devout Christian creates her art." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 15%
| Mr. Right (2009) | "
A patchy film." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 24%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
What sours F Gary Gray’s film is the drawn-out sadism of its violence — a depressing case of torture-porn methods infecting another genre." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 46%
| Nativity! () | "
A plucky, well-meant enterprise reliant on its audience’s festive goodwill." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
Chris Weitz’s film caters as well as the previous movie did to pale, fantasy-loving teenage girls, while adding a bit more humour for the rest of us." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 44%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
Jennifer is dead-eyed and impassive, but a good actress might yet have played her in a lively, knowing way. Fox’s dead-eyed impassiveness seems all too much her own." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
It’s not the worst cutesy, lo-fi love story you’ll ever see, but it’s shown up by all those genuine true-life tales. Alongside them, its falseness is too glaring." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 92%
| Welcome () | "
Such a melodramatic set-up is no way to win round viewers who aren’t predisposed to sympathise with immigrants — or with gloomy middle-aged men." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 100%
| Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno () | "
Intriguing stuff, full of arty shots of a pouting Schneider, it’s well worth a look, even though it’s presented here with only vague information about its context." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
It is done with skill and imagination, and overseen by a director, Robert Zemeckis, who knows the value of occasionally quietening things down for a bit of tension or a precisely timed joke." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 91%
| Love Exposure () | "
It’s different, but it’s exhausting. Without ever being funny, it keeps up a strident, cartoonish tone for all of its four hours." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 47%
| The Horseman (2008) | "
For such a film, The Horseman is too short of flair — there’s not enough of it to distract us from the nastiness." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 10%
| Dead Man Running (2009) | "
If Guy Ritchie lost interest while making another cockney-geezer caper and tried to get himself sacked by deliberately turning in half-hearted work, the result of his non-efforts might look something like this film." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 57%
| 9 (2009) | "
Too violent for small children, but might be enjoyed by fans of Tim Burton, one of the film’s producers." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| Tales from the Golden Age (2009) | "
Every tale is engaging, but not wildly amusing — still, I can imagine Romanian viewers enjoying it. In other words, perhaps you had to be there." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 60%
| Made in Jamaica (2006) | "
I’d have preferred Laperrousaz to give more information about the music’s history. And fans will probably find the film’s performance clips annoyingly short." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
The number of remotely chucklesome jokes in Neal Brennan’s comedy is way too low, and the stuff in between them is grimy and depressing." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 96%
| The Cove (2009) | "
Restrained and harrowing." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 42%
| Colin (2009) | "
I’ve seen crisper, better-lit images on CCTV screens." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
To some extent, then, Paul Weitz’s film is parasitically preying on an established trend, but it also has some fresh blood of its own." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 97%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
Although you will get more out of this self-portrait if you're a film-lover, it can be enjoyed simply for its touching, eloquent reflections on life in general." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 71%
| District 13: Ultimatum (2009) | "
The stunts and fights are all the film needs to justify its existence — never mind that the story is comic-book silliness." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| The Army of Crime (2009) | "
A credible, detailed picture of day-to-day life in occupied France: an attraction in itself." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 78%
| I P Man (2009) | "
The film’s hagiographical simplicity makes the Rocky movies look profound, but this is still a spirited tale with excellent martial-arts scenes." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 26%
| Pandorum (2009) | "
There are some well-executed sequences, but the story makes nothing but a mess of its borrowed ideas." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 10%
| My Life in Ruins (2009) | "
The film and all its characters are as tacky and charmless at the end as they are on first impressions." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 0%
| Jack Said (2009) | "
A dull, poorly acted affair that doesn’t deserve the brief release it’s getting." — Times [UK] Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 80%
| The Thing (1982) | "
The special effects can’t hope to be as creepy to our seen-it-all eyes as they were to the film’s first viewers, but we can still enjoy the monster’s unique weirdness, and the story is a rock-solid yarn." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| Tricks (2007) | "
The slightly-too-calculated cuteness of Andrzej Jakimowski’s film didn’t induce any warm fuzziness in me, but the neatly crafted plot kept me engaged." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 25%
| The Red Baron (2009) | "
Nikolai Müllerschön’s film about the German flying ace has nothing like the sort of flair it needs to get away with its sentimental departures from the historical facts." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 64%
| Greek Pete (2009) | "
If the film truly were a documentary, we would at least know we were getting a picture of real life, albeit a not very enlightening one. Instead, we’re stuck with an undramatic drama." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 77%
| Bustin' Down the Door (2008) | "
Watching top surfers in action is never a chore, but the film’s archive footage would have been even more enjoyable to lay viewers if the commentary had better explained why the men’s innovations were so daring and controversial." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 96%
| Big River Man (2009) | "
It’s a messy film — a few scenes look to be reconstructions, and the lack of any interview with Strel himself is frustrating — but it certainly shows us a colourful part of life’s rich tapestry." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 93%
| Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1 (2009) | "
You start to wonder if that personality is compelling enough to deserve such scrutiny... I’d have settled for a single film compiling the saga’s flashiest moments." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 28%
| The Final Destination (2009) | "
The 3-D effect been applied. It adds a bit of extra fun to what is otherwise a routine repeat of the formula." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 50%
| Jetsam (2008) | "
Once the film has been stripped down to a clear-cut thriller, Welsford keeps it moving smoothly. A useful calling card." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 82%
| In the Realm of the Senses (1976) | "
Declaring yourself bored by a movie full of explicit sex may sometimes mark you out as a dreary pseudo-sophisticate, but in this case it’s fair enough." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Sep 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 95%
| Mid-August Lunch (2009) | "
For every scene in which the old dears’ twinkly-eyed feistiness becomes a bit clichéd, there is another that gives a perceptive, touching view of these women’s lives." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 17, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 100%
| The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) | "
The fondant-fancy colours make the film all the more escapist, yet some pop songs can pierce you to the core." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 58%
| A Perfect Getaway (2009) | "
Twohy seems to think the eventual revelation is clever enough to be worth the price of admission by itself. It isn’t. To give better value, he should have souped up the cartoonish violence of the final scenes." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 29%
| Aliens in the Attic (2009) | "
Cue some uninspired but reasonably entertaining mayhem. The aliens are mediocre CGI bipeds who wouldn’t last 10 seconds against a horde of Gremlins." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 80%
| Yes Men Fix the World (2009) | "
Most of the ideas are admirable and pretty funny." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 11, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 79%
| Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2009) | "
Richet’s punchy style doesn’t add anything new to the conventional, Scorsese-inspired way of presenting gangster movies, but it’s well done, giving the film a constant supply of energy." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 65%
| Adam (2009) | "
It comes across simply as a bit of bland do-gooding." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 25%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
By and large, it’s knockabout kids’ stuff (and has been advertised on that basis), but it has some quite risqué smut." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 24%
| G-Force (2009) | "
Obtain a human-sized version of a hamster wheel, then spend a couple of hours scurrying around inside it, and you’ll have had an experience far more varied and stimulating than what’s on offer here." — Sunday Times (UK) Posted Aug 4, 2009 |
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