|
|
91%
|
Shaun of the Dead (2004) |
"
Mixing horror and humor is no mean feat, but Shaun Of The Dead tightens throats in fear without making the laughs stick there in the process."
—
AV Club
Posted Oct 6, 2013
|
|
4.5/5
|
98%
|
Gravity (2013) |
"
The film uses the cutting edge of technology to take viewers to the far reaches of the human experience, but also to create a sense of empathy."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Oct 3, 2013
|
|
1.5/5
|
8%
|
Argento's Dracula 3D (2013) |
"
It's a stain on Dracula's good name, and a waste of time for even those looking for the cheapest of vampiric thrills."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Oct 3, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
90%
|
Inequality For All (2013) |
"
An advocacy doc constructed to make a clear political point first and function as a film a distant second."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 30, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
93%
|
Muscle Shoals (2013) |
"
Camalier doesn't offer any theories as to why Muscle Shoals happened, his film nicely sketches what did happen, and why it mattered."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
59%
|
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) |
"
The film retains much of what worked about the first film, and it brings a similarly smart, patient, visually striking approach to the gags."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
55%
|
Prince of Darkness (1987) |
"
Met on its own bonkers terms, Prince Of Darkness proves satisfying."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 26, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
82%
|
Day of the Dead (1985) |
"
The years have been kind to Day Of The Dead, however...And though it's still a disappointment in relation to its two predecessors, it has much to recommend it."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 18, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
35%
|
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) |
"
He's become a master of making hoary elements feel fresh again..Insidious: Chapter 2 reminds viewers why these elements were scary in the first place, and proves skillful filmmaking can breathe new life into the oldest ideas."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 12, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
86%
|
Blue Caprice (2013) |
"
Moors is less concerned with what happened along the D.C. Beltway than how it happened...It finds no clear answers, but that suits both the horrific event and this haunting, elusive film."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 12, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
100%
|
Mother Of George (2013) |
"
When so many scenes are freighted with portent, one moment doesn't feel any more significant than the last...nothing the characters do is ever surprising; one expected revelation and argument follows the other."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 12, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
100%
|
La Cage Aux Folles (1979) |
"
As an artifact, La Cage Aux Folles remains fascinating. As a film... Well, it plays like a fascinating artifact. Though pokily staged up to its final act, it manages some real laughs."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 11, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
61%
|
My Father and the Man in Black (2013) |
"
My Father And The Man In Black is partly a biography of Saul Holiff, partly an account of Jonathan Holiff's relationship with his dad, and never particularly successful as either. "
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 5, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
78%
|
Good Ol' Freda (2013) |
"
Fans will appreciate the trove of Beatles photos and Kelly's pleasant company, but the film never finds a rhythm or uncovers any particularly compelling stories."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Sep 5, 2013
|
|
5/5
|
97%
|
To Be or Not to Be (1942) |
"
Lubitsch understood at the time, even if many critics and filmgoers didn't, that all those elements and all that rule-breaking make To Be Or Not To Be brilliant."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 27, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
74%
|
The Grandmaster (2013) |
"
The Grandmaster is languorous, lovely, and familiar to admirers of Wong's past work. It also feels out of balance with what's come before, even when the film doubles back for more action scenes."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 27, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
75%
|
You're Next (2013) |
"
It's scary and often graphic, but as the action escalates to the point of absurdity, the spirit of early Sam Raimi starts to creep into both the action and the dialogue."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 27, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
——
|
Les Maudits (The Damned) (1947) |
"
What makes the film is the atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread that Clément creates."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 21, 2013
|
|
|
90%
|
Phantom Of The Opera (1925) |
"
The atmosphere matches Chaney's performance perfectly. His grotesque appearance is achieved with wires, cotton balls, and eye-dilating chemicals, but his character, as usual, is animated from within."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 16, 2013
|
|
4.5/5
|
81%
|
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013) |
"
While virtually every shot looks like a work of art, much of the beauty of Ain't Them Bodies Saints comes from Lowery's refusal to choose sides."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 15, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
83%
|
The Patience Stone (2013) |
"
For much of The Patience Stone, Farahani is the movie, and ... her magnetic presence goes a long way toward putting a human face on the film, more successfully than the material around her."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 13, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
68%
|
Elysium (2013) |
"
For all its simple politics, clanging dialogue, and underwritten roles -- only Damon's natural, and deepening, ability to suggest unspoken disappointment gives his character dimension -- Elysium works, though never as well as it should."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 8, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
64%
|
Swamp Thing (1982) |
"
Swamp Thing has many dubious qualities, but it clearly isn't a piece of product tested and polished to a blinding gleam, and the world is duller for not letting oddball efforts like this slip into theaters once in a while."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 6, 2013
|
|
|
99%
|
Finding Nemo (2003) |
"
Like Pixar's previous films, Finding Nemo mines humor from the oddities of an unknown world but stays grounded in a familiar one, finding recognizable elements of heartbreak and happiness amid the ink-jetting octopi and irritable flounders."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 5, 2013
|
|
|
97%
|
The Iron Giant (1999) |
"
It's worth repeating the old complaint that animation isn't treated seriously enough, if only to point out what a shame it would be for The Iron Giant, one of the year's best films, to go overlooked."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 4, 2013
|
|
|
98%
|
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) |
"
Unchecked goodness has its price, after all, and childhood wonder wouldn't be nearly as sweet if it didn't fade. That may explain the film's appeal. It trapped that feeling, and its sense of possibility, in amber -- then, now, and for any time."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 4, 2013
|
|
|
93%
|
Out of Sight (1998) |
"
Out Of Sight works both as a great romance and a great, unconventional crime thriller. But step back from such distinctions, and it just looks like a great movie."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 4, 2013
|
|
|
92%
|
Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
"
Calling it the greatest war movie ever made does a disservice to other, equally worthwhile, lower-profile films. But it's still an excellent movie, as effective in battle scenes as it is in that of soldiers ruminating on an Edith Piaf song."
