Peter Hartlaub Movie Reviews & Previews

Critics » Peter Hartlaub

Peter Hartlaub

Agrees with the Tomatometer 74% of the time.

Publications:: Houston Chronicle , San Francisco Chronicle

Total Reviews:: 391

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Showing 1 - 50 of 391

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
3/4	88%	Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts (2012)	" Proves that it was still a good year for animation, even if audiences were underwhelmed by the mainstream feature fare." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Feb 9, 2012
3/4	——	Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer (2011)	— San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 17, 2011
1/4	13%	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)	" It's an uninspired and instantly forgettable film. But it completely succeeds by its own standards: an 87-minute rainy-day distraction that will probably make a zillion dollars." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 15, 2011
1/4	——	Golf In The Kingdom (2011)	" For anyone coming in cold, this can be a ponderous cinematic experience." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 8, 2011
3/4	84%	Dragonslayer (1981)	— San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 18, 2011
3/4	88%	Dragonslayer (2011)	" In following this scattered character around, "Dragonslayer" director Tristan Patterson makes a very purposeful documentary about the pessimistic worldview of the nation's youth, and what that means for the future." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 17, 2011
3/4	33%	All Good Things (2010)	— San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 14, 2011
2/4	36%	The Thing (2011)	" It's an imperfect facsimile, guilty of borrowing too many ideas from the earlier film, and then executing them with differing results." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 13, 2011
2/4	25%	Dirty Girl (2011)	" Social satire, heartbreaking family drama and a lot of toe-tapping 1980s music attempt to exist in the same space. Watching this movie is like eating a hot fudge sundae and lasagna in alternating bites." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 7, 2011
3/4	59%	Real Steel (2011)	" You've probably seen toy commercials that present a more thoughtful dystopian future. And yet, in the moment, this film will make you want to do nothing except stuff your face with more." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 7, 2011
3/4	85%	Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2011)	" Relying mostly on a single gimmick, the slasher comedy presents a high degree of difficulty for both the director and actors. Their earnest efforts keep the repetition from becoming ponderous." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 29, 2011
2/4	94%	Moneyball (2011)	" Naysayers have been claiming for years that the Moneyball book wouldn't work as a movie. But ultimately, it's the cinematic touches that keep this film version from becoming something exceptional." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 23, 2011
3/4	83%	Dolphin Tale (2011)	" It gives young audiences credit for having patience and imagination, and rewards them with an engaging narrative." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 22, 2011
3/4	93%	Drive (2011)	" Mainstream audiences will probably be confounded by "Drive," while lovers of gritty filmmaking will defend every exaggerated shotgun wound as art. Know which camp you're in before you enter the theater." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 15, 2011
2/4	32%	A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011)	" Movies about raising children or reconnecting with lost loves can be subtle and slow paced. But orgy movies need to go all out. There doesn't appear to be any other way." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 1, 2011
3/4	74%	Fright Night (2011)	" "Fright Night" isn't quite a classic vampire movie, but it's refreshingly straightforward and self-deprecating." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 18, 2011
3/4	——	Vigilante Vigilante: The Battle for Expression (2011)	" Just 86 minutes long with several profile subjects, the film never lacks context." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 11, 2011
2/4	52%	The Devil's Double (2011)	" [It] does pick a solid lead actor in Dominic Cooper, whose impressive performance does a lot to distract from the story problems and strange tone shifts." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 4, 2011
	23%	The Smurfs (2011)	" A better movie than anyone could have possibly expected, thanks in large part to an honest effort by Harris in a thankless role." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 28, 2011
3/4	91%	Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011)	" An outstanding effort, and one of the more honest band biopics in recent years." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 14, 2011
2/4	43%	Ironclad (2011)	" The core fan base of this English sword battle drama will pay for the boundary-pushing blood and gore. Why bore them with things like plot and context and production values?" — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jul 7, 2011
3/4	82%	TrollHunter (2011)	" Successful on multiple levels, with a brisk pace, excellent location work and a strong lead performance by Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jun 16, 2011
3/4	——	Contractor's Routine (2011)	" Yuri Tsapayev's psychological drama has a slow and sometimes frustrating build, but there's also a powerful payoff..." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jun 2, 2011
2/4	62%	True Legend (2011)	" The story is painfully simplistic, and it becomes quickly apparent that the narrative is a crude cement to hold together the carnage." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 12, 2011
