Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
"An Education" is worth seeing, mostly for its superb period detail and the strong performance at its center." — The Trend Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 73%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
Yes, it is one of the more tired genres around, and no, it's not as good as the book. But "The Blind Side," is a nice surprise %u2014 a heartfelt drama that tells an amazing story remarkably well." — The Trend Posted Nov 22, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Fresh 80%
| Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) | "
A deeply creepy and disturbing exercise, in which we're exposed to footage that was likely never meant to see the light of day, featuring a performer who at the time was, literally, days away from death." — The Trend Posted Nov 11, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 86%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
Never has a movie packed with so much hostility or existential angst made me smile from start to finish as this one did." — The Trend Posted Nov 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Charming, affecting and heartbreaking. It could have gone wrong in any number of ways, but never does" — The Trend Posted Oct 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
A patchwork collection of derivative gags and relationship drama that seems leftover from old 'thirtysomething' episodes." — The Trend Posted Oct 19, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 56%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
The film has two very, very good ideas, but doesn't fit them together well; while its laughs are only sporadic, and the romantic subplot falls generally flat." — The Trend Posted Oct 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 28%
| Fame (2009) | "
a totally unoriginal and unnecessary remake that runs far, far away from anything edgy, controversial or interesting." — The Trend Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
It may be slow at times and structured sort of oddly, but The Informant! is one of the year's true originals, and Soderbergh's best film since the first Ocean's" — The Trend Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 85%
| World's Greatest Dad (2009) | "
A pitch-black dark comedy that certainly won't be for everyone %u2014 but if you can stomach it, it's the most outrageous and audacious film of the season." — The Trend Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
As with virtually all of Judge's work, Extract is based on the idea that most people are total, blithering idiots. It's all very off-beat, but a top-flight comedic cast makes it work" — The Trend Posted Sep 13, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 86%
| Big Fan (2009) | "
I could imagine a very good movie being made about rabid, angry football fans in New York and Philadelphia... but Big Fan just plain doesn't work, mostly because it doesn't understand the world it inhabits." — The Trend Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
Why is Basterds such a colossal disappointment? It's mostly because Tarantino indulges all of his worst impulses as a filmmaker and ignores what he does best." — The Trend Posted Sep 7, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
A mediocre comedy that wants desperately to be "Anchorman" on a used-car lot, but can't measure up, mostly because it's so lacking in laughs" — The Trend Posted Aug 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
The biggest problem is that Yi's quest for love, and understanding of such, simply isn't all that interesting." — The Trend Posted Aug 17, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
The film does a lot of things that Apatow's previous work did... but is almost ruined by a too-long running time and a third act that seems to drag on forever." — The Trend Posted Aug 10, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 15%
| The Ugly Truth (2009) | "
A truly wretched romcom, which combines tired battle-of-the-sexes cliches with a shocking amount of raunchiness. It's a romantic comedy that fails at both romance and comedy." — The Trend Posted Aug 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 87%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
Probably the most honest thing in the film is the breakup scenes feel like REAL breakups, much more than they resemble the contrived obstacles to love in most romantic comedies." — The Trend Posted Jul 26, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
What makes Hurt Locker truly great is that it's most interested in telling us an honest story about these soldiers and this war, without servicing any type of political agenda." — The Trend Posted Jul 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 67%
| Bruno (2009) | "
The film's weakness is obvious: it has exactly one trick up its sleeve, and merely repeats that trick over and over for its entire 87-minute running time" — The Trend Posted Jul 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 67%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Mann doesn't let his movie breathe. It's a downright beautiful production... everything looks great- so why not show it?" — The Trend Posted Jul 13, 2009 |
Rotten 0/5
| Rotten 19%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
The worst thing about the movie, out of many, is that it takes a $200 million budget and a two-and-a-half hour running time, and not a single memorable, impressive or fun thing happens." — The Trend Posted Jul 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
It breaks no new ground, is predictable at every turn, and no one will remember a thing about it a week after they see it. All that said, The Proposal is above-average." — The Trend Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 78%
| The Hangover (2009) | "
The best bachelor party movie since, well, "Bachelor Party"" — The Trend Posted Jun 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 92%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
Drag Me to Hell can't quite live up to the Evil Dead movies, mostly because it never finds a consistent tone. Not to mention, its background mythology is both totally ridiculous and almost impossible to understand." — The Trend Posted Jun 6, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
A beautiful film in every sense of the word, UP belongs at or near the top of the list of Pixar's best movies." — The Trend Posted Jun 1, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 95%
| Star Trek (2009) | "