—
AV Club
Posted Aug 2, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
63%
|
2 Guns (2013) |
"
Kormákur lets his stars balance the buddy-movie levity with just enough dramatic weight, and his directing style seems like a conscious corrective to the disorienting cutting and obvious CGI effects that have come to dominate Hollywood action films."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Aug 1, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
31%
|
Twixt (2013) |
"
Sometimes it's fascinating, but just as often, it's frustrating: It's a film without a net, and it tends to land with a thud."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 30, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
91%
|
Blue Jasmine (2013) |
"
In a performance that at times recalls, without embarrassment, Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence, Blanchett plays Jasmine as a woman on the verge of becoming incapable of living in the world."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 24, 2013
|
|
1.5/5
|
0%
|
Breaking The Girls (2013) |
"
Babbit's poky pacing ... doesn't do either star any favors, and anyone tempted to watch for prurient reasons should know the film is more basic-cable-at-10 p.m. sexy than after-midnight-on-Showtime sexy."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 24, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
86%
|
The Conjuring (2013) |
"
The leads all perform with perfectly straight faces no matter how often the talk turns to witches and "inhuman spirits," which helps sell The Conjuring's fundamentally silly story. But Wan's direction seals the deal."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 18, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
89%
|
Heavy Traffic (1973) |
"
It's a downbeat, dark fantasia of urban life from a filmmaker trying to understand the darkness of the moment before it slipped away."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 16, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
47%
|
I'm So Excited! (2013) |
"
A relentlessly entertaining lark that, like its setting, soars into the clouds, then discovers it doesn't really have a way to get down."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
1.5/5
|
25%
|
Absence (2013) |
"
There's nothing here the best entries in V/H/S didn't do better in 10 minutes or less, and with the decency to kill off their unbearable protagonists much faster."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
56%
|
Man of Steel (2013) |
"
Man Of Steel plunges headfirst into a loud, breathless science-fiction slugfest, offering much spectacle but little wonder."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
84%
|
Much Ado About Nothing (2013) |
"
It's a boozy, lusty, all-night party interpretation of Shakespeare that ultimately casts frivolity aside for a disarmingly moving finale."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
2/5
|
50%
|
Now You See Me (2013) |
"
Audiences go to magic shows to get fooled, but that doesn't mean they want to leave feeling cheated."
—
The Dissolve
Posted Jul 11, 2013
|
|
|
94%
|
The Truman Show (1998) |
"
Weir keeps things fairly entertaining, and is admirably not afraid to veer more toward drama than comedy, but his film, like the world it portrays, is all surface."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 19, 2013
|
|
|
91%
|
Murderous Maids (2002) |
"
The film studies a world of deeply entrenched class divisions and sexual taboos, and then, with a scream in the night, draws the study to a close, leaving its meaning, like that of the case that inspired it, open to interpretation."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 17, 2013
|
|
|
8%
|
Summer Catch (2001) |
"
As the script works toward its big-game finale, it pauses now and then to rip off Bull Durham, to let Biel spout Successories-worthy words of encouragement, and to touch on subplots involving Prinze's familiar-faced teammates."
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 14, 2013
|
|
|
5%
|
Universal Soldier - The Return (1999) |
"
For the record, this is the fourth Universal Soldier movie if you count two cable sequels, but why would you?"
—
AV Club
Posted Jun 7, 2013
|
|
|
1%
|
The Master of Disguise (2002) |
"
A film about as funny as a seeping wound."
—
AV Club
Posted May 29, 2013
|
|
|
75%
|
Pieta (2013) |
"
Kim offers no easy answers, and never backs away from the toughness of the questions, in a film that's ugly in both its material and its presentation."
—
NPR
Posted May 16, 2013
|
|
|
80%
|
The Boxer (1997) |
"
The third collaboration between Daniel Day-Lewis and Irish director Jim Sheridan (after My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father) is as powerful as the two that precede it."
—
AV Club
Posted May 14, 2013
|
|
|
49%
|
The Great Gatsby (2013) |
"
Luhrmann takes great care with the rhythms of individual scenes, yet the film as a whole plays like a long trudge through a familiar story."
—
NPR
Posted May 9, 2013
|
|
2/5
|
51%
|
Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's (2013) |
"
Much of the focus falls on glowing testimonials from famous customers like the Olsen twins and designers like Dolce and Gabbana, all of whom speak of the retail mecca as the place to be."
—
Time Out New York
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
|
7%
|
The Big Wedding (2013) |
"
The quiet moments feel just as contrived as the manic flailing that repeatedly sends characters tumbling into swimming pools and other bodies of water."
—
NPR
Posted Apr 25, 2013
|
