|
3/4
|
80%
|
Shame (2011) |
"
McQueen again proves that he is not averse to breaking taboos while exploring the uncomfortable and unthinkable. Nor is he afraid of stirring up a little fear and loathing in the process."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
53%
|
Albert Nobbs (2012) |
"
The story is never as interesting as the choices made by the actresses or their characters."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
78%
|
A Dangerous Method (2011) |
"
"A Dangerous Method" makes a ... journey from lunacy to intense and compelling and is surprisingly entertaining as it does."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
45%
|
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012) |
"
The youth's pain is palpable, and the film will stir viewers still wounded by that day and those who have suffered loss in general."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 19, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
54%
|
The Iron Lady (2012) |
"
[Streep] transcends the limitations of the material to embody Thatcher's real, or imagined, conflicted emotional landscape."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 12, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
71%
|
Carnage (2011) |
"
"Carnage" is an accident waiting to happen."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 12, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
84%
|
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) |
"
A nod to the dense, cinematic page-turners for adults they just don't make anymore."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 5, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
76%
|
War Horse (2011) |
"
Visually intelligent and technically flawless, and the rural landscapes, big skies and bloody battlefields are effectively realized."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 26, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
97%
|
The Artist (2011) |
"
Its sound-of-silence narrative speaks louder than words, and reveals the power of nuance and understatement."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
75%
|
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
"
I haven't seen a better animated film this year, although calling "Tintin" animation seems inadequate."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 20, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
87%
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) |
"
Even those who know the torturous story by heart will be impressed by the intense focus, attention to detail and fidelity to the original material that director David Fincher brings this jagged little tale."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 20, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
Into The Abyss (2011) |
"
An eerie, unsettling and slightly macabre attempt to understand the how and why of three senseless murders in 2001 in Texas."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
93%
|
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011) |
"
"Ghost Protocol" is a less a film than a vanity license plate writ large - a throwback to when all an action film needed was a bogus concept, chase scenes and a roman numeral in a title."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
60%
|
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) |
"
Mindless action-film formula with the character dumbed down into an action figure for the desensitized generation."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
Melancholia (2011) |
"
Someone give "Melancholia" an award for most literal title."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
We Were Here (2011) |
"
[It's] as much about survival as tragedy, and any statistics in it pale in comparison to the personal testimony of those telling the tale."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 30, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
96%
|
The Muppets (2011) |
"
Its story about not fitting in and finding your place in the world will appeal to anyone who is, was or has a child. Did I leave anyone out?"
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
The Descendants (2011) |
"
An emotionally ennobling film that wears its compassion on the sleeve of its ugly Hawaiian print shirts."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
Hugo (2011) |
"
"Hugo" is a miracle of storytelling and technology."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
25%
|
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) |
"
In several scenes, characters play chess, but the film itself is as complex as "Chutes and Ladders," and just as suspenseful."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 17, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
44%
|
Happy Feet Two (2011) |
"
The actual narrative - something about following your heart, the importance of family and global warming - is bland and disjointed."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 17, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
44%
|
J. Edgar (2011) |
"
In the end, the reality comes from a physically and emotionally persuasive performance, with the stiff body language and precise diction of someone afraid to show weakness."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 12, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
79%
|
The Skin I Live In (2011) |
"
Almodóvar's films regularly deal with sexuality and identity, which he uses here to strip bare the relationship between mentor and muse, oppressor and victim, and creation and destruction."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 10, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
90%
|
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) |
"
The way Durkin allows the dead-eyed, flank-faced Olsen's life then and now to subtly bleed into each other creates an unsettling sense of ambiguity, dissonance and uncertainty throughout."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 10, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
67%
|
Love Crime (2011) |
"
This often predictable mash-up of "All About Eve," "Disclosure" and "Fatal Attraction" is elegantly twisted enough to keep one's mind from wandering."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
68%
|
Tower Heist (2011) |
"
