|
4/5
|
89%
|
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006) |
"
The romantic cliche that all artists are a little bit mad is put through its paces (if never seriously questioned) in this documentary about the musician Daniel Johnston."
—
New York Times
Posted Mar 30, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
69%
|
Curious George (2006) |
"
With top-drawer voice talent and old-fashioned two-dimensional animation that echoes the simple colors and shapes of the books, Curious George is an unexpected delight."
—
New York Times
Posted Feb 9, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
94%
|
Down to the Bone (2005) |
"
[A] small, beautifully faceted gem."
—
New York Times
Posted Nov 28, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
——
|
Optimists () |
"
It's a rare documentary about the Holocaust that would dare call itself The Optimists, but the title is oddly fitting for this chronicle of the Bulgarian Jews' near-miraculous survival of the Second World War."
—
New York Times
Posted Oct 20, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
65%
|
Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (The Weeping Meadow) (2004) |
"
The first in a projected trilogy by the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, The Weeping Meadow is a beautiful and devastating meditation on war, history and loss."
—
New York Times
Posted Sep 14, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
85%
|
The Perfect Crime (El Crimen Perfecto)(Crimen ferpecto) (2005) |
"
Like the Ferris wheel that serves as the setting for one of its climactic scenes, El Crimen Perfecto is a bright, gaudy and tremendously satisfying ride."
—
New York Times
Posted Aug 18, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
75%
|
Just One Look (2005) |
"
This valentine to Hong Kong cinema should resonate with anyone who's been through the painful apprenticeship of learning the difference between life and the movies."
—
New York Times
Posted Jul 27, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
71%
|
The Great Water (2005) |
"
... difficult to watch, and just as difficult to forget."
—
New York Times
Posted Jun 16, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
77%
|
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) |
"
Like the four teenage girls at its center, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants makes up in charm what it lacks in sophistication."
—
New York Times
Posted Jun 1, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
73%
|
Mojados - Through the Night (2004) |
"
Mojados: Through the Night manages to capture the danger, fatigue and tedium of an illegal border crossing from Mexico without becoming tedious itself."
—
New York Times
Posted May 19, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
79%
|
Farmingville (2004) |
"
The documentary Farmingville explores questions about hatred, tolerance and the future of labor and immigration law in America."
—
New York Times
Posted Oct 28, 2004
|
|
|
62%
|
Salt (2010) |
"
The audience's relationship to Jolie as an off-screen superhero -- a bona-fide, old-school movie star -- makes her ludicrously competent character seem contiguous with her real-life persona."
—
Slate
Posted Jul 23, 2010
|
|
|
86%
|
Inception (2010) |
"
At the end of Inception, I hadn't lived through the grueling emotional journey Nolan seemed to think I had, but I'd seen a bunch of cool images and admired some technically ambitious feats of filmmaking."
—
Slate
Posted Jul 15, 2010
|
|
|
93%
|
The Kids Are All Right (2010) |
"
The Kids Are All Right is the movie we've been waiting for all year: a comedy that doesn't take cheap shots, a drama that doesn't manipulate, a movie of ideas that doesn't preach."
—
Slate
Posted Jul 9, 2010
|
|
|
67%
|
The Karate Kid (2010) |
"
It's as sweet-natured a movie as you could expect about a 12-year-old learning to beat the crap out of his schoolmates."
—
Slate
Posted Jul 6, 2010
|
|
|
49%
|
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) |
"
The choice of whether to see Eclipse isn't really a question of whether the movie is good or bad. It's a question of whether or not the movie speaks to your secret, unregulated, inherently ridiculous experience of identification and desire."
—
Slate
Posted Jun 30, 2010
|
|
|
94%
|
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo (I Was Born, But ) (Children of Tokyo) (1932) |
"
Ozu's movie is also smart at levels almost too subtle to discern, perhaps not so much smart as wise."
—
Slate
Posted Jun 25, 2010
|
|
|
80%
|
I Am Love (2010) |
"
I Am Love isn't just a bedazzlement to the eyes and ears. It's a feast--or maybe just a small but divine dish of prawns--for the soul."
—
Slate
Posted Jun 25, 2010
|
|
|
99%
|
Toy Story 3 (2010) |
"
Toy Story 3 is a near-perfect piece of popular entertainment."
—
Slate
Posted Jun 17, 2010
|
|
|
43%
|
Robin Hood (2010) |
"
Pretty much ill-conceived from the ground up but saved by a couple of strong performances and a wealth of well-researched period detail. Not the most elegant defense, but like the movie, it'll do."
—
Slate
Posted May 14, 2010
|
|
|
81%
|
Oceans (Disneynature's Oceans) (2010) |
"
Its visual splendor more than makes up for its intellectual poverty."
—
Slate
Posted Apr 23, 2010
|
|
|
91%
|
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) (2010) |
"
It's a cracking good murder mystery that, by the time the final twist kicks in, transforms into an moving meditation on memory and justice."
—
Slate
Posted Apr 16, 2010
|
|
|
67%
|
Date Night (2010) |
"
It gets one crucial element of comic filmmaking right in a way that few recent comedies have. It's cast, down to the smallest role, with genuinely funny performers, people who understand how to time a joke, deliver a setup, underplay a deadpan glance."
—
Slate
Posted Apr 9, 2010
|
|
|
75%
|
Greenberg (2010) |
"
Greenberg's inconclusive last scene hints at the possibility that even the bitterest basket case stands a chance of finding someone who loves him. That's sort of my hope for this movie, too."
