|
69%
|
Last Stop for Paul (2006)
|
"This is a most daffy, snazzy, kooky movie which will absorb you every moment it's on the screen. Take the trip with Paul to the last stop.....it's worth it!"
|
Joseph Feinstein
|
|
6%
|
Strength and Honor (2007)
|
"Strength and Honor is a most apt title for this movie truly has both."
|
Joseph Feinstein
|
|
86%
|
Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
|
"I predict Academy Award nominations all-around for acting, script and direction. Yes, it's that good. Start out your evening and see this one!"
|
Joseph Feinstein
|
|
75%
|
Arven (The Inheritance) (2004)
|
"A solid, involving Danish drama that proves discord, struggle and variance need not necessarily be lost in translation."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
42%
|
Naked in New York (1994)
|
"A movie of somewhat indulgent introspection, a confection of twentysomething ambivalence."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
——
|
National Lampoon Presents - Lost Reality 1 (2004)
|
"The movie's core idea is a relatively good one... but its execution is hormone-addled titillation, as devoid of aspiration as it is inspiration."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
90%
|
THX 1138 (1971)
|
"A scrupulously crafted vision of benevolent oppressiveness, THX 1138 exudes a creamy hypnotism and resonates strongly."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
88%
|
Tying the Knot (2004)
|
"Activist filmmaking... but neither strident nor plaintive."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
36%
|
Shark Tale (2004)
|
"A colorful, vibrant and charismatic treat that plays to both kids and adults..."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
53%
|
A Dirty Shame (2004)
|
"Shrill and clamorous claptrap, a movie whose harried declamations and colorful, frenetic staging give the impression of plot in the absence of any real narrative conviction."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
91%
|
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
|
"A colorful British genre mash-up that crossbreeds the zombified existence of late twentysomething interpersonal ennui with a literal attack of the undead."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
26%
|
Anatomy of Hell (2004)
|
"Issues of sexual commitment, fidelity and self-worth are graphically explored with the torpid detachment of a psych major's filmic send-up of a Calvin Klein commercial..."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
85%
|
The Yes Men (2004)
|
"Subversive and thought-provoking, though also a little too slack and unassuming for its own good; more 'why' and not just 'how' would have been a welcome addition."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
55%
|
Ricordati di me, (Remember Me, My Love) (2004)
|
"A lively if overlong movie that allows for the full spectrum of human emotion and behavior."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
61%
|
Wimbledon (2004)
|
"Ably, consistently directed and featuring attractive, likeable leads, yet also still so formulaic and quirk-free as to lull you into a stupor."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
57%
|
Cowboys & Angels (2003)
|
"There are no truly great lessons imparted in Cowboys and Angels, but its charm, sociability and highly watchable performances make it a smooth, friendly cinematic pint."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
——
|
Swimming Upstream (2005)
|
"Management of tone is everything in tales this sentimental, and Swimming Upstream is ploddingly obvious and mawkish -- all desultory domestic scenes and bad monologues."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
62%
|
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
|
"Somewhere between The Blair Witch Project, Lost in La Mancha, Anaconda and the kookiest film school art project ever dreamed up..."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
76%
|
Reconstruction (2004)
|
"Emblematic of a new sort of filmic collage in which artificial construction is as much a featured part of the point as a means to an end."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
44%
|
Evergreen (2004)
|
"The dialogue is on-the-nose and its lessons are pedestrian, but the film remains a "working poor-trait" of poignancy and grace due to Addie Land's unself-conscious turn."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
70%
|
Criminal (2004)
|
"A jazzy, offhandedly brilliant exercise in colorful mendacity and shell game shenanigans that benefits from the cool, authoritative occupational swagger of John C. Reilly."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
32%
|
When Will I Be Loved (2004)
|
"Careening and indulgent... a triple-loose oration on gender, power, wealth and age that asserts its points without ever owning them."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
63%
|
Bush's Brain (2004)
|
"An engrossing, disturbing portrait of the perversion of our political process -- a victim of our collective disdain and disinterest that we let it get dragged down this far."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
43%
|
The Brown Bunny (2004)
|
"Punishingly, defiantly slow... but also an artful film of uncommon tenderness with modest, at-arm's-length rewards."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
77%
|
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
|
"Clearheaded, practical and plenteous in evidence but smart and confident enough not to berate you."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
86%
|
Duel (1972)
|
"A sort of minimalist telepic precursor to John Dahl's Joyride that packs the unadulterated genre punch of pure grain alcohol..."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
