|
——
|
L'image Manquante ()
|
"The abstract approach both disallows the possibility of overstatement and implicitly underscores the full emotional weight of these horrific events."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Final cut - Hölgyeim és uraim ()
|
"All that truly distinguishes this from the supercuts that go viral every so often is its length."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
62%
|
Linsanity (2013)
|
"Linsanity doesn't -- and shouldn't -- hide its star's religious beliefs. But the doc should have the courage to explore them."
|
Amy Nicholson
|
|
59%
|
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
|
"By the time a marshmallow blinks its goggle-eyes, you may be convinced you've wandered into the ultimate Japanese grocery store - or perhaps snuck in a very special brownie"
|
Amy Nicholson
|
|
5%
|
Battle of the Year (2013)
|
"The dorky, jingoistic charm wins points just for daring to dress the team in red, white and blue Kangols while the judges scream, "Korea strikes back with an aerial assault!""
|
Amy Nicholson
|
|
81%
|
Prisoners (2013)
|
"Prisoners is a dog whistle for Academy voters keyed to a pitch that screams, "For the love of God, nominate me for something!" "
|
Amy Nicholson
|
|
100%
|
Best Kept Secret (2013)
|
"The real star is teacher Janet Mino, whose advocacy for her kids goes above and beyond."
|
Ernest Hardy
|
|
——
|
FLU (2013)
|
"Mostly works on a visceral level in spite of its familiarity; these tropes exist for a reason."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Snake & Mongoo$e (2013)
|
"Snake & Mongoo$e is a lovely little gem of a film, though, like all gems, it's not flawless."
|
Peter Gerstenzang
|
|
60%
|
Riddick (2013)
|
"We must pan for scraps of pleasure -- a scene where Diesel poses naked on a cliff like a truck stop coyote, the way half of his attacks look like rhythmic gymnastics"
|
Amy Nicholson
|
|
75%
|
ZIPPER: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride (2013)
|
"More effective as a loving send-off than an insightful look at the so-called "tides of progress" that have led to Coney Island's slow decline."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
33%
|
The Keep (1983)
|
"Shows early signs of Mann's rare ability to elevate ostensibly schlocky material into something dark and majestic."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Go Grandriders (2013)
|
"Mostly, but by no means always, avoids the more cloying or heartwarming aspects of its tale in favor of a frank account of the implications of aging in Taiwan."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Adjust Your Tracking ()
|
"Kinem and Peretic have taken great pains to emphasize that this is endeavor is for collectors, by collectors, making the proceedings feel especially personal and authentic."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
100%
|
Rewind This! (2013)
|
"There's nary a trace of ironic detachment or condescension here, which is exceedingly rare for any depiction of geek culture."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Pig Death Machine ()
|
"As scuzzy, schizoid and defiantly lo-fi as ever, punk-rock auteur Jon Moritsugu proves with his Kickstarter-funded first feature in over a decade that there's still a cinematic underground in the post-Internet world."
|
Aaron Hillis
|
|
97%
|
L'Avventura (The Adventure) (1960)
|
"Antonioni created, as the Cannes jury put it in 1960, a new language of cinema, one that perfectly expressed a modern alienation that's enduring as well as the film."
|
Zachary Wigon
|
|
62%
|
Iceberg Slim: Portrait Of A Pimp (2013)
|
"Intentions and effect are at odds throughout Jorge Hinojosa's one-note documentary Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp."
|
Nick Schager
|
|
60%
|
Assaulted: CIVIL Rights Under Fire (2013)
|
"While the film leans more heavily toward pro-gun ownership, finessing that position with a nod toward left-leaning politics, its real purpose is to bring some historical perspective to the argument, to move the conversation beyond emotion-based rhetoric."
|
Ernest Hardy
|
|
——
|
From The Head (2013)
|
"A remarkably assured debut."
|
Chuck Wilson
|
|
——
|
Lucky Bastard (2013)
|
"Although it takes Nathan a bit too long to get his characters to Van Nuys, knowing in advance that Dave is likely to snap not only creates suspenseful dread, but ultimately makes the moviegoer complicit in the violence (which is believably haphazard)."
|
Chuck Wilson
|
|
71%
|
Somebody Up There Likes Me (2013)
|
"The film itself is so charming that you almost forget to ask whether these people truly deserve our empathy."
|
Ted Scheinman
|
|
100%
|
Quatre nuits d'un rêveur (Four Nights of a Dreamer) (1972)
|
"It's an affectionate tribute to the beauty of Parisian youth with a keen eye for the friction caused when whimsical idealism meets the messy demands of interpersonal reality."
