|
1/4
|
25%
|
Pearl Harbor (2001) |
"
There's a certain symbolic symmetry here. The Navy and Walt Disney have teamed up on the production, and both view history as something to be managed and exploited. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Dec 20, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
22%
|
October Baby (2012) |
"
Heavily vested in its peculiarly glossy agitprop that, like Saint Sebastian, it invites the arrows of kneejerk derision. Too bad, as the film has really lovely performances."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Mar 22, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
33%
|
Arirang () |
"
Arirang is insufferable, and it's approaching torture to sit through it. Although we do wish Ki-Duk would climb out of his hole and get on with his life."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
1/4
|
——
|
Quick (2011) |
"
It's heartening to discover that the Koreans can make stunt movies as dim-witted and as attention-deficited as Hollywood. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Sep 16, 2011
|
|
1/4
|
24%
|
Conan the Barbarian (2011) |
"
Absolutely spastic in the way it pretends to tell a story, the work of someone who doesn't understand choreography, coherent storytelling and basic structural editing."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Sep 7, 2011
|
|
1/4
|
13%
|
The Informers (2009) |
"
Brad Renfro in his last movie role, playing a wannabe film actor who sprays out filthy perspiration like a collie emerging from a sewer. It's possible this role killed Renfro."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1/4
|
63%
|
Mammuth (2011) |
"
Depardieu is a very shaggy beastie in this film, deliberate and bullish, blown up to prehistoric size and pretty much headed for extinction at the hands of French bureaucracy."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
1/4
|
88%
|
Honey (2011) |
"
Citybound film aestheticists will suck on their cigs and drone on about the crushing inevitability of despair and the horror of nature unbound. The rest of us think, bummer."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
64%
|
Tomorrow, When the War Began (2012) |
"
"Tomorrow" is less realistic than "Red Dawn," if you can wrap your head around that without making it pop off."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Feb 23, 2012
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (Yip Man chinchyun) (2010) |
"
There is nothing in this bubbling soap opera of a plot that can't be solved with drawn-out fight scenes. And so they jump and kick, poke, slap and twirl for half the film."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
40%
|
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) |
"
Shot either in extreme, eye-swelling close-ups or in excessively composed, arty landscapes, I now know more about the blood vessels in these actors' noses than I care to."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
Muro-ami (Reef Hunters) (2000) |
"
Instead of an unfolding, classic tragedy that reeks of cruel fate, out of our hands, the film has the bedeviling but slight inevitability of an overdue homework assignment."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
58%
|
To End All Wars (2002) |
"
Will be well-received on Sunday-school movie night at church, particularly during group discussions afterward. For the rest of us, alas, it doesn't quite hang together."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
Beonjijeompeureul hada (2001) |
"
Compare everyday social customs to ours: In this case, it's teenage dating in South Korea, where much is made of smoking -- the chicks dig it! -- and of metaphysical babble."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
USS Poseidon: Phantom Below (2006) |
"
A crew of covert techs, one of whom is the dead man's suspicious sister, a naval officer who, thank goodness, strips down to tight, damp T-shirts when her temperature goes up."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
39%
|
Dark Matter (2008) |
"
Xing is surprised to discover Western academics are just as ruthless as communist apparatchiks and, ill equipped emotionally to handle humiliation, he takes his guns to town."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
24K () |
"
Mostly charming and meandering and observational about the dynamics of camaraderie, but then it takes a sudden, off-road swerve into mysterious melodrama and simply quits. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
20-seiki shônen: Saishû-shô - Bokura no hata (20th Century Boys 3: Redemption) (2009) |
"
Yes, there are giant robots creating mayhem. Not enough of them, alas. The steam seems to have run out of the franchise during this third part, and it's simply an OK capper."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
26%
|
Green Lantern (2011) |
"
It's unremittingly average, high-caloric and indigestible junk food for the restlessly stupefied. We've all been there."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 16, 2011
|
|
1.5/4
|
33%
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) |
"
It all goes on and on, and becomes excessively complicated without becoming clever, and there's a real sense of arrogant laziness about the whole production."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 3, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
95%
|
Marley (2012) |
"
The film never shows us Marley in a complete performance. It's hard to understand the magic of a man whose most awesome moments are reduced to edited snippets."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Apr 20, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Dancing Queen (2012) |
"
Rom-com fantasy that dips precariously into real feeling late in the reels, and because leads Hwang Jung-Min and Um Jung-Hwa have real talent for empathy, we're carried along."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Mar 30, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
42%
|
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) |
"
Hey, it moves right along. It rockets on a certain goofy bliss. Never mind the filmmakers have clearly never read the original Verne/Stevenson/Swift books beyond cover blurbs"
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
All's Well Ends Well 2012 (2012) |
"
Nothing subtle about the production, which operates as a Cantonese Three Stooges on a neon-colored bender. Which means you often laugh out loud, and then wonder why you did."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Feb 6, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
56%
|
The Viral Factor (2012) |
"
