|
|
87%
|
Notes on a Scandal (2006) |
"
A thriller for those who might not otherwise be drawn to one, with performances that will knock your socks off"
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 10, 2007
|
|
|
93%
|
The Lives of Others (2006) |
"
... delivers on several levels, offering multitextured characters who make no facile decisions, and re-creating the paranoia of Cold War-era Germany with an assured hand."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 10, 2007
|
|
5/5
|
60%
|
300 (2007) |
"
... an epic action film that literally rewrites the way such stories can be told, using all the latest cinematic tricks and gadgetry to pull the audience smack into the middle of battles that are as exquisite in their presentation as they are horrifying i"
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Apr 10, 2007
|
|
|
86%
|
The Namesake (2006) |
"
Whatever your background, the yearning of Nair's characters for a place in the world where they truly belong is a feeling that strikes deep in the heart."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 10, 2007
|
|
1/5
|
8%
|
The Reaping (2007) |
"
Hillary Swank is a minister AND a scientist! No, I'm not making this up. Please, stop laughing."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Apr 6, 2007
|
|
5/5
|
83%
|
Grindhouse (2007) |
"
Tarantino and fellow sleaze merchant Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) attempt to recreate the experience of watching a double bill of craptastic 70's low-budget movies [but] they fail in one important respect -- both their films are just too damn good."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Apr 6, 2007
|
|
3/5
|
65%
|
Apocalypto (2006) |
"
The film is drenched with Gibson's unique brand of crazy ... coming off as a sort of a fantasy in which Jesus, after suffering the more brutal lashings at the hands of the Centurians, is able to escape into the jungle and turn into Rambo."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Dec 8, 2006
|
|
1/5
|
69%
|
Babel (2006) |
"
Babel isn't actually about anything. It's just 140 minutes of self-conscious cinematic navel-gazing dressed up in Oscar-bait clothing."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Nov 10, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
——
|
Population 436 (2006) |
—
DVDTalk.com
Posted Sep 23, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
3%
|
The Covenant (2006) |
"
If Dawson's Creek had been about warlocks, it would look like this."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Sep 8, 2006
|
|
|
85%
|
Old Joy (2006) |
"
... a beautiful, melancholy film that illustrates the inevitable losses that accompany adulthood."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 25, 2006
|
|
5/5
|
68%
|
Snakes on a Plane (2006) |
"
There is much screaming and hissing and biting and ... oh, it's marvelously stupid. And exciting. And just plain fun."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Aug 18, 2006
|
|
|
76%
|
The Devil Wears Prada (2006) |
"
The Devil Wears Prada is like that perfect couture sundress -- feather light, amusing and just the sort of thing for a warm summer evening."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 15, 2006
|
|
|
33%
|
Scoop (2004) |
"
... a delightful return to Allen's sillier territory."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 15, 2006
|
|
|
68%
|
World Trade Center (2006) |
"
... a thoughtful, sensitive and ultimately despairing film that avoids both nut job proselytizing and sugarcoated sentimentality."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 15, 2006
|
|
|
40%
|
Nacho Libre (2006) |
"
Jack Black capers, cavorts and makes funny faces in an attempt to wring comedy out of wood, and it's just plain embarrassing to watch."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Jun 18, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
27%
|
The Omen (2006) |
"
The first one wasn't all that great, so we're talking about a competent remake of a decent, but mediocre, film. There are more monkeys, though, so that's something."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Jun 6, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
34%
|
The Break-Up (2006) |
"
An intelligent comedy that shines a truthful light on the fools we make of ourselves during a relationship's last, dying gasps."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Jun 2, 2006
|
|
|
57%
|
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) |
"
Ratner's slick, smugly inept take on the X-Men is more than an ending to a series -- it's like a stake in its heart, making the entire enterprise smell like a rotting corpse."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted May 26, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
8%
|
See No Evil (2006) |
"
Dark obviously did a lot of research for his big-screen debut, watching hours of David Fincher movies and Nine Inch Nails videos for inspiration."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted May 21, 2006
|
|
3/5
|
25%
|
The Da Vinci Code (2006) |
"
It's a Ron Howard film. Meaning, just good enough to not suck."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted May 21, 2006
|
|
|
68%
|
Hard Candy (2006) |
"
A masculine nightmare run amok""
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 28, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
29%
|
Silent Hill (2006) |
"
An abject failure as a horror film, offering gorgeous Clive Barker-inspired art direction run amuck with nothing actually scary going on."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Apr 21, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
71%
|
Friends With Money (2006) |
"
As for the social awkwardness that comes with the unspoken divide between America's classes, Holofcener has made an intriguing, funny and very watchable thesis on the subject."
