|
3/5
|
47%
|
The Lords of Salem (2013) |
"
It's a head trip, to be sure, but it's Zombie's electric, haunted head, so my advice is just sit back and goggle."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Apr 18, 2013
|
|
2/5
|
88%
|
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006) |
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jan 22, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
49%
|
The Man With the Iron Fists (2012) |
"
Let the brilliant, epic silliness of The Man With the Iron Fists engulf you in a tsunami of crimson cheese and you, like I, will have a super-happy-fun-big-smile-crazy-face-monkey-time."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 9, 2012
|
|
0/5
|
6%
|
Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) |
"
I realize it's called Silent Hill for a reason, but enduring this botched (video game-based) nightmare is like sleepwalking into the world's dullest Halloween party."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 2, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
86%
|
Wreck-it Ralph (2012) |
"
Sweet enough but in the end a bit of a corny-syrupy wipeout, this is middling family-night fare, but it never even comes close to the emotional or technical wizardry of Pixar's finest moments."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
|
80%
|
Vampira And Me () |
"
Vampira and Me works on multiple levels: as a Hollywood history lesson, as a portrait of mid-fifties Americana, and as a long-overdue tribute to the endlessly fascinating Nurmi, whom Greene befriended during the autumn of her years."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 26, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
93%
|
The House I Live In (2012) |
"
The House I Live In is depressing stuff, but it sparks the fires of anger, and from that anger, possible action."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 26, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
67%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012) |
"
This remarkable adaptation of the supposedly "unfilmable" novel by David Mitchell achieves near-perfection on virtually all levels."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
33%
|
Chasing Mavericks (2012) |
"
A more fitting tribute to Moriarty's legacy? Go buy a board and hit the deep blue yourself."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
1/5
|
39%
|
Here Comes the Boom (2012) |
"
It's not offensive so much as it is dumb, although the emphasis on bone-cracking violence to solve your social-welfare problems sends, at best, a mixed message."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 19, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
30%
|
Least Among Saints (2012) |
"
It all ends on a grace note that feels false but caps an otherwise solid if predictable drama."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 19, 2012
|
|
1.5/5
|
12%
|
Alex Cross (2012) |
"
Like Perry, Fox overplays his character to the point of parody, but at least he looks as though he's having some fun carving up people. Perry just looks apoplectic."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
0.5/5
|
25%
|
Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) |
"
If we've learned nothing else from horror films, it's that little kids are weird and probably possessed, so, you know, when you see one coming toward you, it's best to run the other way."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 18, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
100%
|
Wake in Fright (2012) |
"
Kotcheff, working from a novel adapted by Modesty Blaise screenwriter Evan Jones, ratchets up the sick humor and ghastly ribaldry to nail-biting heights."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 12, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
87%
|
Frankenweenie (2012) |
"
Finally, a stop-motion, animated Halloween film that rivals Tim Burton and Henry Selick's 1993 dark classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. And of the two, Frankenweenie is the better film, though it might be heretical to say."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 5, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
21%
|
Taken 2 (2012) |
"
It's fun enough on its own relatively low-budget merits, but it's really nothing to die -- or kill -- for."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Oct 4, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
78%
|
Dredd (2012) |
"
I may have never seen a nonhorror film as relentlessly, brutally, and crowd-pleasingly violent as this skintight adaptation of the long-running British comic-book character."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 28, 2012
|
|
0.5/5
|
11%
|
House at the End of the Street (2012) |
"
Lawrence is fine as the solo-parented teen and Thieriot does a mean Tony Perkins (circa Pretty Poison, but on downers), but the sheer tedium of the storyline means you never really care about any of them."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 28, 2012
|
|
0.5/5
|
43%
|
Hotel Transylvania (2012) |
"
No need to put a stake in it, it's deadly dull already."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 27, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
30%
|
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) |
"
Nobody goes to a Resident Evil movie expecting a classic but this fifth entry in the series is just plain cruddy."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
0.5/5
|
0%
|
Last Ounce of Courage (2012) |
"
It takes the joy of Christmas and makes it bellicose. I'd rather have a black licorice candy cane, thanks."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 21, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
85%
|
End of Watch (2012) |
"
Gyllenhaal and Peña go beyond the cardboard cutouts that so many cop films these days seem made of, and cinematographer Roman Vasyanov makes the harsh California daylight seem like a bad vibe unto itself."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 20, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
70%
|
The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2012) |
"
Flying Swords has style to burn but a story that's both too chaotic for its own good and at times overly familiar."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 14, 2012
|
|
0/5
|
5%
|
The Cold Light of Day (2012) |
"
Fans of inane and/or unnecessary expositional dialogue will have a field day. Everyone else can Netflix Hudson Hawk and forget to watch it, thus having more fun than anyone who shells out $10.50 for this tedious stinker."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 14, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
89%
|
Compliance (2012) |
"
Compliance is a difficult film to watch -- walkouts have been reported at more than one screening -- but it's also a calculating and intimate deconstruction of the greater social ills that our fast-food nation faces as a whole."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 7, 2012
|
|
|
39%
|
The Possession (2012) |
"
This effective little creeper is the only Judaic pastiche of The Exorcist you're likely to see this year. That alone gives it a jump on the umpteen other evil/possessed-child films that have become a seemingly monthly genre staple of late."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 7, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
22%
|
The Words (2012) |
"
The Words feels like a weaker Oprah Book Club selection that's been gussied up -- and edited to the bone -- for big-screen consumption."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Sep 6, 2012
|
|
0/5
|
4%
|
The Apparition (2012) |
"
When you look into this abyss, it yawns back at you."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 31, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
79%
|
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2012) |
"
Hara-Kiri may be a lesser Miike work, but it's still a (literally) gutsy exercise in prolonged narrative recursiveness."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 31, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
78%
|
The Ambassador (2012) |
"
Danish documentarian and full-time provocateur Mads Brügger is either fearless or insane, possibly a combination of both."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 31, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
64%
|
Cosmopolis (2012) |
"
I must admit Robert Pattinson does dead extremely well."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 24, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
65%
|
The Expendables 2 (2012) |
"
Why make a new mediocrity when the old ones are still so much more fun to watch?"