The film is a success because of beautiful visuals, swift storytelling that never loses its momentum, and the sheer joy of having these characters back in our lives again." — The Trend Posted May 17, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 98%
| Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009) | "
The film is very funny at times, especially in its use of early '80s archival footage; the comedy of Anvil's hair, outfits, and lyrics from the '80s are worth the price of admission alone." — The Trend Posted May 10, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
There's a lot the movie gets right, but fails completely when it tries, cinematically, to depict what schizophrenia is like" — The Trend Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 84%
| State of Play (2009) | "
The film is ultimately sunken by a shaky and ugly handheld visual style, as well as a contrived, convoluted plot with perhaps one twist too many." — The Trend Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 50%
| Observe and Report (2009) | "
This is a movie about damaged, deranged people, who you wouldn't want to be near if you met them in real life.You'll ask yourself if you should be laughing %u2014 until you shrug and laugh anyway." — The Trend Posted Apr 18, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 28%
| Fast & Furious (2009) | "
"As silly as it is derivative, with quite a bit of unintentional comedy, but the action scenes deliver, and car fetishists will find much to love."" — The Trend Posted Apr 9, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 72%
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) | "
The 3-D effects look great, no doubt, but the film ultimately falls victim to a contrived, unoriginal plot that just shows once again how far behind Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks Animation is." — The Trend Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 65%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
It's a complex and at times hard-to-follow script, but it leaves no loose ends and makes perfect sense in the end. Even the ending is a legitimate surprise" — The Trend Posted Mar 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 72%
| Sunshine Cleaning (2009) | "
Formulaic, "gritty" indie films don't get much more cloying or pointless... it's as generic as generic indie gets." — The Trend Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 64%
| Watchmen (2009) | "
The biggest problem with "Watchmen" is at the screenplay level. The story, as adapted by David Hayter and Alex Tse, just plain isn't told very well, and the introduction of both the characters and mythology are extremely difficult to follow for anyone not" — The Trend Posted Mar 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 83%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
A true gem, a fascinating character study that appears to actually live in the real world." — The Trend Posted Mar 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
The film goes off to a sort of sluggish start, and its ending just goes on and on. But in the middle is one of the most astonishingly awesome action sequences in recent cinematic history." — The Trend Posted Feb 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 23%
| Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) | "
Shopaholic's biggest problem is that it wants to have it both ways. It wants to luxuriate in expensive clothes and shoes and other princess-fantasy accoutrements while at the same time posing as a heavy-handed brief against debt, shallowness and financial" — The Trend Posted Feb 22, 2009 |
Rotten 0/4
| Rotten 18%
| New in Town (2009) | "
All it does is mine stereotypes about the small-town Upper Midwest that were starting to get cliched when "The Music Man" was first staged in 1957." — The Trend Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 44%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
It's far from a revolutionary film, but it's still quite enjoyable, thanks to an attractive cast and some funny moments." — The Trend Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 50%
| Notorious (2009) | "
Even though it brings little that's new or innovative to the table, "Notorious" is a must for anyone even moderately interested in the history of hip-hop in the 1990s." — The Trend Posted Jan 31, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 77%
| Doubt (2008) | "
More than any other movie I can think of in the past few years, 'Doubt' was conceived of, and produced, for the sole purpose of winning Oscars. That's why it exists, and no, that's not a compliment." — The Trend Posted Jan 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 56%
| Defiance (2008) | "
It's an imperfect film - slow-moving and without much narrative momentum - but it tells an inspiring story, and when it gets going, it's quite rousing." — The Trend Posted Jan 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 68%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
Except for a handful of misplaced laughs, "Revolutionary Road" is nothing but loud arguments, awkward silences and other bits of unpleasantness." — The Trend Posted Jan 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 61%
| Valkyrie (2008) | "
Gets off to a slow start, but once it gets going, it's one of the more fascinating thrillers in recent memory, even though everyone who paid attention in history class will know exactly how it turns out." — The Trend Posted Dec 28, 2008 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 68%
| Cadillac Records (2008) | "
An entertaining but frustrating film. There are some good performances, and some great music, but the movie is too jumbled and confused to reach the heights to which it aspires." — The Trend Posted Dec 14, 2008 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 54%
| Australia (2008) | "
Luhrmann... apparently decided this time to make about five movies at once, as Australia fluctuates wildly among many genres and many more different tones. And it's long. So, so long." — The Trend Posted Dec 3, 2008 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 86%
| Rachel Getting Married (2008) | "
The film succeeds where [Margot at the Wedding] failed for several reasons, most notably a remarkably intimate spirit; a tone that rings true through comedy, tragedy and back again; great, great music from start to finish; and an amazing, career-best perf" — The Trend Posted Nov 23, 2008 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 45%
| Soul Men (2008) | "
Mostly, the film works, due largely to the bickering, grumpy-old-men dynamic between the two leads." — The Trend Posted Nov 14, 2008 |
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