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Adam Fendelman

Agrees with the Tomatometer 76% of the time.

Publications:: HollywoodChicago.com
Critics' Group:: Chicago Film Critics Association

Total Reviews:: 206

Location:: Chicago

Worst Reviewed Films

Showing 1 - 50 of 206

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
0.5/5	8%	Postal (2007)	" Avian flu, atomic bombs and solidarity are the main themes throughout this opus of insufferable screen time while nausea seems to be the only thing you take with you when the film comes to its nuclear holocaust of a closing." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 29, 2008
.5/5	17%	Sleepwalking (2008)	" The direction is hackneyed with all-ponderous close-ups to guess the character's 'deep,' inner thoughts. It was unquestionably 'sleepwalking,' which is a perfect description of any audience member who chooses to walk out on this one." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Mar 13, 2008
1/5	3%	Deal (2008)	" Deal recycles every nuance of every underdog sports movie -- from Rocky to Rudy to Invincible -- but not well. Burt Reynolds plays a mysterious stranger like he needs a three-year nap." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 23, 2008
1/5	0%	One Missed Call (2008)	" The phone terror theme is tired and director Eric Valette's version is even more predictable than the original. If it's going to call itself a horror, then don't make us laugh." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 5, 2008
1/5	27%	The Final Season (2007)	" Even though they were going for a delicious treat, the ingredients of poor acting, disastrous dialogue and bad casting made this a meal that needs to be skipped." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Oct 12, 2007
1/5	36%	Sydney White (2007)	" The unconquerable cake for must-miss movie of the year goes to Sydney White." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
1/5	20%	Death Sentence (2007)	" Don't hire Kevin Bacon for a role you wrote for Charles Bronson." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
1/5	22%	Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)	" It's a movie only 'roided zombie fans, optimistic executives and mothers can love." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 20, 2007
1.5/5.0	11%	Red Riding Hood (2011)	" Hardwicke's "Red Riding Hood" proves the "Twilight" formula isn't always a surefire bet. While it wasn't a comedy (and should have been), its only redeeming quality is it's funny to mock." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Mar 10, 2011
1.5/5	20%	The Tourist (2010)	" The epic fail of "The Tourist" starts with its name, which should have been "Pay $10 Just to Gawk at Angelina Jolie's Pretty Face Even Though You Can Get Online Porn For Free"." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Dec 10, 2010
1.5/5	43%	Jennifer's Body (2009)	" Jennifer's Body is a tragic desecration of mammoth talent that'll serve as an arresting step back in the buoyant career of Oscar-winning Juno scribe Diablo Cody. Plus it needed a sexpot who could act, too, and Megan Fox can't." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 17, 2009
1.5/5	45%	The Strangers (2008)	" The good thing about the three masked intruders is that they stay masked. This saves their careers. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Scott Speedman. He reacts to every scary indignation as if he was being checked for fleas." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted May 31, 2008
1.5/5	56%	The Signal (2008)	" There is plenty of style but little substance in this sci-fi twist on torture porn." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Feb 21, 2008
1.5/5	26%	Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)	" It's as if the capitalistic ventures of entertainment and the development of new technology have joined forces to ruin my childhood memories." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Dec 14, 2007
1.5/5	18%	Illegal Tender (2007)	" You know the film is off to a paltry start when you see the rookie Rick Gonzalez attempt to strut bad-boy, awww-yeah stuff. Instead, he feels like a 21-year-old boy just going through puberty." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 20, 2007
2.0/5.0	52%	John Carter (2012)	" There's no surer-fire way for a film to ink its own $250-million obituary than by contrasting itself to two of Hollywood's most titanic films when it only has half the heart, soul and story of either one." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Mar 10, 2012
2.0/5.0	85%	Chronicle (2012)	" This film's fanboy ejaculate loves you short time as it spews the buildup of what could be interpreted as a "story" and ultimately ends without one." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Feb 3, 2012
2.0/5.0	25%	Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)	" The bloated franchise's worst film without question, the fourth "Twilight" popcorn flick is a futile exercise on the disappointment of anti-climactic waiting. It doesn't sparkle or shine. It flickers, and then disappointingly dies." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Nov 18, 2011
2.0/5.0	44%	30 Minutes or Less (2011)	" Devastatingly mistaking makeshift witticisms for authentic philistine comedy translates into a film that's unfunny as a used tampon is appetizing." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Aug 11, 2011
2.0/5.0	69%	Limitless (2011)	" While so many films have already taken us down this rabbit hole, "Limitless" will be remembered for forgetting to make us care we've fallen down it the second we leave the theater." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Mar 18, 2011
2/5	64%	Predators (2010)	" Since these aliens just live to parachute humans into their game preserve, you're left thinking they instead play canasta, cuddle with one another and hop through open fields like bunny rabbits because they sure haven't evolved to modern expectations." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jul 11, 2010
2.0/5.0	35%	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)	" Another video game adaptation fail, but the blockbuster time drain isn't entirely in vain. Its mindless entertainment is excellent background noise for making out at home." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted May 29, 2010
2/5	43%	Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)	" The plot of this film feels like a garage sale jigsaw puzzle: its pieces out of order, warped and shoved into places they don't go with a few extra pieces thrown into the box." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted May 22, 2009
2/5	19%	Righteous Kill (2008)	" Al Pacino and Robert De Niro seem to make this schlock palatable, but for everyone thinking Righteous Kill is going to be the next Heat, you're going to be left burnt. It's more like a bad episode of Law & Order." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 12, 2008
