|
B
|
42%
|
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) |
"
Saturated with fertile colors and great regional rock and blues, the unhurried atmosphere seems as intoxicated as its characters."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 30, 2004
|
|
C
|
27%
|
Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason (2004) |
"
Instead of laughing with Bridget, The Edge of Reason laughs at her."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 21, 2004
|
|
B-
|
83%
|
Finding Neverland (2004) |
"
Finding Neverland flirts with complexity but never goes all the way."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 17, 2004
|
|
C+
|
88%
|
House of Flying Daggers (2004) |
"
Each successive revealed secret is less believable and yet somehow more obligatory than the last, because, after all, this is an old-school Asian melodrama."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 22, 2004
|
|
C+
|
29%
|
Around the Bend (2004) |
"
Around the Bend has outstanding acting and a short running time, and still the story runs thin."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 22, 2004
|
|
B
|
88%
|
Bad Education (La Mala educación) (2004) |
"
Almodóvar films don't unfold so much as they unpeel."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 15, 2004
|
|
B
|
76%
|
The Machinist (2004) |
"
Even in a time when weight gains and losses in the service of a role have become commonplace, Bale has accomplished an astonishing change."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 15, 2004
|
|
A+
|
100%
|
Stolen Children (Il Ladro di bambini) (1992) |
"
A sublime movie in the neorealist tradition, in which man helps two damaged children discover, for a few days, the childhood that has been denied them."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 8, 2004
|
|
A-
|
——
|
La Famiglia (The Family) (1987) |
"
An excellent intergenerational family drama that traces 80 years of Italian history through the life of one man, without leaving the walls of his Roman apartment."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 8, 2004
|
|
C
|
50%
|
Vanity Fair (2004) |
"
With a novel of such length, you either have to make a miniseries or adapt it more ruthlessly."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 28, 2004
|
|
B-
|
52%
|
Face (2005) |
"
Face is a film of considerable charm and warmth, even if the material sometimes feels well worn."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 26, 2004
|
|
A-
|
64%
|
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) |
"
With a hungry, compulsive, tender, angry, and passionate performance, Ruffalo has definitely shed the shiftless stoner typecast."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 15, 2004
|
|
B-
|
73%
|
Stander (2004) |
"
STANDER dispenses with unnecessary dialogue and doesn't posit facile explanations, which is good, but it fails to put you, the audience, into Andre Stander's skin."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 13, 2004
|
|
B
|
86%
|
Collateral (2004) |
"
The story is gripping and the stakes are high... until the ridiculous coincidence. "
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 9, 2004
|
|
F
|
79%
|
Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant) (1972) |
"
Irresistibly soporific."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 23, 2004
|
|
A-
|
55%
|
Ricordati di me, (Remember Me, My Love) (2004) |
"
Remember Me, My Love is well acted all around, but Muccino is proving to be an especially wonderful director of women."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 10, 2004
|
|
B+
|
67%
|
The Door in the Floor (2004) |
"
Bridges, a consistently under-appreciated actor, does arguably the best work of his career..."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 10, 2004
|
|
C+
|
43%
|
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2004) |
"
Stylish filmmaking and philosophical musings can only disguise a lack of movement for so long. The trouble with I'll Sleep When I'm Dead is that it's already dead..."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 6, 2004
|
|
C-
|
26%
|
Slipping Down Life (1999) |
"
An extravagant act of self-mutilation is not enough to spice up the humdrum plain-girl- meets-pretty- boy-and-teaches- him-the-meaning- of-love story."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 1, 2004
|
|
F
|
44%
|
Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d'enfants) (2004) |
"
A concoction that contains nothing recognizable from the lives of real people and no recognizable truth."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 1, 2004
|
|
D+
|
4%
|
Godsend (2003) |
"
It's not that cloning is bad; it's that cloning done by bad people is bad."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 1, 2004
|
|
C
|
38%
|
Man on Fire (2004) |
"
