|
|
73%
|
Generation P (2012) |
"
Viktor Ginzburg keeps this lively by trying out a new effect (commercial parodies, CGI, rapid montage) in nearly every scene. Not all of them work, but the overall energy is hard to resist."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 6, 2012
|
|
|
82%
|
Fat Kid Rules the World (2012) |
"
The depiction of high school band life rings true at every turn, bringing a sense of authenticity to the familiar teenage drama."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 29, 2012
|
|
|
88%
|
Life of Pi (2012) |
"
Ang Lee's signature style -- tasteful, measured, and devoid of personality -- translates surprisingly well to 3-D."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
|
82%
|
Two Years at Sea (2012) |
"
The first feature-length effort by noted experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers demonstrates such mastery of the image that it's worth seeing for the textures alone."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
|
50%
|
Vulgaria (2012) |
"
True to its title, this energetic Hong Kong comedy trades primarily in off-color gags, yet its tone, like that of John Waters's films, is so playful and inclusive that it's unlikely to offend anyone."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
|
68%
|
This Must Be The Place (2012) |
"
Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino handles the story with surprising thoughtfulness."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 16, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Older Children () |
"
[Writer-director Duncan Riddell] makes some solid observations."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
|
89%
|
A Royal Affair (2012) |
"
This Scandinavian coproduction is essentially an old-fashioned period spectacle, offering the tried-and-true pleasure of romantic melodrama in fancy costumes."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
|
90%
|
Holy Motors (2012) |
"
As cryptic and unpredictable as that premise might suggest."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
|
60%
|
Francine (2012) |
"
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, documentary makers trying their hand at drama, inspire a certain voyeuristic fascination toward the character but rarely sympathy."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
|
37%
|
Nobody Walks (2012) |
"
This dreary independent drama is essentially an art-world soap opera, but without the melodramatic verve that makes some soap operas interesting."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
|
98%
|
Brooklyn Castle (2012) |
"
The message is that chess can motivate working-class kids to become better students, and though that's nice to know, the movie doesn't illustrate this theme in much depth."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
|
84%
|
Smashed (2012) |
"
It's familiar stuff, but at least it takes addiction and recovery seriously; the depiction of Alcoholics Anonymous feels particularly heartfelt."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
|
87%
|
Middle of Nowhere (2012) |
"
The love triangle, which comes to overwhelm the second half, feels more like soap opera than anything else, and the able cast can't redeem DuVernay's often dreadful dialogue."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
|
88%
|
The Other Dream Team (2012) |
"
The movie sticks to the basic facts and patronizes viewers with plentiful music cues and other emotional pointers; you'd be better off learning this story from an old issue of Sports Illustrated."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 11, 2012
|
|
|
63%
|
Sinister (2012) |
"
[Director Scott Derrickson finds] new ways to frame the same rooms from one scene to the next and providing comic relief whenever the action threatens to turn monotonously grim."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 11, 2012
|
|
|
87%
|
Frankenweenie (2012) |
"
Missing, however, are the authentic feelings of morbidity and alienation that once made Burton an interesting filmmaker."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 4, 2012
|
|
|
93%
|
Looper (2012) |
"
The dystopian setting... makes for some bold cultural commentary, but as usual with Johnson, the engaging ideas feel like affectations rather than products of a fully developed sensibility."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
|
85%
|
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) |
"
This big-screen adaptation, written and directed by Chbosky, doesn't advance the source material, though it preserves the book's sensitive tone and affectionate characterizations."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
|
33%
|
Snowman's Land (2012) |
"
Any charm evaporates amid the rampant amorality."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
|
73%
|
Hello I Must Be Going (2012) |
"
Sarah Koskoff's screenplay is flagrantly duplicitous, introducing the heroine as a self-pitying sloth, then trying to pass her off as likable by making nearly all the other characters drips, snobs, or unfeeling scolds."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
|
87%
|
Arbitrage (2012) |
"
This isn't very effective as a thriller, though it's a provocative fable about our ambivalent feelings toward financial elites."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
|
5%
|
The Cold Light of Day (2012) |
"
Cavill is no substitute for Van Damme, whose self-critical performance gave the earlier movie much of its heft"
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 14, 2012
|
|
|
77%
|
Samsara (2012) |
"
Any sincerity inherent in the project is overwhelmed by the manufactured awe of its godawful New Age score."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 6, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Hospitalite (Kantai) () |
"
This charming comedy begins as a very Japanese joke about limited privacy but deepens into something more ambiguous."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 6, 2012
|
|
|
39%
|
The Possession (2012) |
"
