|
3/4
|
98%
|
The Island President (2012) |
"
Climate-change documentaries are almost always disturbing, but "The Island President" communicates a special urgency."
—
Seattle Times
Posted May 3, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Monsieur Lazhar (2012) |
"
"Monsieur Lazhar" is a complex, multilayered tale that reveals new meanings as it introduces each new character."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Apr 26, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
80%
|
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (2011) |
"
Much of "Force of Nature" feels familiar and unnecessarily predigested."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Apr 19, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
31%
|
Detention (2012) |
"
Resembles a movie less than it suggests an evening of determined, incoherent channel-hopping - with the help of a remote control that's apparently stuck on "random.""
—
Seattle Times
Posted Apr 12, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
——
|
They Call It Myanmar: Lifting The Curtain (2012) |
"
While "They Call It Myanmar" is certainly more encouraging than previous films on this long-repressed country, fears of persecution continue to loom large."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Apr 5, 2012
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
Invincible Force () |
"
The only entertaining touches are Drew's interactions with visitors or bystanders who are shocked by his behavior. The rest is simply interminable."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Mar 22, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
87%
|
Boy (2012) |
"
"Boy," from New Zealand, has its charms, most of them to do with Boy, an 11-year-old pop-culture enthusiast who's obsessed with Michael Jackson and moonwalking."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Mar 22, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
55%
|
Being Flynn (2012) |
"
For a movie that deals with suicide, homelessness and cocaine addiction, writer-director Paul Weitz's latest family drama feels strangely bland."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
——
|
Adventures In Plymptoons! () |
"
Plenty of clips from Plympton classics demonstrate why friends and fans have been rounded up to honor him."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
90%
|
In Darkness (2012) |
"
Based on the true story of Leopold Socha, a Catholic Polish sewer worker who hid a group of Jews over a period of 14 months in the underground tunnels of Lvov."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Mar 8, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
86%
|
Chico & Rita (2012) |
"
Remarkably sexy for its genre (it's not for kids at all), it's nostalgic about a time and place that rarely gets treated on film ("Godfather II" touched on it), and it has an emotional pull that may catch you by surprise."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Feb 23, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
60%
|
Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission (2012) |
"
Garriott's story is unique, a stranger-than-fiction tale that is unlikely to be topped. And the images from space - crisp, spectacular, haunting - make it worth the trip."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Feb 16, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
——
|
Don't Expect Too Much () |
"
Their anecdotes about Ray's creation of a filmmaking commune are vivid and affectionate, and they're punctuated with material from the film that is sometimes alarming but always informative."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
We Can't Go Home Again (1976) |
"
It's the kind of would-be groundbreaker that continues to stir interest long after its failure as a theatrical release."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011) |
"
Partly a courtroom drama, partly a political satire and partly a twisty thriller that gradually draws you in and becomes more engrossing with each new revelation."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Feb 2, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
73%
|
The Conquest (2011) |
"
Sarkozy seems to mean exactly what he says, even when he's lying for his cause, and Podalydès has the skill to demonstrate that."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
92%
|
My Joy (2011) |
"
For long stretches, it appears to be a road movie headed nowhere. Still, the detours it uncovers are fascinating."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jan 19, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Urbanized (2011) |
"
A showcase for many conflicting viewpoints."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jan 5, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Summer Pasture (2011) |
"
The filmmakers may not explain everything that passes before their cameras (why is caterpillar fungus such a hot commodity?), but that's part of the intrigue in this vanishing way of life."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Dec 29, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
82%
|
Tyrannosaur (2011) |
"
If the script ultimately seems a bit extreme (are there no immediate consequences for Joseph's tantrums or the criminal outbursts of Hannah's abusive husband?), it's often surprisingly successful in pushing the limits of British kitchen-sink drama."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Arthur Christmas (2011) |
"
The movie is dense with witty visual detail that helps to distract from the somewhat trumped-up moral dilemma at its center."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
77%
|
Melancholia (2011) |
"
Where did Melancholia come from? It's best not to ask. The explanation for the planet's origins is so preposterous that veteran science-fiction writers everywhere must be rolling their eyes."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Nov 17, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
We Were Here (2011) |
"
There's something profoundly inspirational about this portrait of a community coming together to battle prejudice and disease."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Nov 10, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
47%
|
3 (2011) |
"
Tykwer's script is structured so that the audience knows more about the characters' connections than they do. As each faces a midlife crisis/turning point, fate sometimes appears to be calling the shots."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