72%
|
High Art (1998)
|
"A solid if diffident, strongly character-focused drama worth the time of those who appreciate shoegazing introspection for the High Art that it is."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
100%
|
Superstar in a Housedress (2004)
|
"A vibrant, skin-deep flirt, both refined and tawdry, fabulous and skin deep -- probably a comparison Curtis himself would appreciate."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
90%
|
Mean Creek (2004)
|
"Reach exceeds grasp in this small ensemble character drama in the vein of Stand By Me that succeeds far more in theory than in practice."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
89%
|
After Hours (1985)
|
"Darkly comedic and delightfully manic, After Hours is a fresh, funny look at one man's downward mental and emotional slide into an evening of unmitigated SoHo hell."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
71%
|
Gozu (Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu) (2003)
|
"Gozu has an occasional fever dream lucidity scene to scene, but the film's willfully weird parts also never coalesce into something grander."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
55%
|
Danny Deckchair (2003)
|
"A charming if shaggy, paint-by-numbers Aussie trifle in which one small, spontaneous step toward change sparks a radical reinvention of self."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
64%
|
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)
|
"Well acted and designed of a piece [but] too diffident and emotionally murky to elicit a sustained reaction. The movie could have benefited from a more proactive script."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
86%
|
Collateral (2004)
|
"An engrossing, low-key, character thriller about the collision of ruthless amorality, conflicted decency and masculinity in crisis. Jamie Foxx has arrived as a movie star."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
72%
|
Open Water (2004)
|
"An undercooked minimalist film exercise. The end result: you're stranded in Open Water, bereft of hope or care for the movie's characters."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
73%
|
Stander (2004)
|
"Like its protagonist, the film feels slightly off its rocker, a weird grab bag of disparate emotions, yet you don't ever really stop enjoying its company."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
43%
|
The Village (2004)
|
"Shyamalan can stretch out a moment like a master guitarist... yet here his skills are put to service in the form of a laborious rather than meticulous charlatan end-around."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
79%
|
Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003)
|
"A vivid and distressing documentary examination of the state of the fourth estate... a deeply fascinating must-see for anyone interested in the news, politics and civic life."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
58%
|
Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (Ju-on 2) (2003)
|
"A masterfully creepy little import, a deeply unsettling daisy chain of expanding terror."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
74%
|
This Old Cub (2004)
|
"Genial but wandering and woefully edited... one simply wishes This Old Cub asked a few more actual questions of its old diehard Cub subject."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
41%
|
Zhou Yu's Train (2004)
|
"A reticent but luminous meditation on love and desire."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
74%
|
The Hunting of the President (2004)
|
"Engages but rarely fixes illuminating revelation in its crosshairs. Still, for political wonks, that's enough of a seduction to merit consideration."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
52%
|
The Notebook (2004)
|
"Its first 15-20 minutes are awful, but the film eventually emerges as a credible and even genuinely heartrending tearjerker."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
36%
|
Touch of Pink (2004)
|
"Middling screwball comic fantasia... a passable indie film calling card perhaps suited more for casting directors and potentially adventurous directors than general audiences."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
90%
|
The Corporation (2004)
|
"Vivid, informative, depressing and galvanizing all at the same time, The Corporation is a bombshell documentary... that leaves your mind a crazy jumble after viewing."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
66%
|
Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004)
|
"I could have used more smarm and crisply delineated battle-of-sexes confrontation, but Ferrell's overwrought mania and wholesale comedic devotion again sell the laffs."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
93%
|
Riding Giants (2004)
|
"An entertaining niche subculture document... a vicarious thrill for all those who never graduated beyond bright yellow boogie boards."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
95%
|
Before Sunset (2004)
|
"A verbose, invigorating gem. There hasn't been a brighter, better, more spry and alive relationship picture in years."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
43%
|
The Clearing (2004)
|
"Well acted, with an accumulative sense of novelistic detail, but it doesn't quite fully connect."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
70%
|
Father and Son (2004)
|
"It's hard to imagine a more jointly artful and mind-numbingly off-putting cinematic experience... Father and Son is the virtual definition of tedium."
|
Brent Simon
|
72%
76%
61%
52%
26%
4%