Director Ole Bornedal doesn't add a single idea of his own."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 6, 2012
|
|
|
4%
|
The Apparition (2012) |
"
This horror movie from Warner Bros. is nothing special, but it's nice to see a modest genre entertainment buoyed by a major studio's resources."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 31, 2012
|
|
|
48%
|
Hit & Run (2012) |
"
This is neither funny nor suspenseful, but it does feature some cool-looking cars, and Tom Arnold delivers some decent pratfalls as an accident-prone man."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 23, 2012
|
|
|
34%
|
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) |
"
It's hard to believe that Hedges once wrote some decent light fiction (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, An Ocean in Iowa) before he started making greeting-card movies like Dan in Real Life and this one."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 16, 2012
|
|
|
88%
|
Ballplayer: Pelotero (2012) |
"
[The] Directors...try to soften...ugly truths with sentimental stories of teenagers getting signed and pulling their families out of poverty, but the portrait of widespread exploitation overwhelms the intended effect...[ END HERE ]of these subplots"
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
96%
|
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) |
"
Here's the rare music documentary in which the narrative is more interesting than the songs."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
64%
|
Girlfriend Boyfriend (2012) |
"
The shift from social portrait to domestic soap opera practically negates the democratic message of the first section, but Yang's stylish filmmaking is impressive throughout."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
64%
|
Kumaré (2012) |
"
It's a fascinating social experiment, but not much of a movie."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
92%
|
A Simple Life (2012) |
"
[T]he sort of film in which every detail feels unforced but essential."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
74%
|
Hope Springs (2012) |
"
These modest virtues are buried under such hard-sell devices as a manipulative muzak score and sitcom-style close-ups that disrupt the narrative momentum."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
|
76%
|
Unforgivable (2012) |
"
It's clearly the work of a master storyteller, conveying a rich, novelistic sense of character and a poetic feeling for the passing of time."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 3, 2012
|
|
|
71%
|
Sacrifice (2012) |
"
Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) cowrote and directed, and his talent for psychological drama isn't really suited to this sort of broad, mythic storytelling."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 26, 2012
|
|
|
89%
|
El Velador (2012) |
"
The artful compositions tend to make the subject matter seem vaguely unreal; Almada's true subject isn't the drug war itself but the apathy of outside spectators."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 26, 2012
|
|
|
92%
|
Farewell, My Queen (2012) |
"
Jacquot takes a refreshingly understated approach to costume drama, avoiding historical generalizations to focus on the particulars of palace life and the psychological states of individual characters."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 19, 2012
|
|
|
43%
|
To Rome with Love (2012) |
"
Most of the characters are archetypes, yet Allen treats them with genuine affection and avoids the bitterness that's marred much of his recent work."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 6, 2012
|
|
|
80%
|
Magic Mike (2012) |
"
The dance numbers, choreographed by Allison Faulk, are inventive and athletic, but not really erotic; Soderbergh never lets you forget that, for these men, dancing is above all a job."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 29, 2012
|
|
|
63%
|
The Woman in the Fifth (2012) |
"
The movie casts such a seductive air of mystery that the resolution feels anticlimactic, yet there's plenty to enjoy along the way, particularly Hawke's nuanced lead performance as a quiet man with secrets of his own."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 21, 2012
|
|
|
71%
|
Natural Selection (2012) |
"
However gritty this indie comedy may look (cinematographer Steve Calitri seems to be aping William Eggleston's photographs of the American south), it isn't all that different from an Adam Sandler vehicle."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 21, 2012
|
|
|
29%
|
Bel Ami (2012) |
"
The supposedly cunning protagonist registers as a cipher, and the directors' tendency to shoot dialogue scenes in close-up blunts any understanding of the social milieu he's trying to conquer."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 21, 2012
|
|
|
78%
|
Nate & Margaret (2012) |
"
Director-cowriter Nathan Adloff displays real sensitivity toward the central characters, yet he hasn't crafted a story in which his observations might carry any weight."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 7, 2012
|
|
|
50%
|
Small, Beautifully Moving Parts (2012) |
"
There's a big difference between commenting on the zeitgeist and simply acknowledging it, as this featherweight independent comedy demonstrates."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 1, 2012
|
|
|
18%
|
For Greater Glory (2012) |
"
As generic as the title, this historical drama spares no cliche in depicting Mexico's Cristero War of the late 1920."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 1, 2012
|
|
|
94%
|
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) |
"
Wes Anderson's most intimate film since Bottle Rocket (1996) and maybe his most deeply felt overall."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 30, 2012
|
|
|
58%
|
Hysteria (2012) |
"
For a light entertainment, this romantic comedy delivers an impressive amount of feminist rhetoric and historical detail."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 24, 2012
|
|
|
88%
|
