Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 11%
| I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) | "
The writer of I Love You, Beth Cooper says the story is based on a dream. I believe him. This is one of the very few movies where I wanted the hero to wake up and discover it was only a dream." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 17%
| Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) | "
This isn’t a great movie. But it’s sincere as an entertainment, it looks good, it’s atmospheric." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| Il Divo (2009) | "
After I saw Il Divo, I suppose I should have felt indignation. I suppose I should also have felt that way after "The Godfather." But such films present such mesmerizing figures that I simply regard them, astonished." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 97%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
The Hurt Locker is a spellbinding war film by Kathryn Bigelow, a master of stories about men and women who choose to be in physical danger." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 70%
| Bruno (2009) | "
The needle on my internal Laugh Meter went haywire, bouncing among hilarity, appreciation, shock, admiration, disgust, disbelief and appalled incredulity. Here is a film that is 82 minutes long and doesn’t contain 30 boring seconds." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 69%
| Julia (2009) | "
A nerve-wracking thriller with a twisty plot and startling realism." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 17%
| I Hate Valentine's Day (2009) | "
The movie is set up as a valentine to Vardalos. She should try sending herself flowers." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 44%
| The Girl From Monaco (2009) | "
The Girl from Monaco is not more than an entertainment, but an assured and well-oiled one." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 44%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the best of the three films about our friends in the inter-species herd of plucky prehistoric heroes." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 66%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Here is a film that shrugs off the way we depend on myth to sentimentalize our outlaws." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 77%
| Big Man Japan (2009) | "
Very funny in an insidious way." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 56%
| The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) | "
The Stoning of Soraya M. has such a powerful stoning sequence that I recommend it if only for its brutal ideological message." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 83%
| Jerichow (2009) | "
It’s easy to compare Jerichow with the films of The Postman Always Rings Twice, with the grimy gas station owner, the sexy wife and the rugged drifter, but people have a way of not behaving according to their superficial qualities." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
Larry David is the mind of the enterprise, and Evan Rachel Wood is the heart." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 51%
| Cheri (2009) | "
The success of Stephen Frears’ film Chéri begins with its casting." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Rotten 44%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
My Sister’s Keeper is an immediate audience-grabber." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 19%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 17%
| Year One (2009) | "
Year One is a dreary experience, and all the ending accomplishes is to bring it to a close. Even in the credit cookies, you don't sense the actors having much fun." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Of Time and the City (2009) | "
The film invites a reverie. It inspired thoughts of the transience of life." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 62%
| Tetro (2009) | "
Here is a film that, for all of its plot, depends on characters in service of their emotional turmoil. It feels good to see Coppola back in form." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| Moon (2009) | "
Moon is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 97%
| Food, Inc. (2009) | "
This review doesn't read one thing like a movie review. I just wanted to scare the bejesus out of you, which is what Food, Inc. did to me." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 92%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
Seraphine arrives from France as the year's most honored film, winner of seven Cesars from the French Academy, including best film and best actress." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
The Proposal recycles a plot that was already old when Tracy and Hepburn were trying it out. You see it coming from a great distance away. As it draws closer, you don't duck out of the way, because it is so cheerfully done, you don't mind being hit by it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 65%
| Fearless Vampire Killers Or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (1967) |
Click here to read article — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 18, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 63%
| Enlighten Up! (2009) | "
This is a peaceful kind of film, not terribly eventful, but I suppose we wouldn’t want a yoga thriller. Relax. Let it happen. Or not." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Rotten 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| Tulpan (2008) | "
Tulpan is an amazing film. It shows such an unfamiliar world, it might as well be Mars." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 43%
| Imagine That (2009) | "
Imagine That is amusing without ever being break-out funny." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
Sam Mendes’ Away We Go is a film for nice people to see." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 50%
| The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) | "
There’s not much wrong with Tony Scott’s The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, except that there’s not much really right about it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
Drag Me to Hell is a sometimes funny and often startling horror movie. That is what it wants to be, and that is what it is." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 8, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 11%
| My Life in Ruins (2009) | "
Rarely has a film centered on a character so superficial and unconvincing, played with such unrelenting sameness. I didn't hate it so much as feel sorry for it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 87%
| O'Horten (2009) | "
The thing about a deadpan comedy is, it must involve us in the lives of its characters, so we can understand why they are funny while at the same time so distant. O'Horten, a bittersweet whimsy by the Norwegian director Bent Hamer, finds that effortless." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 78%
| The Hangover (2009) | "
Now this is what I'm talkin' about. The Hangover is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through. Its setup is funny. Every situation is funny" — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 28%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
Confronted with such effects, the actors make not the slightest effort to appear terrified, amazed or sometimes even mildly concerned. Some might consider that a weakness. I suspect it is more of a deliberate choice, and I say I enjoyed it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 97%
| Up (2009) | "
This is a wonderful film. It tells a story. The characters are as believable as any characters can be who spend much of their time floating above the rain forests of Venezuela." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 50%
| Easy Virtue (2009) | "
Unusually for a play by Noel Coward, Love struggles while conquering All in Easy Virtue, a subversive view of British country-house society between the wars." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 73%
| Departures (2009) | "
The plot involves some developments we can see coming, but they seem natural, inevitable. The music is lush and sentimental in a subdued way, the cinematography is perfectly framed and evocative, and the movie is uncommonly absorbing." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 58%
| The Girlfriend Experience (2009) | "
This film is true about human nature. It clearly it sees needs and desires. It is not universal, but within its particular focus, it is unrelenting." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| Summer Hours (2009) | "
The actors all find the correct notes. It is a French film, and so they are allowed to be adult and intelligent." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 62%
| The Brothers Bloom (2009) | "
This movie is lively at times, it's lovely to look at, and the actors are persuasive in very difficult material. But around and around it goes, and where it stops, nobody by that point much cares." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 75%
| Adoration (2009) | "
Why does Egoyan weave a tangled web? Because his characters are caught in it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 44%
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) | "
Watching historical figures enact the cliches identified with the most simplistic versions of their images, I found myself yet once again echoing the frequent cry of Gene Siskel: Why not just give us a documentary of the same actors having lunch?" — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
After scrutinizing the film, I offer you my summary of the story: Guy dies, finds himself resurrected, meets others, fights. That lasts for almost two hours." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 20, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| Every Little Step (2009) | "
We should be kneeling on concrete to remind ourselves what dues these artists pay." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 70%
| Rudo and Cursi (2009) | "
Rudo y Cursi is the sort of high-level buddy movie every national cinema needs for export -- along with its masterpieces, to be sure." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| Management (2009) | "
Management works as a sweet rom-com with some fairly big laughs." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 37%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
This kind of film requires us to be very forgiving, and if we are, it promises to entertain. Angels & Demons succeeds." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 14, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 36%
| The Perfect Sleep (2009) | "
There are shadows on top of shadows. It's the film noir universe, all right. What does the title refer to? Perhaps to what you will enjoy during the film." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 7, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 33%
| The Limits of Control (2009) | "
[Jarmusch] is making some kind of a point. I think the point is that if you strip a story down to its bare essentials, you will have very little left. I wonder how he pitched this idea to his investors." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted May 7, 2009 |
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