—
eFilmCritic.com
Posted Apr 17, 2006
|
|
|
51%
|
Lucky Number Slevin (2006) |
"
Perhaps George Clooney and his effortlessly cool Ocean's 11 series is to blame for this wave of insubstantial, inept caper flicks with Rat Pack ambitions."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 7, 2006
|
|
3.5/5
|
83%
|
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) |
"
... perfectly delightful, genuinely touching, and a marvelous achievement in animated art."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
50%
|
Ryan's Daughter (1970) |
"
Despite some terrific acting and beautiful scenery, it's a long slog to get through Ryan's Daughter, and it may be a journey best undertaken by only the most tolerant of Lean fans."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
54%
|
MirrorMask (2005) |
"
... a magical, exhilarating movie that's unlike anything else."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
3.5/5
|
86%
|
Howl's Moving Castle (2005) |
"
While certainly not the best of [Miyazaki's] work, it's still several leagues ahead of what anyone else does in the genre and offers some stupendously impressive eye-candy."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
|
——
|
Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 (2006) |
"
The cast is uniformly superb and the writers cannily allow each actor to stretch in the parts, making each character unusually well-rounded for a network TV program."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
55%
|
Dune (1984) |
"
... relentlessly, painfully solemn and takes itself far too seriously -- fascinating as it is to come back to as an odd Lynchian fiasco, it's still pondering and laborious to sit through."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
97%
|
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) |
"
One the great R-rated movies of the 1970s, funny, tense and brutal, retaining the true story's not-at-all-happy ending and showcasing Pacino as an immense talent at the top of his game."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
2/5
|
——
|
Cisco Pike (1972) |
"
It's not a terrible film, really. It's just an insubstantial one."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
100%
|
Burden of Dreams (1982) |
"
... simply one of the very best "making-of" features ever produced, a stunning behind-the-scenes look at the production of a brilliant motion picture."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
Goodbye, Children (Au Revoir Les Enfants) (1987) |
"
... beautifully photographed and delicately presented, and it offers a singularly profound moment in which one boy learns the consequences of forgetting, even for a flicker of an instant, the importance of charity and integrity."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
|
86%
|
Inside Man (2006) |
"
Takes the obvious plot constructs of an hourlong network TV episode and stretches them to the breaking point, bringing absolutely nothing new to the genre."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 27, 2006
|
|
|
73%
|
Sky High (2005) |
"
... this Spy Kids-meets-The Incredibles mash-up is funny, smart and consistently entertaining."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
87%
|
Brokeback Mountain (2005) |
"
... a beautiful tragedy about the anguish of unfulfilled love. It's an absolute triumph, in every way."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
77%
|
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2005) |
"
As lovely as it is, "Balzac" is also frustratingly episodic and, ultimately, not really about a lot."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
59%
|
The Weather Man (2005) |
"
... a beautifully photographed, tragic and sincere film about a man who discovers that life is hard, and that he may never become the man he wishes he was."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
68%
|
North Country (2005) |
"
... an overblown, overlong soap opera about a woman who never learns how to truly stand up for herself."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
95%
|
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) |
"
... a ripping good yarn with just the right amount of delicious cheese."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
79%
|
Red Eye (2005) |
"
Craven serves up a number of delightful twists and distractions to keep things consistently entertaining ... a snappy, diverting little popcorn-muncher."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
37%
|
The Skeleton Key (2005) |
"
The wide, unmoving forehead of Kate Hudson floats with torporific ennui through this clip show of all the slowest, most boring bits from every spook movie you've ever seen."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
33%
|
The Fantastic Four () |
"
Fantastic Four, with its characters spending so much time talking about their feelings, seems more like a spandex-clad support group session."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
74%
|
Land of the Dead (2005) |
"
This is Romero's best zombie film yet %u2014 perhaps the best ever made, period."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
20%
|
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005) |
"
... exceedingly long and pointless"
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
55%
|
Madagascar (2005) |
"
The animation is predictably spectacular, the pace (once you get through the first sluggish 15 minutes) is brisk enough to maintain adult interest, and kids will love it."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