94%
|
Weekend (2011) |
"
Cullen and New are British stage actors with little background in film. Haigh's only previous film was a documentary. Perhaps because they don't feel bound by a set of rules, they've created one of the year's most enjoyable surprises."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
64%
|
Norman (2011) |
"
The director, Jonathan Segal, skillfully builds on the tension that this situation creates, though he can't quite make Wingate's ending click. Still, Segal is so good with his actors that you may not mind."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
25%
|
Dirty Girl (2011) |
"
The movie is all over the place, searching for an identity that proves almost entirely elusive."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Take Shelter (2011) |
"
It's so stunningly effective at establishing a sense of dread that it's almost impossible to recommend it without reservations."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
73%
|
Blackthorn (2011) |
"
The filmmakers didn't have a lot of options. In some ways the new picture feels like a boxed-in replay."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 13, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
36%
|
Restless (2011) |
"
This low-budget movie takes its time filling in the backgrounds of its characters. That works for a while, but when it's over you may wonder if that's all there is."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
16%
|
Bunraku (2011) |
"
One long, extensively choreographed fight sequence in which "mortal" blows are delivered so often, and with so little lasting impact, that a brawl just becomes a brawl becomes a brawl."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 29, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
83%
|
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2011) |
"
By the end, with the running time pushing past the two-hour mark, it's reasonable to ask: Just who are these people?"
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 26, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
World on a Wire (2011) |
"
It starts slowly, then develops an irresistible momentum."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 15, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
88%
|
Nora's Will (Cinco dias sin Nora) (2010) |
"
An unexpectedly droll tale about a funeral, "Nora's Will" demonstrates the power of some people to reach beyond the grave."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 15, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
82%
|
The Whale (2011) |
"
A gorgeous and provocative film that consistently rises above its Flipper-ish genre."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 8, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
12%
|
Seven Days In Utopia (2011) |
"
A cluttered, empty drama that uses (or tries to use) golf, painting, dinner-table prayers and fly-fishing as pathways to enlightenment. When that doesn't work, the filmmakers start preaching."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 1, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
64%
|
Amigo (2011) |
"
You could argue that the chief villain of the ambiguously titled "Amigo" is language, which is used quite deliberately to mock and mislead and betray."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Sep 1, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
72%
|
The Future (2011) |
"
Provides plenty of material for July junkies as well as July detractors."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
61%
|
Griff the Invisible (2011) |
"
Something clicks here. Physically as well as verbally, these kids are speaking their own language."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
92%
|
Senna (2011) |
"
"Senna" is carefully edited and makes sometimes spectacular use of extensive home movies and videos."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
The Sky Turns (2011) |
"
Without relying on melodrama or nostalgia, Alvarez embraces the inescapable nature of impermanence."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 18, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
95%
|
The Guard (2011) |
"
Like an Irish version of "In the Heat of the Night," the profane and frequently hilarious "The Guard" watches the sparks fly as a smart African-American detective teams up with an unapologetically racist County Galway policeman."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 11, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
98%
|
Project Nim (2011) |
"
You end up fearing for the humans who contact him. At the same time, you feel his rage."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 11, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
84%
|
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) |
"
Bowie's screen debut still fascinates whenever he's on-screen, and it's full of little reminders of how much has changed since the movie was made."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Aug 4, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
Life in a Day (2011) |
"
What could have been a gimmick turns out to be philosophical and heartfelt."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
——
|
Redland (2011) |
"
It's the kind of flawed, boundaries-pushing film that suggests its creators will have much to offer in the future."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jul 21, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
91%
|
Tabloid (2011) |
"
The movie is guilty of condescending toward its subjects, though most of them appear to be having a fabulous time telling tales."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jul 21, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
85%
|
A Better Life (2011) |
"
Weitz, who directed the excellent 2002 Hugh Grant movie, "About a Boy," once more does a sensitive job with iffy material."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jul 14, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
City of Life and Death (2011) |
"
In almost any form, the story of the Nanking atrocities can leave you profoundly shaken. But Lu Chuan's version may be the most compassionate and emotionally satisfying treatment to date."
—
Seattle Times
Posted Jul 7, 2011
|
85%
78%
7%
