|
32%
|
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
|
"The film is visually spectacular, overlapping worlds of fantasy and reality until we're never quite sure what's real and what's not."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
71%
|
Fido (2007)
|
"... issues of race and class divide are very real, and as you watch Fido you can't help but make comparisons to our own social issues."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
88%
|
Man Push Cart (2006)
|
"This is a painstakingly rendered film about perserverance in the face of emptiness and seemingly insurmountable odds, and yet it isn't a cliched, all's well that ends well film."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
80%
|
Little Children (2006)
|
"At its heart, this is a story about the way we judge others, the way others judge us, and the way we judge ourselves."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
87%
|
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
|
"Whitaker carries the film on his broad shoulders, creating a realistic and frightening portrait of one of the world's most elusive and notorious figures."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
91%
|
The Italian (2007)
|
"Vanya is an immensely likable character; his courage, strength, and determination to succeed keep you on the edge of your seat and rooting for him."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
89%
|
Venus (2006)
|
"Venus is a sublimely directed and acted film, handling what could be seen as a rather controversial storyline -- an octogenarian man hitting on a twenty-something girl -- with ease and finesse."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
69%
|
Babel (2006)
|
"The beauty of Babel is how Ińnáritu weaves all these pieces together to create a unified picture of how language, communication barriers and cultural differences divide us, while simultaneously showing us the commonalities ..."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
59%
|
Red Doors (2005)
|
"You don't have to be Asian-American to appreciate the Wongs with all their flaws and missteps; this could be your family, or the family of anyone you know, and in that way the film crosses that invisible genre line in the sand."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
78%
|
Shi gan (Time) (2007)
|
"The problem with Time is that every character in the film is so fundamentally repulsive it's impossible to care about any of them."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
49%
|
Candy (2006)
|
"Candy doesn't just accidentally fall into addiction, she takes that path deliberately and doesn't want to get off the train, and we're never really given a reason to understand the whys and wherefores of her actions."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
20%
|
Suburban Mayhem (2006)
|
|
James Rocchi
|
|
53%
|
Penelope (2006)
|
"Penelope is a sweet, well-intentioned film, and it certainly appealed to the festival crowd I saw it with, but I'm just not sure after watching it, who exactly its audience is."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
——
|
The Dog Pound (La Perrera) (2006)
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
93%
|
This Is England (2007)
|
"Apart from its sharp screenplay, This is England derives its power from a pair of extraordinary performances."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
51%
|
For Your Consideration (2006)
|
"Although For Your Consideration works okay overall, and parts of it are very funny, it somehow lacks the spark that elevated Guest's earlier films from mere comedy to comedic brilliance ..."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
73%
|
The Bothersome Man (Den Brysomme mannen) (2007)
|
"A dark, nasty little movie that's never quite as deep or as clever as it imagines itself to be."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
99%
|
Deliver Us From Evil (2006)
|
"The great tragedy underlying the story of Father O'Grady is how many children might not have been victims, had Cardinal Roger Mahoney ... been more interested in protecting the children residing in his diocese rather than furthering his own ascendancy wit"
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
91%
|
The Italian (2007)
|
"Memorable for its constant, unexpected air of affection, and for the determined little boy at its center."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
79%
|
Summercamp! (2007)
|
"Summercamp! is a peek at what summer camp is really like for these kids, but it's honesty and its heart are ultimately what take it beyond mere documentation and into intimate and well-done documentary storytelling."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
——
|
The Way I Spent the End of the World (Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii) (2006)
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
90%
|
Rescue Dawn (2007)
|
"A disappointingly by-the-numbers effort from a filmmaker of rare and true genius."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
69%
|
Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin valot) (2007)
|
"You want to press pause, and just sit and take it in: The colors, the humor, the light, the surfaces; the simple pleasure of watching a master at work."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
82%
|
S&Man (2010)
|
"S&MAN may have too many themes flitting through it, but curious horror buffs will find it to be a knowing look at the lowest-yet-purest possible levels of a genre."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
93%
|
The Lives of Others (2006)
|
"What's most impressive about The Lives of Others is how smoothly it blends politics with both the traditional elements of thrillers and unabashed sentimentality."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
39%
|
Il Caimano (2006)
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
92%
|
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
|
"Maddin has created a world of pure imagination -- a fairy tale with the darkness and light of youth and the hopes and fears of adulthood."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
86%
|
Kráska v Nesnázích (Beauty in Trouble) (2006)
|
"A complex look at the power and changeability of intimate relationships."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
——
|
Rain Dogs ()
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
66%
|
Shortbus (2006)
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
83%
|
Out of the Blue (Aramoana) (2007)
|
"The film draws us into the terror of the townspeople as they realize they are under attack -- by one of their own, no less -- and that he is killing indiscriminately anyone who crosses his path."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
89%
|
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006)
|
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
80%
|
Born and Bred ()
|
"An Argentine film packed full of pain and suffering that nevertheless fails utterly to connect with its audience."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
68%
|
DarkBlueAlmostBlack (Azuloscurocasinegro) (Dark Blue Almost Black) (2007)
|
"There's an impressive, careful complexity to DarkBlueAlmostBlack that belies the inexperience of first-time director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo."
