|
49%
|
Pain & Gain (2013)
|
"For Michael Bay fans, Pain & Gain may be his masterpiece, where the director's collision of testosterone-fueled action and blunt wits is perfectly in keeping with the subject."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013)
|
"The redundant violence, no matter how loud and brutal it can be, lacks both tension and imagination. We get plenty of bangs without any of the requisite foreplay."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
88%
|
Django Unchained (2012)
|
"Samuel L. Jackson's wicked house slave Stephen is the raison d'être for Django Unchained. The layered and loaded Uncle Tom figure speaks to Jackson's legacy of shuckin' and deconstructin' black stereotypes with Tarantino."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
93%
|
Amour (2012)
|
"If Haneke has any real interest in keeping art cinema alive, he should take some notes from the Queensbridge rapper Nas."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
93%
|
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
|
"Zero Dark Thirty sneaks up on you, hits the mark and then dares to ask whether it was worth it."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
92%
|
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
|
"Like a production of When Harry Met Sally put on by the characters from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Silver Linings uses cliches like a straight-jacket, containing an otherwise nutty film and making it safe for audiences to approach."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
89%
|
Lincoln (2012)
|
"Lincoln could abolish Argo's Oscar hopes."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
78%
|
Flight (2012)
|
"Despite Washington's monumental performance, Flight doesn't get enough mileage out of its addiction drama."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"Few things get better with age. Among the things that do: a good Scotch and, in his latest incarnation, Bond... James Bond."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
66%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012)
|
"A three-hour grind playing connect the dots. All the while, you'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop, where everyone realizes that they are actually just beta testing various programs in the Matrix."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"While Skyfall might explore the past, its real success is in looking to the future; the movie promises that James Bond will return, and, as a result, the whole franchise feels re-energized, relevant and ready for action."
|
Tom Hawker
|
|
96%
|
Argo (2012)
|
"Politically relevant but free of the usual cynicism and controversy that typically makes such movies a downer for general audiences, Ben Affleck's dramatic thriller is a perfectly worthwhile piece of Oscar-friendly entertainment."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
93%
|
Looper (2012)
|
"Boasts Rian Johnson's reverence for cinema past while taking genre movies into a promising future. Looper is that rare thriller that always stays ahead of its audience. You may feel like you need a time machine just to catch up to it."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
85%
|
The Master (2012)
|
""Memories, photographs and 70MM film all contribute to a "timeless" classic. Best film of the year? Please. The Master is out to conquer so much more."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
98%
|
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
|
"It delves deeper into the Corleone mythology, past the romanticism, to deliver an epic and intelligent tragedy."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
30%
|
Total Recall (2012)
|
"Buried in the plot are Dick-ian themes of class mobility, where new memories offer an alternative past and a whole other identity. But Wiseman's Total Recall doesn't bother much with philosophical issues, preferring just to blow things up real good."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
88%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
|
"Nolan's final chapter is flawed, incoherent and self-serious, all of which are inherent traits to the entire series. Other traits shared with the series are the bouts of wit, sweeping performances, epic scope and rousing spectacle."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
73%
|
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
|
"Surprises and entertains but can't shake the feeling that it's as engineered as those radioactive spiders."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
74%
|
Prometheus (2012)
|
"Recycled Ridley Scott is still better than most of the garbage coming out today."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
57%
|
The Dictator (2012)
|
"He may be playing a fascist but Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator is democratically offensive."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
92%
|
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
|
"It's easy to turn NIck Fury's blind eye to the movie's flaws because at the end of the day The Avengers packs big explosions, bigger personalities and Hulk-sized punch lines."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
84%
|
The Hunger Games (2012)
|
"Twilight this is not, and Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen ain't Bella lusting after Edward. Instead, you would imagine the flinty Katniss driving a stake through Edward's pale, sentimental ass."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
26%
|
This Means War (2012)
|
"This is escapist entertainment at its cheapest, with d--- jokes and all. What sells it are the performances from a cast who are far more talented than the movie and its director deserve."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
53%
|
Safe House (2012)
|
"Takes Bourne's ingenuity and turns it into formula."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
79%
|
The Grey (2012)
|
"The Grey is superficial existentialism that hopes for the same goodwill that benefited another recent bad-movie-turned-pop-art: Drive."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
77%
|
War Horse (2011)
|
