Tomato |
A Prophet (2009) |
"Successfully balancing art-film portraiture with a gangster picture’s plot, the film may be one of the more conventional movies in this year’s Cannes competition, it’s also been one of the more satisfying." |
Anthony Kaufman |
Splat |
Agora (2009) |
"“Agora” occasionally hints at the interesting material embedded in its central conceits, but never manages to enliven it." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
Antichrist (2009) |
"While there’s no doubt that the place he goes is off a precipitous edge, one can’t deny the film’s continuing primal power." |
Anthony Kaufman |
Tomato |
Around the Bay (2008) |
"Every single moment of the story rings true, aided by uniformly excellent performances by the unknown cast, particularly Katherine Ceilo as the aimless young protagonist." |
Charlie Olsky |
Tomato |
Battle For Haditha (2007) |
"A bold effort to grapple with what truth lies behind these images, rather than to simply throw one's hands up in the face of them" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Battle in Seattle (2008) |
"Approaching its subject with a neat idealism and packaging its political fervor in the most facile of forms, the film boasts a cast loaded with Hollywoods both new and old and wraps its message up with eye-rolling naivete." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Bottle Shock (2008) |
"Bottle Shock isn't a ripe grape so much as pure American corn." |
Rob Nelson |
Splat |
Bright Star (2009) |
"Campion has constructed a highly classical narrative, one driven by archaic British dialogue and the mannerisms to match it." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
The Class (2008) |
"Cantet's film lulls the spectator into the rhythms of the everyday reality of school, belying a very carefully coordinated narrative structure that only becomes apparent in its final act." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Cold Souls (2009) |
"Giamatti the character rediscovers his sensitivity, and Giamatti the actor proves he’s up for anything. Barthes, directing her first feature, proves she’s up for whatever comes next." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
The Cove (2009) |
"It's both an educational work of art and a classic espionage tale." |
Eric Kohn |
Splat |
Dark Matter (2008) |
"Begins with a shot of Meryl Streep practicing tai chi, and therein lies a precise encapsulation of the film's attitude toward the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Dreams with Sharp Teeth (2008) |
"If there is a criticism to be lobbed at Nelson's judicious but otherwise highly entertaining tribute, it's that it too often plays the role of the fawning, autograph-hungry fanboy, willing to accept all of the abuse Ellison wishes to hurl at it." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Expired (2008) |
"Death and regret hang over the film palpably, and Miniucchi's willingness to put her characters through disaster and humiliation while still plainly empathizing with them is what keeps the film surprising and its characters winning, in spite of themselves" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Frontrunners (2008) |
" Even an offhand debate between a few students late in the film about whether or not Bush is a "retard," while not exactly insightful, nonetheless portrays a student body for whom politics%u2014or at least arguing about it%u2014is essential." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Fugitive Pieces (2008) |
"Nostalgic, deeply felt, and refreshingly astute, "Fugitive Pieces" is something of a rare bird these days%u2014a big-budget, transnational historical drama that actually justifies its scope and subject matter with more than visual opulence." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Good (2008) |
"Bears a superficial resemblance to "The Conformist" and "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis," with their sense of dreary complacency, oppressively museum-like spaces, and curiously drab natural settings, but ultimately "Good" is less evocative" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
The Great Buck Howard (2009) |
"Malkovich's titular mentalist is the primary focus of attention%u2014and sadly the source of many of the film's unique problems. In a career of strange performances, Malkovich turns in a true curiosity here%u2014and maybe it's because he is not, for once," |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
The House of the Devil (2009) |
"The classical structure slowly builds tension before erupting into a decisively gory finish, harkening back to a smarter and more nuanced era of spooky storytelling." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
I'm Keith Hernandez (2007) |
"Opening day is three days away, and I'm Keith Hernandez makes a perfect inaugurating film for those who understand the brilliant absurdity of our national pastime, and the absurdly brilliant men who play it." |
|
Splat |
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) |
"Marred by shoddy special effects and half-formed fantastical conceits, Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” has the feeling of a comic fantasia desperately seeking to find its rhythm." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2008) |
"An affectionate paean to the "City of Angels."" |
|
- |
In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2008) |
"Alex Holdridge Is In Search of a Midnight Kiss" |
Eric Kohn |
Splat |
Is Anybody There? (2009) |