—
Slate
Posted Mar 18, 2010
|
|
|
95%
|
Mother (Madeo) (2010) |
"
Bong's ability to sustain three or four different tones in one movie without betraying the emotional truth of the story is nothing short of amazing: He can pat his head, rub his stomach, and break our hearts all at the same time."
—
Slate
Posted Mar 12, 2010
|
|
|
84%
|
The Ghost Writer (2010) |
"
The intrigues, suspense, and reversals that follow this setup are best left to unfold at their own stately clip."
—
Slate
Posted Feb 19, 2010
|
|
|
86%
|
Red Riding Trilogy () |
"
It's not hard to forgive this series its lack of innovation, because it manages, for long stretches at least, to be something few serial-killer dramas ever are: really, really good."
—
Slate
Posted Feb 5, 2010
|
|
|
96%
|
Sweetgrass (2009) |
"
Leaves behind the domain of ethnography and becomes a work of art."
—
Slate
Posted Jan 22, 2010
|
|
|
28%
|
Extraordinary Measures (2010) |
"
Here's the most extraordinary thing about Extraordinary Measures: I sort of liked it."
—
Slate
Posted Jan 21, 2010
|
|
|
90%
|
Fish Tank (2010) |
"
Instead of shutting down the film's meaning, the sex scenes open it up -- a gambit that will no doubt offend some viewers with its unsentimental candor."
—
Slate
Posted Jan 14, 2010
|
|
|
56%
|
It's Complicated (2009) |
"
Beneath this movie's gleaming high-end surfaces beats the heart of a classic screwball comedy."
—
Slate
Posted Dec 23, 2009
|
|
|
91%
|
Crazy Heart (2009) |
"
On first viewing, Crazy Heart seemed like a pretty good movie with one great performance. After a second time through, it's sneaking up on the title of my favorite film of the year."
—
Slate
Posted Dec 17, 2009
|
|
|
83%
|
Avatar (2009) |
"
You, dear reader, want to know: Is it or is it not stupendously friggin' rad? And the answer is yes. For most of the first hour, a good portion of the second, and even many of the 40 minutes left after that, Avatar is stupendously friggin' rad."
—
Slate
Posted Dec 17, 2009
|
|
|
87%
|
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) |
"
Like the water snake that slithers by during the opening credits or the baby crocodile from whose point of view we observe one roadside scene, this movie is a freaky little swamp thing."
—
Slate
Posted Nov 20, 2009
|
|
|
28%
|
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) |
"
Mopey, draggy, and absurdly self-important, the movie nonetheless twangs at some resonant affective chord."
—
Slate
Posted Nov 19, 2009
|
|
|
93%
|
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) |
"
You don't want to watch this movie, you want to climb inside it and play."
—
Slate
Posted Nov 13, 2009
|
|
|
53%
|
Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) |
"
How they made it into this Disney adaptation unprettified is a Christmas miracle in itself."
—
Slate
Posted Nov 6, 2009
|
|
|
91%
|
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) |
"
In offering up their heroine's misery for the audience's delectation, they've created something uncomfortably close to poverty porn."
—
Slate
Posted Nov 5, 2009
|
|
|
82%
|
Paranormal Activity (2009) |
"
Though it never poses a question more abstract than "Where's that scratching sound coming from?" Paranormal Activity is all about spiritual and ethical debts coming due."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 30, 2009
|
|
|
81%
|
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) |
"
This Is It is one of the best documents of live performance that I've ever seen, a rehearsal diary that's more intimate and immediate than a traditional concert film."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 28, 2009
|
|
|
94%
|
La Nana (The Maid) (2009) |
"
If Luis Buñuel had joined forces with the Dogme 95 movement and moved to modern-day Santiago, Chile, he might have made a movie like The Maid."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 16, 2009
|
|
|
94%
|
Good Hair (2009) |
"
The result is a pop documentary in the Morgan Spurlock mode, cheeky and smart without being too serious."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 9, 2009
|
|
|
94%
|
An Education (2009) |
"
As with first love, so with the movies: The right girl makes it all worthwhile."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 8, 2009
|
|
|
89%
|
A Serious Man (2009) |
"
An exquisitely realized work; the filmmakers' technical mastery of their craft, always impressive, has become absolute."
—
Slate
Posted Oct 1, 2009
|
|
|
82%
|
Bright Star (2009) |
"
The rare film about the life of an artist that is itself a work of art."
—
Slate
Posted Sep 25, 2009
|
|
|
43%
|
Jennifer's Body (2009) |
"
Kusama and Cody's collaboration is a wicked black comedy with unexpected emotional resonance, one of the most purely pleasurable movies of the year so far."
—
Slate
Posted Sep 17, 2009
|
|
|
81%
|
No Impact Man: The Documentary (2009) |
"
You may find Colin Beavan unbearably smug, but at the heart of his mission lies an inconvenient truth: Our consumable, disposable, unsustainable culture is destroying the planet, and there's no way to change that without making sacrifices."
—
Slate
Posted Sep 17, 2009
|
|
|
69%
|
American Casino (2009) |
"
As the Cockburns interview exterminators and local police about the rats' nests and meth labs that tend to proliferate in foreclosed homes, the corruption metaphor is like something out of a Nathanael West novel."
—
Slate
Posted Sep 10, 2009
|
|
|
63%
|
Extract (2009) |
"
Like Judge's first two live-action films, Extract seems destined to do minor business at the box office but achieve a kind of immortality as a cult DVD."
—
Slate
Posted Sep 3, 2009
|
|
|
88%
|
Big Fan (2009) |
"
With its unremittingly bleak humor and eagerness to plumb the depths of fanboy abjection, Big Fan seems destined for a future in the cult canon."
—
Slate
Posted Aug 28, 2009
|
65%
——
97%
