Fresh A-
| Fresh 83%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
In Almodóvar and Cruz we have a real collaboration of artist and inspiration that only seems to improve and deepen over time." — Oregonian Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 82%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
Built around Firth’s fine work, A Single Man is a handsome film that, like its slender source novel, is stylish, quiet and sure." — Oregonian Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 70%
| Sherlock Holmes (2009) | "
Despite some arresting visual flourishes and Downey’s inherent likeability, it’s nearly incoherent both as cinema and as story." — Oregonian Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 37%
| Nine (2009) | "
Overheated and unengaging, Nine is studded with brilliant actors, only some of whom work to their highest levels and then, often, only in moments." — Oregonian Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
There's a slickness and calculation to the tone and texture, but it's closely wedded to the story and it's awfully well done. Even if you doubt the film's sincerity, you can't deny its skill." — Oregonian Posted Dec 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| Avatar (2009) | "
The relatively small truth that it has some embarrassing moments of dialogue and a simple plot and superficial resemblances to other movies doesn’t change the fact that it blasts open the possibilities of the cinema as few films ever have." — Oregonian Posted Dec 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
Linklater relies on an old-fashioned story and a gallery of fine performances, choosing modest directorial ambitions that suit the material like a second skin." — Oregonian Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 76%
| Invictus (2009) | "
It’s not a great film, but parts of it are outstanding." — Oregonian Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 80%
| Collapse (2009) | "
Sitting in a tiled basement, chain-smoking, dropping names and statistics and data with chilling certainty, Ruppert makes a compelling case that everything we know is about to end." — Oregonian Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 46%
| Everybody's Fine (2009) | "
It’s offensive, really, this blatant pandering to emotions." — Oregonian Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 89%
| Red Cliff (2009) | "
Woo doesn't have Yimou's natural feel for the courtly culture, or, perhaps, his sweeping way with this type of story. But his hand is sure and his eye, as ever, finds beauty in everything, even death." — Oregonian Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 78%
| Bronson (2009) | "
Director and co-writer Nicolas Winding Refn strives mightily to match his star crescendo for crescendo, which can be exhausting. But the film is nimble and spare enough to absorb most of the director's outré inspirations." — Oregonian Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 72%
| The Road (2009) | "
It was unforgettable on the page, and it impresses equally, or at least it does so remarkably often, on screen." — Oregonian Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 93%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Anderson's fetish for quirk and detail finds in the fabricated world of a stop-motion film a kind of natural playground; if he's increasingly drawn to characters that are only marginally human, why not make them beasties and, better, puppets of beasties?" — Oregonian Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 92%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
The likes of Dante Aligheri, Hieronymus Bosch, Goya and James Joyce have tried to represent Hell in their works, but I’m not sure that any has conveyed the reality of damnation more fully than this brave little film." — Oregonian Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
As the struggle toward something new and different overwhelms the film, it becomes less and less human, less and less funny and less and less worth the effort to meet it on its own terms." — Oregonian Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten F+
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
Inevitably, given this cast, there are a few actorly moments worth savoring, and the clothes some of the characters wear delight. But this is, quite simply, as bad a film as you could ever fear to see." — Oregonian Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
Carrey’s Scrooge is deliciously pinched and credible. As, indeed, is this film -- that is, when it feels like Dickens and not a theme park ride." — Oregonian Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
There are moments of levity throughout the film, but it’s made with pedestrian craft and feels more like a set-up and a series of vignettes than a compelling yarn." — Oregonian Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
It’s truly a magnificent coming-out." — Oregonian Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 94%
| The Damned United (2009) | "
Sheen’s Clough is as good as his Tony Blair and his David Frost -- which is to say he is absolutely remarkable." — Oregonian Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 21%
| Amelia (2009) | "
Better luck trying to find out what truly happened to the real Earhart than trying to diagnose all that's wrong with this hapless film." — Oregonian Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 65%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
Tautou is, as ever, radiant and deep and affecting, but a film about such an extraordinary personage as Chanel shouldn’t feel so ordinary and wan." — Oregonian Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 56%
| Trucker (2009) | "
The whole thing plays with wobbly craft that, finally, creates a deep patina of suspicion and dullness." — Oregonian Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
