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Movie Retriever

Movie Retriever is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Brian Tallerico.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Buried (2010) Brian Tallerico With career-best work from Ryan Reynolds, Buried will find a loyal, devoted audience.
Posted Sep 24, 2010  Edit critic review
Easy A (2010) Brian Tallerico A comedy with a mega-talented lead star and wonderful supporting actors all left adrift by a script that vacillates between satire and social commentary but never forgets to remind you that its characters are oh-so-clever.
Posted Sep 17, 2010  Edit critic review
Centurion (2010) Brian Tallerico Features a commitment to craft that helps overcome issues of storytelling by providing a visceral, violent experience designed to get you in your gut and bones more than in your heart or head.
Posted Sep 17, 2010  Edit critic review
Soul Kitchen (2009) Brian Tallerico A great little character-driven comedy, merely another excellent film from a spectacular director who would be a household name if foreign films got the audience they deserved in this country.
Posted Sep 10, 2010  Edit critic review
Lovely, Still (2008) Brian Tallerico There's nothing minor about the central performances in this film, even if they're in the pursuit of something that just doesn't quite work overall.
Posted Sep 10, 2010  Edit critic review
The American (2010) Brian Tallerico A piece that feels more like foreign films of the 1960s and 1970s than what viewers would expect from an Oscar winner in 2010. No wonder it's getting buried. It's too good.
Posted Sep 01, 2010  Edit critic review
Takers (2010) Brian Tallerico An above-average heist thriller that's undone by poor screenwriting and worse post-production.
Posted Aug 29, 2010  Edit critic review
Mesrine: Part 1 - Death Instinct (2008) Brian Tallerico A few notable set-pieces and the incredible performance by Cassel save Killer Instinct from the traps it sets for itself.
Posted Aug 25, 2010  Edit critic review
Cairo Time (2009) Brian Tallerico A subtle, quiet, slow film that succeeds in not only burrowing under your skin and into your mind during its running time but has a remarkable ability to stay there for days and weeks afterward.
Posted Aug 20, 2010  Edit critic review
Mao's Last Dancer (2009) Brian Tallerico A well-intentioned slice of melodrama but all the good intentions in the world can't hide the film's many, many flaws.
Posted Aug 20, 2010  Edit critic review
Lottery Ticket (2010) Brian Tallerico The very likable young leads salvage this broad comedy from complete disaster but you know you're in trouble when Bow Wow is the best thing about a movie.
Posted Aug 20, 2010  Edit critic review
The Extra Man (2010) Brian Tallerico Pulcini & Berman's work cuts its own path through the archetypes and delivers a unique comedy in the process.
Posted Aug 13, 2010  Edit critic review
The Expendables (2010) Brian Tallerico There's nothing wrong with a guilty pleasure. We all have them: Those movies that we know suck that we can't help but watch on cable every time they come on. But they still SUCK.
Posted Aug 13, 2010  Edit critic review
Eat Pray Love (2010) Brian Tallerico Despite its flaws, an intelligent, beautiful-looking film about the power of one person to radically change the life of another is an unexpected treat in a season of mindless entertainment.
Posted Aug 13, 2010  Edit critic review
The Other Guys (2010) Brian Tallerico The flaws don't outweigh the fact that most of The Other Guys is straight-up funny.
Posted Aug 06, 2010  Edit critic review
Cropsey (2009) Brian Tallerico Brancaccio and Zeman don't offer any easy answers, merely throwing all of the many issues of the story of Cropsey into a melting pot of danger, terror, and secrecy.
Posted Aug 06, 2010  Edit critic review
Middle Men (2009) Brian Tallerico Middle Men would be lucky to rise to the median of a list of the films released in 2010. It's actually pretty far below "middle."
Posted Aug 06, 2010  Edit critic review
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009) Brian Tallerico With so many genre films cluttering themselves with personality-less victims, it's rarer than ever to see a movie that hearkens back to a day when the actors and their characters were as important as the twists, turns, and gore.
Posted Aug 06, 2010  Edit critic review
Charlie St. Cloud (2010) Brian Tallerico There's a decent drama buried in Charlie St. Cloud if the writers and director had the nerve to remove the film of all of its supernatural tricks, all of which feel much more maudlin than genuine.
Posted Jul 30, 2010  Edit critic review
3/4
Best Worst Movie (2009) Brian Tallerico It's not often that a behind-the-scenes documentary is more entertaining than the movie itself but Best Worst Movie is not your typical Hollywood tale. There's nothing typical about Troll 2.
Posted Jul 30, 2010  Edit critic review
Dinner for Schmucks (2010) Brian Tallerico The blend of styles with Rudd's everyman realism, Roach's pedestrian visual sense, and the script's "wacky" humor results in a stew of a comedy in which the divergent ingredients never gel into one coherent movie dish.
Posted Jul 30, 2010  Edit critic review
Countdown to Zero (2010) Brian Tallerico This is easily the scariest movie of the year, but like a lot of horror films, it goes a bit past the line that it needed to in order to make its point and loses its effectiveness through overkill.
Posted Jul 30, 2010  Edit critic review
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (2009) Brian Tallerico An amazing glimpse into not only what could have been but how easy it is for a filmmaker to go down the rabbit hole into his own project-killing obsessive behavior.
Posted Jul 16, 2010  Edit critic review
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) Brian Tallerico A film obsessed with the idea of magic that doesn't bother to stop and create any of its own.