3/4	75%	These Amazing Shadows (2011)	" For lovers of American filmmaking, "These Amazing Shadows" may be the ultimate sampler buffet." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 5, 2011
1/4	11%	There Be Dragons (2011)	" "Dragons" may have seemed less out of place three decades ago, but it would have been a bad movie then as well." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted May 5, 2011
4/4	75%	Stake Land (2011)	" "Stake Land" bursts with action, ideas and interesting characters." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 28, 2011
1/4	11%	Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (2011)	" One would hope that Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma are getting some kind of royalty from all the mediocre comedies and animated movies that keep ripping off their films." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 28, 2011
2/4	46%	Soul Surfer (2011)	" The surfer's story is so made-for-cinema that a complete wipeout seems almost impossible. And yet the filmmakers come pretty close." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 7, 2011
3/4	98%	Born To Be Wild (2011)	" Wholesome and educational, teaches right from wrong, and brings up some important environmental issues." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Apr 7, 2011
2/4	65%	The Music Never Stopped (2011)	" The songs and a couple of strong performances are only good enough to make the film watchable, not exceptional." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Mar 17, 2011
3/4	87%	The Last Lions (2011)	" It's all very melodramatic, but the Jouberts accompany this story with incredible visuals, with an exceptional level of access." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Mar 3, 2011
2/4	64%	Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)	" Young fans will lose their minds, although that would have happened if the film consisted of an hour and 45 minutes of Bieber brushing his teeth. Adult chaperones who care nothing of the star's music will find the film surprisingly tolerable." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Feb 10, 2011
3/4	84%	Nenette (2010)	" Zoo creatures seem like funny caricatures during a short visit. After 67 minutes of observation, N�nette seems stuck in a dreamlike limbo, disconnected from the world, going through the motions, waiting patiently to die." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Jan 27, 2011
3/4	76%	Summer Wars (Sama Wozu) (2010)	" Hosoda adds enough dimensions to his characters and kinetic battles that the serene real world seems like a dream state." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 24, 2010
3/4	93%	Boxing Gym (2010)	" Even with no traditional narrative, there are wonderful discoveries to be made in Wiseman's film, which is a nice complement to the experienced director's ballet-themed last feature, "La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet."" — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 22, 2010
3/4	72%	Tiny Furniture (2010)	" What Dunham lacks in polish, she makes up for in her ability to observe her generation, with the hardest truths coming at her own expense." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 9, 2010
3/4	73%	Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie (2010)	" Esrick spent 10 years on the film, and the result is a comprehensive portrait." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 2, 2010
2/4	0%	Nutcracker in 3D (2010)	" Imagine watching Tchaikovsky's ballet after taking a handful of peyote -- on a day when all of the dancers call in sick and the orchestra decides to play a different set of the composer's works." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 23, 2010
3/4	91%	Kings of Pastry (2010)	" Beyond the treats, which are complicated and no doubt mind-bending to consume, the film has its layers as well." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 19, 2010
2/4	63%	Jackass 3-D (2010)	" Jackass 3D has its moments, but it lacks the ingenuity and hilarity of the previous films -- no doubt in large part because of the aging process." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 21, 2010
2/4	15%	The Romantics (2010)	" The script fails to establish the likability of any of the main characters, which dulls the sense of urgency during the dramatic moments." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 23, 2010
2/4	16%	Alpha and Omega (2010)	" There may be a few questions from the kids on the ride home, but this is an otherwise harmless and mostly forgettable entry into the bulging 3-D animation marketplace." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 16, 2010
2/4	53%	I'm Still Here (2010)	" I'm Still Here is like watching the 15 minutes in Boogie Nights where Dirk Diggler tries to become a recording artist, stretched into a full-length movie." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 10, 2010
2/4	43%	Highwater (2010)	" Everyone is a saint in Brown's eyes, and few are especially interesting as a result." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 2, 2010
3/4	73%	The Last Exorcism (2010)	" This is the rare horror film that would have been entertaining even if nothing scary happened." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 27, 2010
2/4	34%	Lottery Ticket (2010)	" If any of the central characters in Lottery Ticket had a bit of sense, the movie would be over in about five minutes." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 19, 2010
1/4	4%	Vampires Suck (2010)	" The running time is a merciful 80 minutes. That's the one reliably great thing about reviewing bad movies: Almost all of the biggest losers are less than an hour and a half long. " — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 18, 2010
2/4	42%	Gedo senki (Tales from Earthsea) (2010)	" The themes and memorable imagery in Earthsea will be familiar to fans of Studio Ghibli, but the storytelling and animation are a step behind." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 13, 2010

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