|
65%
|
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
|
"Little more than a middling variation on gangster thematics, better explored in The Sopranos and elsewhere."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
92%
|
Frost/Nixon (2008)
|
"An indisputably superb entertainment with a dubious claim to veritas."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
61%
|
The Reader (2008)
|
"One of the most eloquent documents of personal awakening ever to be committed to celluloid."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
78%
|
Doubt (2008)
|
"Judging it against the play may be unfair; taken on its own merits as a pop entertainment, Doubt, the movie, is far from a complete waste of time."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
57%
|
Defiance (2009)
|
"Undercuts its own dramatic concerns by alternating heavy-handed moralism with the style of contemporary action franchises, dulling and smoothing out the horrifying edges of murder."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
98%
|
The Wrestler (2008)
|
"The slow-burning engine at the heart of the film is Rourke, whose tender, subtle turn is a revelation."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
68%
|
Revolutionary Road (2008)
|
"An actors' showcase for its iconic duo...and both have grown impressively since they last swooned shipside."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
55%
|
Australia (2008)
|
"A wildly enjoyable experience, reconstituting some of the great traditions of the art form in engaging, unexpected ways."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
94%
|
Milk (2008)
|
"In Van Sant's hands, it's both a story for the ages, and a story for our age."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
73%
|
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
|
"The most important word in the title of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is "curious.""
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
88%
|
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
|
"Watching this sublime actress, utilizing a minimum of text and a slow-burn intensity, is one of the more exhilarating experiences to be had in a cinema"
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
94%
|
Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One) (2006)
|
"Easily one of the best films of the year."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
64%
|
Quantum of Solace (2008)
|
"Owes more of a karmic debt, in stylistic terms, to Paul Greengrass' Bourne Supremacy than to the amused elegance of Sean Connery."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
65%
|
The Kite Runner (2007)
|
"Fights a losing battle to reconcile authenticity with performances that vary widely in quality."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
89%
|
The Savages (2007)
|
"Eloquently makes the case that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are the most dextrous actors of their generation."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
94%
|
Juno (2007)
|
"A quirky comic indie with a too-too-clever screenplay, dialogue that seems tailored to the club-kid generation, and a sentimental streak a mile wide."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
36%
|
Southland Tales (2007)
|
"If Mulholland Drive had a prettier, younger, and developmentally-challenged sister, it would be Southland Tales."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
88%
|
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
|
"The real kudos should go to screenwriter Kelly Masterson, who provocatively mixed a crime drama premise into a film exploring the legacy of damage family members impose upon one another."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
94%
|
No Country for Old Men (2007)
|
"Like The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction and other films that shift paradigms in mid-stream, there's more happening than meets the eye....Stark and spare, it's often a gasp-inducing, armrest-clutching experience."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
90%
|
Michael Clayton (2007)
|
"In some scenes, Clayton is the kick in the pants the whodunit genre desperately needs"
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
82%
|
Into the Wild (2007)
|
"Contrary to the lessons we learned in Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, large bears will not always eat irritating hippie man-children. Damn shame."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
53%
|
Across the Universe (2007)
|
"The thin narrative wobbles like an alcoholic after last call."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
91%
|
Hairspray (2007)
|
"A film that nearly screams its desire to please in every frame; in its very design, it demands your attention, has you tapping your toes before the opening montage is through, and frames its soft messages of tolerance so broadly that only Hitler could be"
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
81%
|
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
|
"In this fourth film, John McClane becomes a retrofitted icon; unadorned and simple, brutally back-to-basic, he's an action hero for an America uncomfortable with the rapid changes of the new millennium."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
97%
|
Once (2007)
|
"Astonishing...it cleaves through the conventions of the musical form, leaving the raw emotion but junking the showy glitz."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
71%
|
Boy Culture (2007)
|
"Brocka leaps into the small circle of leading queer filmmakers of our time, sculpting an unpredictable romance that is complex, sophisticated and thoughtful."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
87%
|
The Lookout (2007)
|
"This unlikely heist movie is really another showcase for rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
96%
|
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
|
"Too adult for children and too simplistic for most adults, it ultimately leaves us with some of the prettiest cinematic pictures of the year. And nothing more."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
74%
|
The Painted Veil (2006)
|
"[The] finest moments are the small, barely perceptible pinpricks of human cruelty...especially those induced by race, gender, and class."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
78%
|
Dreamgirls (2006)
|
"A triumph of execution, of a marvelous narrative and iconic characters, of a dazzling score and a winning production design."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
51%
|
The Fountain (2006)
|
"You have to look back to Malick or Kubrick to find an American filmmaker offering up such a challenging vision to a mainstream audience without apology."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
93%
|
Children of Men (2006)
|
"Whatever else may or may not work, Children of Men at least has this: a great idea. It is too bad, then, that the movie surrounding the idea is not equally great."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
65%
|
The History Boys (2006)
|
"The move to celluloid has defanged the piece, leaving a shaggy, smartassed and sentimental dramedy in its place."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
51%
|
For Your Consideration (2006)
|
"For Your Consideration feels under-cooked, with easy potshots at an indulgent Hollywood studio system and a pervasively dull atmosphere."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
87%
|
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
|
"Whitaker and McAvoy inhabit their roles so fully that the film around them transforms into a major document of 1970's cultural myopia."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
71%
|
The Science of Sleep (2006)
|
"Even though the visual fireworks of Gondry's mind keep you attentive, his clumsy stutterings about love and honesty are painfully underdeveloped."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
76%
|
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
|
"If fashion is indeed a special brand of terrorism, then Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), editrix of the fictional magazine Runway, is the Osama bin Laden of Fifth Avenue."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
91%
|
United 93 (2006)
|
"It has more to say about our collective failure, our rage, our sadness, our faith, our courage, our mistakes, and our regret than a million reviews (including this one)."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
57%
|
Kinky Boots (2006)
|
"Far too insubstantial to make any interesting use of its social agenda, and the easy answers it finds about prejudice and bigotry strain credibility."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
74%
|
Unknown White Male (2006)
|
"Suffers under a cloud of nostalgia and emotionality that turns the film's investigation into a fuzzy meditation on existence and memory."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
61%
|
The New World (2005)
|
"In Malick's hands, Pocahontas' story becomes a metaphoric seduction straight out of Nabokov."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
51%
|
The Producers (2005)
|
"Carries its lumpy theatrical bulk like a rucksack instead of as the dazzling firecracker it is."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
77%
|
Match Point (2005)
|
"A surprising return to form for the venerated director, recalling (if not matching) his best work from the 80's."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
35%
|
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
|
"Instead of revealing the inner sanctum of Japan's traditionalist heart, Geisha wades clumsily through a series of beautiful sets, hackneyed plots and stunning costumes."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
|
46%
|
Rent (2005)
|
"Heart is the core and foundation of Rent, and it is what powers the film past its flaws into a truly transformative experience."
|
Gabriel Shanks
|
72%
77%
61%
52%
26%
4%
