Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| Passing Strange (2010) | "
I can't single out a performance. This is a superb ensemble, conveying that joy actors feel when hey know they're good in good material." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 54%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
The story that Dickens wrote in 1838 remains timeless, and if it's supercharged here with Scrooge swooping the London streets as freely as Superman, well, once you let ghosts into a movie, there's room for anything." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 87%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
The film is a tribute to Sidibe's ability to engage our empathy. Her work is still another demonstration of the mystery of some actors, who evoke feelings in ways beyond words and techniques." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
The result is one of the most revealing music documentaries I've seen." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 93%
| An Education (2009) | "
[Mulligan] makes the role luminous when it could have been sad or awkward. She has such lightness and grace, you're pretty sure this is the birth of a star." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 85%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
This is a remarkable film about a strange and prophetic man. What does it tell us? Did living a virtual life destroy him?" — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 85%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
This isn't a laugh-laugh movie, but a wince-wince movie. Those can be funny, too." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 57%
| Trucker (2009) | "
I concede the story arc is fairly predictable, assuming neither one murders the other. But Mottern and his actors take no hostages." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 79%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
I awaited the closing scenes of Disgrace with a special urgency, because the story had gripped me deeply but left me with no idea how it would end. None -- and I really cared." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 77%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
As Soderbergh lovingly peels away veil after veil of deception, the film develops into an unexpected human comedy. Not that any of the characters are laughing." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| Still Walking (2009) | "
If anyone can be considered an heir of the great Yasujiro Ozu, it might be Hirokazu Kore-Eda, the writer and director of Still Walking." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| You, the Living (2009) | "
The result is in some ways a comedy with a twist of the knife, and in other ways, a film like nobody else has ever made -- except for its director, Roy Andersson of Sweden. Andersson’s You, the Living is hypnotic." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is a big, bold, audacious war movie that will annoy some, startle others and demonstrate once again that he’s the real thing, a director of quixotic delights." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 20, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 91%
| Ponyo (2009) | "
This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It’s wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 95%
| The Cove (2009) | "
There are many documentaries angry about the human destruction of the planetary peace. This is one of the very best -- a certain Oscar nominee." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 94%
| Munyurangabo (2009) | "
It is in every frame a beautiful and powerful film -- a masterpiece." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 23, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 87%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
In romance, we believe what we want to believe. That’s the reason 500 Days of Summer is so appealing." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| 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 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| 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 4/4
| Fresh 81%
| 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
| Fresh 62%
| 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 4/4
| Fresh 86%
| Tyson (2009) | "
James Toback's Tyson is a documentary with no pretense of objectivity. Here is Mike Tyson's story in his own words, and it is surprisingly persuasive." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Apr 30, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 88%
| Sin Nombre (2009) | "
It contains risk, violence, a little romance, even fleeting moments of humor, but most of all, it sees what danger and heartbreak are involved. It is riveting from start to finish." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 94%
| Goodbye Solo (2009) | "
Bahrani is the new great American director. He never steps wrong. In Goodbye Solo, he begins with a situation that might unfold in a dozen different ways and makes of it something original and profound." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 33%
| Knowing (2009) | "
Knowing is among the best science-fiction films I've seen -- frightening, suspenseful, intelligent and, when it needs to be, rather awesome." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 89%
| Everlasting Moments (2009) | "
Rarely is there a film that evokes our sympathy more deeply than Everlasting Moments." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 12, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
Another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
[Varda] has a way of never explaining very much, and yet somehow making it all clear. She does this by not treating her life as a lesson in biography, but as the treasured memories of friends." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 91%
| Gomorrah (2009) | "
The film is a curative for the romanticism of The Godfather and Scarface." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Feb 26, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 72%
| Julia (2008) | "
A nerve-wracking thriller with a twisty plot and startling realism." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jul 3, 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 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| 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 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| Sita Sings the Blues (2008) | "
To get any film made is a miracle. To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 96%
| Gomorra (2008) |
Click here to read article — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Feb 27, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 97%
| The Class (2008) | "
The movie is bursting with life, energy, fears, frustrations and the quick laughter of a classroom hungry for relief." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
This film is so good it is devastating. A lot of people believe their parents didn't understand them. What if they didn't understand themselves?" — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Jan 5, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke, lonely hero, Randy ('The Ram') Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Dec 24, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 91%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
The film begins as a fascinating inside look at the TV news business and then tightens into a spellbinding thriller." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Dec 11, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 77%
| Doubt (2008) | "
Doubt has exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot, and we never stop. Think how rare that is in a film." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Dec 11, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 93%
| Milk (2008) | "
Sean Penn amazes me." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Nov 25, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 93%
| Slumdog Millionaire (2008) | "
This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 67%
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | "
This is a film with the richness of great fiction." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Nov 6, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 88%
| Ballast (2008) | "
I always say I hardly ever cry at sad films, but I sometimes do, just a little, at films about good people." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 30, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 92%
| Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) | "
Sally Hawkins been in movies before, including Leigh's "Vera Drake" and Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream," but this is her star-making role. She was named best actress at Berlin 2008. I will deliberately employ a cliche: She is a joy to behold." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 23, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 60%
| W. (2008) | "
Oliver Stone's W., a biography of President Bush, is fascinating. No other word for it." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 16, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 86%
| Rachel Getting Married (2008) | "
Apart from the story, which is interesting enough, Rachel Getting Married is like the theme music for an evolving new age." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Oct 9, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 97%
| Trouble the Water (2008) | "
Roberts needs more practice at holding the camera steady and framing shots. It doesn't matter. We feel her footage at the base of our spines." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 47%
| Lakeview Terrace (2008) | "
I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Sep 19, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 88%
| Frozen River (2008) | "
Frozen River is one of those rare independent films that knows precisely what it intends, and what the meaning of the story is." — RogerEbert.com Posted Aug 15, 2008 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 100%
| Man On Wire (2008) | "
Constructed like a first-rate thriller." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Aug 8, 2008 |
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