|
86%
|
Hubble 3D (2010)
|
"Hubble 3D doesn't weigh in heavily on theories of Big Bangs, evolution, or creation. Instead, it lets the visual data speak for itself."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
61%
|
The Joneses (2010)
|
"This cautionary tale depicts consumers who believe they deserve stuff, whether or not they can pay for it. Rarely is this kind of truth seen onscreen in such a subtle and entertaining film."
|
Alissa Wilkinson
|
|
54%
|
The Perfect Game (2010)
|
"The Perfect Game is an earnest tribute, but the story could have been rendered more convincingly."
|
Tim Avery
|
|
67%
|
Date Night (2010)
|
"Fey and Carell are as good a tag-team comedy duo as Lucy and Desi, maybe even Tracy and Hepburn -- charismatic comedians who have amazing chemistry together."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
25%
|
Letters To God (2010)
|
"As well intentioned and sometimes well acted as this film is, it is not always able to rise above its own earnest agenda in order to tell its story in an absorbing manner."
|
Carolyn Arends
|
|
28%
|
Clash of the Titans (2010)
|
"The CGI extravaganza can't overcome all the other flaws: sloppy exposition, terrible dialogue, heavy-handed acting, and not a single likable character in the bunch."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
81%
|
Oceans (Disneynature's Oceans) (2010)
|
"My new favorite freaky thing is the wack-eyed mantis shrimp, a testy little fellow who gets violently territorial with crabs loitering around his front door - as one learns to its grief. Get off my lawn, punk."
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
91%
|
The Secret of Kells (2010)
|
"The film's final image is a poetic paean to the Book's living power—a power that The Secret of Kells, like Aisling, recognizes without, perhaps, fully understanding."
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
74%
|
Greenberg (2010)
|
"Greenberg plays a lot like mature mumblecore (which is to say that it has a plot and a script), with a familiar theme: It is ultimately your relationships that define you."
|
Alissa Wilkinson
|
|
98%
|
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
|
"A rousing adventure for families, but it's the animation that truly makes the film fly higher than others in the genre."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
53%
|
Green Zone (2010)
|
"It's tidy, comforting revisionism, like sending Rambo back into Vietnam so we can win this time. Instead of a morass in which the search for WMD simply peters out, we get the closure of a smoking gun."
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
48%
|
The Book of Eli (2010)
|
"Hollywood has released a mainstream action movie about the Bible. If Eli sparks discussion about faith and the vitality of God's Word, that's cause for acclaim."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
70%
|
The Last Station (2010)
|
"Delicately photographed, whimsically scored and patiently paced, Station doesn't rely on flash and panache to make its points. But the points do come across elegantly."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
45%
|
Creation (2010)
|
"The film comes down, in a sense, to what Emma thinks after reading The Origin of Species. Of her verdict she can only say, "May God forgive us both.""
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
33%
|
To Save a Life (2010)
|
"Will the vague messages get across? Will viewers take anything out other than a missive to be kind and inclusive? Some certainly will. Some won't."
|
Todd Hertz
|
|
27%
|
Extraordinary Measures (2010)
|
"A touching story inspired by true events. A timely subject. Two high-profile actors in Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford. Sadly, it all adds up to an extraordinary bore."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
20%
|
Legion (2010)
|
"Legion has the audacity to set itself up for sequels without giving the audience enough compelling reason to care about this first installment."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
58%
|
Edge of Darkness (2010)
|
"All attempts at profundity are silenced by the deafening anger at the movie's core. And the deeper the film delves into its layered plot, the more ludicrous it becomes."
|
Josh Hurst
|
|
18%
|
Valentine's Day (2010)
|
"There are some genuine laughs and a few twists, but Valentine's Day turns out to be a predictable rom-com. It wants to be Love, Actually, but it doesn't have the magic."
|
Lisa Ann Cockrel
|
|
49%
|
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
|
"While this flick may not have Harry Potter's complex world and multiple layers, it also doesn't have the angst and darkness. It replaces them with one thing in bulk: Fun."
|
Todd Hertz
|
|
68%
|
Shutter Island (2010)
|
"Shutter Island is all about the visceral, head-scratching embodiment of questions. Who is crazy? Am I crazy? Or are they crazy?"
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
42%
|
Brooklyn's Finest (2010)
|
"Despite its strengths, Brooklyn's Finest has weaknesses that keep it from being great. It's simply not as tight as a three-pronged narrative needs to be."
|
Alissa Wilkinson
|
|
51%
|
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
|
"This Alice is a dud. If you want to experience a strange, unworldly story%u2014something like Tim Burton films used to provide%u2014stay home and read the book."
|
Frederica Mathewes-Green
|
|
35%
|
The Wolfman (2010)
|
"What does it say about The Wolfman that its token cleric is vastly less interesting than his broadly comic counterpart in Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit?"
