Critics » Andrew L. Urban » Rotten
Andrew L. Urban

Andrew L. Urban

Agrees with the Tomatometer 69% of the time.

Biography:
Andrew L. Urban is Publisher & Editor of Urban Cinefile, Australia's award winning online weekly movie magazine (est. 1997). Specialising in film journalism, Andrew was Australian bureau chief for London based film trade publications from 1985 to 1994. He was Channel Host for the World Movies subscription movie channel (2002-6), and with his publishing partner and wife Louise Keller, he co-produced and hosted Movies This Week, a short movie review program, broadcast on World Movies and the Ovation arts & entertainment channel (2004-5). Since July 2005, Andrew has presented Movies Now, a contemporary movie appreciation course at Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education. In January 2007, Andrew was commissioned by the Australian Film Television and Radio School's Centre for Screen Business to produce an extensive series of in depth on camera interviews with film and TV industry practitioners, for the CSB website; the series continues into 2008. Prior to Urban Cinefile, Andrew created the prime time social documentary series, Front Up, which ran for 9 years on SBS TV.
Publications:
Urban Cinefile
Total Reviews:
995
Location:
Sydney, Australia

Worst Reviewed Films

Showing 51 - 100 of 477
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Rating T-Meter Title | Year Add Date
31% The Uninvited (2009) " Apart from excellent performances, there is little to recommend The Uninvited, not even great ghoulish effects." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Mar 20, 2009
25% Friday the 13th (2009) " Thinly disguised as a movie, Friday the 13th is a series of overused genre conventions glued together by the flimsiest of stories" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Mar 9, 2009
51% Notorious (2009) " There is little here to attract anyone but the core fan-base." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Mar 6, 2009
11% The Unborn (2009) " Odette Yustman, indeed all the cast, deserve a better fate than to be sucked into this misguided attempt at horror" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Feb 23, 2009
57% My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) " If you like a bloody laugh and you relish the idea of body parts hurtling at you threatening to shower your popcorn with blood, this might be the film for you. Greeted by more guffaws than screams, My Bloody Valentine wears its heart on its pickaxe" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Feb 9, 2009
8% Miss Conception (2008) " A misconceived hodge podge of genuine romantic comedy and plastic story" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Feb 6, 2009
31% While She Was Out (2008) " Lots of edgy night chasing and some tense moments, but the resolution is a tad disappointing" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jan 23, 2009
62% Valkyrie (2008) " I'm baffled by the casting of a bunch of British actors to play German characters %u2026 it's not just a matter of an accent; actors bring their cultural personas with them %u2013 and that's where the trouble lies; they don't fit here" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jan 15, 2009
77% Role Models (2008) " Like so many of Hollywood's youth oriented comedies, this is like a mound of dog turd flavoured with honey; the crass vulgarities are sweetened by add-on humanity. But just like dog turd with honey on it, the mess is unappetising" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jan 9, 2009
27% Seven Pounds (2008) " It's the kind of premise that a writer will lovingly nurture and probe, but it fails the truth test. As a love story it's unsatisfactory and as a redemption story it's slightly ridiculous" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 22, 2008
21% The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) " Instead of the 1950s mindset %u2013 postwar, cold war, fear of aliens %u2013 it's been resettled into the mindset of today %u2013 man's inhumanity to the planet...It was a great little B movie then, and it's an ugly big B movie now" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 21, 2008
33% The Guitar (2008) " We've probably all wondered what we'd do if given a few short months to live and the premise of The Guitar takes one self indulgent option" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 20, 2008
3% Witless Protection (2008) " Witless, lowbrow fun is the signature of this so-so comedy with Larry the Cable Guy in fine fat form as a country bumpkin deputy sheriff with delusions of grander than smalltown cop" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 20, 2008
56% The Tale of Despereaux (2008) " Laboured and disjointed, the film has none of the charm of a Ratatouille or a Shrek, but seems derivative of them." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 19, 2008
—— Black Eagle (1988) " With one chase, one aborted fight and one small fight on a boat in the first 55 minutes, Black Eagle isn't exactly an action movie" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Dec 12, 2008
11% Big Stan (2009) " If you leave all your grown up sensibilities at the door and fill up on popcorn while watching Big Stan, preferably in a crowd of your like-minded mates, you'll probably have a roaring good time." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Nov 20, 2008
44% redacted (2007) " We're being manipulated, and the irony is that the filmmaker is trying to prove how manipulated we are by the various interests around the Iraq war" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Nov 14, 2008
30% Youth Without Youth (2007) " A stilted and inelegant work, well below par for Francis Ford Coppola" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Nov 14, 2008
64% Quantum of Solace (2008) " Does not live up to expectations, losing the sense of all the unique Bond elements, including James himself, who no longer tosses off darkly comic lines and doesn't even know what martini he's drinking. Daniel Craig is still excellent but he's no longer a" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Nov 14, 2008
46% Sex Drive (2008) " Penis gags, poo and bum-driven gags, masturbation embarrassments and the consistent use of crude expletives are not nearly as hilarious when over-used as the filmmakers seem to think" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Nov 8, 2008
12% Saw V (2008) " It's questionable who suffers more in this torture porn sequel - the victims or the audience. But glib lines aside, there is no point in continuing the franchise unless the filmmakers can up the ante in the gruesome/anguish/torture stakes" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 22, 2008
84% Billy the Kid (2007) " The rough and ready filmmaking technique makes it challenging for the viewer at times, and perhaps a stricter editing discipline could have tightened the film" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 18, 2008
57% Trailer Park Boys: The Movie (2006) " The three central characters are an acquired taste, probably by the same fanclub that digs loser/doper comedies like Dumb and Dumber or the terrible Aussie equivalent, You and Your Stupid Mate" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 10, 2008
