|
67%
|
Brüno (2009)
|
"Cohen probably did not consciously echo The Magic Christian, but he would have done well to learn from it."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
87%
|
500 Days of Summer (2009)
|
"Fast, funny and absolutely delightful."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
90%
|
Moon (2009)
|
"Jones displays such a complete command of his narrative that it is hard to believe this is his first feature."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
30%
|
Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
|
"The major highlight is the awkward, out-of-step dialogue between Lane and Gere as their budding relationship morphs from wariness to friendliness to love."
|
Telly Davidson
|
|
21%
|
The Doorman (2008)
|
"Despite the fact that The Doorman features dozens of cameos by real-life boldface names, the film itself is a mess."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
5%
|
College (2008)
|
"Personally, I wouldn't waste a $5 drink on this one, but I do understand that teen's irritation."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
48%
|
Towelhead (2007)
|
"Nearly a decade after the triumph of American Beauty, Ball has stumbled to the level of American Booty."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
43%
|
Blindness (2008)
|
"Ignore that wretched Riviera buzz, because Blindness is a haunting work and a wonderful distillation of José Saramago's novel."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
43%
|
Death Race (2008)
|
"The movie Death Race most resembles is not Death Race 2000 or even another action movie but rather a beloved 1994 prison drama."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
62%
|
Hamlet 2 (2008)
|
"Nowhere is the failure of this film more evident than in the much ballyhooed Elisabeth Shue subplot."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
91%
|
Transsiberian (2008)
|
"Nowadays, Kingsley is a bit like the English version of Morgan Freeman - an actor with a seemingly inherent reservoir of gravitas, yet no qualms about glossy paycheck gigs."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
75%
|
Elegy (2008)
|
"In the early scenes of the two lovers discovering each other's bodies and personal quirks, Coixet coaxes work from Kingsley and Cruz that is remarkably intimate."
|
Brett Buckalew
|
|
38%
|
Swing Vote (2008)
|
"Carroll turns Costner into her comic foil, effectively relegating the Oscar winner to giving a supporting-sidekick performance in his own film."
|
Telly Davidson
|
|
32%
|
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2) (2008)
|
"Ironic, then, that 20th Century Fox's quiescent sales job may ultimately cost the film a suitable first-weekend box office splash."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
54%
|
Mamma Mia! (2008)
|
"It is not merely that Pierce Brosnan cannot sing; it is that he looks so uncomfortable doing it."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
94%
|
Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
|
"Had Werner Herzog lived 500 years ago, he probably would have become a celebrated conquistador, mapping out brave new worlds."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
69%
|
The Wackness (2008)
|
"Kingsley's pot smoking puddle of regret is one of the few Big Apple personas to come close to Hoffman's bag of Ratso Rizzo tricks."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
51%
|
Get Smart (2008)
|
"The smartest thing about the movie is the way Alan Arkin and Terence Stamp inject a little bit of that 1960's spirit."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
50%
|
Sex and the City (2008)
|
"Opt for the much better (and much shorter) version made in 1959 starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker and Joan Crawford."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
30%
|
War, Inc. (2008)
|
"The filmic equivalent of a bleating, hot microphone - all crossed wires and misfunneled energy."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
59%
|
The Fall (2006)
|
"The best movie of the year so far by a wide mile."
|
Brett Buckalew
|
|
39%
|
Speed Racer (2008)
|
"All in all, I'm pretty sure Hunter S. Thompson had hallucinations like this."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
88%
|
Hear and Now (2007)
|
"It's the merging of filmmaker and daughter that makes this documentary and memoir so compelling and appealing to a mass audience."
|
Shelley Gabert
|
|
57%
|
Noise (2007)
|
"A much better strategy for alarm activist Bean would have been to give Robbins a microphone and make this as a trenchant documentary."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
67%
|
Redbelt (2008)
|
"The journey has its charms, but the destination calls to mind Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?""