Character development consists of sticking a bottle in Creasy's hand."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 1, 2004
|
|
B
|
87%
|
Noi the Albino (Nói albínói) (2003) |
"
A film of wry, black humor and small moments...whose ominous ending combines the mythic and the everyday, leaving an unsettling ambiguity and many questions."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Apr 4, 2004
|
|
D+
|
70%
|
Dogville (2003) |
"
In his strenuous effort to avoid cinematic artifice of any kind, Von Trier has engaged in a different kind of artifice-intellectual artifice."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Mar 25, 2004
|
|
A+
|
93%
|
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) |
"
Kaufman's previous screenplays have always been intellectually rigorous, but you wouldn't necessary say they have a lot of passion. This one is different."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Mar 19, 2004
|
|
B
|
56%
|
Ned Kelly (2003) |
"
Where Ned Kelly deviates from more traditional melodramatic hero-ographies is in its visual and symbolic landscape."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Mar 19, 2004
|
|
D+
|
8%
|
Carlos Castaneda - Enigma of a Sorcerer (2004) |
"
An unfocused film that fails, at least for this uninitiated viewer, to open a door into any kind of reality, ordinary or otherwise."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Mar 15, 2004
|
|
B-
|
73%
|
Intermission (2003) |
"
propelled by the actors' urgent performances and its running gags"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Mar 7, 2004
|
|
C
|
93%
|
The Marriage of Maria Braun (Die Ehe der Maria Braun) (1979) |
"
This is what happens when theme is emphasized over story--a series of inorganic plot developments constructed to suit Fassbinder's indictment of postwar Germany."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Feb 17, 2004
|
|
A
|
72%
|
Girl With a Pearl Earring (2004) |
"
No artist biopic has succeeded as completely in capturing the magical, inexplicable artistic moment. [A commentary including an interview with director Peter Webber]"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jan 26, 2004
|
|
C-
|
77%
|
Bad Santa (2003) |
"
When will people tire of these one-note comedies? If you've seen the poster, there's really no need to actually sit through the movie."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jan 12, 2004
|
|
B-
|
82%
|
Monster (2004) |
"
Is Monster about Wuornos' transformation into a serial killer, or Theron's transformation into Wuornos?"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jan 5, 2004
|
|
D+
|
57%
|
How To Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) |
"
The difference between Withnail and I and this film is that here, Robinson is trying to deliver a message instead of focusing on his characters. Mistake."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Dec 20, 2003
|
|
C
|
75%
|
House of Sand and Fog (2003) |
"
Kingsley's astonishing performance is wasted in this otherwise overlong, overwrought, and overcooked mess-o-drama."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Dec 17, 2003
|
|
D-
|
0%
|
Highlander II: The Quickening (Highlander 2) (1991) |
"
The director's cut elevates this misconceived sequel from one of the worst stinkers ever to merely dreadful."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 26, 2003
|
|
C-
|
50%
|
Point of No Return (The Assassin) (1993) |
"
Totally unnecessary, sterile remake of LA FEMME NIKITA."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 26, 2003
|
|
A-
|
77%
|
Two for the Road (1967) |
"
One of the best movies about relationships ever. Outstanding performances."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 26, 2003
|
|
C+
|
50%
|
Fever Pitch (2000) |
"
With soccer substituting for rock music, novelist/screenwriter Nick Hornby's FEVER PITCH plays like a rough draft of HIGH FIDELITY...a very rough draft."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 26, 2003
|
|
C+
|
76%
|
The Cooler (2003) |
"
Straight-to-video, B-movie material that benefits from A-level performances, particularly from Maria Bello."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 25, 2003
|
|
A-
|
80%
|
21 Grams (2003) |
"
The actors are magnificent. They unequivocally know who their characters are, inhabiting them so completely that you cease to remember these are actually actors, even stars."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 25, 2003
|
|
B
|
89%
|
In America (2003) |
"
An agreeably uplifting movie that doesn't cheat its way (too much) to its life-affirming conclusion."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 25, 2003
|
|
F
|
71%
|
The Big Empty (2003) |
"
Some may praise The Big Empty as a poor man's David Lynch-meets-The X-Files, but it's more of a starving homeless man's David Lynch-meets-The X-Files."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 15, 2003
