|
|
92%
|
Chico & Rita (2012) |
"
It's so passionate about the Latin and big-band music of the '40s, '50s and '60s that it'll make anyone who grew up listening to those vibrant rhythms feel like a kid again."
—
NPR
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
|
64%
|
The Woman in Black (2012) |
"
The director uses time-honored techniques to keep you on edge, every one of which graced Hammer films of yore. But happily for the picture, there's a reason they're time-honored."
—
NPR
Posted Feb 2, 2012
|
|
|
86%
|
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (2012) |
"
The lady was - and remains - a pro, still glowin', crowin', goin' strong."
—
NPR
Posted Jan 20, 2012
|
|
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011) |
"
A constant surprise, a film that captures the drama and suspense of real life as urgently as any picture released this year."
—
NPR
Posted Jan 4, 2012
|
|
|
75%
|
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
"
The joy [Spielberg] brings to the film's action is contagious."
—
NPR
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
|
63%
|
We Bought a Zoo (2011) |
"
Damon proves amiable and appealing in a part that's not asking him to stretch much."
—
NPR
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
|
71%
|
Carnage (2011) |
"
You're always aware that you're watching filmed theater."
—
NPR
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
7.0
|
80%
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) |
"
The film's bluntness doesn't diminish the power of the nature-versus-nurture questions Eva's asking herself. Or of Swinton's harrowing portrait of parental guilt."
—
NPR
Posted Dec 9, 2011
|
|
7.5
|
82%
|
Young Adult (2011) |
"
In a less acid romp, Mavis would learn life lessons in the final reel, but director Jason Reitman makes it a point not to let her off the hook. "
—
NPR
Posted Dec 9, 2011
|
|
|
84%
|
My Week with Marilyn (2011) |
"
When Williams turns on her inner Marilyn -- surrounded by, say, the staff of a stately home she's visiting on the sly -- she's a superstar, with a smile that could light up the surrounding county."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 23, 2011
|
|
|
97%
|
The Artist (2011) |
"
Silent black-and-white movies are not coming back, but this one is such a rewarding labor of love by all of the artists involved that it just might make you wish they could."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 23, 2011
|
|
|
78%
|
Melancholia (2011) |
"
It's a planet that can't come soon enough for her, but one that I kept willing away. Not, I'm a little embarrassed to say, to save humanity from Melancholia, but simply to stay in this remarkable movie's presence just a little longer."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 11, 2011
|
|
5
|
47%
|
Anonymous (2011) |
"
As silly as most of this is, Anonymous is undeniably a handsome picture. The costumes are gorgeous, with enough velvet and brocade to make everybody seem downright upholstered."
—
NPR
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
93%
|
50/50 (2011) |
"
In other hands, Adam might well be hard to take. But as the comedy in 50/50 turns darker, Gordon-Levitt, who's maybe the most natural, least affected actor of his generation, makes prickly plenty engaging."
—
NPR
Posted Sep 30, 2011
|
|
|
83%
|
Warrior (2011) |
"
Warrior ends up feeling a lot bigger than you expect it to."
—
NPR
Posted Sep 16, 2011
|
|
7/10
|
53%
|
Brighton Rock (2011) |
"
Where the first film had a lawyer spouting Shakespeare, this one mostly has visual panache - crosses and crucifixes rather than dialogue about religion."
—
NPR.org
Posted Aug 26, 2011
|
|
7/10
|
68%
|
Our Idiot Brother (2011) |
"
The rhythms are gentle, the smiles plentiful, the chuckles frequent, with the overall effect about as pleasantly innocuous as the film's hero."
—
NPR
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
7.5/10
|
73%
|
Mozart's Sister (2011) |
"
Gorgeous, with candlelit shots looking like old master paintings - a fine match for music that takes your breath away."
