|
8/10
|
90%
|
Holy Motors (2012) |
"
...Viewers are along for a ride, wild and surreal."
—
PopMatters
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
6/10
|
37%
|
Nobody Walks (2012) |
"
...part comedy and part hipster horror film."
—
PopMatters
Posted Oct 26, 2012
|
|
9/10
|
67%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012) |
"
As faithful to David Mitchell's novel as any $100 million enterprise could be, it's the most daring, thrilling, satisfying, swiftly churning engine of big screen adventure to come along in some time."
—
PopMatters
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
|
98%
|
Brooklyn Castle (2012) |
"
...a smart and emotionally satisfying documentary that also manages to show that not every American public school is a graffiti-strewn money pit."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
6/10
|
82%
|
Seven Psychopaths (2012) |
"
...often sublimely hilarious, with Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken doing their loony best to keep the ramshackle affair going."
—
PopMatters
Posted Oct 12, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Split: A Deeper Divide (2012) |
"
This isn't a film, it's a laundry list."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Oct 11, 2012
|
|
8/10
|
68%
|
Wuthering Heights (2012) |
"
A brutal vision of a savage romance..."
—
PopMatters
Posted Oct 5, 2012
|
|
4/10
|
48%
|
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) |
"
Not much of anything makes sense, either as fairy tale or human drama."
—
PopMatters
Posted Oct 1, 2012
|
|
|
90%
|
Six Million and One (2012) |
"
In David Fisher's coruscating film, his discovery of a memoir by his late father, a Holocaust survivor, sparks a journey back to the camps with his siblings-who aren't sure how much of this dark past they want to uncover."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Sep 28, 2012
|
|
9/10
|
67%
|
17 Girls (2012) |
"
The wonder of this remarkable film is that it retains an innocence of its own, even while alluding to the darkness on the horizon."
—
PopMatters
Posted Sep 28, 2012
|
|
|
86%
|
The Master (2012) |
"
...shot like a dream and has acting pyrotechnics to spare, but lacks some of the director's characteristically thunderous panache."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Sep 12, 2012
|
|
10/10
|
80%
|
The Royal Tenenbaums (2002) |
"
Each one of the Tenenbaums might be alone, and quietly miserable in a vaguely contented way, but at least they're lonely as a family. That's some kind of solace."
—
PopMatters
Posted Sep 10, 2012
|
|
|
84%
|
Detropia (2012) |
"
... something of a tone poem soaked in the blues"
—
Film Journal International
Posted Sep 6, 2012
|
|
7/10
|
85%
|
Sleepwalk With Me (2012) |
"
For all the first-film jitters ... Sleepwalk with Me is a canny and heartwarming comedy that rarely sells the audience short."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 26, 2012
|
|
2/10
|
26%
|
2016: Obama's America (2012) |
"
...lush cinematography and a keen editing rhythm give at least the impression of a seriousness the film sorely lacks."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 23, 2012
|
|
|
91%
|
True Romance (1993) |
"
...[a] violently funny genre mishmash that gave Tony Scott's new life, and also transmitted Quentin Tarantino's vision more credibly than the screenwriter and then-novice director could have done himself."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 23, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Digital Dharma (2012) |
"
intellectually feel-good documentary ... has a gorgeous look and a superb main character, but hits the same notes a few too many times."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 17, 2012
|
|
7/10
|
75%
|
Chicken with Plums (2012) |
"
The mood is world-weary and exhausted from passion, the sort best appreciated after a miserable breakup, enhanced by a few packs of Gitanes."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 17, 2012
|
|
|
64%
|
Cosmopolis (2012) |
"
...a serenely crazed view of the present. The master is back."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 16, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
The Anderson Monarchs (2012) |
"
...gossamer-delicate film about an inner-city Philadelphia girls' soccer team is replete with genuine uplift, but skimps on any narrative that would have brought its subjects into sharper relief."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 15, 2012
|
|
|
58%
|
Red Hook Summer (2012) |
"
...would be highly flawed but promising for a newcomer; from Spike Lee, it's downright embarrassing."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 10, 2012
|
|
8/10
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) |
"
...Nolan's final Batman film shows the inhabitants of Gotham wrestling with issues of the real world, namely: money, class, and power."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 10, 2012
|
|
4/10
|
65%
|
2 Days in New York (2012) |
"
...illustrates the dangers of the comedy sequel."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 10, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
Out of the Clear Blue Sky (2012) |
"
...a Tolstoyan reminder that all tragedies are unique."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
7/10
|
62%
|
Clue (1985) |
"
...really just an excuse for this band of comic actors to play around with a locked-room sex farce that's also a light satire on witchhunts."
