|
3/4
|
69%
|
Dance Me Outside (1994) |
"
Funny, scary, appealing and bizarre."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 8, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
70%
|
In Country (1989) |
"
There's a decency about this movie that's almost palpable. It's not trying to pump us up with false jingoism or the sins of the past. Jewison, a Canadian, probably approaches the entire subject with a mediatory mood."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted May 7, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
59%
|
Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me (1992) |
"
At its best, it's a dream within a dream, a nightmare in endlessly reflecting pop mirrors, a screen full of TV-movie sex and horror kitsch blowing up right in our faces."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted May 3, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
34%
|
Hackers (1995) |
"
This is a movie that sums up the worst of the computer era: zapping you with techno-cliches and trapping you in constant visual crash and burn."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 3, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
31%
|
Hugo Pool (1997) |
"
It's as if Downey Sr.'s irreverence and off-the-wall humor couldn't quite co-exist with the heartfelt tribute he intends to make here to his wife and her fellow Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis sufferers."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 1, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
The Wild Bunch (1969) |
"
The Wild Bunch is an American masterpiece, one of the greatest films ever produced in the Hollywood system."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 29, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
Addams Family Values (1993) |
"
At its best, it's a valentine of venom, sent with mirth and malice aforethought."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 11, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
82%
|
The Crow (1994) |
"
What's scary about The Crow is the story and the style itself: American Gothic, Poe-haunted nightmare, translated to the age of cyberpunk science fiction, revenge movies and outlaw rock 'n' roll, all set in a hideously decaying, crime-ridden urban hell."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 10, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
65%
|
Reality Bites (1993) |
"
It's a good example of an anti-establishment comedy crippled by a seeming desire to infatuate the establishment itself. What Reality Bites needs most is a good bite. From reality."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 27, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai) (1954) |
"
The greatest movie ever made about warriors and battle."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 26, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
8%
|
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn (1998) |
"
A comedy without laughs, an expose without point."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
3/5
|
93%
|
Matewan (1987) |
"
When this movie stumbles, it stumbles honestly and sympathetically, but, when it succeeds, it makes history sing."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Mar 22, 2013
|
|
2.5/5
|
87%
|
Field of Dreams (1989) |
"
All of this would work better if Robinson built up the reality of the town more, made the citizens a more palpable presence, as Frank Capra did in Hollywood's greatest fable-fantasy, It's a Wonderful Life."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Mar 20, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
67%
|
Cobb (1994) |
"
[Jones] lets it all loose here. It's the performance of a lifetime: full of menace and venom, eloquence and fire, rot and pathos, crackling rawness and realism."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 19, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
95%
|
Touch of Evil (1958) |
"
Having the Touch of Evil envisioned by our most creative filmmaker, is a wondrous gift no movie lover should miss."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 12, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
85%
|
The Devil Probably (Le diable probablement) (1977) |
"
Bresson, as always, holds on to that grace, gives us that beauty. While watching this great rapt film, with its hideous vision of a moral void, we almost can see light flickering in darkness, feel a spirit descending."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 5, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Suna no Onna (Woman in the Dunes) (1964) |
"
In stunningly composed images by Teshigahara and cinematographer Hiroshi Segawa, that eroticism becomes overwhelming."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 4, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
The Godfather, Part II (1974) |
"
One of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed American films, a landmark work from one of Hollywood's top cinema eras."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 24, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
81%
|
Braveheart (1995) |
"
In this mix of historical tragedy and hip adventure, Gibson may be as galvanic a movie swashbuckler as Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster were in their day."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 24, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
71%
|
Forrest Gump (1994) |
"
This tall tale may reach monumental proportions, but Forrest Gump always keeps its magical airiness and grace."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 20, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
65%
|
Mama (2013) |
"
Mama is something of a throwback, and at times a stunning one."
—
Daily Herald (IL)
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
|
78%
|
The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus) (1995) |
"
Set in a wondrously seedy waterfront world populated with runaway children and grotesque, sinister adults, it glistens with dense fantasies, technological feats that make the catch-phrase "state of the art" seem antique."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 7, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
89%
|
They Live (1988) |
"
The joke is in the material; the idea itself is funny and daring. And some time soon, They Live suggests, with grim, knowing wink, the joke may be on us."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Oct 10, 2012
|
|
1.5/5
|
0%
|
Rad (1986) |
"
The whole thing reminds you more of an overanxious teacher or coach, taking a few slang words and repeating them endlessly in a doomed attempt to "relate.""
