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86%
|
Last Call at the Oasis (2012)
|
"Startling statistics and memorable personalities that leave a distressing impression--if not complete understanding--of the decline of the world's water supply."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
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36%
|
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
|
"The plot, dialogue, action and humor all fly at a wicked pace, but Michael Bay keeps tight control, choreographing the combat especially so that's it's clear and engaging."
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Annlee Ellingson
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|
——
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Sex Crimes Unit ()
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"Unfortunately, primetime dramas have rendered the film rather dry by comparison, and the filmmaking style, coupled with logistical limitations, keeps the viewer at a distance."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
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80%
|
Familiar Ground ()
|
"With a synth-pop soundtrack against a dreary winter backdrop, Stephane Lafleur crafts a sharply funny portrait of prosaic life that's not without moments of light and magic."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
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90%
|
The Yellow Sea (2011)
|
"A seriously exciting film, a pulse-checking visceral experience that will have you questioning when, if ever, you saw car chases and butchering skills quite this inventive."
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Elliot V. Kotek
|
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98%
|
The Artist (2011)
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"Irresistibly delightful... visually sly... Even if all its dialogue is written on English intertitles, The Artist sings to life, maintaining a brisk rhythm and too much heart to be dismissed as kitsch."
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Aaron Hillis
|
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44%
|
Bad Teacher (2011)
|
"Bad Teacher isn't really bad enough. The R-rated elements don't jibe with the otherwise PG-13 tone of the film."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
|
13%
|
The Big Bang (2011)
|
"Film noir for physics geeks, The Big Bang ... is a clever, if relentlessly dramatic (despite stabs at levity), existential detective story."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
|
——
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Escort in Love (Nessuno mi può giudicare) ()
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"A familiar scenario packaged in an Italian sitcom sensibility nonetheless exudes charm while touching on some of the more pressing issues of contemporary Western society."
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Annlee Ellingson
|
|
——
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How to Cheat ()
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"How to Cheat commits the viewer to the emotional rollercoaster of the characters in one of the most relevant and eloquent portraits of modern marriage to date"
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Elliot V. Kotek
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|
——
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Renée ()
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"The lasting effect of Renée is undeniable, and the sharing of her story is not only earnest but salient and meaningful."
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Elliot V. Kotek
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——
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Hot Coffee (2011)
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"Saladoff's potentially game-changing documentary will knock you backwards and change your perception of what you thought you knew about your civil rights"
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Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
——
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To Be Heard ()
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"The verite style of the filmmaking refuses to massage the footage and over time reveals the subjects' true realities, egos, compulsions and confidences."
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Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
76%
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012)
|
"A marvelous and moving work of art we need to talk about."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
49%
|
Sleeping Beauty (2011)
|
"A rich, thorny and haunting portrait of female self-searching through self-negation (or more accurately, why liberation cannot be found in passivity) that comes couched in an abstract, psychosexual nightmare."
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Aaron Hillis
|
|
93%
|
Drive (2011)
|
"A choice ride that turns every corner like it's on rails. Refn is a thrilling composer of clean, widescreen geometry and abstract tableaux, turning Driver's bloody, messy descent into hell into a glowingly lit tapestry of memorable, screen-filling faces."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
77%
|
Melancholia (2011)
|
"The best film screened at Cannes ... Visually breathtaking ... The intimacy and rich, award-worthy performances ultimately sell this meditation on overwhelming angst as a supreme, matured step forward for von Trier."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
93%
|
Midnight in Paris (2011)
|
"A clever crowd-pleaser... In the surrogate Allen role, the typically zonked Owen Wilson smartly underplays with puppy-dog drollness..."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
84%
|
The Tree of Life (2011)
|
"It's a singularly adventurous film experience that invites intellectual hyperbole, yet its overstretched ambitions also make for Malick's least emotionally satisfying work to date."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
86%
|
Fubar: Balls to the Wall (2011)
|
"The sheer madness that is Fubar II will only cement the cult status the Fubar franchise holds over our Northern neighbors. "
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
56%
|
Septien (2011)
|
"The limited information that beckons us into the film is finessed with a sort-of mastery. This reviewer was willing to ride into the trauma, wondering if the emotional weather would clear."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
58%
|
Scream 4 (2011)
|
"Scream 4 knows what it is and doesn't create pretense around its efforts. The opening elicits laughter sure to summon the start of summer with a sense of playful slicing."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
98%
|
The Loved Ones (2012)
|
"Delivering what is sure to be a cult favorite, Byrne paces the film's plot points with the poise of a professional, and the result is a brilliant balance of horror, humor, schlock and shtick."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
