|
2/5
|
41%
|
The Flowers of War (2011) |
"
"The Flowers of War" seems like a pretty good film until you begin to think about it."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 29, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
63%
|
Delicacy (2012) |
"
"Delicacy" is not a very good movie. But it is entertaining enough -- barely enough -- to make it worth seeing."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 22, 2012
|
|
4.5/5
|
75%
|
Norwegian Wood (2012) |
"
We cover years at a bound, but when we light, we tend to spend long, lingering moments through the camera's loving eye. This is a beautiful film to see."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
95%
|
Pina (2011) |
"
For anyone with an interest in dance, "Pina" is a must-see. For anyone not interested in contemporary dance, "Pina" is a should-see. It could change your mind."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Feb 9, 2012
|
|
3/5
|
——
|
The Vintner's Luck (2011) |
"
Renier may remind you of a young Michael York. And the photography is gorgeous, in a conventional sort of way."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Nov 3, 2011
|
|
1/5
|
36%
|
Finding Joe (2011) |
"
The bottom line for all these speakers is that if you follow the so-called hero's journey, you will find fame and fortune. I think we've heard this tune before."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 20, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
37%
|
Restless (2011) |
"
Gus Van Sant doesn't make bad movies."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 6, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
81%
|
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2011) |
"
It is a peculiar conflation of history -- there really was an Empress Wu -- and pure cinematic fantasy."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 29, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
84%
|
My Afternoons with Margueritte (2011) |
"
The film is leisurely paced, as many French films are, and not much actually happens, but as a character study, it feels true, and ultimately moving."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 22, 2011
|
|
2.5/5
|
73%
|
The Whistleblower (2011) |
"
You come away from watching the film with a moral bellyache."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 25, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
89%
|
Crime After Crime (2011) |
"
It reminds us, once again, that little can be quite so riveting as a well-told story from a compelling talking head."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 18, 2011
|
|
4.5/5
|
82%
|
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (L'instinct de mort) (2010) |
"
Four hours of French gangsters may not sound like a cinematic joy, but with Euro-star Vincent Cassel in the lead role, the movie is utterly hypnotic."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 12, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
69%
|
Bride Flight (2011) |
"
This very pretty melodrama is a rather ordinary entry."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 14, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
71%
|
Octubre (2011) |
"
There is much observation of local detail and an overpowering sense of the oppressiveness of urban poverty, but the film never quite gets airborne."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 7, 2011
|
|
3/5
|
83%
|
Potiche (2011) |
"
"Potiche" is a frothy French confection, a sort of île flottante of movies."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jun 2, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
Nora's Will (Cinco dias sin Nora) (2010) |
"
This is a very wise film, without any stench of didacticism: Through it all, the abiding power - like the strong force of an atomic bond - is not love exactly, but relationship, the net that wraps us all together and holds us fast."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 24, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
100%
|
Strongman (2011) |
"
One cannot help but think of Fellini's Zampano and Gelsomina."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 18, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
81%
|
Four Lions (2010) |
"
Really, these guys are just knuckleheads. And the movie is full of outrageous laughs."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Dec 10, 2010
|
|
3/5
|
39%
|
The Little Traitor (2009) |
"
Doesn't attempt much, doesn't accomplish much, doesn't offer much and doesn't leave you with anything memorable to take home with you."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Dec 2, 2010
|
|
4/5
|
62%
|
Howl (2010) |
"
The film forces us to face what a powerful poem "Howl" remains. That poetry isn't just pretty language, it has the ability to make us think about our lives, even to change our lives."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 21, 2010
|
|
4/5
|
57%
|
Bran Nue Dae (2010) |
"
Bran Nue Dae is an infectiously joyful Australian Aboriginal musical."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 23, 2010
|
|
4/5
|
32%
|
A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop (San qiang pai an jing qi) (A Simple Noodle Story) (The First Gun) (2010) |
"
It takes real chutzpah to challenge the Coen brothers when it comes to stylization in movies, but Chinese director Zhang Yimou has done just that."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 23, 2010
|
|
3/5
|
——
|
Pete & Cleo () |
"
We might expect the movie to come down on the side of indigenous wisdom and the old ways, but it never really slips into that cliche -- although it passes many cliches along the way."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 23, 2010
|
|
3/5
|
55%
|
Mao's Last Dancer (2010) |
"
Hollywood has a long history of turning highbrow art into middlebrow mush, and Mao's Last Dancer is just one more kick dancer in that long line."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 26, 2010
|
|
2.5/5
|
52%
|
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2010) |
"
Two narcissists do not a couple make, and without any actual relationship, there really isn't a movie."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 23, 2010
|
|
4.5/5
|
96%
|
Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010) |
