|
B
|
77%
|
Iron Man 3 (2013) |
"
By the time innumerable suits of armor were flying through the air, instantly assembling and disassembling themselves around Tony Stark while he was running and jumping, I was worn out. But the ride up to then had been a jolt of continuous pleasure."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted May 2, 2013
|
|
C-
|
42%
|
To The Wonder (2013) |
"
Trying to hold onto any part of it is like trying to catch meringue in a baseball glove."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Apr 26, 2013
|
|
C
|
56%
|
Oblivion (2013) |
"
The film comes from a comic book, looks like a video game and doesn't bother us with complications."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Apr 18, 2013
|
|
C+
|
68%
|
Trance (2013) |
"
Trance stumbles around like a blind rat in a maze with no cheese at any exit: Whatever conclusion it reaches will leave us dissatisfied."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Apr 12, 2013
|
|
C-
|
43%
|
Admission (2013) |
"
Doris Day will be 89 in two weeks, which makes her exactly half a century too old to play the lead in Admission. That's a pity, as perhaps only she could have done it justice -- if it had been made in 1958."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Mar 22, 2013
|
|
B-
|
60%
|
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) |
"
What we get here is Oz the Amiable and Unthreatening ..."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Mar 7, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
94%
|
The King's Speech (2010) |
"
Polished, thoughtful and touching."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 16, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
98%
|
The Artist (2011) |
"
Had The Artist been made 75 years ago, it might have been brushed aside as melodrama. Today, its affection for a lost past strikes the right note of wistful nostalgia."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 15, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
94%
|
The Rabbi's Cat (2012) |
"
Like the title character, the makers of The Rabbi's Cat follow their noses wherever a new scent leads. Their eternal curiosity buoys this Cat, then impairs it somewhat, but redeems it by the end."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 15, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
45%
|
Beautiful Creatures (2013) |
"
Writer-director Richard LaGravenese introduces characters and loses track of them, builds toward a mildly daring ending and backs cravenly away from it, even seems to contradict himself ..."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 13, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
20%
|
Identity Thief (2013) |
"
McCarthy, who has been wackily funny in supporting parts, will be the revelation for most of us: Not only can she carry a lead, but she handles heartfelt moments of joy and sorrow."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
Amour (2012) |
"
The superb Trintignant and the Oscar-nominated Riva -- who would win, in a just world -- embody once-vigorous people in inevitable decline."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
Warm Bodies (2013) |
"
What Levine does have is a gently gruesome way of amusing us, converting the uneasiness of a wooer from another species into the everyday anxieties of a young man around a girl he likes."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 31, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
79%
|
Quartet (2013) |
"
Hoffman and Harwood aren't afraid to show us old people who are rude, demanding, unreasonable and foolish, though the final overall mood remains blissful."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 24, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
65%
|
Mama (2013) |
"
Spanish director Andrés Muschietti introduces a rewarding emotional element and ends in a way too daring for American counterparts."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013) |
"
It begins as energetic, clichéd nonsense and ends as irritating, clichéd nonsense."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
Zero Dark Thirty (2013) |
"
Zero Dark Thirty, like the mission that inspired it, commands respect, admiration, even awe in places for the logistical nightmares that had to be overcome to get it done. But it's a hard movie to love."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
69%
|
Not Fade Away (2012) |
"
People get high or get cancer or get carried away to mental institutions and hospitals, but we know too little about them to care."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 4, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
38%
|
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) |
"
The film bounces jauntily along, it's never less than handsome to look at, and the actors all do fine jobs."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 4, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
The Impossible (2012) |
"
As fine as [Watts] and Ewan McGregor are as the parents, Tom Holland stands out as eldest son Lucas, a slightly sullen teen who learns to put other people before himself."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jan 4, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
52%
|
This is 40 (2012) |
"
The movie that's meant to be [Apatow's] most personal turns out to be his most dully generic."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Dec 21, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
66%
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) |
"
Jackson imposes a sense of grandeur but mostly loses Tolkien's sense of fun."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Dec 13, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
A Royal Affair (2012) |
"
Arcel directs with sympathy for all three of the main characters and doesn't make pure villains of the others."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Dec 7, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
63%
|
Hitchcock (2012) |
"
A great actor should not seem, but be. Mirren simply is, and she takes Hitchcock up a notch with every look and line."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Dec 7, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
64%
|
Anna Karenina (2012) |
"