|
|
B+
|
78%
|
Tupac - Resurrection (2003) |
"
Don't expect investigative reporting.... Tupac: Resurrection is a trip through a man's head."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 15, 2003
|
|
B-
|
91%
|
Shattered Glass (2003) |
"
Shattered Glass functions as a dramatic character study, but not as the galvanizing wake-up call about the sorry state of U.S. journalism that Ray says he wanted to make."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 14, 2003
|
|
B+
|
63%
|
Love Actually (2003) |
"
Curtis continues to find new twists on old romantic comedy stand-bys"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 7, 2003
|
|
F
|
67%
|
Kurt & Courtney (1998) |
"
A sloppy, irresponsible, self-promoting p.o.s. that documents little more than people with an axe to grind. Broomfield would be better off writing for the Enquirer."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Nov 1, 2003
|
|
A-
|
87%
|
Mystic River (2003) |
"
While restrained and internal throughout most of the film, Penn displays both chilling intensity and heart-wrenching grief when it really counts."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 31, 2003
|
|
B+
|
72%
|
Elephant (2003) |
"
People will pillory Van Sant for not taking a position on the causes of Columbine, but simply by showing an accurate depiction of a suburban high school, perhaps he is."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 23, 2003
|
|
A
|
95%
|
Fireworks (Hana-bi) (1997) |
"
Kitano makes static, understated movies about existences wasted, and rediscovering the joy of being, for a brief time, alive.... Violence comes in sudden bursts, as a shocking interruption."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 23, 2003
|
|
A-
|
76%
|
Kundun (1997) |
"
Though a meditative, introspective film, Scorsese's distinctive techniques cause Kundun to pulse with life under its calm surface."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 23, 2003
|
|
F
|
19%
|
City Slickers 2 - The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994) |
"
As broad as a barn."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 20, 2003
|
|
F
|
2%
|
Speed 2 - Cruise Control (1997) |
"
When some people talk about how much they loathed 1997's Big Boat Movie, I think they must mean this one."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 20, 2003
|
|
D-
|
11%
|
Striptease (1996) |
"
Funniest moment: Demi Moore rips open her top with a snarl, revealing the decidedly unattractive and wholly unnatural results of her cosmetic surgery."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 20, 2003
|
|
D
|
88%
|
The Animatrix (2003) |
"
Far from fleshing out the universe of THE MATRIX, this cynical, self-indulgent marketing tie-in renders it less coherent. Boasts only a few memorable visual moments, and suffers from a paucity of narrative."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Oct 20, 2003
|
|
B
|
40%
|
Anything Else (2003) |
"
Allen just does what he does, and he does it very well."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 18, 2003
|
|
C+
|
59%
|
Secondhand Lions (2003) |
"
Don't allow the ending to ruin the film. Ignore it."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 18, 2003
|
|
A
|
95%
|
Lost In Translation (2003) |
"
The man who once stole every film he did, bending it to his comic will, tranquilly inhabits LOST IN TRANSLATION... Understatement is his tool now."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 12, 2003
|
|
B-
|
44%
|
Luther (2003) |
"
Though LUTHER suffers from bio-pic-itis, it is more than just a pedestrian recitation of events."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 1, 2003
|
|
D
|
34%
|
Returner (Ritana) (2002) |
"
Yes, apparently Yamazaki takes breaks from his repeated viewings of E.T. by relaxing with THE MATRIX. Occasionally, just for a bit of variety, he might also pop INDEPENDENCE DAY into the DVD player."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Sep 1, 2003
|
|
B+
|
94%
|
American Splendor (2003) |
"
a remarkable amalgamation of the real and the fictionalized"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 16, 2003
|
|
B+
|
82%
|
Better Off Dead (1985) |
"
Forget Citizen Kane. As a matter of history, this seminal film is unquestionably the finest work of cinema ever made. Required viewing for all students and fans of the art form."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 12, 2003
|
|
D
|
12%
|
Sphere (1998) |
"
Let's face facts: Michael Crichton is a hack. He comes up with innovative concepts, but his characters are cardboard cutouts. Given the psychological foundations of the story, that's an egregious flaw, and the ending is absurdly dissatisfying."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 12, 2003
|
|
C+
|