It is like a sandwich without lunchmeat. It has a long setup and a long payoff, but nothing in between them worth chewing on."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Take Shelter (2011) |
"
Life is a double-edged sword. Be careful how you hold it."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
47%
|
Anonymous (2011) |
"
Emmerich's name is forever associated with bloated spectacle like "The Day After Tomorrow." Here, he finally uses his powers for good, creating a vast, virtual 16th-century world without sacrificing human details like De Vere's ink-stained fingers."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
72%
|
Magic Trip (2011) |
"
Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood manage to cut through the underbrush of this incoherent material to create a clear, if repetitive, through-line and put it into context, with footnote-type stops for side trips of social and historic significance."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 26, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
83%
|
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2011) |
"
There is nothing wrong with its reach, but its grasp of genre elements is random."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
36%
|
The Thing (2011) |
"
Don't let the title fool you. "The Thing" is not about the orange-colored, rhinoceros-skinned mutant member of the Fantastic Four. If only."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 13, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
85%
|
The Ides of March (2011) |
"
Clooney's static and formal visual style matches the false intimacy of any workplace: people talking to each other about ideas, sharing secrets and betraying each other behind the scenes."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
81%
|
Higher Ground (2011) |
"
A dignified and graceful first-person account of how a belief system is created and sustained, and evolves."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
94%
|
Moneyball (2011) |
"
"Moneyball" exploits Pitt's regular-guy likability without sacrificing the procedural elements or dumbing down the baseball."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Sep 22, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
95%
|
The Guard (2011) |
"
It takes a special skill to make this sort of complex schematic coherent, and, the attractive performances aside, it doesn't always work here."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Sep 1, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
68%
|
Our Idiot Brother (2011) |
"
"Our Idiot Brother" is made gently comic thanks to Rudd's fool-on-the-hill vibe and a quirky and effervescent supporting cast."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
36%
|
One Day (2011) |
"
A lump-in-your-throat love story that actually deserves to be called one."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 18, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
89%
|
The Trip (2011) |
"
A funny and intelligent buddy movie about two men with similar talents but different personalities, traipsing across fog-shrouded northern England on a wild-goose chase."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 11, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
76%
|
The Help (2011) |
"
Although the story is uplifting and the characters heroic, The Help feels like a missed opportunity to explore the inner lives of these women and the culture that sustained them in any kind of artful or insightful way."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 9, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
91%
|
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011) |
"
I approached "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" with a music lover's curiosity and a film lover's fondness for documentaries. I was not disappointed on either count."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
78%
|
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) |
"
"Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a paint-by-numbers bromantic dramedy in which clothes make the man."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
44%
|
Cowboys & Aliens (2011) |
"
This cross between "True Grit" and "Super 8" is a victim of special-effects fatigue, and an example of how ideas can go wrong when good filmmakers do nothing."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 28, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
79%
|
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) |
"
A scrappy simulation of American idealism personified by the willingness, nay, the need, to be the first to volunteer whenever the mission requires a sacrifice for the greater good."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 21, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
82%
|
TrollHunter (2011) |
"
Beneath its "Blair Witch Project" faux-vérité facade is a smart and "Ghostbusters"-like funny fantasy film rich in Norwegian folklore."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 14, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
96%
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011) |
"
[Ends] the series on an action-packed and character-driven note that works on most levels."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 14, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
84%
|
Beginners (2011) |
"
If few things are more tragic than lives wasted in regret and denial, then the converse is true: Little is more life-affirming than the discovery of dignity and meaning."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 30, 2011
|
|
2.5/4
|
34%
|
Larry Crowne (2011) |
"
Little of what it says about love or life is of much value, entertainment or otherwise."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 30, 2011
|
|
|
35%
|
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) |
"
A self-important, 153-minute-long spectacle with no feeling, no meaning and a wonky sense of geography."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 28, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
95%
|
13 Assassins (2011) |
"
The grandiose concluding sequence is not staged with finesse or subtlety, but with brutal finality. It is the Japanese samurai film equivalent of a barroom brawl on an epic scale, and the violence is punishing."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 23, 2011
|
