Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
The detail of the '30s Manhattan setting may be perfunctory, but in this he mirrors Welles's own production, whose schematic set design, with its expressionistic lighting and rough-hewn props, evoked a nightmare world of contemporary totalitarianism." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| Invictus (2009) | "
Even those unacquainted with rugby will be moved by the match itself, the sweat and blood and groans of the scrums and the torturous progress to an exhausting overtime victory." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 9, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 14%
| The Strip (2009) | "
Jameel Khan’s film springs from the format of The Office like a blurred reproduction from a bad copy machine." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 71%
| Julia (2008) | "
In Erick Zonca’s tense and juicy noir, Tilda Swinton plays the title role with a crusty panache matched only by her matted, flaming-red thatch of hair (a character in its own right)." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 91%
| Z (1969) | "
Four decades later, this glimpse into the machinations of political violence, intolerance, willful ignorance, and systemic oppression has lost none of its urgent relevance." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
No director pulls off the bait-and-switch as craftily as Jason Reitman. He gets you thinking that you're watching a hip, caustic comedy subverting the status quo, but by the end, he's vindicated all the platitudes he seemed to scorn." — Boston Phoenix Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Count me among the few not captivated by Anderson’s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book; I found it as stilted and twee as the title canid’s tippy-toe gait." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
The iguanas are like the frogs at the end of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, only better." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 71%
| The Road (2009) | "
For those who found the Coen Brothers' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men too lighthearted, John Hillcoat's relentlessly faithful version of the author's post-apocalyptic Pulitzer-winning novel might hit the spot." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
The film comes close to collapsing into exploitation or self-parody. Thank Sidibe's extraordinary performance that it doesn't." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 21%
| Planet 51 (2009) | "
It’s all a creepy mishmash of sci-fi and fantasy classics that director Jorge Blanco tarts up with an unwholesome preoccupation with pee, anal plugs, and homosexual anxiety." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Doomsday is good therapy. What does it matter that billions die if that brings a family together in one big hug?" — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
Woody Allen might have passed on making this film 35 years ago because it was too dated and middlebrow." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 42%
| Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon (2009) | "
There’s no build-up or suspense leading to the final showdown, and the details of the projects fly by without registering." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 53%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
Here’s a subject that really could have used a Stanley Kubrick or a John Frankenheimer or a Robert Altman. But are there any great cinematic satirists left, auteurs with the knack for black comedy and cold-blooded irony?" — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
The best part of this Christmas Carol is the end, when the ugly animation metamorphoses back into the pages of a book." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
Having peaked with his debut, Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess has settled into being a family-friendly John Waters -- which is redundant, since Waters is already rated PG-13." — Boston Phoenix Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 95%
| 35 Shots of Rum (2009) | "
Understated, beautifully acted, and with an exacting soundtrack, 35 Shots of Rum goes down easily but packs a subtle kick." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 70%
| American Casino (2009) | "
Putting a face on the incomprehensible figures, the film takes a look at some of the victims, middle-class professionals who bought into the dream of home ownership and lost everything." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 27%
| The Canyon (2009) | "
The Canyon attests to how a first-rate character actor can elevate a poor film to the ranks of the mediocre." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 50%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
I’m torn between dismissing the film as gross-out juvenilia and regarding it as raw religious mythmaking. Either way, you won’t find a livelier time at the movies these days, if only because of the outraged groans and dumfounded gasps from the audience." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 34%
| St. Trinian's (2009) | "
St. Trinian’s is a painless onslaught of dumb gags, gratuitous cheesecake, random movie allusions, and general nonsense, but the classy cast (which includes Gemma Arterton, Toby Jones, and Stephen Fry) helps earn it a passing grade." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 41%
| New York, I Love You (2009) | "
Despite a feeble interlinking plot and some contrived serendipity and irony, most of these tales of con men, artists, losers, and lovers come off as acting and screenwriting exercises." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 71%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
