|
1.5/5
|
42%
|
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) |
"
The result is a goofy-weird mishmash of some pretty swell CGI creatures and some downright lousy screenwriting."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
53%
|
Safe House (2012) |
"
A hectic, deftly edited, and unexpectedly bracing thriller that appears to have come out of nowhere, Safe House is a giddy, dirty rush."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
80%
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) |
"
We Need To Talk About Kevin is a modern American horror story, and one that in the wake of Columbine and other apparently random teen atrocities, strikes me as tremendously brave."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Feb 3, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
76%
|
The Innkeepers (2012) |
"
Ti West knows how to get under our skin and make us danse macabre."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Feb 2, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
32%
|
Man on a Ledge (2012) |
"
In the end it's all much ado about not so much, a semifunctional thriller that tingles but never terrifies. Ledge schmedge."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
80%
|
Haywire (2012) |
"
Carano acquits herself admirably, but the storyline eventually feels like a pretty weak excuse to hang a half-dozen action set-pieces from."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jan 20, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
0%
|
Beneath The Darkness (2012) |
"
When it comes to creepy old buildings, overly attentive owners, and prying outsiders, Beneath the Darkness has nada on Don Coscarelli's epic Phantasm saga or, for that matter, Norman Bates' clear-eyed if psychotic shenanigans."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jan 6, 2012
|
|
1/5
|
12%
|
The Darkest Hour (2011) |
"
It opts for less of the same old thing, but with more cruddy CGI and even more predictable results."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 31, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
97%
|
The Artist (2011) |
"
The Artist is a slight confection, really, but it's so delicious and knowing that it may well end up on any number of cineastes' desert-island lists. It's certainly on mine."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 23, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
75%
|
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
"
The Adventures of Tintin is a spectacle and a half, sure, but it's not nearly as thrilling to this reviewer as were the few, precious Tintin comics of his youth."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 23, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
87%
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) |
"
What transfixes here isn't the labyrinthine plotting -- we're almost overly familiar with that by now -- but Mara's Lisbeth, surely one of the most incendiary antiheroines in all of cinema"
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
93%
|
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011) |
"
Ghost Protocol is never cartoonish but it is incredibly animated."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
60%
|
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) |
"
Granted, it frequently feels as though Ritchie and his protagonist are sharing the same needle, but the end result provides a worthy rush of adrenaline."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
95%
|
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2011) |
"
Padilha's film offers no easy answers, but the title is a tip off as to where at least his sympathies lie."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 9, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
Knuckle (2011) |
"
As Palmer rightly shows, there's plenty of heart and soul (rough-and-tumble though it may be) beneath the acres of scar tissue on display here."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 9, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
94%
|
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) |
"
It serves as an object lesson in the ultimate power of believing in oneself and persevering against long odds and ridicule from others."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Dec 2, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
The Muppets (2011) |
"
It is with immense pleasure that I can report that Disney's Muppet reboot movie is an absolute delight."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 26, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
92%
|
Arthur Christmas (2011) |
"
The under-10 audience I saw it with were entranced, and, remarkably enough by itself, so were their parents. Huzzah, Aardman!"