"If you want some of that old Spielberg magic, go see Tintin instead."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
71%
|
Carnage (2011)
|
"Carnage smacks us in the face with our own contradictions."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
86%
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
|
"Fincher fires on all cylinders to save this story from itself, exhibiting the propulsive energy of Fight Club and the storytelling mastery of Zodiac and The Social Network."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
80%
|
Young Adult (2011)
|
"Watching Charlene Theron prep her face in unflattering detail, with foundation, extensions and god knows what else, you can't help but think about Dr. Frankenstein putting together his monster."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
83%
|
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
|
"A cold, dispassionate mystery that finds its thrills in period details and workman-like process."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
78%
|
A Dangerous Method (2011)
|
"A Dangerous Method will feel like Cronenberg in a corset. The director sticks so close to the documented facts that there is little room to breathe, making for a smart film that feels a bit too literary."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
43%
|
J. Edgar (2011)
|
"Easily the best thing Eastwood has done in years, though that's not exactly praise considering the director's recent years include such turgid duds like Gran Torino, Invictus and Hereafter."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
36%
|
In Time (2011)
|
"The rather clever concept is squandered in a low-rent action movie that really ends up being a waste of our time."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
90%
|
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
|
"It's not hard to see why Martha Marcy May Marlene was such a huge hit at Sundance, where competence breeds hype and a strong performance becomes synonymous with a strong movie."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
85%
|
The Ides of March (2011)
|
"A multi-faceted drama that's simple enough for the masses but accomplished enough that few critics could succeed in smearing it."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
94%
|
Moneyball (2011)
|
"Moneyball easily stands among the finest baseball movies around, though I admit that's not saying a whole lot since competition in that category is fairly light."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
93%
|
Drive (2011)
|
"Drive is a guy's movie that runs circles around most of the competition but things get predictable and the film downshifts to neutral as if it has nowhere to go and ain't in much of a hurry to get there."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
84%
|
Contagion (2011)
|
"Contagion is a thrill that gets under your skin and keeps you on your toes. In fact, you may start curling up in your seat just to keep a distance from the person sitting next to you."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
83%
|
Warrior (2011)
|
"The coincidences and melodrama are piled on as thick as Tom Hardy's neck muscles, but, thankfully, the movie, and even Hardy himself, shoulders it. "
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
82%
|
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
|
"Director Rupert Wyatt wisely keeps the scenes busy and the momentum building so that you would barely notice all the logistical nonsense on-screen."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
44%
|
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
|
"Director Jon Favreau certainly puts up a valiant effort to make it all gel but he's working with material from six credited writers. The Frankenstein-ish Cowboys & Aliens feels like it has been pieced together from spare bits."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
79%
|
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
|
"The light touch of self-parody serves the movie well."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
70%
|
Friends With Benefits (2011)
|
"The problem with Friends with Benefits is that its attempts to be more daring and clever than the average rom-com feel earnest and pretentious."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
35%
|
Larry Crowne (2011)
|
"It's a movie about starting over when you're past your prime, a message that must also be an analogy for its aging stars. But it only proves that some stars should just bow out when they have nothing else going for them."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
36%
|
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
|
"Spatial cohesion seems to be lost on director Michael Bay, since no one can make heads or tails of his climactic smackdowns."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
82%
|
Super 8 (2011)
|
"Super 8 is a welcome dose of nostalgia, since we're reminded that CGI-heavy disaster flicks can still maintain essential ingredients like character and heart."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
84%
|
The Tree of Life (2011)
|
"Terrence Malick has earned the right to preach from some celestial pedestal, though preaching isn't exactly what he does. It's more like reflecting life's mysteries through a stained-glass window."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
33%
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
|
"We can't put much blame on director Rob Marshall, who was handed a series that made a splash from the get-go but sank long before arriving on Stranger Tides."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
92%
|
Source Code (2011)
|
"Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan are fine actors stuck doing routines. They don't have the chemistry to make Source Code more than just a half-assed film formula."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
|
23%
|
Sucker Punch (2011)
|
"The movie adopts an imaginary-world-inside-an-imaginary-world framework that will have audiences instantly recollecting Inception's dream-within-a-dream. Now all we need is for Leonardo DiCaprio to infiltrate Snyder's dream world and plant a better movie."
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
|
