Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| 3:10 to Yuma (2007) | "
Yuma portrays a West that is stark, barren, and morally ambiguous. Like all the great "revisionist westerns" of recent years, very few characters are all good or all bad." Posted Sep 19, 2007 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 76%
| Appaloosa (2008) | "
Appaloosa is entertaining, certainly, but it feels rather slight and feeble next to some of its more superior recent cohorts in the western genre." Posted Sep 22, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 54%
| Australia (2008) | "
It's an ode to a place (exotic to some, familiar to others), yes, but more than that, Australia is state of mind: wonderment, grandeur, beauty, love, escape, hope." Posted Nov 26, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 96%
| Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008) | "
A foreboding look at our conception of the human being: as a mechanism that can be sculpted, doped, enhanced, and perfected because, well, because we all want to be powerful and attractive." Posted May 30, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 85%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
A beautiful film and a strikingly truthful one, and not because it waxes too philosophic or throws down the intellectual gauntlet." Posted Oct 31, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| Cassandra's Dream (2008) | "
Farrell and McGregor deliver remarkably nuanced performances in and through their mundane one-dimensionality, taking average Joes and give them average strengths and weaknesses." Posted Jan 23, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| Chicago 10 (2008) | "
The filmmakers' hope, presumably, is that kids will see Chicago 10 and get stirred into action%u2014taking to the streets to take down The Man, Yippie style." Posted Feb 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 63%
| Death at a Funeral (2007) | "
Very funny and entertaining, a sometimes-dark comedy somewhere between Four Weddings and a Funeral and Meet the Parents." Posted Oct 12, 2007 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 80%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
As Walt discovers, we can lament change all we want, but ultimately what's gone is gone. What's important is what we leave behind--our successes, failures, and '72 Detroit-made muscle cars." Posted Dec 16, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 40%
| Hancock (2008) | "
Most of Hancock's faults can be forgiven because Will Smith creates a quintessentially American hero: flawed, frayed, but always sacrificing for the sake of others." Posted Jul 10, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 84%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
It's no Citizen Kane, and it won't change your life. But it's a well-told story, and sometimes that's enough." Posted Nov 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| Milk (2008) | "
Milk achieves what it sets out to do, telling an inspiring tale of one man's quest to legitimize his identity, to give hope to his community." Posted Nov 26, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 75%
| My Best Friend (2007) | "
A wonderful, rare film that portrays one of the most under-represented but universal human neuroses: the desire for friendship or platonic love." Posted Oct 12, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 100%
| Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008) | "
A simple and inspiring story told through the medium of film. But for what it is, it definitely gets the job done." Posted Nov 7, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 89%
| Rescue Dawn (2007) | "
Even as this film is being proclaimed as Herzog's "most accessible" yet, there are still some serious layers of beauty and depth that go beyond most any film you'll see this year." Posted Oct 12, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
A showcase for DiCaprio and Winslet's formidable talents, and they are up to the challenge of playing tortured, well intentioned but ultimately doomed victims of dashed dreams." Posted Dec 31, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 98%
| Surfwise (2008) | "
When so many documentaries today seem concerned only with arguing a point, it's nice to see something like this which seeks only to reveal." Posted May 9, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 85%
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) | "
Touches on Dostoevskian notions of playing God and purging the world of its lowlife rabble, and at times Todd seems something of a proletariat hero, exacting class reparations by night and knife." Posted Dec 21, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 81%
| Talk to Me (2007) | "
A compelling portrait of a particularly tumultuous time in American history and how the media of the day adapted to and helped foster the many changes that were going on." Posted Oct 12, 2007 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 44%
| The Box (2009) | "
A confounding sci-fi mystery on one level and a tortured existential treatise on the other, pondering the nature of man in relation to God." Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Road (2009) | "
It's fitting that The Road opens at Thanksgiving. It will thrill you, unsettle you, but mostly remind you that even in the darkest of times there is much to be thankful for." Posted Nov 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| The Savages (2007) | "
The Savages does a good job keeping things in perspective by pointing out the "what can you do?" absurdity of it all. We all face mortality, and we can all laugh at it too." Posted Nov 30, 2007 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Visitor (2008) | "
Thoroughly, refreshingly unique, a film that weaves a tight, timely tale that is equal parts heart-warming and wrenching." Posted Apr 18, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| U2 3D (2008) | "
The experience of sight and sound that one encounters in U23D is undeniably breathtaking. . . The next best thing to actually being at a live concert." Posted Jan 23, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 60%
| W. (2008) | "
In an election season where personal faults are turned into salacious attack ads, it's reassuring to see that the typically salacious Stone is willing to exercise some restraint." Posted Oct 17, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| What Would Jesus Buy? (2007) | "
The passion that is evident in the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir is contagious and admirable. Many Christian churches could learn a few things from this secular outfit." Posted Nov 19, 2007 |
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