Polisse (2012) |
"
Rarely does one see a movie so knowing in some respects and so clueless in others."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 24, 2012
|
|
|
81%
|
Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog (2012) |
"
It's surprisingly unsentimental in its depiction of people with disabilities, and the scenes of guide-dog training are informative."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 24, 2012
|
|
|
34%
|
Battleship (2012) |
"
Once the special effects take over, Berg has little room to assert his personality (or tell a story, for that matter), and the movie feels like a chore."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 24, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Daan gyun naam yu) (2011) |
"
Their world seems so alive with possibility that you might expect them to break into song."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 11, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Musume tsuma haha (Daughters, Wives and a Mother) (1960) |
"
With his usual quiet focus, Naruse accumulates moments of pettiness and cruelty until they become overwhelming."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 11, 2012
|
|
|
92%
|
Headhunters (2012) |
"
The scenes of graphic violence are drawn out to the point where they overwhelm the story."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 10, 2012
|
|
|
75%
|
Sound of My Voice (2012) |
"
This plays like an early George Romero shocker but without Romero's humor or social commentary."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 10, 2012
|
|
|
93%
|
Marvel's The Avengers (2012) |
"
Every now and then, director Joss Whedon executes a quirky camera set-up to assert that the film was created by him and not a team of marketing executives."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 3, 2012
|
|
|
62%
|
We Have a Pope (2012) |
"
Though skeptical, the film isn't at all mean-spirited."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 27, 2012
|
|
|
91%
|
Fake It So Real (2012) |
"
What's different is a poignant sense of community that makes for a richer portrait overall. "
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 20, 2012
|
|
|
26%
|
L!fe Happens (2012) |
"
Set in Los Angeles, this unfunny comedy succeeds only in perpetuating the worst stereotypes about that city."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 13, 2012
|
|
|
38%
|
Blue Like Jazz (2012) |
"
An uncommon thoughtfulness about spiritual issues distinguishes this otherwise generic coming-of-age story."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 13, 2012
|
|
|
76%
|
Let the Bullets Fly (2012) |
"
This period action comedy by Jiang Wen is great fun in the Shakespearean tradition, stuffed with lively characters, dramatic stand-offs, and stolen-identity subplots."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 29, 2012
|
|
|
92%
|
Gerhard Richter Painting (2012) |
"
The works in question express a delicate balance between spontaneity and rigid formal control -- seeing Richter at work is a bit like watching a great trapeze artist."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 23, 2012
|
|
|
85%
|
The Hunger Games (2012) |
"
Director Gary Ross generally avoids the elaborate exterior shots and special effects that dominate high-concept blockbusters."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 22, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
The Kid with a Bike (2012) |
"
Makes a powerful statement about the plight of unwanted children. But it also incorporates elements of melodrama, film noir, and even the fairy tale that engage our empathy and confirm the Dardennes' great compassion."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 21, 2012
|
|
|
85%
|
21 Jump Street (2012) |
"
Much of the humor involves trotting out cliches from cop movies and teen movies, then commenting on how dumb they are."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
|
76%
|
Kill List (2012) |
"
Wheatly aims for something like moral complexity by having one of the killers believe in God and the other aspire to be a good husband and father, but once the graphic violence starts, it upstages everything else."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
|
25%
|
Seeking Justice (2012) |
"
There's plenty to enjoy in this old-fashioned exploitation movie."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
|
86%
|
The Snowtown Murders (2012) |
"
Your appreciation of this Australian horror movie will depend on whether you think its artistry justifies its unrelenting ugliness."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
|
51%
|
John Carter (2012) |
"
The books offer enough material for several movies, which seems to be the root of the problem here: the movie is so overloaded with exposition that the situations have little room to develop."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 8, 2012
|
|
|
54%
|
Dr Seuss' The Lorax (2012) |
"
Hypocrisy on an epic scale, this computer-animated feature turns the Dr. Seuss classic about corporate greed into a multimillion-dollar toy commercial."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 2, 2012
|
|
|
30%
|
The Vow (2012) |
"
Most of the time it plays like the movie adaptation of a Land's End catalogue, making monogamy seem essential by associating it with high-end interior design."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
81%
|
House of Pleasures (2011) |
"
It emphasizes setting over character and plot; and it casts a mood that's both eerie and entrancing."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
|
65%
|
The Woman in Black (2012) |
"
This is an effective genre exercise, if not an especially inspired one."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 2, 2012
|
|
|
32%
|
Man on a Ledge (2012) |
"
This noirish thriller is as self-knowingly ludicrous and thoroughly enjoyable as Fritz Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt or While the City Sleeps."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
|
79%
|
The Grey (2012) |