|
Brett Buckalew
|
|
53%
|
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
|
"Mostly works because it's well cast, wildly written and full of good, old-fashioned comedic friction."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
67%
|
The Auteur (2008)
|
"There's no Hitchcock in The Auteur, which is surprising considering the second syllable of the Master of Suspense's surname."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
84%
|
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
|
"The phrase "good enough" applies, without any negative connotations that might unintentionally summon forth."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
26%
|
Anamorph (2008)
|
"A pale imitation of David Fincher's Seven."
|
Shelley Gabert
|
|
76%
|
Captain Abu Raed (2007)
|
"Writer-director Matalqa cites City Lights as one of his favorites, and to Chaplin there are two predominant connections in his film."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
25%
|
Sex and Death 101 (2007)
|
"A fun, sloppy treatment of a profound premise that, as a reunion project between Waters and Ryder, feels right."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
47%
|
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
|
"Right from the beginning, there's a discomforting sense of banality blanketing the film: the journey, the pie motif, the faith in "new beginnings.""
|
Kevin Biggers
|
|
48%
|
Run Fatboy Run (2007)
|
"A fry-up of American, British and Irish comedy sensibilities that will have no trouble satisfying mainstream movie appetites."
|
FilmStew Staff Report
|
|
36%
|
21 (2008)
|
"Across the Universe star Jim Sturgess reaffirms himself as a sympathetic, highly likable screen presence."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
65%
|
Stop-Loss (2008)
|
"Much of Stop-Loss' first act feels like the cast of Hee-Haw auditioning for a Best Years of Our Lives remake."
|
Brett Buckalew
|
|
79%
|
The Hammer (2007)
|
"Succeeds in spite of itself."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
88%
|
Young@Heart (2007)
|
"The best film I've seen so far this year and easily one of my favorite documentaries ever."
|
Lisa Johnson
|
|
43%
|
Hats Off (2008)
|
"A wonderful continuation of Johnstone's previous age-is-but-a-number twilight documentaries Martha & Ethel and Throwing Curves."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
82%
|
Hors de Prix (Priceless) (2006)
|
"Tautou positively sparkles as a crafty master of the French Riviera sexual-favors-for-financial-rewards shell game."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
18%
|
Chapter 27 (2007)
|
"Leto's performance is as great a physical, if not emotional, transformation as Charlize Theron's "hagging it up" for Monster."
|
Telly Davidson
|
|
52%
|
Funny Games (2008)
|
"Posits that we humans are a persuadable lot, willing to accept almost anything in the name of entertainment."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
53%
|
Penelope (2006)
|
"The success of Juno has re-set the bar for whimsical tales of headstrong, intelligent young women grappling with life difficulties."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
55%
|
Married Life (2008)
|
"Cooper and Brosnan display more genuine chemistry than anything that passes for sparks between Cooper and kept woman McAdams."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
42%
|
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
|
"There will always be adults who want to catch up on the history lessons they slept or passed notes through during their younger years."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
35%
|
Vantage Point (2008)
|
"Jittery, Bourne-style-lite mayhem, with edits every one-half to one-third a second."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
56%
|
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
|
"Charlie's more unsavory activities spring from the same source tapped in Rock 'n' Roll High School by Clint Howard's Eaglebauer character."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
93%
|
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
|
"The character of Poppy is an entirely original female film protagonist, sort of a British working class version of Annie Hall."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
66%
|
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
|
"Gondry is the first director since School of Rock's Richard Linklater to fully capture Black's truculent charm and actually make it - charming."
|
Pam Grady
|
|
86%
|
Beaufort (2008)
|
"Announces to North American audiences a major new talent in the form of 39-year-old writer-director Joseph Cedar."
|
Richard Horgan
|
|
70%
|
Definitely, Maybe (2008)
|
"By trading in metaphor and parallel structure, makes a compelling allegorical statement about just how stuck in a rut we collectively feel our nation is."
|
Brent Simon
|
87%
24%
91%
85%
45%
40%