58%
|
Passionada (2003) |
"
The fact that it's such a small film is an intrinsic part of this romantic comedy's charm."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
60%
|
Hurlyburly (1998) |
"
This black alleged comedy wouldn't be funny at all if it weren't for Kevin Spacey's droll wit and silly bleach do. Sean Penn's self-indulgent performance and the unfocused script make sitting through Hurlyburly a chore."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
54%
|
What Dreams May Come (1998) |
"
This ambitious afterlife romance introduces provoking themes, but Williams eventually leads the way back to familiar hackneyed ground. The grandiose art direction provides moments of wonder, but the muddled script gives them no raison d'être."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
F
|
64%
|
The X-Files - Fight the Future (1998) |
"
I'm sure that fans of the show were satisfied, but others may find this movie uninvolving and its conspiracy theories juvenile. It's nothing more than a two-hour promotion for the television series that fails to resolve any of the conflicts it introduces."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
67%
|
The Wedding Singer (1998) |
"
Fairly typical comedy, in that moments of genuine humor are spread out too thinly over a schmaltzy (sorry, "heartwarming") script. But how can you give a failing grade to a movie that spotlights silly early Eighties music?"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
F
|
6%
|
Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) |
"
Occasionally getting drawn into movies like this is the downside of having HBO when you're stuck at home with nothing to do. Do whatever you have to--mow the lawn, clean the garage, re-grout the bathroom tiles--but stay away."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
71%
|
Enemy of the State (1998) |
"
High production values and Gene Hackman are the only things that stand out in this run-of-the-mill Hollywood paranoia thriller. The unimaginative plot consists mostly of Will Smith being chased around by government agents."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
B
|
64%
|
Wild Things (1998) |
"
Good, trashy fun, with gratuitous sex and nudity, a ludicrous (in a so-bad-it's-funny way) performance by Denise Richards, and an implausible noir plot that keeps you in the dark until the final credits. The ultimate guilty pleasure."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
27%
|
U.S. Marshals (1997) |
"
Tommy Lee Jones is the only reason to see this sequel to The Fugitive, and the strength of his character is probably the only reason it was made. The story just doesn't hold together."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
C+
|
34%
|
Suicide Kings (1997) |
"
This movie assembles all the indie-film-of-the-Nineties cliches: brainless criminals, a bad plan, lots of dialogue, and Christopher Walken."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D-
|
44%
|
Stepmom (1998) |
"
A sloppily scripted, formulaic tear-jerker about spoiled rich people who whine a lot. I defy you to feel anything for these characters other than the desire to slap them--even Sarandon's obligatorily terminally-ill Mom."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
B+
|
88%
|
The Spanish Prisoner (1997) |
"
In David Mamet's world nothing is what it seems and nobody talks like a real person. The stylized dialogue is not a flaw--it's part of the entertainment. Mamet keeps you and star Campbell Scott guessing until the final moments."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
A
|
93%
|
Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
"
The first half hour alone forever redefines the war movie genre. Ryan has just one minor flaw: the plot is completely contrived. And if you can characterize a weak story as just a minor flaw... well, that's some damn fine filmmaking."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
65%
|
Nil by Mouth (1998) |
"
Imagine a movie where every character is played by Gary Oldman, in the drunken overacting Oldman mode. Oldman's unfocused and self-indulgent directorial debut has moments of poignancy and insight, but not enough to make it endurable."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
B
|
80%
|
Life Is Beautiful (La Vita è bella) (1997) |
"
This cross between Schindler's List and Hogan's Heroes works better than it has any right to, but not as well as most people would have you believe."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D+
|
38%
|
Great Expectations (1998) |
"
Charles Dickens' novel has been pared to the bone and set in the present day, and the result is a beautifully shot mess. The characters' motivations could not be any less clear."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
C
|
47%
|
Deep Impact (1998) |
"
