|
——
|
Blue Ruin ()
|
"The violence is unfailingly nasty, the humor suitably dark, and the human center holds due to Dwight's endearingly short-sighted, continually fallible, yet understandably just mission against those who squandered his own happiness decades before."
|
William Goss
|
|
91%
|
We Are What We Are ()
|
"We Are What We Are is a re-make that succeeds superbly while remaining true to the strange and sad intimately grotesque spirit of the original."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
——
|
The Congress ()
|
"...commits to Big Ideas of identity and integrity with Robin Wright remarkably anchoring it all as, well, herself. (Sort of.)"
|
William Goss
|
|
94%
|
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
|
"To call Inside Llewyn Davis a minor work doesn't render it any less a pleasure to watch; it's to admit that the film's melancholy depiction of the '60s folk scene in Greenwich Village (and beyond) may only improve in the interim."
|
William Goss
|
|
56%
|
The Bling Ring (2013)
|
"Doesn't explore the who's and why's of the scenario so much as the how's and why-not's."
|
William Goss
|
|
26%
|
Erased (2013)
|
"'Frances Ha' is the most purely enjoyable and sweet-tempered movie the exceptionally talented Baumbach has made his nearly two decades as a director. "
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
26%
|
Erased (2013)
|
"'Erased' is an entertaining enough action outing with plenty of well-done elements to recommend it."
|
Kate Erbland
|
|
86%
|
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
|
"What this movie does with a not-unfamiliar-to-some story is pretty clever, and the incarnation of a classic villain by British cheekbone virtuoso Benedict Cumberbatch is vivid and engaging."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
86%
|
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
|
"A glorious nostalgia trip, continuing the Star Trek reboot in style through a cunning meld of the best of 1980s action sci-fi with high-end 2013 glossiness."
|
James Clive-Matthews
|
|
46%
|
Pain & Gain (2013)
|
"Behind the lunatic corruption of Pain And Gain there's a kind of monstrous clarity. Do with it what you will."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
16%
|
Temptation (2013)
|
"Perry's film lags and limps along its two-hour runtime before finally going whole hog on one of the most dizzyingly weird final acts in recent cinematic history."
|
Kate Erbland
|
|
70%
|
Wrong (2013)
|
"Dupieux doesn't make films for everyone, but he does craft creative and abstract trips that are more than worth going on, even if they're fantastically difficult to explain to anyone who has yet to join the club."
|
Kate Erbland
|
|
28%
|
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
|
"When it comes to big and loud, this is the movie to beat for at least this week; what makes it entertaining is its unabashed wallow in these qualities ..."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
91%
|
Gimme The Loot (2013)
|
"... 'Gimme the Loot' isn't the kind of film where a lot happens, but that's it's small-scale magic ..."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
66%
|
Spring Breakers (2013)
|
"... 'Spring Breakers' is a gas to look at and to hear, and it's easily Korine's most successfully sustained work.""
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
69%
|
The Croods (2013)
|
"It may not be an instant animated classic, but it's a charmer that will leave the kids ... feeling warm and fuzzy ..."
|
Kate Erbland
|
|
47%
|
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
|
"... the action is often not unengaging, and Butler's better at swinging for faux Bruce Willis ..."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
43%
|
Admission (2013)
|
"If Fey ends up making movies as good as this one over the next few years, television's loss will have been cinema's gain, for real."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
86%
|
V/H/S/2 (2013)
|
"Just imagine the kind of anthology that might yet be born should all involved be held to the evident highlights of these films so far."
|
William Goss
|
|
82%
|
Sightseers (2013)
|
"Lowe and Oram get along with wonderfully neurotic chemistry, making it easy to root for them in spite of their newfound bloodlust."
|
William Goss
|
|
75%
|
Berberian Sound Studio (2013)
|
"The first two acts are funny and fun in their moody evocation of both the period and the genre, but right around when Gilderoy starts to lose his mind, Berberian begins to lose its way."
|
William Goss
|
|
79%
|
Miami Connection (2012)
|
"Miami Connection may not be a good film in any conventional sense, but it's great in countless ways."
|
William Goss
|
|
70%
|
Wrong (2013)
|
"Those on its perpetually absurd wavelength should soon find themselves left in fits of giggles."
|
William Goss
|
|
94%
|
Room 237 (2013)
|
"...brings the realms of film theory and conspiracy theory a bit closer together."
|
William Goss
|
|
71%
|
Kid-Thing (2013)
|
"Like Days of Heaven on paint fumes, a languid, occasionally hilarious, occasionally poetic coming-of-age story."