2/5	43%	Death Race (2008)	" The unfortunately simple message of Death Race merely says we're living in a time and place where financial corruption can allow us to prostitute ourselves to charge $250 to watch one guy violently off another for our viewing pleasure." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Aug 22, 2008
2/5	41%	The Rocker (2008)	" Rainn Wilson said in an interview on The Rocker: 'There is something about a drummer. They're not cerebral. I have a tendency to be more cerebral and reserved. But he's a big puppy dog. It was lot of fun to plunge into that character.'"" — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Aug 19, 2008
2/5	13%	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)	" This threequel is so hackneyed that even star Brendan Fraser wasn't enough to sell audiences on a third return. Even Jet Li couldn't save the day." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Aug 1, 2008
2/5	40%	Hancock (2008)	" With superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film Hancock fits with the label but without any of the ancestry. The 1983 film The Return of Captain Invincible is flipping in its grave." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jul 3, 2008
2/5	51%	Get Smart (2008)	" Combining dull action-movie elements, badly cast movie stars and an uncomfortable romance, Get Smart has forgotten all about its TV roots and most of the humor. Steve Carell is clearly not up to the challenge of filling Don Adams' phone shoe." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jun 20, 2008
2/5	69%	The Duchess of Langeais (Ne Touchez Pas La Hache)(Don't Touch the Axe) (2007)	" If you like multi-arced episodes of Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece Theatre), the pacing might work in this padded film. As it was, experiencing this in real time was akin to watching two snails race on a muddy track." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jun 10, 2008
2/5	30%	The Children of Huang Shi (2008)	" There's a feeling of skimming the surface of a true story that would be better served by being grittier or more challenging. As well, the narrative deserves more than an obvious and improbable love story between two good-looking movie stars." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jun 7, 2008
2/5	14%	Deception (2008)	" Despite its timid title, Deception has all the right ingredients for a decent tale of mystery. The real mystery is why this strong beginning led to such a weak and conventional conclusion." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 24, 2008
2/5	18%	Chapter 27 (2007)	" Despite the subject, the script is flat. Despite using the real locations, the production looked cheesy. Finally, the decision to strip Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's killer) of any humanity makes the narrative decidedly one note." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 21, 2008
2/5	16%	Untraceable (2008)	" While certain aspects are comparable to great suspense films like Seven and The Vanishing, the underlying ethical lessons in the film pluck the thrill out of the thriller. What's left is a preachy and predictable paradox." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 24, 2008
2/5	23%	Mad Money (2008)	" Whenever there's stunt-movie casting with divergent generations of Hollywood "stars," there's bound to be trouble at the multiplex." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 18, 2008
2/5	33%	Music Within (2007)	" Second-time director Steven Sawalich's "music" presumably still resides inside him because it doesn't resound in his Music Within message movie." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Oct 26, 2007
2/5	72%	Lust, Caution (2007)	" The worth of Lust, Caution doesn't seem apparent until the last act of the 157-minute film, which is filled with more love than lust and much more caution than action." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Oct 8, 2007
2/5	15%	The Brothers Solomon (2007)	" The Brothers Solomon is still on the beach with its head in the sand." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
2/5	13%	Mr. Woodcock (2007)	" Just from eyeing the Mr. Woodcock movie poster, you could suspect exactly what the movie will be. Just 90 minutes later, your suspicions would be confirmed." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
2/5	15%	The Condemned (2007)	" This is why wrestlers wrestle and actors act." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
2/5	29%	Lucky You (2007)	" Lucky You undoes what Rounders did right." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
2/5	19%	Rush Hour 3 (2007)	" When the outakes are the best part of a film, you know something's seriously backward. Here's Rush Hour 3 succinctly described in one word: Meh." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 21, 2007
2/5	23%	Balls of Fury (2007)	" Thank you. Try again." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Sep 20, 2007
2.5/5.0	51%	Contraband (2012)	" A film can't just rely on the surefire ingredients a big-budget film needs to become a box-office success. This film did, and because "Contraband" played it too safe and didn't take risks, its surefire bet misfires." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 14, 2012
2.5/5.0	38%	Cars 2 (2011)	" "Cars 2" is a Honda needing a body shop as compared to the pristine Ferrari that was "Cars". It's an unequal Pixar blend for adults and kiddies that never evolves into the storytelling success of its predecessor." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jun 24, 2011
2.5/5.0	61%	Water for Elephants (2011)	" Based on the spinal column of a richly worthwhile novel, a catastrophically miscast lead duo and a vegetarian screen story only serve up scant droplets from this tale's oceanic potential." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 22, 2011
2.5/5.0	32%	I Am Number Four (2011)	" Thankfully for Chicagoans this film doesn't star Brett Favre because of his numerical jersey affiliation, but with a story this weak, that stretch wouldn't be too far." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Feb 18, 2011
2.5/5.0	53%	The Mechanic (2011)	" Despite all his high-octane assignments, the only imperfection Statham receives is the crow's feet on his face. That's because his invincible shield protects him from all the rest of the body-razing annihilation that his person should have endured." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 28, 2011
2.5/5.0	44%	The Green Hornet (2011)	" Seth Rogen's character should have evolved with humility and authenticity by relinquishing his bogus stranglehold as The Green Hornet and becoming The Guy Who Smokes a Fat Blunt Better Than You But Only Kicks Ass Like Your Great Grandma." — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Jan 15, 2011
2.5/5	32%	The Lovely Bones (2009)	" Interview with Rose McIver of The Lovely Bones: "It was terrifying to see [Stanley Tucci] transform on screen into someone so utterly different from himself."" — HollywoodChicago.com Posted Apr 23, 2010

Showing 1 - 50 of 206

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