Fresh
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Your reaction to the whole thing probably depends on your general feelings about Cage: Fans will relish his unique brand of scenery-chewing; non-fans are likely to be irritated." — Brand X Posted Nov 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
... refreshingly different from the rest of the genre." — Brand X Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
... the final product matches the title in both weirdness and drollery." — Brand X Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
With the suspense cranked so high, it's almost inevitable that the bloody finale comes as a bit of a letdown." — Brand X Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| 35 Shots of Rum (2009) | "
Several sequences have little to no dialogue but give us a rich, ambivalent view of the characters and their feelings ... . It's a directorial risk that pays off with an indelible experience." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
... entertaining and perceptive, and distinguished by Mulligan's infectious presence." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
Despite the possibility of savage humor, Soderbergh has gone for a more amiable approach; the result doesn't have many big belly laughs, but its droll tone is consistently amusing." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
Bigelow uses hand-held camera and eye-level character p.o.v. shots to create a gritty sense of being there." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
As with Levy's rye bread, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy [it]." — Brand X Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
It's not ... that he's entirely opposed to capitalism; what he's really going after is the corporatism that has made profit a goal beyond all ethical considerations." — Brand X Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
It doesn't seem as fresh as Office Space or likely to achieve the same sort of iconic status, but there are enough laughs here to justify the time." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
This may be the least ambitious of Lee's films, but his directorial chops still guarantee a worthwhile experience." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
As it progresses, it increasingly takes its cues from Ernst Lubitsch's great Nazi farce To Be or Not to Be, except eventually even wackier and less realistic." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
We've seen most of the film's elements before ... but all these ideas have never been assembled in exactly this manner before, let alone with Blomkamp's wit and style." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| Art & Copy (2009) | "
Even without the nostalgic aspects, Art & Copy is thoroughly entertaining. But the film ends up being an advertisement for advertising. It's hard not to wonder if we're being sold a bill of goods." — Christian Science Monitor Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
[T]he stiffness of David's performance gives one renewed appreciation for Allen's sometimes overlooked acting abilities.... But Allen continues to write the best jokes in the business." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| In the Loop (2009) | "
In the midst of the constant stream of mostly vacuous (and sometimes not) summer blockbusters, In the Loop is the tiniest of releases and one of the best ... maybe the best so far." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
The uniformly good performances and the often inspired craftsmanship arguably make this second only to Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban in the Potter pantheon." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Bruno (2009) | "
I thought it was hysterical. I'm just not sure I'll respect myself in the (metaphorical) morning." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
Raimi doesn't merely pull out all the stops in his new horror film.... He pulls them out, purees them, stews the pulp in phlegm and vomit, pours us a nice bowlful and then throws it right in our faces. I mean that in the nicest possible way." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 52%
| The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) | "
Scott has updated the setting, but, more significantly, he's refashioned things in tone, style and theme, deftly recasting it to fit the standard template of the contemporary Hollywood action film." — Brand X Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Street Fight (2006) | "
"...completely gripping and enraging."" — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Jan 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| Night Watch (2005) | "
...better than most of our domestic product..." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Jan 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 71%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
Despite its length and expansive pace, it's never dull. And, despite the dubiousness of its stabs at being "meaningful," it still leaves you with more than most mega-productions." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 23, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
... handily his best leading performance in years ... possibly ever .... Director Aronofsky ... plays it straight, giving us a clear, linear narrative, interrupted only by one intercut flashback. The step away from pyrotechnics becomes him." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 79%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
[It gives] Eastwood a chance to be funnier than he's been in a long time." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 87%
| Timecrimes (2008) | "
A witty, well-made addition to the [time travel] subgenre." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 77%
| Doubt (2008) | "
Shanley [opens] up his four-character original enough to make it more cinematic without destroying the claustrophobic air of the characters' school-bound, almost medieval, world." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
Howard and Morgan are able to structure a series of largely mundane events for maximum suspense." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 93%
| Milk (2008) | "
[Later] you realize that [Penn] doesn't innately look that much like Milk -- which is a sign of how terrific his performance is. Josh Brolin is no less perfect as White..." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 38%
| Transporter 3 (2008) | "
For the most part, the fights and chases are as implausible as the story, but there's an extraordinarily clever escape-from-certain-death bit about 20 minutes from the end that I don't think I've ever seen before." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 22%
| Nine Dead Gay Guys (2003) | "
Takes place in such a cartoonish, good-natured universe it's hard to imagine anyone taking offense." — Variety Posted Nov 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| The Dukes (2008) | "
Between the performances and the nice visual style, the whole feels greater than the sum of its plot points." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 20, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| A Christmas Tale (2008) | "
Once the connections become clear, however, this often bitter story almost becomes a thriller, as we fear the next outburst or revelation and its aftermath." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 17, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 64%
| Quantum of Solace (2008) | "
[Craig] seems rigidified, with no more inner life than a mechanical action figure." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 15, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 45%
| Soul Men (2008) | "
This may not be a great movie, but I still couldn't help falling in love with it." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 84%
| Captain Abu Raed (2008) | "
Nadim Sawalha gives a terrific performance, subtle and complex, and most effective when the camera simply lingers on his face." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| Loins of Punjab Presents (2008) | "
The most obvious model for this sweet, low-budget production is Christopher Guest's Best in Show ... except with desis instead of doggies." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 61%
| Changeling (2008) | "
Both the best qualities and worst flaws in Changeling have been evident in Eastwood's work for some time now." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 73%
| Fear(s) of the Dark (2008) | "
All except di Sciullo's are beautifully drawn, in a variety of distinct styles." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | "
It's really quite brilliant. But it's also so difficult and so emotionally downbeat that it's hard to characterize it as "entertaining."" — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) | "
One of Leigh's most upbeat films, as well as one of the best." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 78%
| Ashes of Time Redux (1994) | "
... magnificent on a purely sensual level ... The new version is shorter by about ten minutes and is divided by chapter headings, which make the film slightly less confusing." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 60%
| W. (2008) | "
... while not the ideological lambasting many probably expected, it's nonetheless not a portrait the subject himself would find flattering." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 70%
| Religulous (2008) | "
... while he tries not to look snarky, his comic impulse sometimes overwhelms him." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| Rachel Getting Married (2008) | "
... perfectly calibrates the gradual revealing of the family dynamics, while dragging you through a gamut of strong emotions -- not necessarily the most enjoyable experience." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| Obscene: A Portrait Of Barney Rosset And Grove Press (2008) | "
... a justified tribute to [Barney] Rosset, who in his mid-80s is still feisty, with a refreshingly lighthearted attitude toward all he accomplished." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 37%
| How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) | "
... slickly constructed and frequently funny." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 52%
| Allah Made Me Funny (2008) | "
The whole thing is like an HBO comedy special -- Allah made these guys pretty funny -- and it's hard to see why it's getting theatrical release." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 29%
| Lucky You (2007) | "
... captures the manner in which both the smallest and largest events on a road trip can build a sense of camaraderie among three strangers with very little in common." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
IGN RSS Feeds