"The talent and craftsmanship of "Is Anybody There?" is ample, but it remains uncertain whether there's anybody here still interested in this all-too-familiar story." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) |
"A hopelessly overblown melodrama, which oversteps its mark with pretensions of narrative complexity and social currency" |
Leo Goldsmith |
- |
Misc: Toronto International Film Festival |
"Toronto '08 Lineup Announced" |
|
Tomato |
Momma's Man (2008) |
"Jacobs's low-fi third feature forges unique stylistic territory for the American independent film." |
Rob Nelson |
Tomato |
Moscow, Belgium (2008) |
"There aren't many surprises%u2014the characters end up more or less where we expect them to%u2014but it's useless and not at all fun to deny the simple pleasures of this film." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Mostly Martha (2002) |
"After you watch "Mostly Martha," you'll never be able to view the lobster scene in "Annie Hall" and laugh again." |
Brandon Judell |
Tomato |
Nights and Weekends (2008) |
"Its surprisingly structured depiction of this relationship and its many private rituals and performances, which the film's unforgiving style continually strips bare" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Ping Pong Playa (2007) |
"Mostly a little shrewder about stereotypes than your typical slacker comedy, deriving its edge from Yu and Tsai's mining of the cultural specificity of Asian-America for laughs" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Quid Pro Quo (2008) |
"In fact, "Quid Pro Quo" is not at all funny, merely occasionally sarcastic, its plot a succession of half-baked pop-psych speculations and its dialogue a glib sampling of sub-Diablo Cody incredibility" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Quiet City (2007) |
"Evokes a memorable aesthetic to surround its minor-key maybe-romance." |
|
Splat |
Reunion (2009) |
"It's a wonder a group of experienced film professionals could not make "Reunion" look and sound the least bit proficient or even entertaining" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Séraphine (2008) |
"Relies heavily on Moreau's gripping, continually surprising performance to effectively convey the oracular urgency and fractured, Dionysian mentality of Seraphine de Senlis and her work." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Shotgun Stories (2007) |
"There is much to "Shotgun Stories" that elevates it above the fray of Green derivatives and unflattering categorizations, bolstered by a roster of naturalistic, fully assimilated performances, led by "Bug"'s now ubiquitous Michael Shannon." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Sixty Six (2008) |
"Cleaves too closely to the pattern set out by more original films with similar subject matter. Its obvious distinctions of time and place come through in clever details, but these don't seem to serve Weiland's autobiography so much as situate it into a fa" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Sleepwalking (2008) |
"Each bend in the road positively screeches with the urgency of impending catharsis, but the film never earns its resolution." |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Sukiyaki Western Django (2008) |
"Ultimately not quite as clever as it thinks it is. Even the action sequences are more about Foley than choreography, and so the film largely rests on the oddity of its mix of styles and its parade of genre in-jokes" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Take (2008) |
"Oliver's film manages to grapple with some knotty questions about justice, even if it is not nearly as bold or ironic as Lee Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine"" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Taking Woodstock (2009) |
"Even with the ever-versatile Ang Lee behind the camera, this messy historical fiction plays like a two hour “Saturday Night Live” sketch, and not a very good one, either." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
Tell No One (2008) |
"Canet has covered his bases with enough swooping camerawork, narrative smoke-and-mirrors, and quick-sketched supporting characters for a dozen thrillers" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Splat |
Tetro (2009) |
"Neither complete misfire nor triumphant return to form, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tetro” works as a competent family drama right up until the messy final act." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007) |
"Wang's new film suggests not only a return to form but also the revival of an old theme from his early Asian-American dramedies: the different ways that certain generations translate and adapt their cultural heritage" |
Leo Goldsmith |
Tomato |
Up in the Air (2009) |
"Populated by a handful of assured performances, Up in the Air is first and foremost an actor’s movie." |
Eric Kohn |
- |
What We Do Is Secret (2008) |
Click here to see the review. |
|
Tomato |
The White Ribbon (2009) |
"A frightening depiction of mortality." |
Eric Kohn |
Tomato |
Wristcutters: A Love Story (2007) |
"Wristcutters mostly succeeds with its cleverly posthumous scenario." |
Kristi Mitsuda |
Splat |
Yonkers Joe (2008) |
"Mostly strong, that is, with the major exception of Tom Guiry's portrayal of Joe Jr. Painfully broad, Guiry practically sinks the film with garishly slack-jawed and over-the-top manchildishness." |
Leo Goldsmith |
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