Fresh
| Fresh 65%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Thrilling, glamorous, richly textured and breathlessly action-packed, it is one of the best movies of the year." — New York Observer Posted Jun 24, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 44%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
The writing team of Jeremy Leven and director Cassavetes have joined forces with a great cast to bring the best-selling book by Jodi Picoult to life with a purity that can only be called inspirational." — New York Observer Posted Jun 24, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 45%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
Whatever Works is a dubious idea at best, but when nothing works, it’s time to throw out the script and move on to omething that does." — New York Observer Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 66%
| Dead Snow (2009) | "
The result piles on relentless thrills and unimaginable horrors, with a shock ending guaranteed to make you scream out loud." — New York Observer Posted Jun 17, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 19%
| Downloading Nancy (2008) | "
Not only does it waste the audience’s time with 102 minutes of misery and despair, but it also trashes the talents of four fine actors who should have stayed in bed reading better screenplays that deserve attention and enhance careers." — New York Observer Posted Jun 3, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 82%
| Pontypool (2009) | "
If it wasn’t so boring, the dialogue would be a laugh a minute. The acting is so abominable that the cast is better off unmentioned." — New York Observer Posted May 27, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 8%
| What Goes Up (2009) | "
Without a trace of tempo or one shred of narrative pacing, What Goes Up is not really a movie; it’s the cheapest kind of amateurishness that looks like it was shot with a cell phone." — New York Observer Posted May 27, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 93%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
The true test of any successful horror flick is how wretched it makes you feel. At the very least, it should inspire a banquet of dread or offer a canapé of anxiety. After Drag Me to Hell you won’t mind walking home alone." — New York Observer Posted May 27, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 62%
| The Brothers Bloom (2009) | "
Annoyingly hammy and trite." — New York Observer Posted May 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 50%
| Easy Virtue (2009) | "
All told, a sparkling, classy and ultimately satisfying experience." — New York Observer Posted May 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 33%
| The Limits of Control (2009) | "
This is an empty, boring sedative by Jim Jarmusch, a writer-director with not enough talent to be either." — New York Observer Posted Apr 29, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
The Soloist is a moving, inspirational story told in a straightforward style, refreshingly devoid of sentimentality." — New York Observer Posted Apr 22, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 15%
| The Informers (2009) | "
A rancid load of swill called The Informers, from a depraved 1994 book by Bret Easton Ellis, is, like The Soloist, a look at the underbelly of L.A., but the resemblance ends there." — New York Observer Posted Apr 22, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 67%
| Is Anybody There? (2009) | "
At the risk of sounding churlish, I have to admit the alleged charm of this comic misadventure eluded me totally." — New York Observer Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 71%
| American Violet (2009) | "
A harrowing, compelling and profoundly true story that dares to tackle an important but too rarely exposed issue of the abuse of power in the American criminal justice system." — New York Observer Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 85%
| State of Play (2009) | "
State of Play is the latest incoherently written, mass-entertainment gibberish by the overrated Tony Gilroy." — New York Observer Posted Apr 15, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 55%
| Lymelife (2009) | "
Rarely have I seen such a waste of worthy talent." — New York Observer Posted Apr 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 72%
| The Escapist (2009) | "
The prison escape movie -- a tired genre -- gets some fresh energy in The Escapist, a compelling, carefully written and totally gripping film from the U.K. that is acted with naturalism and conviction by a smashing cast." — New York Observer Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 38%
| Gigantic (2008) | "
It looks like it was made for one-half of Joan Crawford’s old soundstage Pepsi-Cola budget and sounds like it was written by chimpanzees." — New York Observer Posted Apr 1, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 17%
| Spinning into Butter (2009) | "
The title is wrong. They should call it Spinning Into Margarine." — New York Observer Posted Mar 25, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 66%
| Duplicity (2009) | "
Slick, super-contrived, pretty to look at and totally, completely preposterous." — New York Observer Posted Mar 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| Hunger (2008) | "
It’s a brilliant work of power, maturity and vision that should not be missed." — New York Observer Posted Mar 11, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 68%
| The Cake Eaters (2009) | "
The Cake Eaters is a small but rewarding slice of realism that is a nice antidote to the surfeit of slasher movies that have been polluting the ozone lately." — New York Observer Posted Mar 11, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 73%
| Sunshine Cleaning (2009) | "
Not a great movie, but disarmingly entertaining -- especially when you have to rub your eyes to believe what you’re seeing (or cover them to avoid what you’re not seeing)." — New York Observer Posted Mar 11, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 12%
| Crossing Over (2009) | "
Writer-director Wayne Kramer gets uniformly terrific performances from a fine cast playing pawns in the game of sex, violence and betrayal that diminishes the noble tradition of naturalized citizenship." — New York Observer Posted Mar 4, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 25%
| The Caller (2009) | "
