Authors

Mixed Reviews

Rating Title | Year Quote Author
89%

In America (2003)

Ned Depew

83%

Avatar (2009)

"Who wouldn't want to be Na'vi, with their lithe, slim bodies, their grace, their unfailing marksmanship, their long braids that literally mind-meld with other creatures and the spirits of their ancestors, their abs and buns of steel, their cheekbones so h"

Jill Cozzi

74%

Sunshine (2007)

"Like the films it grandly and unabashedly pays homage to, Sunshine is serious science fiction for those who prefer to think of space's real possibilities rather than escape into fantasy."

Gabriel Shanks

94%

Three Kings (1999)

"With characters you can root for and a story that is both engaging and honest, Three Kings goes for the gold and comes out a winner."

Gabriel Shanks

83%

Grindhouse (2007)

"As a glimpse into the minds of two iconoclastic directors -- both of whom came of age watching the films they now pay homage to -- this retro-electric trip is sheer bliss."

Gabriel Shanks

66%

Miss Potter (2007)

"A perky style reminiscent of second-rate Jane Austen....a parable of female empowerment and class strife swathed in bustles and British witticisms."

Gabriel Shanks

56%

Keeping Mum (2006)

"Maggie Smith is like Mary Poppins...with a meat ax. Serial Grandmom strikes again."

Martin Scribbs

25%

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

"There is a natural limit as to how deeply any film, but especially a would-be summer blockbuster, can dig into radical ideas of faith and history. To his credit, Ron Howard hits that limit."

Martin Scribbs

44%

Casanova (2005)

Jill Cozzi and Gabriel Shanks

87%

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

"The Marlboro Man has reawakened as an archetype fully realized, brimming with ambivalence and complexity."

Gabriel Shanks

92%

Gabriel Over the White House (1933)

"Gabriel Over the White House encourages its viewers to live the fantasy of the philosopher-king, but never counts the costs of such a regime."

Martin Scribbs

65%

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

"If you guessed, 'a wheezy social problem drama,' you're right."

Martin Scribbs

76%

Transamerica (2006)

"Issues of gender differrence are employed only to reinforce less original dilemmas -- family dysfunction, dating woes and (eek) meeting the grandparents."

Gabriel Shanks

50%

The Dying Gaul (2005)

"Rarely has a film exposed the tender, brutal line between love and cruelty so magnificently."

Gabriel Shanks

89%

Paradise Now (2005)

"Essential cinema not because it answers questions about terrorist ideology, but because it discovers those questions are disturbingly similar to those about ourselves."

Gabriel Shanks

84%

Mysterious Skin (2005)

"A raw and unadorned look at child abuse and its idiosyncratic repercussions."

Gabriel Shanks

57%

Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

"Effortlessly nailing coquettish mannerisms and employing a hilarious come-hither vocal quality, Murphy is magnetizing, fascinating, and eminently likeable."

Gabriel Shanks

93%

Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)

Ned Depew

——

Last of the First ()

Jill Cozzi

68%

North Country (2005)

"An unusually taut film about misogyny that, for the most part, escapes the clichés that often bog down the battle of the sexes."

Gabriel Shanks

69%

The Adventures of Felix (Drôle de Félix) (2001)

Gabriel Shanks

63%

Proof (2005)

Ned Depew

94%

Proof (1991)

Ned Depew

65%

Dorian Blues (2005)

"Ultimately has little insight into the experience it chronicles. News flash: growing up gay is rough. Who did not know this already?"

Gabriel Shanks

88%

Broken Flowers (2005)

Ned Depew

84%

Mysterious Skin (2005)

Ned Depew

43%

Three Dancing Slaves (Le Clan) (2005)

"Darkly rich in character and mood, provocative in intent...but ultimately foiled by inattention to its own story."

Gabriel Shanks

33%

The Baxter (2005)

"It argues, ironically, that pretty people should only end up with pretty people, and the best we can do is hope that the temp with bad hair will find us equally nerd-hot."

Gabriel Shanks

38%

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

"Bombastic, whimsical, and delicious, The Brothers Grimm is really a comic ghost story wrapped in the postmodern folds of Shakespeare In Love."

Gabriel Shanks

26%

Fantastic Four (2005)

"You can feel the flopsweat of the screenwriters, laboring to make their jokes work and their scenes interesting."

Gabriel Shanks

63%

Ladies in Lavender (2005)

Ned Depew

60%

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Ned Depew

82%

Hustle & Flow (2005)

"Meditative and fierce, quiet and pounding, HUSTLE AND FLOW runs the board in a way that few films even attempt."

Gabriel Shanks

74%

War of the Worlds (2005)

"The man who gave human dimension to the effects of holocaust in Schindler's List has now prostituted human extermination for entertainment. Bread and circuses, indeed."

Gabriel Shanks

70%

Off the Map (2003)

Ned Depew

55%

Lords of Dogtown (2005)

"Reaches beyond the cinematic frame as far as it can to catch big air, giving its audience a you-are-there viscerality."

Gabriel Shanks

86%

Howl's Moving Castle (2005)

"The straightforward narrative constantly seems at odds with Miyazaki's dreamy landscapes and fanciful flourishes."

Gabriel Shanks

64%

Heights (2005)

"At times the film seems to have nothing more on its mind than the predictable rhythms of soap opera."

Gabriel Shanks

80%

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 3D (2013)

"there's a highly complex character in Anakin screaming to get out, and neither writer/director Lucas nor actor Christensen has the chops to set him free. "

Jill Cozzi

65%

Unleashed (Danny the Dog) (2005)

"...inside this particular piece of hard celluloid candy is a soft, sweet, gooey center."

Jill Cozzi

97%

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

"While Smartest Guys sometimes veers into C-Span2: The Movie territory, just then another shocking tidbit will drop to keep the fires stoked."

Martin Scribbs

39%

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

"Ultimately, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN can't change actual history. So instead, everyone has to grow a conscience...even the Crusaders have to feel bad about the Crusading."

Gabriel Shanks

39%

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

"It's clear that Ridley Scott set out here to make as uncontroversial a film about the Crusades as it's possible to do. "

Jill Cozzi

75%

Crash (2004)

"CRASH is about the racism we all carry within us, a fact of which Haggis feels he must remind us in almost every scene, lest we forget without his wise counsel. "

Jill Cozzi

80%

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 3D (2013)

"An unexpectedly sweet pleasure... a dark and gripping slice of space opera, it successfully avoids the pitfalls of its predecessors."

Gabriel Shanks

91%

After Innocence (2005)

Jill Cozzi

78%

Sin City (2005)

"As close to a museum-quality work of visual art as Hollywood as ever seen."

Gabriel Shanks

90%

Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

"With everything bigger and grander in Chow's singular universe, it's easy to overlook one small detail...that Kung Fu Hustle is less satisfying than its predecessors."

Gabriel Shanks

93%

Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai) (2004)

"Nothing more can be done to lay the concrete reality of poverty out for persons of conscience. Take and read."

Martin Scribbs

64%

Bride and Prejudice (2005)

"It's got moments, it's got performances to recommend, but they still haven't figured out how to create the magic of Bollywood in a form for the US market."

Gabriel Shanks

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