4/5
|
53%
|
Kicking and Screaming (1995) |
"
Baumbach doesn't try to make any of his characters especially sympathetic in their slacker journey. He leaves that to the actors, who make these layabouts lovable."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
39%
|
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) |
"
As with Gladiator, Scott's Kingdom is a busy but empty place with no heart."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2005
|
|
|
23%
|
The Amityville Horror (2005) |
"
... a lousy pastiche of quick edits, light switches that drip blood, family home-movie footage and incessantly shirtless comedy actor Ryan Reynolds"
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Apr 15, 2005
|
|
|
60%
|
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) |
"
The remake is, simply put, terrible. Not because it sullies the name of a terrific film - although it does do that. No, it's lousy entirely on its own merits."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 4, 2005
|
|
|
68%
|
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) |
"
In translating his always hilarious, oft-times surreal television cartoon creation to the big screen, Hillenburg has delivered a fine, adventure for SpongeBob"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 4, 2005
|
|
|
86%
|
My Own Private Idaho (1991) |
"
... the pacing of the film is hypnotic, the lovely autumnal imagery ... is often mesmerizing"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Mar 4, 2005
|
|
|
13%
|
Hide and Seek (2005) |
"
... ultimately nothing more than a derivative slasher film"
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Mar 4, 2005
|
|
|
30%
|
Be Cool (2005) |
"
... not as clever as its predecessor, suffering from somnambulant pacing and a flaccid, underwritten script."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Mar 4, 2005
|
|
|
53%
|
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2004) |
"
a very bad movie in the style of those Ed Wood-era, This Island Earth-style, classic schlock horror flicks ... pure comedy gold."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
91%
|
The Hired Hand (1971) |
"
... a languid, strange, and beautiful movie, shot with majestic perfection by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
94%
|
Fargo (1996) |
"
... a crackerjack dark comedy about a kidnapping that goes horribly awry and the competent small-town cop who cracks the case."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
82%
|
The Deep End (2001) |
"
As an actorly picture with gradually revealed characters ... The Deep End succeeds beautifully. It just isn't especially thrilling."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) |
"
... an occasionally light-hearted caper film that takes itself far too seriously to be truly successful"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
79%
|
The Accidental Tourist (1988) |
"
... captures the quirky, bittersweet quality of Tyler's book"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
35%
|
Big Top Pee-Wee (1988) |
"
... the attempt to turn Pee-Wee into a more adult character complete with sexual frustrations and romantic involvements is more than a little discomforting"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
97%
|
GoodFellas (1990) |
"
... a brilliant, assured, mature film by one of cinema's greatest directors at the top of his game."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
50%
|
Ella Enchanted (2004) |
"
... a mix of self-conscious cuteness with cold-blooded marketing"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
77%
|
Bad Santa (2003) |
"
... as a down-and-dirty alternative to cinema's other treacly holiday offerings, Bad Santa is a hilarious breath of stale, whiskey-and-cigarette-scented air."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Justice League - Star Crossed: The Movie (2004) |
"
Starcrossed offers gorgeous animation, fresh stories, and crisp, witty writing - in particular, the in-jokes about Batman's glum attitude and Flash's snarky asides."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Harum Scarum (Harem Holiday) (1965) |
"
Elvis appears to be either heavily drugged or bored stiff through most of it - yet, for all that, it's oddly entertaining in its own cheesy way."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
98%
|
Croupier (2000) |
"
Croupier is an intense, mesmerizing film, and one of the very best in the recent crop of noir knock-offs."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
88%
|
The Commitments (1991) |
"
With a catalog of wonderful songs, a phenomenally talented cast ... The Commitments is an irresistible delight."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Angel - Season 3 () |
"
... the longer Angel was on the air the more inconsistent the writing became, and Season Three stands as a fine example of that problem."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Angel - Season 2 () |
"
a surprise in many ways, with imaginative, well-written stories and a lot of character development ..."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Angel - Season 1 () |
"
Atmospheric, intense, and very funny ..."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Double Trouble (1967) |
"
... as was the norm with the later Elvis pictures, the movie's star often seems to just be going through the motions."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 31, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Desire Under the Elms (1958) |
