Fresh A
| Fresh 89%
| Crazy Heart (2009) | "
...damn fine filmmaking..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 6, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 50%
| The Lovely Bones (2009) | "
In spite of its obvious flaws, "The Lovely Bones" carries an inertia of unmistakable tension, care of Peter Jackson, that makes it a suspenseful and entertaining film." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 5, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 71%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
If ever Sandra Bullock had Oscar nomination potential, it comes in her canny performance as a Southern Republican with a heart of gold." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 78%
| Invictus (2009) | "
Morgan Freeman's brilliant performance as Nelson Mandela is the kind of transformation that Academy Award members aggressively reward come Oscar season." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 5, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 83%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
Fashion designer Tom Ford makes a credible filmmaking debut." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 56%
| Brothers (2009) | "
As Sam, Tobey Maguire undergoes a complete transformation into a mentally traumatized individual, but his excellent performance isn't adequately supported by David Benioff's sporadically amateurish script." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Rotten 31%
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | "
James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta") directs this unpredictable acrobatic display of violent spectacle that carries its themes of loyalty and skill in a slick flatpack of fast-twitch precision." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 29, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 33%
| The 13th Warrior (1999) | "
"The 13th Warrior" is a brazen attempt to brand Antonio Banderas as an A-lister with a C-grade script. Failure attends." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 28, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
George Clooney's deliberately ambiguous character Ryan Bingham is a poster boy for America's lack of ethical direction in a thought-provoking satire that doesn't swing its hammer of simmering revolution hard enough." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 46%
| Everybody's Fine (2009) | "
Based on Giuseppe Tornatore's 1990 film "Stanno tutti bene," writer/director Kirk Jones fulfills the material's dramatic demands without putting too fine a point on Frank's emotional awakening. But it's De Niro's naturalistic performance that captures you" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 26, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Rotten 53%
| Pecker (1998) | "
There are many odd treats, like seeing former SLA hostage Patty Hearst dancing on a bar in a low-cut slip and getting a crash course in "tea-baggng."" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 26, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 66%
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) | "
While he hasn't made a perfect film, Terry Gilliam preserves the memory of Heath Ledger in a way that appropriately matches his own sense of artistic inspiration." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 26, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
...there isn't much to fall in love with in Robert Zemeckis's visually overpowering motion-capture-animation..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
A piecemeal attempt at putting a bow on Michael Jackson's overblown and bankrupt career, this clinical behind-the-scenes collage of the rehearsal process for MJ's doomed London performance schedule is more propaganda than documentary." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Fresh 69%
| The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) | "
"The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" doesn't know whether it's a drama, a comedy, or a random slice-of-life expose. Neither will you." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 82%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
The filmmakers would have done better to make a film called "Orson Welles at the Mercury," and construct it around Christian McKay's impeccable interpretation of the man he played on the New York stage in "Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles."" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 72%
| The Road (2009) | "
"The Road" is like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest when no human or animal is around. Whether or not it makes a sound is a moot point." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 21, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 29%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
For easily impressed audiences that equate big lowest-common-denominator box office receipts with quality, here is a perfect movie for them to constantly check their cell phones as they sit in the dark..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 21, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 82%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
...what we see here is a flawed sampler of comedy, noir, melodrama, and luscious compositions." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 15, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 87%
| Red Cliff (2009) | "
John Woo fulfills on "Red Cliff's" reputation as the most expensive Chinese-language film ever made with a mesmerizing war epic that concentrates on ancient techniques of war strategy as played out on a grand stage." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 95%
| The Honeymoon Killers (1970) | "
Made in 1969, "The Honeymoon Killers" presaged elements of David Lynch's filmic approach, and clearly informed John McNaughton's similarly-themed stomach-churner film "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Romantic dysfunction never looked so banal, brutal" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Sure the blu-ray DVD will look great on your home theater as ambient background for your next house party, but that's about it." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 13%
| Labor Day (2009) | "
There's only so much rah-rah-sis-boom-ba you can take about a President elected on the premise of ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, who has merely followed in his predecessor's footsteps of starving the U.S. into dirt." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
...there's some great music and a the movie sustains a groovy vibe..." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 45%
| The Box (2009) | "
Riffing on a Twilight Zone-themed morality tale, writer/director Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko") sets the table for a three-course meal of supernatural events but serves up an anemic narrative entree instead." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 18%
