Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Emmerich, Bay and their brethren need to learn how boring these CGI onslaughts have become. When we see 18 skyscrapers collapse and several dozen vehicles wreck at the same moment, what do we focus on?" Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
Like many movies that try to stretch a sketch idea to 90 minutes or more, Lying starts to sputter early on." Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
Tarantino's scenes go on and on because he's in love with the sound of his character talking. This gets especially maddening in Inglorious Basterds because much of the dialogue is in German, so the words are three times as long." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 14%
| The Ugly Truth (2009) | "
Allowing the characters to talk dirty adds nothing to the chick flick formula." Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 20%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
All this is Bay being Bay, but you have to question the motives of Hasbro. The company is marketing its toys through a film that contains language and humor inappropriate for children 13 and younger." Posted Jun 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
Once you've set your story up as a bedroom farce, resisting the form seems futile. The Proposal meanders toward a tone without arriving at one." Posted Jun 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 25%
| Land of the Lost (2009) | "
Land of the Lost is only one hour and 36 minutes long, but it could easily be 15 minutes shorter without the scenes of Ferrell's meandering ad-libs." Posted Jun 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 36%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
At one point Langdon bellows, "I need a map showing all the churches in Rome!" which is a hilarious bit of dialogue because you might as well demand a map showing all the bars in Milwaukee. Then again, that would lead to a more entertaining movie." Posted May 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 36%
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) | "
The script plays it safe and clings to the rules of the superhero movie." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 50%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
A funny version of Taxi Driver is a dubious proposition to begin with, and writer-director Jody Hill botches it from the start." Posted May 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
With Snyder, "visionary" means he's all about the visuals, and he does mine Watchmen for impressive, computer-enhanced eye candy. But Snyder is tone deaf to stultifying dialogue and wooden performances." Posted Mar 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 59%
| The International (2009) | "
After a gripping opening scene, The International often shudders to a halt trying to explain its convoluted plot." Posted Feb 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 57%
| Taken (2009) | "
Was Liam Neeson looking for a script with lousier dialogue than "The Phantom Menace"?" Posted Feb 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 12%
| Bride Wars (2009) | "
Here's the biggest problem with Bride Wars: As simple as the premise is, we don't buy it for a moment." Posted Jan 8, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 60%
| Valkyrie (2008) | "
Much of Valkyrie works, but not quite enough." Posted Jan 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 43%
| Yes Man (2008) | "
Much of the time we are watching a middle-aged man hoping to recapture the glory of his youth. Yes Man is Carrey's cinematic substitute for a little red sports car." Posted Dec 20, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 50%
| Twilight (2008) | "
The longer the revelations drag out, the duller Twilight gets. And the revelations drag on a long time - three quarters of the movie." Posted Nov 20, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 65%
| Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) | "
The most offensive aspect of Zack and Miri is not the language or the subject matter, but the agonizing predictability of the story." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 61%
| Changeling (2008) | "
How could a film with so much turmoil, drama and pulp elements become boring? Because it contains too much of all of the above." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 60%
| W. (2008) | "
Stone miscalculates by wanting to talk about George W. Bush just as he has become the lamest of lame ducks." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 51%
| Body of Lies (2008) | "
Body of Lies proves as generic as its title." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 28%
| Eagle Eye (2008) | "
Eagle Eye occupies a treacherous middle ground. It isn't credible enough to work as a thriller and isn't ridiculous enough to work as a spoof." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 77%
| Burn After Reading (2008) | "
Burn After Reading is part spy spoof and part rumination of middle-aged loneliness, which goes a long way to explain why its elements never cohere." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 68%
| Pineapple Express (2008) | "
Pineapple Express is funny, but it's not outrageously funny. Such material needs to be outrageously funny to succeed." Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 61%
| Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) | "