—
NPR
Posted Aug 18, 2011
|
|
70
|
73%
|
The Whistleblower (2011) |
"
It's a thriller sobering enough in its graphic portrayal of forced violence against women that it would be tough to watch if not for the controlled fury Weisz brings to her performance as a down-to-earth avenging angel."
—
NPR
Posted Aug 5, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
91%
|
Point Blank (2011) |
"
Director Fred Cavayé has a reputation in France for getting the audience's pulse pounding, and in Point Blank, he does that while mixing in some intriguing social themes and character types that are usually outsiders to the genre."
—
NPR.org
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
7/10
|
78%
|
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) |
"
In a genre where outright imbecility generally prevails, a film investigating craziness and stupidity qualifies as a cut above."
—
NPR
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
7.5/10
|
80%
|
Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011) |
"
Page One is an insider's view, but if it isn't raking up any muck, it's not a love letter either."
—
NPR
Posted Jun 17, 2011
|
|
|
89%
|
The Trip (2011) |
"
By the time they were singing ABBA songs at the top of their lungs, I was gone. These guys are a hoot, and The Trip is a trip and a half."
—
NPR
Posted Jun 9, 2011
|
|
10/10
|
84%
|
The Tree of Life (2011) |
"
The Tree of Life is astonishing in some spots, almost incoherent in others and if it doesn't frustrate you at least some of the time ... you're not paying attention."
—
NPR
Posted May 31, 2011
|
|
|
34%
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) |
"
Small kids won't really appreciate Johnny Depp either, though frankly he's getting to be less fun as the series ages, possibly realizing that what's riskiest in Pirates 4 isn't walking the plank, but jumping the shark."
—
NPR
Posted May 20, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
54%
|
Hesher (2011) |
"
Director Spencer Susser doesn't try to make Hesher anything other than a sociopath - a walking, profanity-spewing id - and to his credit, neither does Gordon-Levitt."
—
NPR
Posted May 12, 2011
|
|
|
77%
|
Thor (2011) |
"
In the Marvel Comics firmament, Thor qualifies a second-tier superhero, and despite its classier-than-usual director, his film's kind of second-tier too, with lavish effects and big digital battles that register as pretty routine even in 3-D."
—
NPR
Posted May 5, 2011
|
|
10/10
|
92%
|
Incendies (2011) |
"
The storytelling in Incendies strikes me as primal the way Greek tragedy is primal. Shattering. Cathartic. It is a breathtaking film."
—
NPR
Posted Apr 22, 2011
|
|
—
|
76%
|
Cidade dos Homens (City of Men) (2007) |
—
NPR.org
Posted Apr 13, 2011
|
|
6/10
|
77%
|
In A Better World (2011) |
"
There's sufficient craft that you go along with the twists, even as director Susanne Bier is wrapping things up with a neatly tied bow. But in a better world, In a Better World would be a better movie."
—
NPR
Posted Apr 1, 2011
|
|
6/10
|
83%
|
Potiche (2011) |
"
Catherine Deneuve radiates enough intelligence on-screen to be no one's idea of a mere trophy wife, but she makes a brave stab at playing one in Francois Ozon's brightly hued boulevard comedy."
—
NPR
Posted Mar 25, 2011
|
|
9/10
|
88%
|
Rango (2011) |
"
Rango's not just a kiddie-flick (though it has enough silly slapstick to qualify as a pretty good one). It's a real movie lover's movie, conceived as a Blazing Saddles-like comic commentary on genre that's as back-lot savvy as it is light in the saddle."
—
NPR
Posted Mar 4, 2011
|
|
7
|
73%
|
Heartbeats (2011) |
"
It's a bright, slight romp that seems to want to zero in on the pain and trauma of romantic obsession. If the filmmaker weren't having such fun mocking characters who fall hard while pretending not to, it might just be able to achieve that."
—
NPR
Posted Mar 1, 2011
|
|
1/10
|
32%
|
I Am Number Four (2011) |
"
I Am Number Four's CGI sequences are murky and dark, its performances negligible, its script genuinely inept. There is, I should note, a puppy, which arguably keeps the film this side of completely unbearable, but just barely."
