|
4/4
|
75%
|
Gangs of New York (2002) |
"
A blood-and-thunder American epic, audacious in its ambition and awesome in its achievement."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jan 6, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
87%
|
Chicago (2002) |
"
This is the sleekest and sexiest movie musical to slither, shake and scintillate on-screen since Cabaret."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jan 6, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
81%
|
The Hours (2002) |
"
A quietly and methodically devastating masterwork."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jan 6, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Standing In The Shadows of Motown (2002) |
"
Guaranteed to please even folks who normally avoid documentaries as avidly as Superman keeps clear of Kryptonite."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Nov 15, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
68%
|
The Grey Zone (2002) |
"
[A] devastatingly powerful and astonishingly vivid Holocaust drama."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Oct 25, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
76%
|
Comedian (2002) |
"
Funny and fascinating."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Oct 25, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002) |
"
This uniquely fascinating and robustly entertaining documentary is a raffish, rollicking masterpiece of first-person myth-making."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Aug 14, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Minority Report (2002) |
"
Offers generous servings of food for thought along with breakneck excitement and eye-popping special effects."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jun 21, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
89%
|
Spider-Man (2002) |
"
The very best slam-bang, gee-whiz comic-book movie ever made."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted May 3, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Trouble the Water (2008) |
"
You can't help wanting -- and maybe needing -- to read into her indomitable spiritedness something like a reason for hope. For her, for other Katrina survivors, for all of us."
—
Houston Chronicle
Posted Oct 31, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
41%
|
Hancock (2008) |
"
Credit must be paid to director Peter Berg for pulling off such a tricky balance of such diverse elements while delivering an impressive and affecting superhero adventure with as much heart and soul as sound and fury."
—
Houston Chronicle
Posted Jul 1, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
73%
|
Son of Rambow (2007) |
"
Son of Rambow is an inventive and amusing coming-of-age movie that deftly entwines elements of farce and fantasy, rebelliousness and sentiment, while paying seriously funny tribute to the transcendent power of art."
—
Houston Chronicle
Posted May 16, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
86%
|
Starting Out in the Evening (2007) |
"
It's an intimate drama -- a chamber piece, really -- that deals intelligently with intriguing themes and provocative ideas regarding the ambiguous motives and borrowed-from-life material that fuel the creative process."
—
Houston Chronicle
Posted Jan 4, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
50%
|
Then She Found Me (2007) |
"
A low-key comedy in which characters always seem just one misstep away from full-out tragedy."
—
Houston Chronicle
Posted Oct 1, 2007
|
|
3.5/4
|
78%
|
25th Hour (2003) |
"
Norton's powerhouse performance is a roiling, riveting fusion of rage and regret, fear and desire."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jan 20, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
77%
|
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) |
"
Immensely satisfying as an old-fashioned morality tale told with uncommon wit."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jan 6, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
68%
|
Treasure Planet (2002) |
"
It's yo-ho-ho and a bundle of fun, along with an abundance of imagination and a bounty of spectacular imagery, a family film in the very best and most inclusive sense of that often misused term."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Dec 2, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Bowling for Columbine (2002) |
"
Moore provides an invaluable service by sparking debate and encouraging thought. Better still, he does all of this, and more, while remaining one of the most savagely hilarious social critics this side of Jonathan Swift."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Oct 23, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
Dreamchild (1985) |
"
A marvelously inventive mix of fantasy and fanciful speculation."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Oct 4, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
One Hour Photo (2002) |
"
One Hour Photo, the meticulously chilling drama that pivots on Sy's dangerous self-delusions, comes closer than any other thriller in recent memory to achieving the Hitchcockian ideal of mortal terror in broad daylight."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Aug 23, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Mostly Martha (Bella Martha) (2001) |
"
Hardly anything that happens in the movie qualifies as surprising. But even the familiar plot twists are maneuvered with spry wit and keen intelligence."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Aug 23, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
Pépé le Moko (1937) |
"
An irresistibly entertaining drama of dreamy, doom-laden romantic fatalism, a vividly atmospheric film noir years before noir was cool."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Aug 19, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
74%
|
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) |
"
When the final credits roll, hyperactive preteens likely will be convinced they've just seen -- and desperately want to see again and again -- the coolest movie ever made."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Aug 14, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
31%
|
Never Again (2002) |
"
What Eric Schaeffer has accomplished with Never Again may not, strictly speaking, qualify as revolutionary. But it's defiantly and delightfully against the grain."