Journey to the Center of the Earth isn't playing in 3-D in every theater, but that's the only way to see it. Even then you have to wait until the last half-hour for the good stuff." Posted Jul 11, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 40%
| Hancock (2008) | "
The attempts to deepen the emotions turn Hancock into a strange, conflicted and often joyless film." Posted Jul 1, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 37%
| Street Kings (2008) | "
"Street Kings" is 107 minutes long and most casual viewers will know the bad guy's identity 100 minutes before Reeves does." Posted Apr 14, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 49%
| Smart People (2008) | "
Without a clear-cut plot to lead him, first-time director Noam Murro gets muddled in the perpetual sadness of too many characters." Posted Apr 14, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 35%
| 21 (2008) | "
For a movie about high-stakes gambling, 21 settles for penny-ante dramatics." Posted Apr 14, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 57%
| Married Life (2008) | "
Asks the audience to spend a lot of time waiting for not much to happen." Posted Mar 17, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 41%
| The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) | "
All the lush sets and elaborate costumes cannot disguise the fact that Portman is terribly cast." Posted Mar 3, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 54%
| Charlie Bartlett (2007) | "
Even though there's some smart stuff in Charlie Bartlett, there's a lot more dumb stuff that keeps the worthy elements from aligning." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 35%
| Vantage Point (2008) | "
Vantage Point requires three simultaneous coincidences for the ending to work. That may be a record." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 16%
| Jumper (2008) | "
The opening of Jumper is so similar to the opening of Spider-Man that Stan Lee's copyright infringement sense must be tingling." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 5%
| The Hottie & the Nottie (2008) | "
Except for Hilton's delusion that she has comic (or any) talent, the movie's worst sin is that it is inept 95 percent of the time. The remaining 5 percent is kind of cute." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 15%
| Over Her Dead Body (2008) | "
About a dozen other movies have used variations on this plot. And every single one of them has been smarter and more entertaining than Over Her Dead Body." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 14%
| Untraceable (2008) | "
Exploits the very trend it condemns." Posted Feb 25, 2008 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 14%
| First Sunday (2008) | "
Getting religion in the end is no excuse for a parade of bad taste." Posted Feb 22, 2008 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 42%
| The Bucket List (2007) | "
When actors as great as Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman can't make dialogue sound natural, you know the script is a stinkeroo." Posted Feb 15, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 79%
| The Great Debaters (2007) | "
Although we instinctively should be rooting for these characters, Eisele bends the rules of academic debate to make sure the outcome is never in doubt." Posted Feb 15, 2008 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 66%
| The Kite Runner (2007) | "
The film has the same weaknesses and strengths as the novel. And its greatest weakness is that the main character is the least interesting and just about the least sympathetic." Posted Dec 16, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 42%
| The Golden Compass (2007) | "
In adapting Pullman's novel, Weitz jettisons its distinctive atmosphere and complex (and controversial) theological background and decides instead to whip through the plot." Posted Dec 16, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 15%
| Hitman (2007) | "
Hitman will satisfy only longings for tough-guy posturing, sadistic violence, blatant misogyny and incoherent plotting." Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 54%
| This Christmas (2007) | "
A holiday film with much goodwill but just as much predictability." Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 71%
| Beowulf (2007) | "
Robert Zemeckis has created the world's longest videogame cut scene." Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 37%
| Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) | "
Whimsy is the worst thing a filmmaker can force on an audience. Magic is the second worst. Yet for 90 minutes writer-director Zach Helm shoves whimsy and magic down his audience's throat." Posted Nov 21, 2007 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 34%
| P2 (2007) | "
The ingredients of modern horror kill the atmosphere and make P2 less scary, not more." Posted Nov 7, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 31%
| Music Within (2007) | "
Both Pimental and the audience would have been better served if his life were told as a PBS documentary." Posted Nov 7, 2007 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 34%
| Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) | "
Unreliable as history and misguided as a contemporary allegory, Golden Age finally fails because it is a half-hearted spectacle, not even filmed in a widescreen format." Posted Nov 7, 2007 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 90%
| Michael Clayton (2007) | "
Gilroy's goal is to create a smart, literate thriller, and while Michael Clayton is smart and literate, it isn't thrilling." Posted Nov 7, 2007 |
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