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 24, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
56%
|
The Revenant (2012) |
"
The film is a solid 15 minutes longer than it really needs to be and more annoying, The Revenant feels as though it longs to be an American riff on Shaun of the Dead."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 24, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
48%
|
Hit & Run (2012) |
"
Hit & Run is a bit of a mess, frankly, but as in nearly all cinematic road-ragers, getting there is way more than half the fun."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 23, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
The Imposter (2012) |
"
It's both preposterous and horrific, and therein lies its powerful, disquieting charm."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 17, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
87%
|
ParaNorman (2012) |
"
Laika, the animation outfit behind 2009's marvelous stop-motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, scores another one for the dark side with this endearingly sweet and spooky-ookie ode to the living, the dead, and the in-between."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 16, 2012
|
|
1/5
|
65%
|
The Campaign (2012) |
"
It feels more like an extended Saturday Night Live-meets-FunnyOrDie.com castoff than an actual comedic commentary on American politics."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 9, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
77%
|
Killer Joe (2012) |
"
At 76, Friedkin still holds our gaze with striking, often ghastly visual images, and despite the fact that McConaughey's entire wardrobe appears to have been rented from Villains "R" Us, Killer Joe lands blow after blow to the psyche."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 3, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
50%
|
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) |
"
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is probably the most inoffensive kid's film you're likely to see this summer. And that's a good thing."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 3, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
31%
|
Total Recall (2012) |
"
Wiseman's film dispenses with the pop-culture-laden irony in favor of blazingly fast action and a disorienting editing style that -- more often than not -- makes your head spin. And not necessarily in a good way, either."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Aug 2, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
73%
|
Dark Horse (2012) |
"
The director's claustrophobic vision of optimistic youth slowly curdling into a hellish maelstrom of middle-age malaise is still a fun ride if you enjoy that sort of thing."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 27, 2012
|
|
1/5
|
42%
|
Step Up 4: Miami Heat (2012) |
"
In short, it's nothing you haven't seen countless times before and, while it's not offensively bad, it also adds zero to the same old routine. Meh."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 26, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
16%
|
The Watch (2012) |
"
I kept asking myself one thing throughout the duration of this above-average, aliens vs. average Joes comedy: Where are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost?"
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 26, 2012
|
|
3.5/5
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) |
"
Nolan, a Brit, has made a comic-book film that doubles as a commentary on contemporary American society."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 19, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
86%
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) |
"
Hushpuppy exists fully in whatever moment she happens to find herself in. It's a jaw-droppingly good performance from this pint-sized, first-time actor."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 13, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
77%
|
Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012) |
"
[It] isn't so much a movie as a canny, inoffensive slice of brand management and marketing. And as such, it's not half bad."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 6, 2012
|
|
1.5/5
|
73%
|
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) |
"
The recent -- still in theatres, actually -- tag-team superhero epic Marvel's The Avengers is so very much better than this dullish retread that I feel compelled to say that this Spider-Man is anything but amazing."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jul 4, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
56%
|
People Like Us (2012) |
"
A honorable misfire, with maybe one-quarter of the impulse engines spinning in the here and now."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jun 28, 2012
|
|
2.5/5
|
69%
|
Ted (2012) |
"
Ted is, no matter how you stuff it, yet another man-child buddy movie -- and all that that implies."
—
Austin Chronicle
Posted Jun 28, 2012
|
76%
48%
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85%
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