Unlike Armageddon, this film possesses a plot. Granted, it is the insipid plot of a made-for-TV miniseries, but at least it is an actual, tangible plot."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
C+
|
83%
|
Clockwatchers (1998) |
"
Like the unrelenting Musack that fills the heroines's offices, Clockwatchers is a bit too sedate. If you don't watch carefully, you'll miss half the fun."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
C
|
58%
|
City of Angels (1998) |
"
Why would anyone remake Wim Wenders' masterpiece, Wings of Desire? Certainly not for artistic reasons."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
B
|
80%
|
The Big Lebowski (1998) |
"
The Coen Brothers try really hard to be outrageously funny, and they succeed more often than they fail."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
D-
|
39%
|
Armageddon (1998) |
"
Armabludgeon is like a roller coast--occasionally exciting, but in the end you've been taken for a long, nauseating ride."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Aug 11, 2003
|
|
C
|
80%
|
Mondays in the Sun (Los Lunes al sol) (2003) |
"
As boring as a trip across Kansas on a Greyhound bus."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 28, 2003
|
|
C+
|
63%
|
Camp (2003) |
"
Though unpolished and a bit formulaic, Camp reminds us that adolescence isn't just a period of time, it's a journey of self-discovery that teens must undertake on their own."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 25, 2003
|
|
B-
|
90%
|
The Magdalene Sisters (2003) |
"
Two hours of, "This is wrong!" can be difficult to bear. What makes The Magdalene Sisters much better than a censorious browbeating is the girls themselves..."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 22, 2003
|
|
B
|
94%
|
Dirty Pretty Things (2003) |
"
Dirty Pretty Things is a movie with Things to Say on an Important Issue...but one whose political intentions have not overpowered its quietly gripping story."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 22, 2003
|
|
C-
|
77%
|
The Housekeeper (2003) |
"
Basic ingredients are in under-supply: characterization and believability."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 10, 2003
|
|
C+
|
45%
|
Sinbad - Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) |
"
The disappointment is less that it butchers the actual story of Sinbad, but that, with a little more foundation and characterization, it could have been very good indeed."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jul 4, 2003
|
|
A-
|
84%
|
Swimming Pool (2003) |
"
Swimming Pool is surprisingly deep... giving us that special fun that only the very best movies provide-the pleasure of diving in again and again."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jun 27, 2003
|
|
C
|
40%
|
The Hard Word (2003) |
"
There isn't much about the movie that "a more good-natured, Australian-flavored LOCK, STOCK & 2 SMOKING BARRELS" doesn't sum up."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jun 27, 2003
|
|
B+
|
97%
|
Capturing the Friedmans (2003) |
"
The film is an examination of the complexity of characters and behaviors that we would prefer to explain simply, the slippery nature of memory, and the elusiveness of objective truth."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jun 13, 2003
|
|
B
|
90%
|
Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (1972) |
"
Monty Python's best known sketches reshot and compiled on film, with slight variations and occasional profanity. Great sketches, but a rather pointless exercise."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jun 2, 2003
|
|
D+
|
40%
|
Wrong Turn (2003) |
"
Evidently, the wrong turn I made was in the multiplex."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Jun 2, 2003
|
|
B-
|
71%
|
New Suit (2005) |
"
Instead of the bitter satire that could have been made from the exact same script, they have chosen to make a bright, airy comedy."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 9, 2003
|
|
B
|
71%
|
Confidence (2003) |
"
...engaging material with brisk pacing and breezy style... [Includes cast and director interviews]"
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted May 9, 2003
|
|
B-
|
77%
|
The Good Thief (2003) |
"
[Nolte] could not be cast more perfectly."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Apr 22, 2003
|
|
B+
|
91%
|
The Girl Next Door (2005) |
"
The conclusions that cannot be drawn from The Girl Next Door are as thought-provoking as the ones that can--and perhaps more so."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Apr 21, 2003
|
|
C-
|
47%
|
City of Ghosts (2003) |
"
In the end the images of Cambodia are what you'll hold onto as you walk out of the theater. They're almost as memorable as the sight of the shockingly enlarged Depardieu."
—
AboutFilm.com
Posted Apr 20, 2003
|
78%
——
——
85%
45%
40%
