Rotten C
| Rotten 37%
| Nine (2009) | "
The film suffers from the simple fact that its songs aren't memorable." — Detroit News Posted Dec 28, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
Director Jason Reitman brings such splendid balance and nuance to Bingham's story that you can't hate the man; indeed you end up pitying him." — Detroit News Posted Dec 24, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Nicolas Cage is out of his mind in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans. And it's wonderful to see." — Detroit News Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 14%
| Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) | "
Cliché-ridden, stereotype-stuffed and clunky at every inevitably false turn, it's so bad that star Hugh Grant, usually the most relaxed of actors, actually seems to be in pain throughout the film." — Detroit News Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Fresh 64%
| Missing Person (2009) | "
The real mystery here is how writer-director Noah Buschel talked recent supporting Oscar nominees Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan into doing this movie." — Detroit News Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Fresh A+
| Fresh 83%
| Avatar (2009) | "
I have seen the future of movies, and it is Avatar." — Detroit News Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 83%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
An instant if minor classic." — Detroit News Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 76%
| Invictus (2009) | "
A work of flawed majesty." — Detroit News Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 83%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
A thoroughly enjoyable film that wraps a coming-of-age story around the portrait of a genius." — Detroit News Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 88%
| Skin (2009) | "
Potent, still relevant and inspiring while maddening, Skin shows some of our best and much of our worst." — Detroit News Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 78%
| $9.99 (2009) | "
A small gem of an animated film, $9.99 manages to be rich in whimsy and fantastical turns while still rooted in human ground." — Detroit News Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 28%
| Serious Moonlight (2009) | "
It's a tribute to writer Adrienne Shelley and first-time director Cheryl Hines that, despite the film's flaws, it ultimately pulls off its unlikely tone." — Detroit News Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 46%
| Everybody's Fine (2009) | "
There's no challenge to this material, no real emotional pull, it's one of those films that simply rolls by until its right-from-the-beginning predictable ending." — Detroit News Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Rotten 57%
| Brothers (2009) | "
Sheridan and Maguire orchestrate things perfectly here, running a line of tension through the film that explodes at the end, just as it should." — Detroit News Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
— | Rotten 6%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
Is any of it believable for even one moment? Of course not. Do some of the jokes work? Sure." — Detroit News Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 72%
| The Road (2009) | "
The Road -- centered by Mortensen's typically physical but tempered performance -- is hard to watch. But it could have been much harder. Hillcoat isn't doing opera here, he's doing tragedy." — Detroit News Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
The beauty in Foster's portrayal is that it never completely explodes, but anger and aching seethe behind his eyes. Harrelson, meanwhile, is a good old boy with a bad old job." — Detroit News Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 93%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
The result is a quirky film that should work for all ages, with just a hint of dark humor. In this age of high-tech animation, Wes Anderson has found himself in a low-tech wonderland." — Detroit News Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 31%
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | "
Rain is a very talented slaughterer. He could kill you with a pair of tweezers, a hair dryer, two bananas, whatever. Be glad he's a good ninja." — Detroit News Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
A big bowl of adolescent romantic mush garnished with horror-lite action scenes and a rushed road trip, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a mess." — Detroit News Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
If you do watch -- and you certainly should -- you will see one of the most remarkable performances ever set to film, given by Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe." — Detroit News Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 23%
| Planet 51 (2009) | "
Mediocre, clunky and just so not special." — Detroit News Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh c+
| N/A | American Harmony (2009) | "
American Harmony is a successful greatest hits compilation of top-level performances of recent years; but that makes you want it to be so much more." — Detroit News Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
Pirate Radio is a bit of a mess. But an amiable mess nonetheless, with the boys' casual chemistry and the music carrying things along, it's not that hard to watch and it's great to listen to." — Detroit News Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Rotten 50%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
Self-loathing, mean, ugly and perfectly made, Antichrist is probably the best film ever that you'd recommend to absolutely no one." — Detroit News Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
Don't pay money to see it, don't waste your time if it comes on cable; you might not even want to bother reading the rest of this review." — Detroit News Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
This is fear-mongering, sentimental, horror show shtick, but it's also fairly competent, making 2012 a work of awful efficiency" — Detroit News Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
Unintentionally, laughably bad." — Detroit News Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
Want the creeps for Christmas? Then check out the latest version of A Christmas Carol." — Detroit News Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 53%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
This is grizzled, wild-eyed Clooney, not the suave sophisticate, and it's a nice change of pace." — Detroit News Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 94%
| The Damned United (2009) | "
The Damned United is a thoughtful and entertaining study on the perils of ambition that has little to do with soccer and a lot to do with being human. Well-played." — Detroit News Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
This Is It isn't Michael Jackson at his greatest; it's him preparing to be at his greatest. But just watching that preparation is gift enough." — Detroit News Posted Oct 28, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 48%
| Astro Boy (2009) | "
Astro Boy is a blast, a jolt of Japanese anime channeled through British slap-shtick that ends up yet another cool cartoon for both kids and adults." — Detroit News Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 82%
| Earth Days (2009) | "
Yes, the future still looks grim and whales are hunted here as they are in all such films, but Stone spends most of his time tracking something positive -- the birth of the environmental movement in the '60s and '70s." — Detroit News Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 65%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
The film is unfailingly funny." — Detroit News Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 73%
| More Than a Game (2009) | "
Expertly orchestrated and unavoidably moving, More Than a Game is nevertheless your standard inspirational sports story about spunky kids who defy the odds to become champions." — Detroit News Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh C+
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Intellectually interesting, visually arresting and filled with invention, there's just one crucial thing Where the Wild Things Are is missing: wildness." — Detroit News Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
Life is pain. Life is funny. Things happen randomly, with no purpose or reason that can be discerned. Searching for answers is futile. Enjoy what you can." — Detroit News Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
A classy, intelligent, low-key affair and a fine reminder of what's really essential to most lives: family." — Detroit News Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
This is one of those films, like last week's Whip It and so many others of late, that looks like it was a lot fun to make. It's just not all that much fun to watch." — Detroit News Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 91%
| Cloud 9 (2009) | "
The result is a film in which age matters not at all and yet still matters hugely, and in which love is still a dream come true and an absolute mess." — Detroit News Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 66%
| Dead Snow (2009) | "
It's a good season for zombies." — Detroit News Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
It's a black-blood-spitting mugging of a movie, but it's also relentlessly funny and innovative, the sort of film that makes you writhe and laugh at the same time." — Detroit News Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten B
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
Michael Moore is up to his old tricks in Capitalism: A Love Story, and that's sure to both infuriate, and entertain and inform, depending which side of the Michael Moore fence you stand on." — Detroit News Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 83%
| Whip It (2009) | "
Whip It looks like it was a fun movie to make. Unfortunately, it's not all that fun to watch." — Detroit News Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 40%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
The film moves along so quickly, and the surrogate world look is so eerie." — Detroit News Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
A mesmerizing study of the tension between commerce and creativity." — Detroit News Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 32%
| The Burning Plain (2009) | "
It's serious stuff, intended for serious movie people. The only problem is, serious movie people have already been there, done that." — Detroit News Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 84%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
For a film about love, Bright Star is curiously cold, more pretty than emotional. True stars have heat." — Detroit News Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 85%
| World's Greatest Dad (2009) | "
Offering Robin Williams his richest role in memory while serving up a nice cold bowl of shock soup for the audience, World's Greatest Dad is a surprisingly smart and severely twisted dark comedy from comic Bobcat Goldthwait." — Detroit News Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
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