—
PopMatters
Posted Aug 6, 2012
|
|
|
——
|
La Source (2013) |
"
In this gleaming little gem of a documentary, a janitor devotes everything to the cause of bringing fresh water to his Haitian village. It's the rare example of an issue film that lets its subjects sell the story instead of having it thrust upon them."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 2, 2012
|
|
|
21%
|
360 (2012) |
"
...doesn't have much of a theme but for the sparks of intimate connection thrown off by its talented cast every few minutes."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 1, 2012
|
|
7/10
|
67%
|
Trishna (2012) |
"
...Winterbottom's most gorgeous film to date."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jul 27, 2012
|
|
8/10
|
75%
|
Collaborator (2012) |
"
Collaborator is a sharp and vital debut that keeps viewers guessing at all the right moments."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jul 17, 2012
|
|
9/10
|
76%
|
Unforgivable (2012) |
"
...a roundelay of obstinacy and desire, where lives are lived on their own terms, fiercely."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jul 13, 2012
|
|
6/10
|
51%
|
Savages (2012) |
"
...a middling and sometimes maddening film."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jul 6, 2012
|
|
|
80%
|
China Heavyweight (2012) |
"
This vibrant documentary about young rural Chinese boxers has many of the hallmarks of greatness but keeps its subjects at too much of a remove to achieve it."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Jul 5, 2012
|
|
9/10
|
78%
|
Take This Waltz (2012) |
"
Sarah Polley's passion-drunk film about a summertime flirtation is a lovesick daze of lust and pain and regret."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 29, 2012
|
|
6/10
|
——
|
Die Farbe des Ozeans (Color of the Ocean) () |
"
Maggie Peren's nearly too topical refugee drama paints a simple story in rich colors."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 25, 2012
|
|
|
78%
|
Brave (2012) |
"
Rip-roaring fairy tale about a Scottish tomboy princess who unwittingly stirs up dark forces is a welcome return to original Pixar fantasy after their recent franchise sequels."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Jun 21, 2012
|
|
6/10
|
——
|
Words of Witness (2012) |
"
...caught between positions, observing and also subjective"
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 21, 2012
|
|
8/10
|
100%
|
The Invisible War (2012) |
"
...one of those few films one sees in a year that deserve the label "important.""
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 18, 2012
|
|
3/10
|
41%
|
Rock of Ages (2012) |
"
By investing its fate in two personality-free leads, this fitfully witty hair-metal mash-up musical loses before it begins; even with Tom Cruise in full Lizard King drag."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 15, 2012
|
|
3/10
|
75%
|
The Intouchables (2012) |
"
...draws on some rather egregious race clichés."
—
PopMatters
Posted Jun 1, 2012
|
|
|
0%
|
Sexual Chronicles of a French Family (2012) |
"
A highly schematic film about how the members of a family each revel in their own sexuality; there's a nice, healthy glow here apparently meant to substitute for story."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 31, 2012
|
|
|
58%
|
U.N. Me (2012) |
"
Pugnacious documentary charges the United Nations with everything from gross incompetence to aiding and abetting genocide ... mostly successful except when undermined by Horowitz's cornball Michael Moore antics."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 31, 2012
|
|
|
98%
|
Oslo, August 31st (2012) |
"
...a quietly stunning masterpiece-all of life, in a single day."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 24, 2012
|
|
|
22%
|
The Samaritan (2012) |
"
...goes from mechanical to (unintentionally) hilarious, stopping frequently at the cliché shop along the way."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 16, 2012
|
|
5/10
|
78%
|
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) |
"
Its little dramas unfold in predictable ways, just as cozy as one of the costume dramas which many of its stars have put in their time on. "
—
PopMatters
Posted May 14, 2012
|
|
5/10
|
93%
|
Marvel's The Avengers (2012) |
"
It's all very smoothly done but comes without a hint of surprise or revelation."
