|
.5/4
|
5%
|
The Hottie and the Nottie (2008) |
"
Heidi Ferrer's screenplay...succeeds at just one thing: trumpeting one of the most anti-feminist messages in recent film history."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 7, 2008
|
|
.5/4
|
63%
|
Jackass: Number Two (2006) |
"
I don't know what to say about Jackass: Number Two. What is there to say, after all, about a 95-minute foray into feces, intestinal gas, horse semen and a beer funnel inserted into a body cavity that's quite obviously not someone's mouth?"
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 21, 2006
|
|
0.5/4
|
32%
|
Tamara (2006) |
"
There are few words to describe the awfulness of this movie, but let's give it the old college try: dismal, depressing, embarrassing and utterly lacking in any artistic or social worth."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 17, 2006
|
|
1/4
|
37%
|
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) |
"
Morgan Spurlock is a living, breathing cautionary tale. Take a good, long look, kids: This is what happens when society validates really annoying people."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 18, 2008
|
|
1/4
|
12%
|
Broken (2007) |
"
[The] script is so uneven that the result is like watching four different, equally bad, movies."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 12, 2007
|
|
1/4
|
34%
|
P2 (2007) |
"
The same old grim game of cat and mouse. Sure, we hope the mouse gets away. But mostly we just want the whole thing to end."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 8, 2007
|
|
1/4
|
43%
|
Two Drifters (2006) |
"
This movie doesn't have enough heart or energy to inspire wonder -- with a weak script, utterly unsympathetic characters and a nonsensical plot, it can barely keep plodding along."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 20, 2006
|
|
1/4
|
57%
|
Dead Man's Shoes (2006) |
"
There's a hint of Shakespeare's goriest tragedies here, sucked dry of any attendant heart, emotional depth or compelling human interest."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 18, 2006
|
|
1/4
|
10%
|
Venom (2005) |
"
Jim Gillespie (I Know What You Did Last Summer) directs and while one might naively believe that the absence of Jennifer Love Hewitt would in itself predict an advance in moviemaking, one would be sadly mistaken."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 15, 2005
|
|
1.5/4
|
25%
|
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) |
"
If there is a single bright spot in the financial crisis, it is the possibility that one day producer Jerry Bruckheimer will run out of money."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 13, 2009
|
|
1.5/4
|
54%
|
Manufacturing Dissent (2007) |
"
Manufacturing Dissent comes across less as an expose of a polarizing public figure than as the realization of a personal and not especially interesting grudge against a once-admired colleague who has moved on to bigger things."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 30, 2007
|
|
1.5/4
|
6%
|
Deck the Halls (2006) |
"
... Deck the Halls has little to recommend it."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 21, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
25%
|
School for Scoundrels (2006) |
"
This ultimately disappointing comedy starts reasonably strong, delivers a few good laughs, then rolls over and plays dead."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 28, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
18%
|
Shadowboxer (2005) |
"
Who says critics are useless? Now you don't have to see the movie, unless, of course, you derive some satisfaction/pleasure from graphic violence, unforgivably cliched scripts and/or repeated sightings of Gooding's bare bottom."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 27, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
13%
|
Just My Luck (2006) |
"
Presumably, this movie was designed to be a fun romp, and in that it fails."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 11, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
11%
|
Side Effects (2005) |
"
Spectacularly lame dialogue, stilted direction, amateurish production values and a soundtrack that distracts from the film as a whole."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 4, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
41%
|
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) |
"
At best, this film raises an all-too-relevant question: Are true-life stories interesting because they're true? Or because they're interesting? At worst, it raises a different question: What if they're neither true nor interesting?"
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 18, 2006
|
|
1.5/4
|
12%
|
Ma Mere,(Meine Mutter),(My Mother) (2005) |
"
A self-satisfied, utterly hollow Bacchanal."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 18, 2005
|
|
2/4
|
58%
|
The Secret Life of Bees (2008) |
"
Sweat and good intentions, however, will take you only so far. And they take Bees right up to the threshold of entertaining%u2014but not one step further."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 20, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
68%
|
America The Beautiful (2008) |
"
Despite the occasional flash of insight, and a few semi-shocking factoids, most women are going to find this movie roughly as illuminating as a remedial math class might be for a Nobel-prize winning physicist."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 18, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
49%
|
Before the Rains (2008) |
"
The problem isn't just that the material is cliched and vaguely offensive....It's more that the plot is incredibly predictable, the score is manipulative and the denouement completely unsatisfying."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 15, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
America the Beautiful (2001) |
"
On behalf of every woman who's ever turned down that second piece of cake or spent far too much on anti-aging creams, I want to say: Welcome, Darryl. I hope you'll invite other men on your overdue journey to Obvious Town."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 8, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
13%
|
First Sunday (2008) |
"
The movie's total lack of focus and its unimpressive script should render it totally unwatchable. Weirdly, that doesn't quite happen."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 11, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
23%
|
P.S. I Love You (2007) |
"
Snippets of sharp, witty dialogue are lost in a sea of sappy clichés and too-cute-for-words plot twists."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 21, 2007
|
|
2/4
|
13%
|
Mr. Woodcock (2007) |
"
[A] marginally promising -- but ultimately unfunny -- comedy."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 13, 2007
|
|
2/4
|
39%
|
Hot Rod (2007) |
"
Some hilarity does, in fact, ensue, but the laughs are interspersed with long stretches of dead air."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 2, 2007
|
|
2/4
|
25%
|
A Good Year (2006) |
"