|
Doug Cummings
|
|
85%
|
Upstream Color (2013)
|
"One eventually grows so weary of discerning the signal from the noise that it all blurs together."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
92%
|
Himizu (2013)
|
"Occasionally heavy-handed in the delivery of its ideas, but also a refreshingly sensitive character study."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
88%
|
The Turin Horse (2012)
|
"No movie could possibly live up to the monumental, forbidding grandeur of The Turin Horse's lengthy opening shot, but [Bela Tarr]... goes ahead and attempts the impossible, and comes frighteningly close to succeeding."
|
Mike D'Angelo
|
|
98%
|
Oslo, August 31st (2012)
|
"With a predilection for long takes, alternating between tripod setups and handheld camera work that's reflective of Anders' unease, Trier presents life as an unceasingly tepid stream of the mundane -- with an occasional, exquisite pinprick of hope."
|
Veronika Ferdman
|
|
97%
|
The Kid with a Bike (2012)
|
"It's nonetheless immensely satisfying - not least in its commitment to a child protagonist whose near-feral intensity and unthinking ingratitude make him the polar opposite of cute."
|
Mike D'Angelo
|
|
76%
|
Kill List (2012)
|
"When it's all over, audiences are sent reeling out of the theater with heads spinning and guts churning."
|
Mark Olsen
|
|
100%
|
The Invisible War (2012)
|
"Interview after interview, statistic after statistic, Dick's advocacy project thoroughly incenses -- and appears to be having results."
|
Melissa Anderson
|
|
82%
|
De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) (2012)
|
"A disappointing use of Cotillard's estimable talent buoyed by striking visuals and inspired use of a Katy Perry song."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
89%
|
A Royal Affair (2012)
|
"Perhaps there's only so much to be done with a costume drama about illicit affairs and would-be coups."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
75%
|
The Intouchables (2012)
|
"Gives its subject too light a treatment for the life-affirming message to feel earned. "
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
93%
|
Amour (2012)
|
"On paper it's a welcome change of pace for Haneke, but his tendency to treat the couple as patients rather than characters -- at a cold remove rather than with a warm embrace -- feels at odds with the material."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
96%
|
The History Of Future Folk (2013)
|
"This is a film that sincerely has love for its characters, and the songs are actually quite catchy."
|
Veronika Ferdman
|
|
84%
|
Kon Tiki (2013)
|
"Could have used a bit more blood in the water, but its crystal-clear waves are a sight to behold nevertheless."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
66%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012)
|
"One man's ambitious, iconoclastic, like-nothing-ever-before-seen passion project is another man's Battlefield Earth."
|
Karina Longworth
|
|
——
|
Blue Collar Boys (2013)
|
"Nistico seems to have achieved what he wanted: He validates the question, If the American dream was stolen, wouldn't you want to steal it back?"
|
Kristina Bravo
|
|
——
|
Life is Strange (2012)
|
"May provide more catharsis to those directly involved in its making than it will to most viewers."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Almost Perfect (2012)
|
"Hackneyed and forgettable though it may be, Almost Perfect is also pretty watchable until its breezy first half gives way to ill-advised melodrama. "
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
85%
|
The Master (2012)
|
"What seems revelatory in the moment is often obvious in retrospect."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
100%
|
Toy Story 2 (1999)
|
"No parent who's been roped into leading the troops to a matinee need fear being bored: gags are, Simpsons-like, conceived to tickle several generations at once."
|
F.X. Feeney
|
|
100%
|
Almayer's Folly (2012)
|
"There's little if any comfort to be found in death, just the sense that our quibbles -- few of which are so enticing as quests for buried riches -- amount to rather little."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
65%
|
Zidane, un Portrait du 21e Siècle (Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) (2006)
|
"For all the fuss that's sometimes been made of the film's semi-experimental approach, it is first and foremost a sensory experience that puts the viewer right on the field."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Nipples & Palm Trees (2012)
|
"Never succeeds in its attempts to instill this faux grittiness with enough substance or pathos to rise above its raunchy core and let its would-be emotional scenes hit the marks they're meant to. "
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
14%
|
Blind Revenge (2012)
|
"It's like turning on a lamp in a room that looked just fine by candlelight."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Bro' (2012)
|
"We're not sure whether to laugh at, pity, or cheer for these people."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
A Drummer's Dream (2012)
|
"It lives up to its name."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
——
|
Peter Ford: A Little Prince ()
|
"At a mere 40 minutes, it's a novella of a documentary: dainty, reined-in, and a bit under-realized."
|
Michael Nordine
|
|
87%
|
The Matchmaker (2012)
|
"Points to Nesher for maintaining an even balance between the darker and lighter shades of his palette, not to mention the subtlety with which he moves from one to the other."
|
Michael Nordine
|