|
Martha Fischer
|
|
93%
|
Gwoemul (The Host) (2007)
|
"The Host may be lumpy and bumpy, but it's also one of the freshest monster movies we've had in decades -- and, to any creature-feature buff, a rocket-ride blast of the highest order."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
48%
|
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
|
"All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (is) the best modern slasher flick since Scream. In fact, I like All the Boys Love Mandy Lane a little more than Scream -- All the Boys may be knowing and post-modern as it begs, borrows and steals from films like Prom Night,"
|
James Rocchi
|
|
37%
|
Death of a President (2006)
|
"Death of a President isn't art, or even entertainment: It's the art-house, indie-doc equivalent of Snakes on a Plane, where someone thought of a single idea and then, it seems based on the end-resulting film, stopped thinking altogether."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
72%
|
American Hardcore (2006)
|
"Punk rock was never about sonic perfection: It was (and is) about emotional intensity, and American Hardcore has that in van loads, and delivers with onetwothreefour! power."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
11%
|
All The King's Men (2006)
|
"The problem with ... All the King's Men is that it's a political movie where we never really get a sense of politics."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
15%
|
The Wicker Man (2006)
|
"A half-compelling, half-goofy and half-redundant piece of remake revisionism. (Yes, that's three halves, but it's that weird a movie.)"
|
Scott Weinberg
|
|
74%
|
The Illusionist (2006)
|
"Like a fun house mirror, Burger's story is never quite what you think it is; just when you think you have things figured out, you don't ..."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
76%
|
Factotum (2006)
|
"... a well-made-but-marginal film about a well-liked-but-marginal figure in American letters."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
41%
|
Beerfest (2006)
|
" Beerfest is dumb as a box of rocks. It's a brawny, badly-shot mess that goes on a little too long. .... And I loved it -- or, rather, I laughed during it and was consistently amused by audacity and stupidity going hand in hand."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
48%
|
Beowulf & Grendel (2006)
|
"Gunnarsson has made a film that would make the real Beowulf and Grendel, if they ever really existed, quite proud."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
67%
|
Americanese ()
|
"Byler doesn't rush his storytelling; this is a deliberately paced, thoughtful meditation on racial issues and relationships ..."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
——
|
4 Stars ()
|
"Quatre Etoiles is somewhat controversial, to be sure, but ultimately Carré's charm and vivacity keep it from feeling overly dark."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
——
|
Shanghai Dreams (Qinghong) (2005)
|
"Viewed in the context of the progression of Wang's work ... Shanghai Dreams represents a progression of sorts in his attempt to portray migrants in China in a more sympathetic light ..."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
24%
|
Lady in the Water (2006)
|
"... Shyamalan tries here to take a storyteller's approach to telling what should be a visual tale, thus violating one of the chief tenets of filmmaking: Show, don't tell."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
74%
|
Monster House (2006)
|
"From his brilliantly twisted vision of the house itself to the casting of the voice actors for this film, Kenan couldn't have done a better job for his frosh film effort."
|
Kim Voynar
|
|
91%
|
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
|
"This is one of those rare films where all the elements come together to create this harmonious whole that just rings true every step of the way."
|
Kim Voynar
|
75%
22%
67%
85%
46%
40%