—
Variety
Posted Jul 19, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
61%
|
Green Dragon (2001) |
"
A deeply felt and vividly detailed story about newcomers in a strange new world."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jul 9, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
48%
|
Cherish (2002) |
"
A captivatingly quirky hybrid of character portrait, romantic comedy and beat-the-clock thriller."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Jun 10, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
About a Boy (2002) |
"
It's all the more amusing and affecting because of the spot-on perfect casting of Hugh Grant and newcomer Nicholas Hoult."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted May 21, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
77%
|
Changing Lanes (2002) |
"
Time and again, however, Changing Lanes subversively upends expectations."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Apr 12, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
74%
|
Frailty (2002) |
"
Will leave you stunned and breathless."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Apr 12, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
84%
|
The Rookie (2002) |
"
Yes, it's thoroughly predictable. Yes, it's shamelessly corny. And yes, I enjoyed just about every minute of it."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Mar 29, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
77%
|
Ice Age (2002) |
"
It's clever enough to amuse adults, yet sufficiently kid-friendly to delight tykes with diminutive attention spans."
—
Variety
Posted Mar 18, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
59%
|
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (Mad Dogs & Englishmen) (2002) |
"
Run, don't walk, to see this barbed and bracing comedy on the big screen."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Mar 3, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
63%
|
We Were Soldiers (2002) |
"
The role may call for a great presence more than a great actor, but Gibson is both, and the movie is all the better with him as its center of moral gravity."
—
San Francisco Examiner
Posted Mar 3, 2002
|
|
|
14%
|
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010) |
"
None of the satirical touches are ever allowed to impede the pic's madcap pace from one raucous setpiece to the next."
—
Variety
Posted Jul 26, 2010
|
|
|
85%
|
Get Low (2010) |
"
With a mix of sly humor, homespun grace and affecting poignancy, Get Low casts a well-nigh irresistible spell while spinning a Depression-era folk tale from the Tennessee backwoods."
—
Variety
Posted Jul 6, 2010
|
|
|
47%
|
MacGruber (2010) |
"
How much mileage can a comedy get from a single joke? Quite a bit, judging from the guffaws-to-groaners ratio in MacGruber..."
—
Variety
Posted May 21, 2010
|
|
|
54%
|
The Perfect Game (2010) |
"
It's an unabashedly corny but occasionally stirring dramedy based on the true-life story of scrappy young baseball players from Mexico."
—
Variety
Posted Apr 16, 2010
|
|
|
76%
|
Kick-Ass (2010) |
"
Kick-Ass offers some genuinely clever observations about the creation of celebrity in a world where viral video clips and latenight talkshow quips can turn attention seekers into overnight sensations (and inadvertent role models)."
—
Variety
Posted Mar 16, 2010
|
|
|
79%
|
Office Space (1999) |
"
Frequently uproarious."
—
Variety
Posted Mar 12, 2010
|
|
|
20%
|
Legion (2010) |
"
A dramatically muddled but surprisingly involving Bible-themed fantasy thriller..."
—
Variety
Posted Jan 22, 2010
|
|
|
21%
|
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) |
"
A frenetic but undeniably funny follow-up that offers twice the number of singing-and-dancing rodents in another seamless blend of CGI and live-action elements."
—
Variety
Posted Dec 21, 2009
|
|
|
66%
|
The Blind Side (2009) |
"
Another uplifting and entertaining feel-good, fact-based sports drama."
—
Variety
Posted Nov 16, 2009
|
|
|
85%
|
Trick 'r Treat (2007) |
"
This slick and twisted effort should enjoy lengthy shelf life as a Halloween perennial."
—
Variety
Posted Nov 12, 2009
|
|
|
——
|
Janky Promoters (2009) |
"
It's a tailor-made role for Cube -- not surprising, considering he wrote the script -- and he plays it with his familiar mix of brash-talking bluster and brow-knitting frustration."
—
Variety
Posted Oct 23, 2009
|
|
|
——
|
Wake Up Sid (2009) |
"
Despite a storyline that would require a few more subplots to qualify as featherweight, this atypically low-key Bollywood romantic comedy somehow manages to remain pleasantly diverting throughout its 138-minute running time."
—
Variety
Posted Oct 6, 2009
|
|
|
92%
|
In Search of Beethoven (2009) |
"
Beautifully lensed and intelligently crafted."
—
Variety
Posted Sep 22, 2009
|
|
|
29%
|
The Open Road (2009) |
"
Entirely predictable but surprisingly involving."
—
Variety
Posted Sep 1, 2009
|
|
|
40%
|
Surviving Crooked Lake (Portage) (2009) |
"
Sometimes shaky, sometimes smooth handheld DV lensing (by Drews and Krybus) gives the pic an immediacy that greatly enhances its dramatic and emotional impact."
—
Variety
Posted Jul 21, 2009
|
|
|
45%
|
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Ice Age 3) (2009) |
"
With appreciably greater emphasis on action than its predecessors, and clever use of 3-D trickery to enhance storytelling as well as offer spectacle, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs could prove the third time really is the charm."
—
Variety
Posted Jun 22, 2009
|
|
|
40%
|
Imagine That (2009) |
"
Arguably the most innocuous pic of Eddie Murphy's career to date, Imagine That is an undemandingly pleasant, mildly amusing fantasy."
—
Variety
Posted Jun 8, 2009
|
87%
22%
90%
