|
C
|
75%
|
Concussion (2013) |
"
The viewer is presented with a series of caustic, vignette-like scenes which tease bigger themes but end before they can tackle them ..."
—
AV Club
Posted Oct 3, 2013
|
|
C-
|
68%
|
Bad Milo! (2013) |
"
Like a lot of intentionally shoddy or derivative movies, Bad Milo! can't overcome what it's trying to be."
—
AV Club
Posted Oct 3, 2013
|
|
D
|
63%
|
The Network (2013) |
"
An uncritical, drama-free documentary that comes uncomfortably close to resembling a business-magazine puff piece."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
B-
|
100%
|
On The Job (2013) |
"
The film manages to create some moments of genuine nervous tension, but is undercut by its split storytelling."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
B-
|
94%
|
Muscle Shoals (2013) |
"
Although the intriguingly named first-time director Greg "Freddy" Camalier makes the twice-told tales of the film's second hour watchable, they end up paling in comparison to its essayistic first half."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
B+
|
85%
|
We Are What We Are (2013) |
"
Plays less like a contemporary horror film than an increasingly gruesome drama, building to a climax-completely original to this version-where the movie's core themes are expressed through grotesque imagery."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
D
|
16%
|
Baggage Claim (2013) |
"
Patton, who excels at projecting confidence and cool, can't seem to get a handle on the movie's insecure heroine, and overcompensates with broadly cartoonish gestures and facial contortions."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
F
|
5%
|
Battle of the Year (2013) |
"
Destined to please only bad movie buffs desperate for a fix of awful dialogue, blatant product placement, and clunky exposition."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 19, 2013
|
|
B-
|
80%
|
Prisoners (2013) |
"
While the movie is certainly less than the sum of its referents, it nonetheless works as a formally controlled genre piece."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 19, 2013
|
|
C+
|
67%
|
Newlyweeds (2013) |
"
While the movie's execution never quite makes up for its conception, it does elevate it above, well, just being the sort of movie that would be called Newlyweeds."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 18, 2013
|
|
B
|
98%
|
Wadjda (2013) |
"
What keeps Wadjda from devolving into a sort of heavy-handed cultural show-and-tell is its title character."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 16, 2013
|
|
B-
|
33%
|
The Family (2013) |
"
Besson opts for simple black comedy; laughs and occasional shocks come courtesy of the characters' violent behavior, which is usually relayed through joking, elliptical editing."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 12, 2013
|
|
B+
|
60%
|
Riddick (2013) |
"
In an era of high-falutin' tentpole sci-fi, there's something to be said for a filmmaker still devoted to crafting plain old genre pleasures."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 5, 2013
|
|
C-
|
78%
|
Good Ol' Freda (2013) |
"
Music documentaries don't get more inessential than Good Ol' Freda, a Kickstarter-funded, not-quite-profile of Freda Kelly, The Beatles' longtime secretary."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 5, 2013
|
|
B
|
23%
|
A Teacher (2013) |
"
Fidell's use of choppy, Wong Kar Wai-style slow motion seems incongruous at first, but eventually becomes an effective expression of Burdge's mental state-time sputtering like a bad motor."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 5, 2013
|
|
C-
|
60%
|
La Maison De La Radio (2013) |
"
Access does not guarantee insight."
—
AV Club
Posted Sep 4, 2013
|
|
C+
|
69%
|
I Declare War (2013) |
"
The problem, mainly, is that Lapeyre's kids are stock types: runts, bullies, toadies, a girl with a big crush."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 29, 2013
|
|
C-
|
13%
|
The Lifeguard (2013) |
"
Like its lead character, The Lifeguard is stuck in a rut. After establishing Bell's frustration within the first five minutes, the movie continually reiterates it."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 29, 2013
|
|
C-
|
3%
|
Getaway (2013) |
"
Consonance is the key to making a chopped-up aesthetic work; without it, Getaway becomes little more than a boneheaded chase flick with unusual camera angles."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 29, 2013
|
|
B-
|
96%
|
Cutie And The Boxer (2013) |
"
Though Noriko describes their relationship as being like "two flowers in one pot," with only enough room for one of them to blossom as an artist, the truth seems to be sadder, less romantic, and more relatable."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 15, 2013
|
|
C-
|
46%
|
Off Label (2013) |
"
For maximum digestibility, everything is cut up into vignette-sized chunks and flavored like boutique web content."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 8, 2013
|
|
B
|
51%
|
Blood (2013) |
"
A tight, raincoats-flapping-in-the-wind crime drama ..."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 8, 2013
|
|
C-
|
28%
|
Drift (2013) |
"
Writer and co-director Morgan O'Neill based Drift on true surfer stories from the era; however, the movie mostly comes across as a grab bag of tired tropes."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 1, 2013
|
|
B
|
93%
|
Our Children (2013) |
"
In terms of both plot and style (a string of one-face-then-another handheld shots), Our Children stakes everything on performance."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 1, 2013
|
|
C
|
22%
|
The Canyons (2013) |
"
Ellis' script seems to invite cartoonish over-stylization-an invitation that Schrader's jagged, jarring direction resists at every opportunity."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 1, 2013
|
|
C-
|
71%
|
Frankenstein's Army (2013) |
"