"
The movie draws on the terrifying beauty of the natural world and generates tension from the volatile dynamics of a carefully observed group."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
|
39%
|
Red Tails (2012) |
"
This is so generic as storytelling that it fails even as a basic history lesson: it's hard to believe that the stock conflicts on-screen have any connection to real events."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 23, 2012
|
|
|
34%
|
Joyful Noise (2012) |
"
It's hard to enjoy the movie's charms when writer-director Todd Graff keeps trying to shove them down your throat."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 12, 2012
|
|
|
51%
|
Contraband (2012) |
"
Several graphically violent scenes of women and children in jeopardy make this, ultimately, beneath contempt."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 12, 2012
|
|
|
82%
|
Autoreiji: Biyondo (Outrage Beyond) (2011) |
"
Kitano is clearly enjoying his powers as a master of the form, and the movie invites the viewer to share in his enjoyment."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 6, 2012
|
|
|
56%
|
In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) |
"
The tendency that often sinks Angelina Jolie's performances -- overemphasizing certain naturalistic behaviors at the expense of well-rounded characterization -- more or less sinks her first film as writer-director."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 6, 2012
|
|
|
85%
|
Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2011) |
"
Here's something you don't see every day: a genial, politically correct splatter comedy."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 4, 2012
|
|
|
77%
|
War Horse (2011) |
"
When the army buys the horse and takes it to the French front, Spielberg goes into Lean mode, finding in war the greatest landscapes and crowd shots that money can buy."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
|
86%
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) |
"
David Fincher's adaptation of the international best-seller is a triumph of craftsmanship over material."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
|
69%
|
Bride Flight (2011) |
"
Smug and unconvincing, this 2008 period drama from the Netherlands is the sort of movie that defines an era solely by its prejudices, on the implicit assumption that we'll applaud the central characters for their modern attitudes."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 13, 2011
|
|
|
98%
|
Silent Souls (2011) |
"
Rife with earthy details and poetic associations, the movie often advances like a daydream."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
|
86%
|
Letters from the Big Man (2011) |
"
Munch never quite reconciles his psychological and environmental themes, but his characters are so richly imagined and the location photography (by his regular cinematographer, Rob Sweeney) is so gorgeous that the movie still casts a rare spell."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
|
63%
|
Young Goethe In Love (2011) |
"
Like a porcelain dish commemorating a famous person, this biopic has little to teach us about the great German writer but sure makes him look adorable."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
|
45%
|
30 Minutes or Less (2011) |
"
The film contains a remarkable level of violence, yet never establishes a tone that would make it seem funny or truly shocking; the jokes flounder in an air of half-hearted spite."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 6, 2011
|
|
|
80%
|
Shame (2011) |
"
This one simply recycles art-movie cliches about urban alienation and passionless sex."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 1, 2011
|
|
|
83%
|
Tyrannosaur (2011) |
"
Paddy Considine's first feature as writer-director comes off like a playwriting exercise, with familiar characters taking every opportunity to wage messy, cathartic arguments or exhume traumatic memories."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 1, 2011
|
|
|
99%
|
Le Havre (2011) |
"
The film is especially comforting if you love old movies, as Kaurismaki does."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
|
20%
|
The Double (2011) |
"
Ineptly realized in everything but its chase scenes (which are, I'll admit, pretty good)."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
|
47%
|
Anonymous (2011) |
"
This is irresistible as self-knowing camp: the players ham it up in high fashion and the script crams at least one lurid revelation into every scene."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
|
——
|
Boker tov adon fidelman (Restoration) () |
"
This is the kind of novelistic filmmaking whose simple wisdom stays with you."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 27, 2011
|
|
|
82%
|
The Way (2011) |
"
For all his awkwardness Estevez is undeniably sincere, regarding both people and nature with disarming good will and maintaining a steady, soothing pace that allows the life lessons to resonate."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
|
81%
|
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2011) |
"
Three decades into his career, Tsui Hark stands as one of the movies' great entertainers, displaying a dancer's sense of rhythm and movement and manipulating physical space with an abandon worthy of Chuck Jones."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 22, 2011
|
|
|
91%
|
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011) |
"
This authorized documentary is more of a celebration of the legendary Queens quartet than a serious exploration of their art. But considering how brilliant they were at their peak, it's hard to disagree with the general sentiment."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 15, 2011
|
|
|
75%
|
Stake Land (2011) |
"
Mickle's observation of a devastated working-class America is so sharp that the horror elements, though effectively handled, come to feel like an afterthought."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 12, 2011
|
77%
30%
88%
85%
45%
40%