I can’t speak for the kids, but I would rate Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s 40-page children’s picture book up there with Up and Wall•E as topping the recent renaissance in children’s movies." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
Hashem might have the last laugh on us all, but until that happens, the Coen Brothers are in on the joke." — Boston Phoenix Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
How dare they! It gets you worked up! But exactly what point is Moore making? What should we be angry about?" — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 27%
| Pandorum (2009) | "
The earsplitting soundtrack, nauseating camera work, and stroboscopic editing are a high price to pay for little reward." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
Who knew the end of the world would be a great opportunity to meet chicks?" — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
The roller-derby action is as listless as the comic back-and-forth and the smarmy sentiment, but Barrymore at least proves she's no more mediocre than anyone else at directing such pap." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
— | Rotten 39%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
The provocative Philip K. Dick-like premise deserves better than this warmed-over apocalyptic murder mystery." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 83%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
If the historical context for black anger is lacking, Jacobs nonetheless builds tension with excruciating effectiveness and dreamlike detachment." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 68%
| Paris (2009) | "
What's the French word for Crash? Cédric Klapisch's serendipitous interweaving of the lives of disparate characters in the title city never resorts to the contrivance and manipulation of Paul Haggis's Oscar winner, but there are some close calls." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
Whitacre's pathology, skewed perceptions, and cracked commentary provide a welcome alternative, imposing a playful, almost Dadaist narrative onto the sordid realities." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 84%
| Captain Abu Raed (2008) | "
Matalqa's film shows how the most liberating flights might be those of the imagination." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009) | "
Edel -- perhaps wisely -- doesn't leave you much time to reflect ... as his jagged narrative rockets along like a Godard film without a subtext, propelled by violent deeds and misguided, murky, irrational motives." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 10, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 85%
| Flame & Citron (2008) | "
This film is based on a true story that director Ole Christian Madsen feels must be told with earnest noir and war-movie clichés." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 85%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
Josh Harris might not have contributed as much to the Internet as Al Gore, but as Ondi Timoner's lively and chilling documentary reveals, he did embody its excesses of narcissism and puerility." — Boston Phoenix Posted Sep 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Thirst's moments of brilliance leave you hungry for more." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
It's nasty and exhilarating stuff." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 19, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 91%
| Ponyo (2009) | "
The film is visually stunning, however, with a A-list cast of voices that include Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, and Tina Fey." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 75%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
Barthes is no Charlie Kaufman -- never mind Anton Chekhov." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 65%
| Adam (2009) | "
Adam doesn't go in for tidy resolutions, but the unintended moral is that gazing at the stars sure beats empathizing with tiresome people." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
Ephron has whipped up a sly, subtle, piquant confection that not only brings to life two fascinating women (or maybe one fascinating and one ingratiating) but also explores the differences between two eras." — Boston Phoenix Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
The painterly images afford a brooding, sometimes luminous setting for Yolande Moreau, who conveys Séraphine's weird and saint-like turmoil without sentiment or stereotype." — Boston Phoenix Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
Kathryn Bigelow's films have ranged from Near Dark (1987) to near-disaster, but here, for the first time, she forges her mastery of detail, composition, pacing, psychological insight, and perverse beauty into a masterpiece." — Boston Phoenix Posted Jul 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
The Half-Blood Prince's relative inertia allows for more complex and clarifying imagery, as realized by cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel." — Boston Phoenix Posted Jul 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 89%
| O'Horten (2009) | "
[Hamer] observes the exact and skewed detail, the oppressive but chimerical Norwegian bleakness, the look, the feel, and the profundity of the everyday." — Boston Phoenix Posted Jun 12, 2009 |
— | Fresh 80%
| Standard Operating Procedure (2008) |
Click here to read article — Boston Phoenix Posted Jun 9, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 25%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
Would that a time machine actually existed that could somehow restore the 106 minutes spent watching Land of the Lost." — Boston Phoenix Posted Jun 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
Nobody these days tells stories as cinematically as do the people at Pixar." — Boston Phoenix Posted May 27, 2009 |
IGN RSS Feeds