The Caller is a loopy, talky, 92-minute two-hander with Elliott Gould and Frank Langella (on a downward spiral following his juicy triumph in Frost/Nixon), written and directed by a force to forget called Richard Ledes." — New York Observer Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 58%
| The International (2009) | "
This movie is a fiction -- and it makes no sense at all." — New York Observer Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 84%
| Two Lovers (2009) | "
Two Lovers has roots in pure soap opera, but its gentle pacing and delicate performances lift it blithely above the dangers of parody as it tells the story of two tortured misfits groping in the dark for human contact." — New York Observer Posted Feb 11, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 48%
| Donkey Punch (2009) | "
Unfortunately, Donkey Punch delivers a donkey punch of its own." — New York Observer Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 43%
| He's Just Not That Into You (2009) | "
It has all the depth of a television sitcom parody. In the end, it’s hard to tell who is more miserable -- the losers on the screen or the victims in the audience." — New York Observer Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 57%
| Taken (2009) | "
Taken is the kind of exploitative junk everyone expects from no-talent French hack Luc Besson." — New York Observer Posted Feb 4, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 17%
| The Lodger (2009) | "
The cast works hard to make you believe they believe what the screenwriter tells them to believe. But in the end, it all seems contrived and silly." — New York Observer Posted Jan 28, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 18%
| New in Town (2009) | "
The comedy is harmless as a farm-fresh egg, sunny side up and runny in the middle. Pleasant enough going down, but an hour after breakfast you can’t remember what it tasted like." — New York Observer Posted Jan 28, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 72%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a monumental achievement -- not only one of the best films of the year, but one of the greatest films ever made." — New York Observer Posted Dec 17, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 69%
| Revolutionary Road (2008) | "
A flawless, moment-to-moment autopsy of a marriage on the rocks and an indictment of the American Dream gone sour." — New York Observer Posted Dec 17, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 78%
| Doubt (2008) | "
The crisis of faith faced by everyone in Doubt raises the biggest doubt of all." — New York Observer Posted Dec 10, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
Like Jack Palance in Requiem for a Heavyweight, the man you’re watching not only has the role of a lifetime; he seems to be living it, too. The result is the most brutally honest performance of the year." — New York Observer Posted Dec 10, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 12%
| Lake City (2008) | "
As for Sissy Spacek, I can’t think of a sounder role to reflect the unique qualities that make her so special." — New York Observer Posted Nov 18, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| Milk (2008) | "
It’s a lengthy, engaging, information-packed tribute to an early activist who dedicated the last years of his life to gay rights before it was fashionable, and paid the ultimate price for his passion." — New York Observer Posted Nov 18, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 70%
| How About You (2008) | "
Based on a short story by the great Irish writer Maeve Binchy, the film has structure, resonance and a welcome respect for well-delineated characters, beautifully observed by a distinguished cast." — New York Observer Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| The Dukes (2008) | "
It’s an enjoyable way to pass 90 minutes. But to call it an important movie with big ideas is like saying Miley Cyrus sings like Ella Fitzgerald." — New York Observer Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 65%
| Quantum of Solace (2008) | "
Quantum of Solace, the 22nd entry in the interminable franchise, is one of the most pointless, chaotic and forgettable of them all. It is also one of the dullest." — New York Observer Posted Nov 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 54%
| Gardens of the Night (2008) | "
Good acting and sincere direction by Damian Harris act as beacons to light the haunting corridors of an underworld spook house." — New York Observer Posted Nov 5, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 65%
| The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) | "
See it at all costs. It is both wonderful and devastating." — New York Observer Posted Nov 5, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 33%
| The Guitar (2008) | "
Written by Amos Poe and directed with moxie by Amy Redford, it’s the ultimate movie about optimism." — New York Observer Posted Nov 5, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 67%
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | "
No matter how bad you think the worst movie ever made ever was, you have not seen Synecdoche, New York. It sinks to the ultimate bottom of the landfill, and the smell threatens to linger from here to infinity." — New York Observer Posted Oct 22, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 61%
| Changeling (2008) | "
Changeling is the real deal, as good as any film [Eastwood] has ever made, and 10 times more electrifying than most. It grabs you by the throat and never lets go." — New York Observer Posted Oct 22, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| I've Loved You So Long (2008) | "
This is an amazing film for a directorial debut, but Mr. Claudel eschews sentimentality with what practically amounts to quiet heroism." — New York Observer Posted Oct 22, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 58%
| Flash of Genius (2008) | "
Too much technical information about circuit boards, Motorola transistors and U.S. patent laws eventually takes up more screen time than Kearns’ sympathetic story, leaving the viewer restless and bored." — New York Observer Posted Oct 8, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 50%
| Breakfast with Scot (2008) | "
The smart performances, humorous dialogue and brisk pacing of Laurie Lynd’s direction are all warm and friendly -- a nice antidote to misguided junk like I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." — New York Observer Posted Oct 8, 2008 |
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