—
PopMatters
Posted May 14, 2012
|
|
|
5%
|
Hick (2012) |
"
...shows that the era of the redneck road flick isn't over, but by God should be."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 14, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
52%
|
Where Do We Go Now? (2012) |
"
...When [Nadine Labaki] screams, "You're just animals!", it's to mourn every life snuffed out for worshipping the wrong way or belonging to the wrong group. "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 11, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
90%
|
Bernie (2012) |
"
...it's good to know that Richard Linklater had some Hitchcock in him."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 11, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
94%
|
I Wish (2012) |
"
...[Hirokazu Kore-Eda] has the people and the mood, just not the story."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 11, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
94%
|
First Position (2012) |
"
...crowd-pleasing but ultimately dissatisfying"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 3, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
92%
|
The Connection (2007) |
"
Exhausting and occasionally juvenile, The Connection is, nevertheless, an experience."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 3, 2012
|
|
|
67%
|
Chronicling a Crisis (2012) |
"
Indie director Amos Kollek's hall-of-mirrors movie capturing his frustration at his inability to make another film is as self-referential and limited as you would expect, though refreshingly honest for all its solipsism."
—
Film Journal International
Posted May 2, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
75%
|
Sound of My Voice (2012) |
"
But for a conclusion that arrives long before the audience is ready for it to be over with, this would have been the runaway indie hit of the year."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted May 2, 2012
|
|
1/10
|
64%
|
The Five-Year Engagement (2012) |
"
...suffers from the smug belief that a couple of affable stars can compensate for a lazy lack of purpose."
—
PopMatters
Posted Apr 27, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
75%
|
Damsels in Distress (2012) |
"
Dadaism for the preppie set."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Apr 19, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
80%
|
Goodbye First Love (2012) |
"
...shows -- in bright colors and dark, gusting squalls -- what it is like to be swept away by overwhelming, and often unrealistic, feelings."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Apr 19, 2012
|
|
5/10
|
46%
|
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012) |
"
...threatens to make the momentous trite."
—
PopMatters
Posted Apr 13, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
70%
|
The Hunter (2012) |
"
In this unfocused and highly antidramatic film, Dafoe is measured for a role that requires him to be empathic and exceedingly normal; it doesn't fit."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Apr 7, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
98%
|
The Island President (2012) |
"
What just might be the scariest movie of the year doesn't feature skyscraper-crushing robots or species-annihilating bacteria."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Mar 30, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
44%
|
Casa de mi padre (2012) |
"
Bush-league stuff - a satire in search of a real target. "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
90%
|
Footnote (2012) |
"
Cedar's off-handed, observational humor is so beautifully played by the casually brilliant cast. "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Mar 8, 2012
|
|
7/10
|
94%
|
The Secret World of Arrietty (2012) |
"
This smart, winsome fairy tale is not quite Hiyao Miyazaki, but it still might be the best animated film that (some few) will see all year."
—
PopMatters
Posted Mar 2, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
84%
|
Last Days Here (2012) |
"
For a heavy metal film, there is a lot of soul here."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Mar 2, 2012
|
|
|
86%
|
The Snowtown Murders (2012) |
"
Though many will be put off by the elliptical style of this clammy, feral drama about Australia's most infamous serial killer, Daniel Henshall's jaw-droppingly malevolent performance will reward all those who seek it out."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Mar 1, 2012
|
|
|
43%
|
Patriocracy (2012) |
"
It's a scrappy but thoughtful essay of a film, the sort of thing that would make for an excellent cover feature in a major newsweekly."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Mar 1, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
86%
|
The Forgiveness of Blood (2012) |
"
sketches out with vivid detail all the familial mechanics and psychological bruising that accompanies all this ritualized vengefulness"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Feb 23, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
87%
|
Bullhead (2012) |
"
underwritten yet overcomplicated "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Feb 16, 2012
|
|
|
53%
|
Safe House (2012) |
"
...an autopilot CIA thriller that tilts at political relevance but contents itself with aping Tony Scott mannerisms."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
72%
|
Windfall (2012) |
"
a handsome film about ugly things happening in a gorgeous place"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Feb 2, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
55%
|
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? (2012) |
"
a roughly eighty-minute pep rally for its subject"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Jan 26, 2012
|
|
1.5/5
|
40%
|
Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (2012) |
"
A dishwater-dull film about an electric subject"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Jan 19, 2012
|
|
3/10
|
52%
|
The Iron Lady (2012) |
"
...[a] doddering, amateurish spectacle."