Where we ought to see a soul-freezing sense of paralysis, followed by a torrent of passion for an inappropriate man, we get a generalized kind of melancholy and neediness suited to Real Housewives of St. Petersburg."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 30, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
53%
|
Citadel (2012) |
"
Writer-director Ciaran Foy knows his job, even if he's never done it before -- this is his feature debut -- and he handles it well."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 30, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) |
"
Until the characters can take their needs seriously and laugh at themselves, at least a little, they're not going to be healthy. Playbook traces all their journeys from stubborn self-assertion to a fragile connectedness that might lead to lasting bonds."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
88%
|
Life of Pi (2012) |
"
The sense of wonder, the ability to believe the impossible because artists dreamed it into form so beautifully and powerfully, is always present."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
79%
|
The Other Son (2012) |
"
The movie doesn't need to preach a "we're all equal" message. When we watch the boys bond with their new kin over food or music, then see the lines of Palestinians plodding through armed checkpoints to reach jobs or visit Israeli friends, we get the point."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 16, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
89%
|
Lincoln (2012) |
"
Day-Lewis, an Everest among actors, disappears into his part after the first few scenes. He makes us forget all others who have played the part or could have played it this time while making us think about Abraham Lincoln in a new way."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 15, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012) |
"
The filmmakers expertly balance historical homages and modern action."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
The House I Live In (2012) |
"
Depressingly credible."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 26, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
68%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012) |
"
Flashes of storytelling brilliance break through a philosophic murk with feeble irregularity."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
12%
|
Alex Cross (2012) |
"
There's just enough genuine emotion to connect us with the characters, whether we watch Perry as the quietly dogged Cross or Edward Burns as his lifelong friend and investigative partner."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
Argo (2012) |
"
The film offers bitter food for thought at a time when the Middle East is going through yet another frantically incendiary period."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 11, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
75%
|
Chicken with Plums (2012) |
"
Satrapi and Parronnaud give us clues but no solution. The fun, for those of us who like fairy tales, is in guessing."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 5, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
87%
|
Frankenweenie (2012) |
"
Burton's cleverness hides a lack of purpose."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Oct 5, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
93%
|
Looper (2012) |
"
The leads blend as seamlessly as any young-old character coupling I've seen."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) |
"
Searching for Sugar Man reminds us that a wise man knows lasting riches are never the result of record sales."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
86%
|
The Master (2012) |
"
Anderson tells this story slowly, inexorably, with a sense of control I've never felt from him before."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
76%
|
Unforgivable (2012) |
"
Though the movie lasts a reasonably brief 107 minutes, Téchiné is in no hurry to reveal his characters. We're still learning about them in the last few scenes, and our loyalties and attractions change."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Sep 7, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
58%
|
Red Hook Summer (2012) |
"
When Lee preaches in Red Hook Summer, the movie bumps along, though it's reasonably entertaining. But when he decides to teach us about the human heart, it becomes a potent experience."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 31, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
76%
|
Premium Rush (2012) |
"
The simple, utterly satisfying Premium Rush delivers just what the title promises."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 24, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
87%
|
ParaNorman (2012) |
"
What was the last animated movie you could relate to German expressionist cinema, Alfred Hitchcock, Night of the Living Dead and B-movie horror of the 1950s? That's right -- none."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 16, 2012
|
|
1.5/4
|
56%
|
The Bourne Legacy (2012) |
"
Paul Greengrass directed the second and third Jason Bourne films brilliantly but refused to go on, joking that any fourth installment would have to be called The Bourne Redundancy. Little did he know how true that would turn out to be."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
Toy Story 2 (1999) |
"
Faster, funnier and wilder, with more cunningly contrived computer effects."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 6, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
31%
|
Total Recall (2012) |
"
Wiseman has no interest in telling this story via words or emotions. He can advance things only by propulsion, through an incessant series of fights, chases and shootouts."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Aug 3, 2012
|
|
3.5/4
|
52%
|
Where Do We Go Now? (2012) |
"
Even the title holds a surprise."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jul 26, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) |
"
Director Christopher Nolan, who wrote the script with brother Jonathan, gets so many of the big things right that I wished they had taken more time with the little ones."
—
Charlotte Observer
Posted Jul 19, 2012
|
42%
35%
96%
99%
65%
61%