A monster rush of muscular action sequences, tepidly glued together with rapidly evaporating logic. Secret agent Man's brain turns to mush, and it spreads to the audience."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jan 24, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Living In Seduced Circumstances () |
"
OK, it's a low-budget Misery. It's made with technical panache and an interesting palette, however, and the actors are up to the challenge."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
50%
|
The Journals Of Musan (2011) |
"
A journey through a world of moral and ethical conundrums makes a sobering couple of hours, and also a lively discussion afterwards for amateur Christian theologians. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Dec 21, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2012) |
"
A hagiographic valentine constructed by overly excited fanboys. Lee's imprint on popular culture deserves better and deeper than this."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Nov 25, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
75%
|
Leave it on the Floor (2012) |
"
Clearly not aimed at a mass audience, who, even if they're open to gay issues, may be turned off by on-the-cheap production values and self-conscious "acting" by principals. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Sector 7 IMAX (2011) |
"
She rides motorcycles, handles gigantic drills, punches out monsters and gets just the right amount of grime and sweat rubbed into her tightly stretched tanktop. Yeah, baby."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Sector 7 (2011) |
"
Eventually the creature is vanquished by the last person standing. If this sounds like every monster movie cliche ever invented, "Sector 7" manages to drag in them all."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Oct 28, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
9%
|
1911 (2011) |
"
Students of revolutionary Chinese history can have fun checking them off. Look, there's Li Yuanhong! And over there, Feng Guozhang!"
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Oct 7, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
26%
|
Colombiana (2011) |
"
The movie delivers slam-bang action, so much so that we're reminded that movies have to MOVE to carry us along, and with 'Columbiana,' we're along for the ride, baby."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Sep 7, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
64%
|
Amigo (2011) |
"
"Amigo" is probably too didactic and period-bound to find a wide audience, and the Americans who would benefit most from it are likely to be confused by it."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
79%
|
Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011) |
"
An affectionate and rambling look at professionals trying to save a ship they believe is sinking, and the deck tilts every whichway. They don't know whether to jump or bail."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 14, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
21%
|
Snow Flower And The Secret Fan (2011) |
"
This isn't really a movie made for guys, although I can appreciate the artfulness of its construction and the solemnity of its purpose and the studied intensity of the acting."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 7, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
78%
|
Dai-Nipponjin (Big Man Japan) (2009) |
"
An affectionate parody of Japanese giant-monster hero shows to make points about the unraveling of Japan's cultural heritage."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Vanaprastham (2001) |
"
That old story again: Boy pretends to be mythological figure, girl digs mythological figure, girl sort of digs boy because of his mythological role-playing expertise."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Sam dung (Tempting Heart) (1999) |
"
A fascinating idea -- that the concept and retelling of a romance is far more attractive to people than the real thing. It's like dissecting a film from the inside out."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Still, the Children are Here (2004) |
"
It appears to be objective documentary, one that observes without comment as a kind of visual anthropology ... see it, and appreciate your meal afterward, you big fat American."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
South of the Clouds (Yun de nan fang) (2004) |
"
Not a Mao jacket or sooty sky to be seen, but the grinding privation under the weight of monolithic political machinery can still be heard, however faintly."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Massie Affair (2005) |
"
No lessons to impart, no epigrams; the documentary simply trails off by noting these awful people got away with murder, while righteously pointing the finger at white racism."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority () |
"
It doesn't pull any punches either, particularly over fallings-out with Hawaii Democratic officials. One of those films in which the subject outshines the production values."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
75%
|
Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe () |
"
Although too long by far-it arcs about 20 minutes shorter than the actual end-it's always entertaining, even if it's passing-by-a-car-crash fascinating"
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
Wings of Defeat () |
"
One pilot recalled his feelings, as he was ordered to fly that day's suicide mission, 'Well, I'm screwed.'"
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
A Village Called Versailles () |
"
A broad, boosterish documentary that looks at the molding of this community, tempered by war and hurricane, and how it fits into the larger concept thought of as America. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
87%
|
Earth (Disneynature's Earth) (Planet Earth) (2009) |
"
When Disney gets involved in making things green, we're talking about the color of money."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
18%
|
Princess Ka'iulani (2010) |
"
There's little passion, damn little fire in the belly, and what there is is wasted on a pleasant romance conjured up by the script, aimed at the My Little Pony market."
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jul 5, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
10%
|
Season of the Witch (2011) |
"
Guns are fun in movies, but bashing about with broadswords speaks to the 12-year-old in all of us. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
2/4
|
92%
|
Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster (2011) |
"
It's a second installment of a film bio of Ip Man, and it's pretty much made-up nonsense, but few will care, as it's also great fun. "
—
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
78%
33%
100%
85%
45%
40%