|
William Goss
|
|
90%
|
The Yellow Sea (2011)
|
"...does boast its fair share of gripping moments."
|
William Goss
|
|
86%
|
Manborg (2013)
|
"A loving, if one-note, recreation of a very particular kind of bygone cinematic experience."
|
William Goss
|
|
46%
|
Beyond The Black Rainbow (2012)
|
"There's much to admire about Panos Cosmatos' directorial debut, but the end result is admittedly not for all tastes."
|
William Goss
|
|
79%
|
Ginger & Rosa (2013)
|
"... it's the way that Fanning and Englert animate their characters that makes the movie special."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
41%
|
The Call (2013)
|
"... a breakneck, truly thrilling thriller, one that builds excitement through both brains and brutality ..."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
37%
|
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)
|
"... has its share of engaging-to-great bits, including, truth to tell, one gag performed by Carrey that made me laugh louder and longer ... but it falls kind of flat as a complete moviegoing experience."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
13%
|
Safe Haven (2013)
|
"On its own merits, Safe Haven is about as satisfying and filling as a Valentine's Day conversation heart, with far less to say."
|
Kate Erbland
|
|
82%
|
Like Someone in Love (2013)
|
"... it ratchets up to one of the most galvanic and disturbing visions Kiarostami has ever concocted"
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
92%
|
No (2013)
|
"'No' is never a drag to watch, but paradoxically enough, its self-imposed cinematic restraints inhibit it from selling itself as effectively as it might have. "
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
45%
|
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
|
"...a new vision of witchery that is more playful, coherent and intelligent. If you're thinking a deep-fried, more hormonally charged Harry Potter, that's not it, but it's close to the intention at least."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
85%
|
Side Effects (2013)
|
"The director who came into the field with Sex, Lies, and Videotape leaves it with sex and lies shot on video, still surprising us with both the stories he tells and the stories hidden inside them."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
6%
|
A Haunted House (2013)
|
"Mean-spirited, badly made and unfunny is one set of disasters; adding in storytelling incompetence adds to the catastrophe."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013)
|
"'So it's a shame that "Gangster Squad" is nothing like a good old-fashioned gangster picture. While it's a period piece that clearly relishes its evocation of neon-bright Los Angeles in 1949, it's hardly old-fashioned. And it's no good at all ..."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
79%
|
Quartet (2013)
|
"As for Hoffman's direction, the aforementioned montage notwithstanding, it's unobtrusive but not invisible ... and the ending is pretty much perfect."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
8%
|
A Dark Truth (2013)
|
"Can't come up with a single reason to recommend this leaden excuse for an eco-thriller, which one Damian Lee claims to have written and directed."
|
Kathleen Murphy
|
|
61%
|
Jack Reacher (2012)
|
"If Cruise's fantasy superhero garners as many staunch fans ... we may be witnessing the birth of a new franchise."
|
Kathleen Murphy
|
|
51%
|
Promised Land (2013)
|
"One of several ways this ... picture falls short is in trying to sell a personal-salvation story as a salve to the conundrum it presents."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
88%
|
Django Unchained (2012)
|
"Genre-movie-mad writer-director Quentin Tarantino's foray into Western World is a pretty grave disappointment."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
69%
|
Les Misérables (2012)
|
"... Jackman, who should get a Nobel Prize for the way he carries pretty much the whole undertaking on his shoulders, so protean and virile is his singing and acting throughout."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
81%
|
The Impossible (2012)
|
"'The Impossible' is a confounding misfire: so much artistic vision, combined with moral and emotional shortsightedness."
|
James Rocchi
|
|
45%
|
On the Road (2012)
|
"This, and a certain lack of what one could call narrative thrust, makes 'On the Road' a strange, diffuse experience, offering occasional glimpses of genuine beauty ..."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
69%
|
Not Fade Away (2012)
|
"This may color my enthusiasm somewhat. Still, I like to think I was mostly taken in by the wonderful cast and Chase's fond and generous evocation of another time, another place. "
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
52%
|
This is 40 (2012)
|
"'This Is 40' isn't without flaws, it moves along nicely, and while it doesn't boast ... it does manage to be very consistently funny in a way that makes dramatic sense."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
|
93%
|
Amour (2012)
|
"A relentless and shattering masterwork, 'Amour' breaks the heart but satisfies the soul."
|
Kathleen Murphy
|
|
38%
|
The Guilt Trip (2012)
|
"Streisand and Rogen have expert instincts, and their interplay is a pleasure to watch. And the movie is surprisingly gentle in its application of conventional movie wisdom and avoidance of easy gross-out humor."
|
Glenn Kenny
|
78%
47%
100%
85%
45%
40%