It's no surprise that you can see A Good Year's plot twists and clunker of an ending from a mile away."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 9, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
69%
|
Cocaine Cowboys (2006) |
"
After beginning at a healthy clip, the film becomes mired in endless remembrances of debaucheries past and Miami's descent into lawlessness."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 9, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
75%
|
Catch a Fire (2006) |
"
The action, political intrigue and marital tensions (which prove critical as the story unfolds) never quite coalesce into a compelling whole."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 26, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
43%
|
Reinas (Queens) (2006) |
"
Unfortunately for director and co-writer Manuel Gomez Pereira, all the energy in the world isn't enough to compensate for the superfluous plot lines and outrageous overacting that weigh down this bit of warm-hearted Spanish fluff."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 7, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
27%
|
Trust the Man (2006) |
"
Trust the Man could easily carry the following subtitle: Men Who Behave Like Petulant, Spoiled Children and the Women Who Decide It's Easier to Love Them As-Is Than To Try to Turn Them Into Grownups."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 17, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
19%
|
Step Up (2006) |
"
While predictability and occasionally wooden dialogue keep this from being a truly good movie, it's certainly entertaining enough to please its intended audience."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 10, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
26%
|
John Tucker Must Die (2006) |
"
Despite its various shortcomings, John Tucker isn't a terrible movie. It just isn't terribly funny or terribly interesting, although I suspect that its intended audience won't mind very much."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 27, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
53%
|
Wah-Wah (2006) |
"
Watching it is like trying to assemble a puzzle that's missing pieces: You can see the outline of a story, and some shapes fit neatly together, but there are undeniable holes."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 15, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
31%
|
Stick It (2006) |
"
Where Bring It On found fans well outside its theoretical demographic, Stick It is unlikely to follow suit."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 27, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
42%
|
When Do We Eat? (2006) |
"
Watching this movie is kind of like being sprayed with emotional vomit."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 20, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
55%
|
Go for Zucker! (Alles auf Zucker!) (2006) |
"
A diverting, mildly entertaining movie, far short of provoking the controversy (or hysterical laughter) it apparently prompted during its release in Germany."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 6, 2006
|
|
2/4
|
76%
|
Tropical Malady (2005) |
"
Some fantasy films make the leap from reality to reverie relatively seamlessly, hopscotching between the two states without leaving the audience behind. Tropical Malady is not one of those."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 18, 2005
|
|
2/4
|
73%
|
Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela (2004) |
"
Unless you're utterly fascinated by the minutiae of Hinduism, you may find yourself wishing for more story to this story -- and this film does not oblige."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 9, 2005
|
|
2.5/4
|
78%
|
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) |
"
I predict with great confidence that the big-screen debut of the American Girl brand will be a resounding success. This rosy prediction is based partly on the fact that Kit Kittredge is a solidly made movie...and partly on the fact that the America"
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 19, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
79%
|
Teeth (2007) |
"
Given how thoroughly all the subtext spells out the message, then, it seems unnecessary to make the actual text so raw, grotesque and graphic. Granted, a horror movie about vagina dentata was probably never destined to be tasteful, but Lichtenstein's comp"
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 27, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
65%
|
Stop-Loss (2008) |
"
Peirce's obvious respect for the returned soldiers should prevent Stop-Loss from being dismissed as a Hollywood anti-war screed. It's more accurately described as an anti-war movie with a resolutely pro-troop message."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 27, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
42%
|
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) |
"
Sticklers for historical accuracy are forewarned: This glossy production plays fast and loose with the facts, abbreviating, altering and excising entire character arcs and plot lines."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 28, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
74%
|
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) |
"
A sweet, familiar story, beautifully filmed and lovingly told."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 25, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
74%
|
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) |
"
But for all the movie's good cheer, it's never dull. What it lacks in edginess, it more than makes up for with stunning scenery, a breathless finale and an irresistibly hopeful message."
—
Metromix.com
Posted Dec 24, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
66%
|
Wristcutters - A Love Story (2007) |
"
Wristcutters is quite a bit darker than most mainstream romantic comedies. As you might not expect, it's also quite a bit more inventive and far wittier than most mainstream romantic comedies."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 1, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
33%
|
Music Within (2007) |
"
A well-intentioned biopic about disability crusader Richard Pimentel that starts strong but eventually collapses under its weighty sense of responsibility."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 25, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
68%
|
Flying: Confessions of A Free Woman (2007) |
"
Despite [director] Fox's excruciating level of self-involvement, she manages, more than once, to lay bare critical questions that are at once familiar and compelling."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 13, 2007
|
|
2.5/4
|
50%
|
Ever Again (2006) |
"
What makes this movie worth seeing, is, ironically, exactly what may deter potential audiences: It's a rigorous, almost academic examination of a venomous hatred rooted in the past, primed to poison the future."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 7, 2006
|
|
2.5/4
|
46%
|
Bobby (2006) |
"
A daring, messy and strangely rewarding patchwork that's straining at the seams."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 22, 2006
|
87%
22%
90%