"
... a rather soapy, depressing - but nonetheless impressive - 1958 film."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 30, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Smallville - Season 2 (2004) |
"
... beginning as a sort of "Superman, 90210" ... the show quickly, but subtly, introduced deeper and more complicated ideas with each episode."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 30, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Smallville - Season 3 (2004) |
"
... excellent performances by Glover, Rosenbaum, Schneider, O'Toole, and Allison Mack as gal-pal Chloe - were enough to keep fans tuning in for each new episode."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 30, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection: Vol. 2 (2004) |
"
... many of the offerings are, indeed, gems."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 30, 2005
|
|
|
89%
|
Little Caesar (1930) |
"
... an iconographic mob film, the prototype for thousands of movies of its type to come."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 28, 2005
|
|
|
95%
|
Hero (2004) |
"
Hero is sumptuous, exquisite, exciting, and, in every sense of the word, cinematic - the sort of film experience that defines why we go to the movies."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 28, 2005
|
|
|
——
|
The Harvest (1993) |
"
Ferrer is flat-out brilliant as a not especially likable leading man ..."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 28, 2005
|
|
|
71%
|
The Fifth Element (1997) |
"
... a colorful, exciting, visually sumptuous sci-fi comic book come to life."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jan 28, 2005
|
|
|
65%
|
Wild At Heart (1990) |
"
Wild At Heart is melodramatic, giddily self-aware, painfully stylized, and challenging at every turn ..."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Dec 8, 2004
|
|
|
90%
|
Kinsey (2004) |
"
... creates a dialogue about not just the diversity of human sexuality but the dangers of embracing deliberate ignorance."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Dec 1, 2004
|
|
|
74%
|
Foul Play (1978) |
"
... a charming, entertaining film that competently combines ... an albino dwarf, a scar-faced man, and disappearing corpses with good old-fashioned romantic comedy."
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Nov 15, 2004
|
|
|
97%
|
The Incredibles (2004) |
"
... an exciting, funny, smart and delightful adventure made with the usual eye-popping Pixar brilliance."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Nov 5, 2004
|
|
|
7%
|
Surviving Christmas (2004) |
"
... as cinematic gifts go, this one's less a shiny new Red Rider BB gun than it is a $10 gift certificate for Wal-Mart."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Oct 22, 2004
|
|
|
77%
|
Team America - World Police (2004) |
"
Team America nails every hackneyed close-up, loving explosion and sappy revelatory scene of the films that it mimics."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Oct 19, 2004
|
|
|
36%
|
Shark Tale (2004) |
"
... an extraordinarily irritating, aesthetically unappealing and poorly written movie."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Oct 1, 2004
|
|
|
31%
|
The Forgotten (2004) |
"
... repeatedly promises to offer some sort of wicked twist à la M. Night Shyamalan ... but never delivers anything other than exactly what you think is going to happen"
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Sep 24, 2004
|
|
|
61%
|
Wimbledon (2004) |
"
... a surprisingly winning, if overwhelmingly trivial, film."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Sep 22, 2004
|
|
|
23%
|
Wicker Park (2004) |
"
... a lot of self-conscious, Brian DePalma-like, Hitchcock-ripoff camera tricks, painfully scene-specific pop songs and Hartnett brow-furrowing."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Sep 3, 2004
|
|
|
95%
|
Hero (2004) |
"
If they got into a rumble in the courtyard of a mountaintop dojo, Hero would kick the butt of Crounching Tiger."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 27, 2004
|
|
|
26%
|
The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement (2004) |
"
... a G-rated, girl-centric fairy tale of a movie, sweet enough for the 'tweens but smart and goofy enough that parents won't mind sitting through it, too."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 13, 2004
|
|
|
90%
|
The Corporation (2004) |
"
... offers a wealth of information about the megalithic entities that - to the almost certain detriment of humanity - have come to dictate how we eat, shop, live and think."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Aug 6, 2004
|
|
|
17%
|
Showgirls (1995) |
"
... both a commentary on the vulgarity of American culture and a vicious parody of unimaginative Hollywood blockbusters"
—
DVDJournal.com
Posted Jul 26, 2004
|
|
|
81%
|
The Bourne Supremacy (2004) |
"
... essentially, a movie about a man taking public transportation."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Jul 23, 2004
|
|
|
58%
|
I, Robot (2004) |
"
... a solidly entertaining Smith vehicle."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Jul 16, 2004
|
|
|
71%
|
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) |
"
A strangely charming, thoroughly original movie ..."
—
Portland Tribune
Posted Jul 2, 2004
|
79%
74%
61%
52%
27%
4%