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Aug 21, 2012
|
|
2/5
|
——
|
The Dirt Bike Kid (1986) |
"
The special effects often seem to consist of dragging the dirt bike around on a string or having the actors flail their arms in astonishment while riding it."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Aug 17, 2012
|
|
|
76%
|
Someone to Watch over Me (1987) |
"
Illogical, flawed or forced thrillers are all too common. Ones that knock your eyes out are rare."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Jun 3, 2012
|
|
|
82%
|
Trollhunter (2011) |
"
The film is shot with handheld cameras in the standard mockumentary style, but the content is often hilarious, especially when the trolls show up."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 13, 2011
|
|
|
35%
|
Battle: Los Angeles (2011) |
"
Terminally stupid."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Dec 6, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
81%
|
Biloxi Blues (1988) |
"
Broderick acts with a beautifully wary exuberance, full of a puckish vulnerability and anxious, twisted impishness."
—
Los Angeles Times
Posted Oct 26, 2011
|
|
|
24%
|
The Three Musketeers (2011) |
"
This one is overblown, over-dressed, and grandiosely dopey, packed with gargantuan sets and ludicrous action scenes and shot in unusually dark and dingy 3-D."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
|
17%
|
I Don't Know How She Does It (2011) |
"
It's smart, swanky, and good-looking, but strangely, it's not all that funny."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 15, 2011
|
|
|
26%
|
Colombiana (2011) |
"
Often improbable, sometimes ludicrous, but frequently exciting."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 1, 2011
|
|
|
58%
|
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (2011) |
"
The remake plays like a shallower, more clichéd variation on his masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth, but its mix of gory effects and deliciously old-fashioned visuals make for a classy, scary horror show."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
|
95%
|
The Guard (2011) |
"
Brendan Gleeson, as beefily Irish an actor as anyone since Victor McLaglen, is always believable and frequently hilarious."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 5, 2011
|
|
|
25%
|
The Change-Up (2011) |
"
They're good at their specialties -- Reynolds's casual jock studliness and Bateman's nervous white-collar introversion -- and they're even better at switching into the other guy's shtick and mannerisms."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 4, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
63%
|
The Afterlight (2010) |
"
The director-writer-editor pair, and cinematographer White, show a sheer love of moviemaking that often makes their film a joy to watch."
—
Movie City News
Posted Jul 6, 2011
|
|
|
36%
|
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) |
"
If you're going to make a movie in which some of your stars are animated toys and much of downtown Chicago is reduced to rubble, this is the way to do it: shamelessly, with no expense spared and no cliche avoided."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 29, 2011
|
|
|
26%
|
Green Lantern (2011) |
"
The result is a deadly disappointment, despite Ryan Reynolds's cocky, muscle-flexing charisma."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jun 16, 2011
|
|
|
78%
|
Fast Five (2011) |
"
The whole thing progresses to one of the looniest heists of all time. The result is the most exciting, visually jazzy, and absurd entry in the series."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 29, 2011
|
|
|
38%
|
Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family (2011) |
"
Like most of Perry's movies, this one oscillates wildly and shamelessly between raunch and pathos, leaving plenty of room for the performers to work. The lively ensemble includes a scene-stealing Cassi Davis as pothead Aunt Bam."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 29, 2011
|
|
|
73%
|
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) |
"
Funny, informative, and at times outrageously cheeky."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 28, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
55%
|
The Conspirator (2011) |
"
Deals dramatically and memorably with the vagaries of the law, and with the wars between justice and injustice, between vengeance and mercy, between truth and prejudice."
—
Movie City News
Posted Apr 20, 2011
|
|
|
83%
|
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) |
"
This pungent neo-noir can be sleazy and over-familiar, but like the protagonist, it's so smart and crafty that you may forgive its flaws."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 17, 2011
|
|
|
100%
|
The Godfather (1972) |
"
Brando made Don Vito something we rarely see in movies: a tragicomic villain-hero, a vulnerable hood."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 23, 2011
|
|
|
56%
|
Unknown (2011) |
"
The snow and haze that Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps pumping into the street scenes seem to have drifted into the script as well."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 18, 2011
|
|
|
38%
|
The Eagle (2011) |
"
Exciting and even moving, this robust epic is filled with action, male bonding, and a terrifying sense of wilderness."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2011
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
Winnebago Man (2010) |
"
It isn't perfect, but hell, neither was the Winnebago."
—
Movie City News
Posted Dec 8, 2010
|
|
3/4
|
86%
|
The House of the Devil (2009) |
"
Ti West knows how to set up his prey for the kill"
—
Movie City News
Posted Nov 2, 2009
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
Star Trek (2009) |
"
The movie, typically for Abrams, is almost continuously exciting."
—
Movie City News
Posted May 15, 2009
|
42%
35%
96%
99%
65%
61%