Posted Jul 14, 2010  Edit critic review
Inception (2010) Brian Tallerico Inception is a film about a man who wants to implant an idea in another man's mind. The reason it's a masterpiece is because Christopher Nolan somehow found his way into mine.
Posted Jul 14, 2010  Edit critic review
Predators (2010) Brian Tallerico Almost a quarter-century after the B-movie that launched an improbable franchise, we get a reboot that simply spins it wheels, content to deliver exactly what most will expect from it and absolutely nothing more.
Posted Jul 09, 2010  Edit critic review
The Kids Are All Right (2010) Brian Tallerico It's a great piece of filmmaking because of its characters, all of whom feel genuine and three-dimensional in ways that typical screenwriting fails to pull off.
Posted Jul 09, 2010  Edit critic review
Rec 2 (2009) Brian Tallerico You'd be advised to forget [REC] 2 even exists. Go watch the original if you've never seen it or even check out Quarantine. You'll be much better off.
Posted Jul 09, 2010  Edit critic review
The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009) Brian Tallerico I almost enjoyed the economy of the thrills more than the density of the first movie. And the performances the second time around are more accomplished as Rapace and Nyqvist clearly know their characters inside and out.
Posted Jul 09, 2010  Edit critic review
Mission Street Rhapsody (2009) Brian Tallerico A well-intentioned film that nonetheless falls head first into the kind of surface-level clichs and stereotypes that are usually reserved for basic cable TV movies.
Posted Jul 09, 2010  Edit critic review
Let's Talk About the Rain (2007) Brian Tallerico May be a light lunch compared to the full meal of some other recent French offerings but it still tastes damn good.
Posted Jul 07, 2010  Edit critic review
Love Ranch (2010) Brian Tallerico The kind of unabashed embarrassment that should send people to their attorneys to see if there's any legal way to get it removed from their pages on IMDB, Wikipedia, and the like.
Posted Jun 30, 2010  Edit critic review
Sweetgrass (2009) Brian Tallerico Even viewers caught unaware of just how natural this documentary is could easily find themselves mesmerized by its unique charms.
Posted Jun 28, 2010  Edit critic review
Cyrus (2010) Brian Tallerico A heartbreakingly real and hilarious character study about a man trying to put the pieces back together and discovering one of the new ones in his life doesn't quite fit. Don't miss it.
Posted Jun 26, 2010  Edit critic review
The Killer Inside Me (2010) Brian Tallerico If you're a noir fan interested in seeing a unique modern take on the timeless genre, don't miss this challenging but often fascinating drama.
Posted Jun 26, 2010  Edit critic review
I Am Love (2009) Brian Tallerico I Am Love is a raving piece of filmmaking but its technical beauty is in the service of a story that too often feels clichd and contrived.
Posted Jun 26, 2010  Edit critic review
Knight and Day (2010) Brian Tallerico One of those films that constantly feels like it could have and should have been better as it threatens to come together but doesn't quite do so.
Posted Jun 23, 2010  Edit critic review
Jonah Hex (2010) Brian Tallerico It plays like a film that's not done yet, as if the editor hated watching it repeatedly and simply refused to finish.
Posted Jun 18, 2010  Edit critic review
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) Brian Tallerico A fascinating, enlightening look at the dark side of show business and the issues that come with being a part of it for decades.
Posted Jun 18, 2010  Edit critic review
The Karate Kid (2010) Brian Tallerico A constant fight of one kick forward, one kick backward when it comes to overall quality but it ends on the front foot and so barely works by virtue of leaving the audience with a smile on their face.
Posted Jun 11, 2010  Edit critic review
Ondine (2009) Brian Tallerico It's a film that leaves me very conflicted in that I wish there were more like it in theory and I love star Colin Farrell's recent career decisions, but a film cannot be judged on intentions and Ondine simply doesn't float.
Posted Jun 11, 2010  Edit critic review
Solitary Man (2009) Brian Tallerico Solitary Man may be about a man who has found himself on his own, but it features one of the best ensemble performances of the year. Don't miss it.
Posted Jun 11, 2010  Edit critic review
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009) Brian Tallerico Sequelitis is apparently not purely an American phenomenon.
Posted Jun 11, 2010  Edit critic review
Micmacs (2009) Brian Tallerico I'm not ready in the current marketplace of boring junk to yet say that a movie can be TOO clever. Although Micmacs sure tests that theory.
Posted Jun 04, 2010  Edit critic review
Marmaduke (2010) Brian Tallerico This is a film that begins and ends with a fart joke. And those are two of the highlights.
Posted Jun 04, 2010  Edit critic review
Splice (2009) Brian Tallerico The horror genre needs more films like this one; works made by filmmakers willing to take chances and deliver something to viewers that they would never expect.
Posted Jun 04, 2010  Edit critic review
Holy Rollers (2010) Brian Tallerico It feels like too many character corners were cut, removing the depth that would make the proceedings believable, and leaving only the clich.
Posted Jun 04, 2010  Edit critic review
Metropolis (1927) Brian Tallerico If it comes anywhere near your town, go see it and thank the movie Gods that it even exists. There's no star rating high enough.
Posted Jun 04, 2010  Edit critic review
The City of Your Final Destination (2007) Brian Tallerico The story is nonexistent and the dialogue so self-conscious that the entire proceeding becomes as numbing as someone reading a mediocre book aloud.
Posted May 29, 2010  Edit critic review
Survival of the Dead (2009) Brian Tallerico Like a zombie version of his previous movies %u2013 feeding off what came before and just not quite all there.
Posted May 29, 2010  Edit critic review
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