|
78%
|
Iron Man 3 (2013)
|
"'Iron Man 3′ occasionally feels a little contrived - but then, if you're dealing with one of the best action directors around, you can expect him to draw on the style that he knows best."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
88%
|
Django Unchained (2012)
|
"This is a wonderful film - it is, but once in a while someone needed to tap Q on the shoulder and tell him to ease up off the gas. A master and a genius, no doubt, but sometimes the Emperor has no clothes too."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
65%
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
|
"'The Hobbit' is another ambitious, gorgeous and faithful trip into JRR's writing - and because of this, it won't win any new fans if you had no patience ten years ago. For those who do, you'll definitely want to go there and back again."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"A lot of critics are claiming this to be the best Bond film ever made; they may well be right-to some degree. It's certainly the most poignant-which, in what is ostensibly an action film, is a feather in Mendes' cap to be sure. "
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
86%
|
The Master (2012)
|
"Those expecting to be shocked and charmed and pushed around will get it; everyone else might leave feeling winded and a little confused. Good. It's probably what you need."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
94%
|
Pulp Fiction (1994)
|
"Its dedicated fan-base and the pop-culture reverberations that have flowed steadily from it, almost 20 years on, echo Tarantino's achievements with Pulp Fiction. Unassailable filmmaking."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
93%
|
Shadow Dancer (2013)
|
"This is an uncomfortable movie; a tense and sometimes deliberately drawn out tale - but those who invest the time will uncover some excellent performances."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
67%
|
Lawless (2012)
|
"As you'd expect from that kind of artistic pedigree, 'Lawless' is a well-oiled production that knows exactly what kind of film it is: a classic revenge tragedy with Tommy-guns and fiddles in the dustbowl South."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
78%
|
Dredd (2012)
|
"If you're the kind of person who scrunches their nose at heads exploding, people being torn apart and blood spilling like an out-of-control fire hose, you might want to return to reading your copy of '50 Shades' and leave this one to the professionals."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
96%
|
Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
|
"This is a fine documentary; insightful and entertaining with a genteel approach to uncovering a figure so close to the hearts of an unexpected fan base."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
36%
|
Iron Sky (2012)
|
"To its credit, while routinely stupid, it is playfully so - and it gets over the line through sheer force of charm. A "triumph of the will", if you catch our drift. (Sorry.)"
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
38%
|
Dark Shadows (2012)
|
"Dark Shadows is never short on stunning backdrops and impressive cinematographic techniques. It looks a treat. But with Dark Shadows, like Depp himself, you can only put so much make-up on an ageing face and sell it as fresh."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
70%
|
Men in Black III (2012)
|
"Too often sci-fi epics miss the balance between spectacle and storytelling. While Men in Black 3 isn't always consistent in humour and pace, Sonnenfeld, with a well-considered script from David Koepp, manages to make it work."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
74%
|
Prometheus (2012)
|
"Never quite matching Alien or Aliens for emotional authenticity - but definitely holding you in tow until the final moments. Ridley Scott isn't much for illustrating humanity, but he sure as hell knows how to craft aliens."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
83%
|
Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012)
|
"More breathy outbursts from wronged lovers and strange pseudo-sexual and homoerotic encounters than a late-night soap opera, matched with a visual style that points to a level of artistry and invention that even western cinema struggles to match."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
91%
|
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
|
"When a crew is given constraints like a miniscule budget, more emphasis rightly goes into tightening up things like scripting and performance. It's the 'Chasing Amy' phenomenon at work."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
73%
|
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
|
"Not quite 'amazing' then, but there will always be a deserving audience for rock-solid superhero movies done with this kind of heart and care."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
|
"The Dark Knight Rises succeeds in surpassing 2008's 'The Dark Knight' to become the best of his three films. Whether that will be enough to secure his Best Picture Oscar is frankly irrelevant - because what matters is that this is Batman's best picture."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
35%
|
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
|
"Frankly, if it gets kids talking about history again, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter succeeds where a lot of other films stumble-and even if it's kind of a lame duck, there's still a lot of dignity in that."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
64%
|
Cosmopolis (2012)
|
"For one of the smartest films I've seen in a while, Cosmopolis is also one of the least outwardly enjoyable. That by no means makes it anything less than a great film however."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
87%
|
Bully (2012)
|
"Is it fair to criticize a documentary for being too persuasive when the subject matter is not only genuinely tragic - and tragically widespread - but also so rarely brought into the public domain? That's the question I struggle with."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
56%
|
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
|
"There's a lot to like about The Bourne Legacy, but it's hard not to feel a little worried that the rich complexity of Ludlum's past work might be lost in the transition-and that's a legacy that really needs to be upheld."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
31%
|
Total Recall (2012)
|
"Total Recall is it's own beast - one that needs to be caged off and held at arm's length. It is a mess, a wasteful rethink that was never needed and lousy movie at worst. "
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
94%
|
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
|
"How Wes Anderson stitches it all together is far beyond the reach of most filmmakers. His approach is artful without pretension, gorgeous and composed without feeling forced, charming and innocent but never trite."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
86%
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
|
"This is a film that manages that rare bridge between end-of-days epic and intimate humanist storytelling - fantastical but still just rooted enough to be depressingly plausible."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
48%
|
Hit & Run (2012)
|
"If Hit & Run is guilty of being generic, it's arguably the best kind of generic: inoffensive, well made and probably a lot more fun than Joe Critic is likely to admit."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
79%
|
Ruby Sparks (2012)
|
"There's strong storytelling at the core here, backed by worthwhile performances - and this is a good movie - though, not quite the original masterpiece of love and creativity it clearly strives to be."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
16%
|
The Watch (2012)
|
"All of this builds a pretty catastrophic picture of The Watch - and I think, given how many other awesome, funny, gross and clever comedies are out there, I refuse to be an apologist. It's not an unmitigated disaster, but it's not good - or good enough."
|
Patrick Kolan
|
|
45%
|
On the Road (2012)
|
""The final film holds true to the source material - but it's just not a journey everyone's going to want to take.""
|
Patrick Kolan
|
75%
22%
67%
85%
46%
40%