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 26, 2011
|
|
0.5/5
|
3%
|
Jack and Jill (2011) |
"
It's front-loaded with enough cameos from the likes of Regis Philbin and Drew Carey to sink most crappy comedies, and, indeed, this one finally makes it to an actual pleasure cruise, minus the pleasure."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 18, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
89%
|
Into The Abyss (2011) |
"
Herzog is an eloquent interviewer/documentarian. Yet his technically flawless film leaves you reeling emotionally even as you wonder why, and why now, he's turned his lens on the American way of crime and punishment."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 18, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
79%
|
The Skin I Live In (2011) |
"
An elaborate puzzle box of a film that continuously confounds expectations in the grandest of ways."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 11, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
71%
|
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2011) |
"
Sfar, perhaps understandably, adores the legend of Serge Gainsbourg too much to make the whole nicotine-infused picture anything greater than what it is."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 4, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
90%
|
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) |
"
Durkin, working with cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes and editor Zachary Stuart-Pontier, masterfully sustains an aura of oppressive threat throughout."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 4, 2011
|
|
0/5
|
7%
|
All's Faire in Love (2011) |
"
Avoid this one like the pox."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
88%
|
Margin Call (2011) |
"
With a cast as stellar as this, even the most banal striations of greed and fiscal amorality become readily evident."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
47%
|
Anonymous (2011) |
"
A messy, often goofy, and very occasionally entertaining melodrama from Roland Emmerich."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
50%
|
The Rum Diary (2011) |
"
Like the tropical breezes that fairly waft off of the screen, it reeks of promise yet to be fulfilled. And booze. Lots and lots of booze."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
91%
|
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) |
"
The timing of this release is more than perfect. And the story behind the film is nearly as interesting as the stories it tells."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 21, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
69%
|
Blackthorn (2011) |
"
An elegiac take on the great American Western."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 21, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
67%
|
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) |
"
This third outing in the faux documentary/found footage, supernatural shocker series finally gets things right."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
59%
|
El Bulli: Cooking In Progress (2011) |
"
Director Wetzel doesn't so much explain the surreal mindset of Adrià as he does simply hang out and film the proceedings. But seriously, what revolutionary proceedings they are."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 14, 2011
|
|
1/5
|
21%
|
Fireflies in the Garden (2011) |
"
This locally shot weeper is unhappy in myriad ways, few of which manage to coalesce around its heart-stung core."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 14, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
36%
|
The Thing (2011) |
"
The ability to generate real, nail-biting suspense with this story, and the thrill of it all, has dissipated tremendously in the years since Carpenter and company first blew filmgoers' collective minds."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 13, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
88%
|
The Hedgehog (2011) |
"
Le Guillermic is fine in this calm comedy of subverted exteriors and expectations, but it's the remarkably unpretentious -- earthy, even -- Balasko who anchors Achache's adaptation."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 7, 2011
|
|
1/5
|
7%
|
Dream House (2011) |
"
This film is a confounding mess despite its impressive cast and director."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 7, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
69%
|
The Dead (2011) |
"
The film provides a whole new way of looking at the same old dead things. Eat up."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 7, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
29%
|
Machine Gun Preacher (2011) |
"
Despite its gut-wrenching honesty vis-à-vis lunacy, religion, and the tricky intersection thereof, Machine Gun Preacher is ultimately undone by its chaotic tone."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 7, 2011
|
|
1/5
|
31%
|
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011) |
"
Six outdoes himself in the disgusting bodily fluids department, but you can't shake the feeling that he's trying way, way too hard."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
85%
|
Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2011) |
"
This is one of those rare genre comedies that near-perfectly balances its blend of grue, guffaws, and gag reflexes."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 30, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
99%
|
The Interrupters (2011) |
"
It's a year in the life and death of the fight against the streetwise status quo, and James' doc brings it all horrifically home."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 30, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
42%
|
Straw Dogs (2011) |
"
This Straw Dogs is nearly all bark, with the occasional, predictable bite that frankly fails to draw any emotional blood."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 23, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
72%
|
Magic Trip (2011) |
"
Magic Trip goes all over the place but never seems to end up anywhere all that revelatory."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 16, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
83%
|
Circumstance (2011) |
"
Its sappy, melodramatic overtones can be overlooked, as this is as much a political statement as it is a love story."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 16, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
77%
|
The Last Circus (2011) |
"
It's not a pretty picture, but it is a hellaciously gorgeous and original film."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 16, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
73%
|
Shaolin (2011) |
"
This rousing Shaolin is notable for the compassionate Buddhist philosophy that underpins what otherwise might have been just another Hong Kong period piece."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 9, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
84%
|
Contagion (2011) |
"
Contagion is certainly the most realistic portrayal of a global pandemic I've seen, but that doesn't make it the most entertaining, or even all that intellectually interesting."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 8, 2011
|
|
1.5/5
|
12%
|
Seven Days In Utopia (2011) |
"
This Christian-themed, inspirational foray into the sacred soul of golf and man is beautifully shot, well-acted by a cast headed by Texans Robert Duvall and Lucas Black, and about as electrifying as a Sunday afternoon La-Z-Boy golf nap."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 2, 2011
|
|
1/5
|
27%
|
Colombiana (2011) |
"
Colombiana, despite its many explosions and some howlingly wooden dialogue, is an eminently forgettable actioner."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 2, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
32%
|
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011) |
"
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice meets a considerably tamed Van Wilder for a mediocre romp in the Hamptons."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 2, 2011
|