68%
|
Defendor (2009)
|
"Despite the film's simplicities and the stereotypes inherent in any superhero flick, the pure intentions of the characters enable the audience to rally around the child-like vigilante."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
85%
|
Blessed (2009)
|
"The film is gut-wrenching in its honesty, and, while its score might be a touch overwrought, the performances secure the picture's absolute integrity as a work of art."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
——
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12th & Delaware ()
|
"Ewing and Grady keep their opinions, personalities and presence absolutely absent from the documentary, allowing the voices of the subjects to represent both sides of the issues at hand."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
89%
|
Waiting for Superman (2010)
|
"Superman seems set to start schooling audiences nationwide. Just as The Cove began its Oscar run at Sundance, Guggenheim's tour de force demands similar grades."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
100%
|
Enemies of the People (2010)
|
"The slow, painful truth is fully revealed in this burning documentary crafted courageously by Sambath and his co-director Lemkin. "
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
57%
|
Bran Nue Dae (2010)
|
"Even as Bran Nue Dae raises serious indigenous issues - deaths in police custody, land grabs, alcoholism - it never becomes inaccessible to the audience."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
100%
|
Precious Life (2011)
|
"As a personal story about a fundamentalist family finding strength to accept help from an adversary who challenges their preconceptions, the film is a stirring success."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
79%
|
Small Town Murder Songs (2011)
|
"Gass-Donnelly displays such consummate confidence with the pacing of the film and the first-class performances of his cast that we must keep watch for whatever the helmer delivers next."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
66%
|
Tamara Drewe (2010)
|
"Tamara Drewe jovially exploits the premise of a former ugly duckling returning to the bucolic town of her adolescence."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
67%
|
Jack Goes Boating (2010)
|
"Showing much of the timing and realism that's made him one of the most watchable actors of our generation, Hoffman has crafted a slow-burning, cinematic sojourn in which each of his actors finds the space to stand out."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
——
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The Space Between (2011)
|
"Fine manages to skillfully capture the ashen confusion of the time with understated hopefulness rather than the hysteria that often accompanies cinema's coverage of 9/11."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
83%
|
Caught Inside (2012)
|
"Catches you on the edge of your seat and holds you there. That you fully believe one man can effectively intimidate an entire crew is a testament to its success."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
90%
|
The Fighter (2010)
|
"With these heartfelt characters and the conflict they impart on their world and each other, Paramount has picked a film that could bruise the box office. Bale is mesmerizing."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
29%
|
Atletu (The Athlete) ()
|
"As Bikila, Lakew is a force of nature, so natural in the role that he seems to have been born to play it. "
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
——
|
Ginny Ruffner: A Not So Still Life (2010)
|
"Ruffner's work is beautiful and has been captured with stunning clarity, supported by an innovative website at which more of her art can be experienced. "
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
88%
|
The Desert Of Forbidden Art (2011)
|
"The documentary is as much about Soviet identity in the 1930s as it is about the museum in Nukus, and creates awareness for a legacy largely unknown and not fully appreciated."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
99%
|
Bill Cunningham New York (2011)
|
"Cunningham is an outgoing introvert in a world of extroverted exhibitionism.To say the film, or rather Bill himself, is endearing, is to say Marcel Marceau was kind of quiet."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
66%
|
Insidious (2011)
|
"From minute one of the opening credits, you know you're in for an old-fashioned scare. This is the very sort of genre film that should be made by indie filmmakers."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
98%
|
Born To Be Wild (2011)
|
"The use of IMAX raises educational content to a level of marvel and wonder, and the über-adorable animals make Born to Be Wild 3D worth babysitting your sister's kids."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
73%
|
Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja (2011)
|
"Corben's formula for finding fun in documentary form is matched by a limited number of filmmakers. Square Grouper is sure to plant wide smiles on many festival faces."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
92%
|
Incendies (2011)
|
"The performances are honest and engaging, and the unveiling of the story's scorching truths will keep audiences gasping for air."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
45%
|
The Perfect Host (2011)
|
"A surprising indie film that offers a lot more than it asks, it will certainly exceed expectations... Hyde Pierce is deliciously devilish."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
100%
|
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2011)
|
"Fascinating and informative, Everyday Sunshine is a declarative account of a band whose ability to remain undefined led to their unresolved status today."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
61%
|
Water for Elephants (2011)
|
"The filmmaker adapted the project without the usual pretense... This is a film for the masses, a little taste of the big top played out with a sense of the fantastic."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
96%
|
Cameraman: The Life And Work Of Jack Cardiff (2011)
|
"McCall deftly captures the cinematographer who made his mark on cinema's landscape for 70 years... if necessity is the mother of invention, perhaps Cardiff is the father."
|
Elliot V. Kotek
|
|
75%
|
Everything Must Go (2011)
|
"Just when Will Ferrell was beginning to wear out his welcome with his buffoonish man-child act, he dials it down to deliver a surprisingly tender and moving turn in the drama Everything Must Go."
|
Barrett Hooper
|
|
85%
|
Under The Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2011)
|
"A slick documentary that juxtaposes the history, politics and cultural influence of the ever-popular Parker Brothers game with brief profiles of the people who play it."
|
Annlee Ellingson
|
74%
78%
61%
52%
26%
4%