—
NPR
Posted Feb 18, 2011
|
|
|
67%
|
The Company Men (2011) |
"
Yes, the film's a little didactic as it lays out the issues. But when it comes to the emotional state of those being laid off, of their families and even of those doing the laying off, it gets things right enough to make audiences squirm."
—
NPR
Posted Jan 18, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
71%
|
I Love You Phillip Morris (2010) |
"
[Both] stars prove to be enormous fun in a gay love story played straight in a thoroughly crooked context -a comic crooked context, mind you..."
—
NPR
Posted Dec 3, 2010
|
|
8/10
|
88%
|
Undertow (2010) |
"
Undertow, for all its narrative tricks, has been given the rhythm and texture of real life, as well as emotional undercurrents that are haunting."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 29, 2010
|
|
10/10
|
95%
|
The King's Speech (2010) |
"
Director Tom Hooper...could here be said to cross up underdog-biopic expectations in what amounts to a high-toned, elegantly upholstered buddy flick. "
—
NPR
Posted Nov 29, 2010
|
|
7/10
|
79%
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010) |
"
Deathly Hallows I actually manages to be involving and kind of artful about the boredom and loneliness of heroism."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 18, 2010
|
|
7.5/10
|
72%
|
Tiny Furniture (2010) |
"
The end result is that Tiny Furniture plays like situation comedy, but with an overlay of performance art. "
—
NPR
Posted Nov 12, 2010
|
|
7/10
|
72%
|
Megamind (2010) |
"
The kiddie set can chortle at Megamind's slapstick and its goofy one-upmanship while adults get a kick out of all the smart spatial tricks that highlight the 3-D effects."
—
NPR
Posted Nov 5, 2010
|
|
7.5/10
|
71%
|
Monsters (2010) |
"
Edwards is a wizard with his laptop's effects program. The squiddy things he conjures up look like the real deal - thoroughly creepy and a gazillion feet tall. "
—
NPR
Posted Oct 29, 2010
|
|
6/10
|
46%
|
Hereafter (2010) |
"
It's as if everyone involved in the film figured they could keep Hereafter from turning ghost-story hokey by making it grounded, beautiful and matter-of-fact. And it sort of works."
—
NPR
Posted Oct 15, 2010
|
|
9/10
|
98%
|
Inside Job (2010) |
"
Clarity and efficiency may not be the sexiest of cinematic virtues, but in Inside Job ? Charles Ferguson's rip-roaring, Wall-Street-damning documentary about 2008's global financial meltdown ? they sure prove powerful tools."
—
NPR
Posted Oct 8, 2010
|
|
10/10
|
96%
|
The Social Network (2010) |
"
The Social Network is terrific entertainment - an unlikely thriller that makes business ethics, class distinctions and intellectual-property arguments sexy"
—
NPR
Posted Sep 30, 2010
|
|
6.5
|
44%
|
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) |
"
The writer-director is in fine if unflashy form, putting a splendid cast through relationship hell in what turns out to be an oddly un-jokey comedy about marital meltdowns."
—
NPR
Posted Sep 23, 2010
|
|
7.5/10
|
81%
|
Catfish (2010) |
"
Your mom told you to be wary of strangers, right? Good advice. And that's all I'm gonna say."
—
NPR
Posted Sep 16, 2010
|
|
8/10
|
52%
|
White Wedding (2010) |
"
White Wedding is about connections, and it has the good sense to pull them together in a film that's sweet, inclusive and sunny."
—
NPR
Posted Sep 2, 2010
|
|
9/10
|
92%
|
The Tillman Story (2010) |
"
The Tillman Story is ferocious filmmaking, but it wouldn't have half the force it does if the director didn't also get at the complicated man Pat Tillman was ..."
—
NPR
Posted Aug 20, 2010
|
