Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 89%
| Moon (2009) | "
In much the same way we take for granted the fact that science drives our lives in countless and invisible ways, Moon takes a satisfyingly pragmatic approach to the extraordinary." Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 70%
| Bruno (2009) | "
Whether you believe Brüno is the caustic comedy of a political prankster or the rude humor of a smart-aleck, it's hard to deny that there is a subversive intelligence at work." Posted Jul 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
It is a once-more-into-the-void cosmic shrug of the shoulders by a man whose films, almost more than any other American director's, reflect his world view." Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 66%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
This account is true as far as it goes. It just doesn't go far enough." Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 70%
| Rudo and Cursi (2009) | "
While the likable film has a vivid sense of place and a tongue-in-cheek sensibility, the visual and storytelling styles of the younger and elder Cuaron are nothing alike." Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 11%
| My Life in Ruins (2009) | "
Actress Nia Vardalos traipses through the same ethnic minefield that she did in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but with less explosive results." Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 78%
| The Hangover (2009) | "
It is a situation comedy dressed in narrative clothing, and the story it tells is less amusing than the high-concept premise." Posted Jun 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 97%
| Up (2009) | "
While Up achieves liftoff and even soars, it encounters enough turbulence to result in a bumpy flight." Posted May 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| Tyson (2009) | "
Stage-managed acts of public apology are de rigueur for penitent celebrities and athletes, but few lay it on the line like Tyson does here." Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 32%
| Terminator Salvation (2009) | "
Viscerally intense and marginally entertaining while being narratively incomprehensible and simplistic." Posted May 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| Sugar (2009) | "
It is a gently persuasive, bittersweet run around the base paths in the game of life." Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 37%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
Like The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons is a smoke-and-mirrors shadow play of half-truths, a synthesis of pseudo-history and pseudo-science. But this time, the Apollo 13 director achieves liftoff." Posted May 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 95%
| Star Trek (2009) | "
The result is not a great film, but it is great fun." Posted May 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
Despite a 150-year-old backstory that dates to before the Civil War and runs through subsequent conflicts, the title is never fulfilled." Posted May 7, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 98%
| Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) | "
Anvil's plight would be funny if it weren't true. Its extent is intimately examined in a film that makes you uncomfortable because it is true." Posted Apr 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 58%
| Paris 36 (2008) | "
Paris 36 is a quaint trifle, re-creating an era and its atmosphere with nostalgia and affection." Posted Apr 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
The result feels manipulative and superficial." Posted Apr 23, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 85%
| State of Play (2009) | "
State of Play is a red-herring-filled political and corporate thriller that romanticizes reporters and idealizes newspapers, while being about neither of those things." Posted Apr 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 93%
| The Betrayal (2008) | "
The Betrayal puts a human face and name on the term collateral damage and expands its definition in the process." Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 84%
| Wendy and Lucy (2008) | "
This is not a saccharine, Marley & Me-type tale, but a wrenchingly ordinary story, emotionally manipulative in its own way -- I know my heart was in my throat -- about poverty in the land of plenty." Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 91%
| Gomorrah (2009) | "
Director Matteo Garrone replaces the romance and glamour of the genre with brutal, documentary-style realism, and humanizes it in the process." Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 73%
| The Great Buck Howard (2009) | "
While arguably sweet and charming, The Great Buck Howard is memorable only because of his sleight of hand." Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Adventureland (2009) | "
Mottola gets a surprising amount of mileage out of a formula that is running on fumes, his dialogue is sharp, and the lo-fi, indie-film quality of the piece feels consistent with the spirit of the rundown theme park, or vice versa." Posted Apr 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 76%
| Che, Part Two (2008) | "
The film's narrative flow is less driven by events, which are revealed in spurts, but are drawn along as their inevitable consequences." Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 87%
| A Christmas Tale (2008) | "
A droll and frantic melodrama stripped of aesthetic contrivances but full of emotional ones, and it is affirming in its own way without being particularly cathartic." Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
Another fast and funny digitally animated DreamWorks kid flick." Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 32%
| Knowing (2009) | "
Give Knowing credit for the courage of its convictions and an ending so nutty I had to laugh out loud." Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 82%
| I Love You, Man (2009) | "
The crude humor about masturbation, dog feces and projectile vomiting is disappointingly familiar, as are the character archetypes." Posted Mar 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 97%
| The Class (2008) | "
A dialogue-and idea-driven, documentary-style work of fictional vérité that defies the heroic teacher myth of Hollywood films like Dangerous Minds and reveals teachers and students as prisoners of the same flawed system." Posted Mar 12, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
The dense and complex mythology remains." Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 56%
| Defiance (2008) |
Click here to read article Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| Let the Right One In (2008) | "
Vampire films are often shallow, sensational and obvious, which is why they can be an acquired taste. But for those who favor them or don't, this is the right one to let in." Posted Feb 26, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 84%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
What the heart wants can be difficult to put into words, but longing and intensity of feeling ripple across Phoenix's face like shadows of doubt. He brings quiet clarity, confidence and ease to a character as confused as its actor's alter-ego." Posted Feb 26, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Ballast (2008) | "
Has the sparse purity of barren trees and the brutal intimacy of a broken vow." Posted Feb 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
A lot like the global economic crisis -- muddled and grim." Posted Feb 12, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| Coraline (2009) | "
It's easy to take the seamless complexities of stop-motion for granted. But from grand design to the smallest detail, the craftsmanship of Coraline is impeccable." Posted Feb 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
Like a rehabilitated race horse or disgraced sports star who makes the most of a second chance, Rourke gives The Wrestler the temperament of a sentimental favorite." Posted Jan 15, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 69%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
The result also has the authentic quality of real people clinging to the aphorisms and going through the motions demanded by the situation and the times, all of which is bathed in lush regret by cinematographer Roger Deakins." Posted Jan 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 79%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
Eastwood's recent films have been a pleasure and a surprise, but Gran Torino in particular exudes a sense of renewal and promise." Posted Jan 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 90%
| I've Loved You So Long (2008) | "
This is a drama about the role of forgiveness in daily life, made compelling by an actress with a flair for the ordinary." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 62%
| The Reader (2008) | "
Winslet gives a searing performance, one that often finds her unselfconsciously naked, as a woman who is willing to share her body and heart, but never the secret that defines her." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 78%
| Doubt (2008) | "
This is acting as contact sport." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
The result has a fluid and nimble quality that makes it entertaining, and a performance by Langella that makes it memorable." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
While Benjamin Button demonstrates imagination, it doesn't inspire it." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 60%
| Valkyrie (2008) | "
The stilted and diffuse result is as dramatically compelling as a planning commission meeting." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 61%
| Marley & Me (2008) | "
There are no bad dogs. But there are bad dog movies." Posted Dec 29, 2008 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 79%
| Ashes of Time Redux (1994) | "
Ashes of Time Redux, like that line from Hey Jude, takes a sad song and makes it better." Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Rotten 27%
| Seven Pounds (2008) | "
Dawson exudes common sense, and the pulse -- the film's and mine -- quickened when she was onscreen." Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 94%
| Milk (2008) | "
While message films can be polarizing, Milk has an urgency that Penn makes user-friendly." Posted Dec 11, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 94%
| Slumdog Millionaire (2008) | "
Its social realism is a far cry from the escapist fare created by the Bollywood fantasy factory, but the percussive score by Bollywood veteran A.R. Rahman and a rousing dance number finale add cultural specificity and vibrancy." Posted Dec 11, 2008 |
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