—
PopMatters
Posted Dec 30, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011) |
"
grand metaphorical fiction that unpacks a weighty and involving story"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 29, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
Pina (2011) |
"
...filmmaking as glorious music."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
Pariah (2011) |
"
...intelligent, feeling complexity in a film that could have covered itself in cliché."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
|
75%
|
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
"
The less serious of Steven Spielberg's two 2011 holiday films is a splashy animated adventure that shows the director returning to the kicky period thrills of Raiders of the Lost Ark."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Dec 19, 2011
|
|
4.5/5
|
72%
|
Carnage (2011) |
"
an actor's playground, with Winslet and Foster practically leaping off the screen with the fearsome ridiculousness of their performances"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 15, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
83%
|
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) |
"
In this slowly paced, dirty-minded adaptation, director Tomas Alfredson is faithful to the painstaking part of le Carre's baroque and cynical fictions, almost to a fault."
—
PopMatters
Posted Dec 9, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
80%
|
Young Adult (2011) |
"
...a comedy of sorts"
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
94%
|
Coriolanus (2011) |
"
...Fiennes has turned out a well-crafted and passionately acted drama about power and its dangers that should serve as a model for how to perform Shakespeare on screen."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Dec 8, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
78%
|
A Dangerous Method (2011) |
"
...a deftly handled historical drama in which the darkest demons are hauled out on stage for all to evaluate."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Nov 23, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
96%
|
The Muppets (2011) |
"
snarky-smart "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Nov 23, 2011
|
|
9/10
|
74%
|
Rampart (2012) |
"
...destined to come and go without leaving much of a trace, not because of its occasional defects, but because of the things it does right."
—
PopMatters
Posted Nov 23, 2011
|
|
4/10
|
45%
|
Happy Feet Two (2011) |
"
...doesn't even know how to play to its own strengths."
—
PopMatters
Posted Nov 18, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
73%
|
Like Crazy (2011) |
"
...a thin construction [that] manages to work more often than not."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Nov 17, 2011
|
|
8/10
|
89%
|
The Trip (2011) |
"
Bleakly rolling moors and stiff-chinned restaurants bring a chilly tone to this austere, investigative, self-reflexive, and yet somehow rollicking comedy..."
—
PopMatters
Posted Nov 17, 2011
|
|
|
93%
|
King of Devil's Island (2011) |
"
Terse and atmospheric Norwegian historical drama about an isolated home for troubled boys is effectively brooding but too formulaic when it comes to character."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Nov 16, 2011
|
|
|
77%
|
Melancholia (2011) |
"
...[a] gorgeous, clever and eventually laughable misanthropic tease."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Nov 10, 2011
|
|
|
91%
|
Into The Abyss (2011) |
"
...possibly Werner Herzog's true claim to cinematic immortality."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Nov 10, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
100%
|
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2011) |
"
Everyday Sunshine doesn't do the band the disservice of falling at their feet in worship, like too many recent films about legendary musicians "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
94%
|
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) |
"
...has a welcome appreciation of craft and skill but turns away at most opportunities from exploring the human drama that lies behind them."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
|
76%
|
Bombay Beach (2011) |
"
...schemers and dreamers spend their days scrabbling, dancing and drifting in Alma Har'el's arresting, Dylan- and Beirut-scored art project of a documentary."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Oct 14, 2011
|
|
4.5/5
|
100%
|
Hell and Back Again (2011) |
"
has the artistry of a painting and the impact of a sucker punch."
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
2/5
|
30%
|
Sarah Palin: You Betcha! (2011) |
"
a flat, repetitive fizzle of a gotcha documentary "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Sep 29, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
95%
|
Weekend (2011) |
"
There's a white-knuckle quality to this affair that's as fearsome as it is beautiful. "
—
Filmcritic.com
Posted Sep 29, 2011
|
|
5/10
|
95%
|
Moneyball (2011) |
"
...holds its characters and the implications of its story at a cool distance."
—
PopMatters
Posted Sep 24, 2011
|
|
|
100%
|
Semper Fi: Always Faithful (2012) |
"
This heart-wrenching, activist documentary goes for the heart and the mind with its dramatic story of a crusading Marine Corps veteran fighting for victims of water pollution at Camp Lejeune."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
|
——
|
S.O.S. (State Of Security) () |
"
...not just a great disappointment but a sadly missed opportunity."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 24, 2011
|
|
|
——
|
The Mexican Suitcase (La Maleta Mexicana) () |
"
The incredible 2007 discovery of thousands of negatives of the Spanish Civil War (including many by Robert Capa) provides a window into that war's ongoing trauma in this exquisite, if sometimes repetitive, documentary."
—
Film Journal International
Posted Aug 24, 2011
|
78%
——
——
85%
45%
40%