To be clear, this is not a shameful debacle like the wretched feature films of Dr. Seuss books released in the last decade, for which I hope all involved will someday pay a grisly and immortal price. But it is a film that deflates you too often..." — Oregonian Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
It’s a story that begins in an ancient riddle and ends, perfectly, in the rumble of an oncoming storm." — Oregonian Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 86%
| Tony Manero (2009) | "
Alfredo Castro is magnetically repellant in the lead, a soulful creep with desperation and a very specific form of madness seeping out of his pores." — Oregonian Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 93%
| Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2009) | "
It’s a ribald and entertaining documentary, filled with great yarns and astonishing images from not only the finished films but from the making of them." — Oregonian Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
This is heartening, rousing stuff. But Moore has shilly-shallied and wandered for too long for it to have maximal impact." — Oregonian Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 92%
| Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (2009) | "
It's absolutely charming to be reminded of -- or, in most cases, introduced to -- Berg and her particular genius. But too much of the film is too light." — Oregonian Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 84%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
There are nice bits throughout, and your heart can’t help but go out to these impassioned young lovers whom you know are doomed. But Bright Star is too often tarnished by the ordinary." — Oregonian Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 66%
| Dead Snow (2009) | "
There's a smidgen of kicky fun in the thing, but the craft varies wildly between clever and sloppy, the acting is rudimentary, and the Nazi element is truly arbitrary." — Oregonian Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
While it may not offer the full Wintour, The September Issue is nonetheless filled with vivacity, charm and, yes, beauty..." — Oregonian Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Rotten 57%
| 9 (2009) | "
At barely an-hour-and-a-quarter in length, it's one of those very rare feature films that you wish were longer." — Oregonian Posted Sep 8, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Dear-hearted but fuzzy in a way that unintentional mirrors the hippie aesthetic of the Woodstock festival, Lee's film is interested not so much in the massive concert as in the Catskill Mountains community which hosted it, however unwillingly." — Oregonian Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
If you've been craving some vampire action but have been averse to the domestic (indeed, domesticated) fare that's currently in vogue, Thirst might well be your cup of, er, tea." — Oregonian Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
An amalgam of tension and frivolity and movie-love and wantonness and sleight-of-hand and mastery and glee." — Oregonian Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 84%
| Soul Power (2009) | "
It's best seen as a breezy entertainment and a reminder of how potent some of these performers -- many of whom are dead -- were in their primes." — Oregonian Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 91%
| Ponyo (2009) | "
Ponyo is memorable for the palpable glee of its protagonist -- a fish out of water who adores the feel of earth beneath her feet and loves her man." — Oregonian Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
Audiences everywhere will appreciate the sleek, pulsating, clever film that Blomkamp has created." — Oregonian Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 95%
| In the Loop (2009) | "
[A] dense and often quite funny spoof." — Oregonian Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 96%
| The Cove (2009) | "
It's an exemplary and incendiary instance of documentary filmmaking as real-world advocacy." — Oregonian Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 78%
| Humpday (2009) | "
Humpday [captures] the lives of its protagonists more credibly than any Hollywood-manufactured comedy of recent vintage." — Oregonian Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
As it morphs from sly show biz satire to implausible romantic dramedy, Funny People loses its footing and can't even simulate plausible reality." — Oregonian Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 86%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
The film does a lovely job of balancing emotional clarity, formal trickery, pop sweetness, and heartfelt narrative." — Oregonian Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 68%
| Tetro (2009) | "
Tetro is a maddening mix of the glorious and the inept." — Oregonian Posted Jul 24, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 91%
| Every Little Step (2009) | "
A film that's a bit Chorus Line and a bit American Idol, with hopefuls finding themselves auditioning for the very people who created the landmark show in which they wish to appear." — Oregonian Posted Jul 17, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 97%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
The Hurt Locker is episodic and, at times, overwrought. And occasionally its deliberate opacity becomes too cloudy. But the things that shine through are remarkable." — Oregonian Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 67%
| Bruno (2009) | "
All the cautions and qualifications in the world are blasted out of your head by some of the film's astoundingly hilarious ideas and sequences." — Oregonian Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
The update isn't entirely successful and the film has unignorable flaws. But enough of the zest and freshness of the original creation are still evident in Whatever Works so that it can stand comfortably alongside other, better Allen films." — Oregonian Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
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