Frankenstein's Army is a ludicrous World War II horror flick bogged down by its found-footage gimmick, which is compromised and contradicted so often that it becomes a distraction."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 25, 2013
|
|
D
|
0%
|
Stranded (2013) |
"
Slater is supposed to be incredulous about the existence of the alien threat, but he mostly seems incredulous about the script."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 25, 2013
|
|
A-
|
97%
|
Drug War (2013) |
"
Drug War becomes both weightier and more playful with each transition, building to a harrowing finale."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 25, 2013
|
|
A
|
97%
|
The Act Of Killing (2013) |
"
By tackling one man's sense of right and wrong (or lack thereof), Oppenheimer is ultimately tackling human nature."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 18, 2013
|
|
B-
|
42%
|
Red 2 (2013) |
"
Like its predecessor, it's a one-joke movie; the difference is that this time around, the joke is better."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 18, 2013
|
|
D-
|
37%
|
Dealing With Idiots (2013) |
"
A largely improvised ensemble piece about a comedian who decides that his son's Little League team would make an interesting subject for a movie. It doesn't. "
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 16, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
95%
|
The Hunt (2013) |
"
A nuanced portrait of a fundamentally decent man grappling with a world that has decided to treat him indecently. "
—
RogerEbert.com
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
D-
|
8%
|
Grown Ups 2 (2013) |
"
Largely free of Sandler's usual schmaltz and lame romance, it's pure plotless, grotesque high jinks, bizarre and inept in a way that's fascinating without ever being all that funny."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
B-
|
64%
|
Israel: A Home Movie (2013) |
"
The footage often speaks for itself; at times, it seems like Israel would work better as a silent film, allowing the home movies to serve their original function without commentary."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 10, 2013
|
|
B-
|
31%
|
The Lone Ranger (2013) |
"
Johnny Depp serves as the weirdo emcee, leading the audience through a 149-minute bill of visual gags, left-field references, bit characters, John Ford and Sergio Leone impressions, and eccentric framing devices."
—
AV Club
Posted Jul 2, 2013
|
|
B+
|
92%
|
Museum Hours (2013) |
"
Museum Hours is less interested in plot than in using its characters as a way to give ideas shape and voice; however, because their performances are natural and improvisatory, the movie never seems didactic."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 27, 2013
|
|
C
|
49%
|
Redemption (2013) |
"
A meandering collection of narrative threads tied together by little more than a vague notion of atonement."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 27, 2013
|
|
B
|
50%
|
White House Down (2013) |
"
While White House Down isn't going to score points for originality, seriousness, or subtlety (Emmerich likes his political messages blunt and loud), it is a lot of fun; if nothing else, Emmerich is a great widescreen showman ..."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 27, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
59%
|
The Bling Ring (2013) |
"
Coppola neither makes a case for her characters nor places them inside of some kind of moral or critical framework; they simply pass through the frame, listing off name brands and staring at their phones."
—
Chicago Sun-Times
Posted Jun 21, 2013
|
|
C-
|
22%
|
Rushlights (2013) |
"
Whatever pleasure could be derived from the movie's generically twisty plotting is negated by cardboard characterization, indifferent editing rhythms, and a score that sounds like it was pulled from a production music library."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 20, 2013
|
|
B+
|
97%
|
A Hijacking (2013) |
"
A compact, meticulously researched drama about the business end of maritime piracy."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 20, 2013
|
|
C
|
25%
|
The Guillotines (2013) |
"
The Guillotines expends most of its energy in its first 30 minutes, leaving the audience with roughly 90 minutes of soapy Qing Dynasty fan fiction."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 13, 2013
|
|
C+
|
56%
|
Man of Steel (2013) |
"
By effectively denying Superman his defining traits-his complex relationships to duty and humanity-the movie robs the character of any depth or agency."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 12, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
75%
|
The East (2013) |
"
"The East" prizes an initial air of mystery over consistent drama, and as a result ends up squandering its intriguing premise."
—
Chicago Sun-Times
Posted Jun 11, 2013
|
|
A-
|
81%
|
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet! (2013) |
"
Equally inspired by comics and experimental fiction, Resnais makes movies that don't so much break filmmaking conventions as circumvent them; at 91 years old, he remains one of the world's most unpredictable filmmakers, and one of its most idiosyncratic."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 6, 2013
|
|
C-
|
22%
|
Violet & Daisy (2013) |
"
Talky and artificial, it moves like a sort of lobotomized Hal Hartley movie ..."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 6, 2013
|
|
C
|
38%
|
The Purge (2013) |
"
The Purge suffers from BioShock Syndrome: Its survive-at-all-costs plot and anti-libertarian slant are incompatible."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 6, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
50%
|
Now You See Me (2013) |
"
Much of what makes "Now You See Me" so entertaining - in a gaudy, disposable, Vegas act sort of way - is its ever-escalating ridiculousness."
—
Chicago Sun-Times
Posted May 31, 2013
|
|
C-
|
76%
|
The Kings of Summer (2013) |
"
Uneven, haphazardly constructed, and over-reliant on hackneyed symbols of yearning for independence and self-sufficiency."
—
AV Club
Posted May 30, 2013
|