"
The plain fact is that, on some level, it doesn't matter whether the film is true or not. Either way, it's fascinating. Either way, we learn a lot. Either way, it's a great film."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jun 24, 2010
|
|
4/5
|
70%
|
Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan) (2010) |
"
It seduces us with imagery and metaphor."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted May 27, 2010
|
|
3.5/5
|
88%
|
La Danse -- Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris (2009) |
"
It is an insider's look at the ballet, but one that only an insider will get the most out of."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jan 29, 2010
|
|
4/5
|
89%
|
Séraphine (2009) |
"
What makes this slow, intense film so compelling is its persuasive creation of complex characters: You scarcely believe Moreau is an actor and that the film isn't, on some level, archival footage of the real painter."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jan 29, 2010
|
|
3/5
|
87%
|
Amreeka (2009) |
"
A good-hearted film about the resilience of the human spirit."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 14, 2009
|
|
4/5
|
85%
|
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex) (2008) |
"
The Baader-Meinhof Complex is not an easy film to watch; its violence is ugly and brutish. And there's a lot of it."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 1, 2009
|
|
3/5
|
56%
|
The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) |
"
Although The Stoning is efficiently made, it is ultimately a cheat."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 16, 2009
|
|
3/5
|
87%
|
Earth (Disneynature's Earth) (Planet Earth) (2009) |
"
It's such a joy to see this footage on the big screen -- even better than hi-definition TV -- that you may want to suffer the slings and arrow of an outrageous soundtrack just for the opportunity to see what's on the screen."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Apr 22, 2009
|
|
3/5
|
71%
|
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) |
"
Each of the three primary directions of the movie might make a fascinating film, but tied together, they never cohere, and you find yourself sitting through two long hours wondering why you are doing so."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Feb 12, 2009
|
|
3.5/5
|
86%
|
I.O.U.S.A. (2008) |
"
You will not likely forget the Jeremiad it presents about how the United States has been living on borrowed money -- and borrowed time -- for decades and now is presenting the bill for our extravagance to our grandchildren."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Oct 30, 2008
|
|
4.5/5
|
81%
|
I Served the King of England (2008) |
"
This episodic, picaresque film is one delightful surprise after another, a complete joy to watch."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Sep 11, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
94%
|
Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One) (2006) |
"
Tell No One is a French action thriller and murder mystery that doesn't cheat."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 28, 2008
|
|
2.5/5
|
76%
|
OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d'Espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) (2008) |
"
A lame comedy with a few decent laughs and several yawn-spawning set pieces that don't really go anywhere."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 21, 2008
|
|
2/5
|
82%
|
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) |
"
It all begins to feel veddy, veddy pretentious and a very, very long way from the Brooklyn or Manhattan that he actually understands."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Aug 14, 2008
|
|
3/5
|
55%
|
Elsa y Fred (2008) |
"
For some, the movie will be an emotional paean to love at the twilight of life; to others, though, it's a contrived, manipulative film calculatedly sentimental and -- except for poor Alfredo -- totally false to life."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 24, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
Up the Yangtze (2007) |
"
The movie never editorializes; it simply presents. It is tragedy, not statistics."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jul 10, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
Reprise (2006) |
"
If you are young, male and dream of making a name for yourself in the arts, Reprise is about the joys and sufferings of that quest: It is a Jules and Jim for the punk-rock generation."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jun 12, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
87%
|
Meduzot (Jellyfish) (2008) |
"
Most of the first hour passes without much more forward motion than its namesake. But in the corners and niches of that slow development, we get to know a handful of people, crisply drawn in fast sketches."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jun 5, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
Roman de Gare (Crossed Tracks) (2007) |
"
Don't go to the theater expecting too much and you can't help but leave with a smile on your face."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted May 22, 2008
|
|
3.5/5
|
69%
|
Fugitive Pieces (2008) |
"
Bit by fragmented bit, it all adds up to a one-note portrait of its protagonist. Granted, that one note is a powerful one."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted May 8, 2008
|
|
3.5/5
|
82%
|
Hors de Prix (Priceless) (2006) |
"
Priceless is a Hollywood remake waiting to happen. It's almost guaranteed."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Apr 24, 2008
|
|
3.5/5
|
83%
|
The Rape of Europa (2007) |
"
It's long for a documentary, almost two hours, but it has a big story to tell."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Mar 6, 2008
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (2004) |
"
Imaginary Witness is powerful and complex, and few will manage to make it through to the end without gasping, weeping or covering their eyes."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Feb 7, 2008
|
|
5/5
|
100%
|
Man on Wire (2008) |
"
It is one of the most suspenseful, white-knuckled films of the year."
—
Arizona Republic
Posted Jan 22, 2008
|
76%
32%
94%
85%
45%
40%