| The Fourth Kind (2009) | "
...even if "The Fourth Kind" came out ten years ago it still wouldn't stand up to overrated "Blair Witch Project."" — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 50%
| Uncertainty (2009) | "
For all of the earnest effort that Collins and Gordon-Levitt exert on characters that they created much improvised dialogue for, you're always aware of the narrative artifice surrounding them." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 8, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Anderson's lavish attention to visual detail supports the dry wit on display in a highly original animated film geared to appeal equally to adults and children." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 8, 2009 |
Rotten D+
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
"The Men Who Stare at Goats" falls into the politically impotent sub-genre of lightweight satire of which "Charlie Wilson's War" and "The Informant" are recent touchstones." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh C+
| Fresh 80%
| Collapse (2009) | "
Chris Smith's fiery and provoking documentary provides a searing platform for police-officer-turned-reporter Michael Ruppert to articulate his gloomy vision and, in his view, doomed fate of the world." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 87%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
The film is a perfectly pitched old-school horror homage to a '70s/'80s-era of cinema that should have been." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Nov 2, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 73%
| The Young Victoria (2009) | "
"Young Victoria" is a well crafted period romance made personal by Emily Blunt's disarming performance." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 27, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 85%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Just as ridiculous as the title implies, this ill-conceived sequel to Abel Ferrara's masterpiece ("Bad Lieutenant" - 1992) picks up some grains of muscular grit under the unlikely Werner Herzog's guidance, but flails every step of the way." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 27, 2009 |
Fresh A-
| Fresh 68%
| Dancer in the Dark (1999) | "
Everything about Bjork and Dancer in the Dark is enigmatic in an uncomfortable dissecting way that shows beauty in the crudest way, and crudeness in the complexity of advanced social mores." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 100%
| Rembrandt's J'accuse (2009) | "
More than merely a resource for art historians and students, "Rembrandt's J'Accuse" is a gift from an underestimated genius of cinema. You might just might want to see it a second time." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
Egos, etiquette, and envy go a long way in this atypical comedy of manners." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 24, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 45%
| Saw VI (2009) | "
Headache-inducing, and featuring one of the worst D-movie performances of the aughts from Costas Mandylor, the latest "Saw" franchise addition is more of the same torture-punishment-rehab-porn audiences have come to expect." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 87%
| Skin (2009) | "
"Skin" is an Apartheid-era drama made with conviction and perspective by a promising filmmaker." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
"Ong Bak 2" is so obviously contrived for the sole purpose of showing off Tony Jaa's martial arts weapons expertise that the film soon wears out its welcome." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Scattershot and comically unbalanced, "Cirque du Freak" is a wannabe horror film that feels like it was filmed underwater." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten D-
| Rotten 11%
| The Stepfather (2009) | "
Shallow and inert, "The Stepfather" goes through the motions of a suspense film without ever broaching the horror genre that director Joseph Ruben employed in the original. Talk about "unclear on the concept," this remake doesn't even get the genre right." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 18, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 24%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
Gerard Butler's scene-chewing performance holds interest even as the story alternately melts and congeals like a mobile bowl of poorly mixed Jell-O." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 18, 2009 |
Fresh B-
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
While not an "instant classic," "Where the Wild Things Are" does what it sets out to achieve as a literal but also embellished translation of a literary classic." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 12, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 100%
| Visual Acoustics: The Modernisms of Julius Shulman (2009) | "
"Visual Acoustics" offers a history lesson, biopic, and visually harmonic essay via Julius Shulman's gifted focus." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 11, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 92%
| Mary and Max (2009) | "
"Mary and Max" is a highly inventive claymation tragicomedy told from a very personal perspective. It's not intended to be everyone's cup of tea." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 11, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 82%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Compared with a precision horror film like Lars von Trier's terrifying upcoming shocker "Antichrist," "Paranormal Activity" is just kid's stuff." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 10, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Fresh 61%
| Peter and Vandy (2009) | "
The only enjoyment of watching inarticulate modern day American love birds Peter (Jason Ritter) and Vandy (Jess Wexler) interacting in Manhattan, comes from deciding which one is more insufferable." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten D
| Rotten 29%
| Free Style (2009) | "
Soft-peddled father issues, and race relations get coasted over like so much conveyor-belt product in director William Dear's oh-so-safe kids' romantic sports drama." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 6, 2009 |
Fresh A
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
"Precious" is an unforgettable drama whose intrinsic truth outweighs any exploitation or politics that might attend such material. If you want a gritty socially conscious movie, this is it." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 5, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 97%
| The Maid (2009) | "
Here is a profound story of a woman who breaks out of a social cage that she maintained as much as her perceived masters." — ColeSmithey.com Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
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