|
4/4
|
94%
|
Hugo (2011) |
"
"Hugo" is a miracle of storytelling and technology."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 22, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
51%
|
Alice in Wonderland (2010) |
"
A, my name is Alice, and my movie is amazing."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Mar 4, 2010
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
Up in the Air (2009) |
"
It's a lean and economical film about a lean and economical time. The only things it is rich in are empathy and compassion."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 17, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) |
"
A gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and awe-inspiring pull-no-punches tale with pitch-perfect performances..."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 19, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
97%
|
The Hurt Locker (2009) |
"
If The Hurt Locker doesn't capture what it's like to serve or live in Iraq, no film ever will."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 24, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
85%
|
Rachel Getting Married (2008) |
"
A life- and love-affirming work of artistry and compassion."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 24, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
There Will Be Blood (2007) |
"
The dense, elegiac and extraordinarily mature character study There Will Be Blood is such a departure in tone, theme and execution as if to seem by a different filmmaker entirely."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 11, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
95%
|
No Country for Old Men (2007) |
"
This stark and grimly violent tale of humankind's insignificance in the presence of a force it is helpless to control or predict is a morality tale of existential proportions -- and with contemporary implications."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 20, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
86%
|
The Heart of the Game (2005) |
"
Serrill, making his feature debut after numerous short promotional films, takes a story that is seemingly about one thing, and uses it to gently explore the bigger ideas of gender, race, class, cooperation, competition and what winning really means."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 14, 2006
|
|
4/4
|
87%
|
Brokeback Mountain (2005) |
"
The film is less a salvo in the culture war over civil unions than a skirmish in the range war over masculinity itself."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 31, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
Murderball (2005) |
"
You thought Lance Armstrong was hell on wheels? Wait until you meet the men from Murderball."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 4, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
Sideways (2004) |
"
Captures the unflattering male psyche like no film since Roger Dodger."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 11, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
95%
|
Hero (2004) |
"
Hero is what Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon might have looked like if it had been directed by the late Japanese master Akira Kurosawa."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Aug 26, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
89%
|
In This World (2003) |
"
It's a brave new world, and Michael Winterbottom's brave new film is like a postcard from the heart of it."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 19, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
The Triplets of Belleville (2003) |
"
A comfortably subversive and accomplished film that speaks to everyone, without talking down to anyone."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 5, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
99%
|
Bus 174 (Ônibus 174) (2003) |
"
A piece of investigative reportage that is as compassionate as it is riveting."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 15, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) |
"
This time around, the same jaw-dropping spectacle ... that previously was stunning is outright magnificent here, made exhilarating by the impending sense of closure."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 17, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
Spellbound (2002) |
"
It is the sleeper of the summer and appropriate for all ages."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 27, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
85%
|
About Schmidt (2002) |
"
It has a redemptive quality that is sentimental without being saccharine, and Nicholson's reflective and interior performance stings like the saline in a single tear."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 3, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
91%
|
Footnote (2012) |
"
"Footnote" has one of the most satisfying scenes I've seen in years."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Apr 19, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011) |
"
A tragically familiar family drama whose heartbreaking "for want of a nail" sequence of events spirals out of control at an intimate and individual level."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 16, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
98%
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
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
|
91%
|
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
|
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
95%
|
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
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) |
"
What is cinema but shadows dancing on walls?"
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 16, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
77%
|
Thor (2011) |
"
It is as close to a thinking person's comic-book superhero movie as the genre gets, and it's tempting to see parallels between the gods and monsters of then and now."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted May 5, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
The Illusionist (L'illusionniste) (2010) |
"
Feels transported from a time and place perceived as simpler and more innocent, but which actually was less complex only on the surface."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 24, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Another Year (2010) |
"
Mike Leigh's perceptive and humbly profound cycle-of-life portrait of aging, friendship and extreme loneliness as a form of mental illness."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 27, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
True Grit (2010) |
"
Writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen preserve the spare tone and stilted formality of language in Charles Portis' slim 1968 novel to craft a tale of frontier justice that is equal parts "Deadwood" and Dickens."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 22, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
91%
|
The Fighter (2010) |
"
"The Fighter" would be just as inspirational even if it were not true, because of the quartet of actors who elevate its earnestness into Oscar-worthy territory."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 16, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
87%
|
Black Swan (2010) |
"
Rarely outside of the films of David Cronenberg have madness and its hallucinations been so viscerally, literally and broadly portrayed."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Dec 16, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
86%
|
Buried (2010) |
"
Cortes similarly crafts a heightened sense of awareness out of the less-is-more scenario. The result is a skillful thriller with a strong point of view that is also confident in its use of genre flourishes."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 7, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
The Social Network (2010) |
"
It's a smart bomb of a film that illustrates how technology and innovation influence human behavior."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Sep 30, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
94%
|
Winter's Bone (2010) |
"
The sound of rarely heard voices and a portrait of a world all but forgotten except by the people who live there."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 29, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
The Kids Are All Right (2010) |
"
Funny and warm, The Kids Are All Right feels lived in and acutely observed, and is as steeped in joy as in regret."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jul 22, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
91%
|
The Secret of Kells (2010) |
"
A film revelatory and mysterious but whose appeal is no secret."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jun 10, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
95%
|
Mother (Madeo) (2010) |
"
Superficially a Hitchcock-type thriller, Mother is really a visually rich, detail-filled, character-driven mystery with a powerful central performance."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Apr 29, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
Collapse (2009) |
"
Ruppert's deep sighs, dramatic pauses and a slight sneer on his lips say that he doesn't care what you think because he knows he's right, but he forgives your ignorance."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Mar 12, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
85%
|
The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) (2009) |
"
Haneke, director of such unsettling films as Caché and Funny Games, gives this 145-minute film a real-time pace that allows its implications to spread slowly like a blood stain."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 26, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
The Messenger (2009) |
"
Harrelson received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for his grim and volatile performance, but it could just as easily have gone to the quietly seething Foster."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Feb 11, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) (Broken Hugs) (2009) |
"
A rich, tangled and layered work whose lurid, sensual style -- and seething and ebbing score by Alberto Iglesias -- is like lava cooling upon the volcano below."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 14, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
85%
|
A Single Man (2009) |
"
[Ford's] stark and muffled formalism is another tile in a mosaic that observes that, while death is in all our futures, life is what a person does with what happens to you."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Jan 14, 2010
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) |
"
Anderson is a thematic and stylistic eccentric, whose meticulous and dazzling sense of artifice results in a fully realized world that travels at top speed and is miniature only in scale."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Nov 24, 2009
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
A Serious Man (2009) |
"
A perfectly wrought, exquisitely calibrated and miniature-scaled portrait of a specific time and place and the changes they wrought, made by filmmakers who have their art down to a science."
—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted Oct 22, 2009
|
67%
——
98%
