Tomato 3.5/4 |
Adventureland (2009) |
"Mottola's script perfectly captures man's lifelong pursuit of often-unattainable coolness. And cool girls." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Angels & Demons (2009) |
"Yes, the film is a helluva lot more entertaining than The Da Vinci Code. Yes, Tom Hanks and Robert Langdon have been to the barber." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Ashes of Time Redux (1994) |
"Wong's film is to be appreciated as poetry on film, an aphorism-filled ode to lovestruck dreamers, and for its beautifully rendered images." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Australia (2008) |
"An old-fashioned, screen-filling picture that is at times as rousing and untamed as the continent that it depicts." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Bolt (2008) |
"Other animated films that substitute brainless noise for sophistication could learn from `Bolt' what it means to be a picture that families will cherish for years to come." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) |
"A beautifully photographed film that hammers home its point (people are essentially good, Nazis are evil) repeatedly and simplistically." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
A Christmas Tale (2008) |
"For people who find that movies that are full of sentimentality and sympathy set off their gag reflex, this is the holiday movie for you." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Coraline (2009) |
"Selick creates a visual wonderland, with a timeless animation style that will make this a favorite for repeat viewings." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Crossing Over (2009) |
"The kind of issue-oriented film that will make you angry, mostly because it eschews any thought of serious debate in favor of liberal dogma." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 4/4 |
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) |
"Fincher's achievement is, in both quality and spirit, a film of great beauty, and it touched me deeply." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Defiance (2008) |
"An interesting story with handsome production values, but full of romantic contrivances and blockbuster conceits. This is the Holocaust at its action-hero worst." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Doubt (2008) |
"Despite Streep's histrionics, this transfer from stage drama to big screen lacks cinematic novelty. It always feels small when it should feel intimate." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Earth (2009) |
"Featuring edited moments from the popular Planet Earth as seen on Discovery Channel, apparently Disney's idea of going green is to recycle film footage for theaters." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1/4 |
Fast & Furious (2009) |
"There was a time when car movies used to be about the cars. The star of this picture is a computer, creating CGI car crashes. The picture is a phony." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Friday the 13th (2009) |
"A knockoff of a knockoff, with fresh young stars to take the movie money out of the pockets of fresh young moviegoers." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Gomorrah (2009) |
"The film's power in capturing some of the seemingly banal moments of everyday life punctuate with bang-bang fervor the human loss that accumulates later." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Gran Torino (2008) |
"Eastwood grunts, snarls, curses and gives young punks the stink-eye with precision, playing his most racist character ever for entertainment and comic purposes." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
I've Loved You So Long (2008) |
"Thomas and Zylberstein are exceptional beyond the film itself, which demands deliberation and made me wish that it delivered a more memorable payoff for that patience." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Informers (2009) |
"The Informers is grimy, nasty and graphic in its depictions of excess, and those are its good points." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Inkheart (2009) |
"A fantasy film intended as an adventure flick that requires this disclaimer: Do not operate heavy machinery after viewing." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The International (2009) |
"Realized by Tykwer as a convoluted roman a clef that, without much heart, seems to have been pumped up with action scenes." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Jonas Brothers - The Concert Experience (2009) |
"The Disney-created automatons have none of the charisma that Miley Cyrus showed in her 3-D concert film, and the lame 3-D effects make this flick priced for rip-offs at $15." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Milk (2008) |
"Why is there no openly gay Hollywood actor portraying any of the historical figures in this film? Because no American A-list film star has come out to be counted." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) |
"I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman takes on a whole new meaning at 50 feet tall." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) |
"Constantly brutal and consistently terrifying. The acting, that is." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) |
"The picture is exceedingly familiar, often humorous and has its share of flaws. So it's a lot like most family Christmases." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Notorious (2009) |
"I never bought into the chase-your-dream theme. The dream that Biggie sought was not anything that Martin Luther King would have taken pride in." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) |
"James takes a Segway, a cheesy mustache and the comic idea of Die Hard in a mall and bumbles his way to a lightweight but frequently funny film for the whole family." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Push (2009) |
"Oh, to have my brain wiped of Push. The smell of desperation on the part of filmmakers to create their own superhero franchise is rancid." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Quantum of Solace (2008) |
"A fantastic ride, but here's hoping that when James Bond returns, he can stir us while enjoying a shaken martini or two." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Rachel Getting Married (2008) |
"Demme's capturing of the communal spirit of weddings and harsh reunions creates something quite honest and refreshing, with an unusual energy that more films could use." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Reader (2008) |
"Kate Winslet is the sheer force that lifts a film with a provocative concept, but uneven execution, to become an absorbing drama about reconciling a nation's past." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Revolutionary Road (2008) |
"There is great anguish and great artistry in this showcase by Winslet. This is a film that hurts so good." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Shall We Kiss? (2008) |
"There's a lot to like about Shall We Kiss? once it really gets going, which is about one-third of the way into the picture." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) |
"At turns wonderfully entertaining, powerfully heartfelt and downright chilling as it delivers its message: Pay attention, life will tell you all you need to know." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Soloist (2009) |
"A colorful portrayal of friendship, the transformative power of music and an examination of Los Angeles homelessness that entertains as well as it informs." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Star Trek (2009) |
"Set phasers for fun. May this Trek live long and prosper." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
State of Play (2009) |
"Deliciously twisty and featuring a fiercely fun performance from Russell Crowe at its core, the picture is a welcome addition to the conspiracy-mad thriller genre." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Sunshine Cleaning (2009) |
"Desperately quirky, with desperately quirky characters. There are no characters in this film who aren't quirky. That's a problem." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Terminator Salvation (2009) |
"Great Terminator movies feature brains as well as entertainment value, brawn as well as fun, and James Cameron's innovations. Salvation has none of these things." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 1/4 |
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) |
"It doesn't seem right that a film with a story line about ecological disaster would be a piece of cinematic garbage." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Trouble the Water (2008) |
"The film is a lasting document on the subjects of Hurricane Katrina, tragedy and bureaucratic incompetence." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
Under the Sea 3D (2009) |
"The visuals are intimate and startling, comparable only to viewing a fantastic aquarium, and the aquarium is sitting in your lap." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
The Uninvited (2009) |
"A watered-down remake, but David Straithairn is an unintentional riot, looking more lost than most fathers of teen girls." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Watchmen (2009) |
"Snyder is slavishly reverential to the source work. Too faithful, to the point that film's greatest irony is that it lacks an identity of its own." |
Michael Smith |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Wrestler (2008) |
"You will feel pinned to your seat watching Rourke's characterization of a broken man in this modern take on the old-school boxing movie." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) |
"It's neither a clever comic-book flick nor an explosive summer blockbuster above the most pedestrian computer-generated level of destruction." |
Michael Smith |
Splat 2/4 |
Yes Man (2008) |
"Falls squarely into the category of seen-Carrey-do-this-before, and it's surprising how few laughs there are on his character's path to self-improvement." |
Michael Smith |
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