16% Max Payne (2008) " I never trust a film in which the protagonists have conversations or even arguments in the pouring rain -- without umbrellas." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 9, 2008
33% The Tracey Fragments (2008) " An exploration of the heightened, extreme emotional sensations of adolescence, The Tracey Fragments is demanding and relentless, an image overload in search of resolution." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 4, 2008
48% Towelhead (2007) " As a story, Jasira's deflowering and surrounding socialisation issues perhaps make for top reading, but as the film turns a mental image into concrete visuals, it requires much greater finesse to make it cinema" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Oct 4, 2008
26% Eagle Eye (2008) " It's presented as a thriller, and it is, but Eagle Eye is also a political film. It's not a very good political film, nor is it a very good thriller, ironically enough because it wants to be very good at both." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Sep 18, 2008
52% Funny Games (2008) " An actors' showcase and a hefty serving of director Michael Haneke's self indulgence" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Sep 7, 2008
13% The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) " The often silly elements of the plot dilute the majesty of the Chinese culture which it traverses, and the childish nature of the magical elements dilute the film's appeal outside a narrow target audience of undemanding kids" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Sep 7, 2008
73% Son of Rambow (2007) " I was not so engaged as to be moved . . . and felt impatient at the lack of dramatic pace" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Aug 29, 2008
83% Tropic Thunder (2008) " On the one hand, Tropic Thunder is a giant enema up Hollywood's butt, and on the other it's a bare bum joke which outlasts its welcome" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Aug 14, 2008
18% Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) " The animation seems to have been outsourced to two factories: one for the galactic battles, the other for the Jedi .. The latter seem clunky and simplistic, much like the film's screenplay.. Take the kids, buy the popcorn, feed .. er feel the force" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Aug 14, 2008
85% Me and Orson Welles (2009) " Welles, wonderfully characterised by Christian McKay, is the centre of his universe, and he has no doubts about his genius..What the film does well is the effortless creative talent that drove Welles and the negative aspects of it.." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 22, 2010
71% South Solitary () " While the film is subtle, nuanced and playfully charming at times, it lacks the scale and the dynamics to engage on the big screen for two hours" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 22, 2010
86% Inception (2010) " The film's promise is watered down in the execution by a sense of it being a novelty, a plaything for Nolan to bamboozle his audience with his clever mind trick" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 20, 2010
85% Skin (2009) " An extraordinary story, one that only real life could invent... You won't forget this film in a hurry" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 16, 2010
69% The Runaways (2010) " There is too much done for sheer effect in the film, from camera angles to complete scenes, but not enough to explore the substance of these characters and their decisions" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 11, 2010
73% The Waiting City (2011) " An ambitious debut by Claire McCarthy, in which she tries to find a cohesion between the earthly realities of the subject matter, the complexities of Indian life and the demanding emotional journey of a young married couple" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 11, 2010
52% Knight & Day (2010) " By the time the story nears its climax, we completely jettison dreary reality and take flight with this plucky duo on their way to 'someday'" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 11, 2010
55% La Siciliana Ribelle (The Sicilian Girl) (2010) " An engaging and gripping film." — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 6, 2010
49% The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) " It all comes majestically together in this the third of an enigmatic, other worldly love marathon that milks all its romantic possibilities to the full" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 5, 2010
63% Predators (2010) " Full of surprises and twists, the action and the relationships between the contrasting characters keeps us glued" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 5, 2010
61% The Horseman (2008) " A riveting revenge thriller, this debut by Steven Kastrissios seems certain to set him on a career path similar to one started by Greg McLean after his debut, Wolf Creek, as a calling card to attract international attention" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jul 3, 2010
99% Toy Story 3 (2010) " Driven by a good plot and clearly defined characters, Toy Story 3 is injected with humour and powered by fun as the adventure of their lives brings these toys together in ways that will entertain and move you" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jun 21, 2010
—— Rocket Science (2004) " Although not entirely successful and not nearly riveting enough, Rocket Science has a worldly charm and some fine performances, notably by the acclaimed Anna Kendrick" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jun 20, 2010
79% Mother and Child (2010) " The characters and the cast should deliver in spades, but the story falters, makes a couple of clumsy jumps and twists into contorted tangles with subplots that are mere distractions" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jun 12, 2010
57% Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4) (2010) " The writing is brisk and funny, the situation allows for plenty of adventure to keep our characters busy and Shrek himself takes a big lesson in learning to treasure what he's really got" — Urban Cinefile
Posted Jun 12, 2010
97% Animal Kingdom (2010) " It's a pleasure to see an Australian genre movie in which story and character are given equal importance and are so well defined and delivered. That it won a major award at Sundance shows its creative credentials: its popularity will show its audience app" — Urban Cinefile
Posted May 29, 2010
56% The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) " With the melancholy cry of a sad cello, the film opens with a golden sun rising over the hills of a remote Iran landscape...It's a devastating story, powerfully told" — Urban Cinefile
Posted May 29, 2010
91% The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) (2010) " Superbly crafted .. unfolds with storytelling prowess and characters that remain with us as clearly as if we had met them" — Urban Cinefile
Posted May 29, 2010
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