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
83%
|
Avatar (2009)
|
"Full of that rare movie magic which can transport, entertain and intrigue, this sci-fi fantasy is a fun amusement park ride that ignites your imagination."
|
Todd Hertz
|
|
21%
|
Oh My God (2009)
|
"There's nothing new unearthed in this film. The religious adherent won't have their mind changed, and the person who isn't sure what they believe won't find any help here, either."
|
Alissa Wilkinson
|
|
60%
|
Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked) (2009)
|
"The end credits display a wide array of classic album covers -- from Bob Dylan to U2, The Clash to Tom Waits. That reveals what's at the movie's heart: A love for rock 'n' roll."
|
Josh Hurst
|
|
22%
|
Planet 51 (2009)
|
"It's hard not to compare, but Pixar's classy and imaginative films set the bar high, while movies like this aim too low."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
90%
|
The Messenger (2009)
|
"The Messenger involves difficult subject matter, but it's not hard to watch. It's sad and sobering, but also humorous and touching at turns."
|
Lisa Ann Cockrel
|
|
84%
|
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
|
"While Disney seems to be trying to counter some of its pervasive princess ideology, The Princess and the Frog is still showing women who can't get by without men."
|
Annie Young Frisbie
|
|
5%
|
Old Dogs (2009)
|
"Why do once great actors attach themselves to a dog of a picture like this? Surely they still have standards? Alas, their judgment seems to be fading . . ."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
93%
|
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
|
"Anderson's films often bounce between absurd comedy and poignant catharsis, and Mr. Fox is no different. Its brisk pacing keeps the catharsis from weighing down the comedy."
|
Tim Avery
|
|
75%
|
The Road (2009)
|
"It's fitting that The Road opens at Thanksgiving. It will thrill you, unsettle you, but mostly remind you that even in the darkest of times there is much to be thankful for."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
85%
|
Me and Orson Welles (2009)
|
"It's no Citizen Kane, and it won't change your life. But it's a well-told story, and sometimes that's enough."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
89%
|
Red Cliff (Chi Bi) (2009)
|
"Many people see Red Cliff as Hong Kong actioneer John Woo's return to form. I'm not one of them. John Woo has never once made a film I've liked. Until now."
|
Brandon Fibbs
|
|
27%
|
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
|
"Uncritical celebration of that overwrought, obsessive passion that is the hallmark of immaturity, that subordinates all sense of one's own identity and readily leaps to suicidal impulses and fantasies."
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
39%
|
2012 (2009)
|
"If 2012 is an apotheosis of all disaster movies, that means it's also an apotheosis of all disaster-movie clichés."
|
Steven D. Greydanus
|
|
91%
|
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
|
"Hopefully films like this grow our understanding and compassion as we're encouraged to offer Christ-like hope in our broken world, and emulate a resiliency that is Precious."
|
Camerin Courtney
|
|
54%
|
Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
|
"It feels like Zemeckis wanted to make one movie (a socially relevant ghost story) and Disney wanted another (a Polar Express-type movie). It doesn't work."
|
Todd Hertz
|
|
45%
|
The Box (2009)
|
"A confounding sci-fi mystery on one level and a tortured existential treatise on the other, pondering the nature of man in relation to God."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
83%
|
Bright Star (2009)
|
"A beautiful film and a strikingly truthful one, and not because it waxes too philosophic or throws down the intellectual gauntlet."
|
Brett McCracken
|
|
25%
|
Fame (2009)
|
"Remember the theme song? "I feel it coming together/People will see me and cry . . . Fame/I'm gonna live forever/Baby, remember my name." Sadly, none of that applies to this hollow, impersonal movie."
|
Russ Breimeier
|
|
62%
|
Coco Before Chanel (2009)
|
"A bit more of Coco becoming Chanel was what I expected, and what would have elevated this film beyond the typical period-piece love story fare."
|
Camerin Courtney
|
|
39%
|
Surrogates (2009)
|
"Good ideas rub up against bad ideas, and the result is a movie that is worth a look but could have been much more."
|
Peter T. Chattaway
|
|
39%
|
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009)
|
"The movie provides more questions than answers."
|
Lisa Ann Cockrel
|
|
89%
|
A Serious Man (2009)
|
"Far more relatable than the Coens' recent work, and one cannot watch it without pondering some questions about the meaning of trials and the nature of fate."
|
Alissa Wilkinson
|
|
58%
|
The Invention of Lying (2009)
|
"It feels, in spirit, like a fable, in the mold of films like It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. I just wish it were better."
|
Frederica Mathewes-Green
|
|
71%
|
The Boys Are Back (2009)
|
"Joe says in a voice-over that "life is a journey to be traveled no matter how bad the road." And The Boys Are Back is a highly satisfying ride."
|
Camerin Courtney
|
|
84%
|
Whip It (2009)
|
"Drew Barrymore's directorial debut is an energetic celebration of grrrl power, and it sure is fun to watch."
|
Lisa Ann Cockrel
|
|
11%
|
Couples Retreat (2009)
|
"Somewhere in all of this, there is the potential for a pretty good comedy, but this movie isn't it."
|
Peter T. Chattaway
|
75%
22%
63%
85%
46%
40%
