|
——
|
Father's Day (2012)
|
"A triumphantly diseased motion picture, easily the best movie to pop out of Troma Entertainment in quite some time...There's blood, nudity, and violence. Everyone goes home happy. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
57%
|
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (in 3D) (2012)
|
"Naturally, if you already despise everything George Lucas touches, well, these aren't the droids you're looking for. It's more of a 3D party for fans and admirers, playing to the convinced with a conversion."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
43%
|
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
|
"Burdened with a leaden script built only with cliché, the sequel manages to pack a harder punch of adventure than its predecessor, making better use of its 3D environments"
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
28%
|
The Vow (2012)
|
"Looks to smear massage oils across the screen, offering viewers something warm and cuddly despite a story that all but demands a more forthright recollection of mental and marital obstacles. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
52%
|
Safe House (2012)
|
"The third act of the feature ends up hobbling the viewing experience, but it's important to note that when locked into pure visceral acts of escape, Safe House provides a welcome widescreen jolt."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
95%
|
Pina (2011)
|
"Outsiders might have more difficulty comprehending Bausch's mastery, especially whacked up into bite-sized pieces of inscrutable emotion and abrupt movement."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
71%
|
Return (2012)
|
"Superbly communicates the difficulties of military transition and its ensuing confusion, executing its perspective with a refreshing trust in its audience."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
73%
|
Rampart (2012)
|
"While Harrelson's work contributes to this sandpaper rub of Los Angeles corruption, it's eventually lost to unnecessary distortion in a feature that works much too hard to appear effortless."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
22%
|
The Wicker Tree (2012)
|
"The askew approach of The Wicker Tree is admittedly curious, rendering the movie more dumbfounding than disastrous."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
85%
|
Chronicle (2012)
|
"An uneasy cross between a Morrissey record and a middling X-Men sequel."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
63%
|
The Woman in Black (2012)
|
"It's a handsomely mounted picture, but empty when it comes to spectral inspiration, leaving Radcliffe to feign interest in the snoozy actions of a supposedly wicked witch."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011)
|
"Expectedly, the volatility is penetrating, but the feature is methodical, stewing in every last moment of unease and contemplation, stretching to a point where Farhadi is practically lapping himself. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
72%
|
Big Miracle (2012)
|
"The stereotypes are bruising, built into a laborious script that piles on the setbacks, stretching the story out with a routine of disaster every 10 minutes, making any new design of whale rescue a predictable failure. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
——
|
All Things Fall Apart (2012)
|
"Straining to be meaningful until its blue in the face, All Things Fall Apart is a hackneyed, stilted production, held back in great part by Jackson's decision to insert himself in the lead role. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
40%
|
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012)
|
"For a pair of comedians who routinely make 11 minutes of television feel like a prison sentence, their debut feature film is surprisingly palatable."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
44%
|
The Flowers of War (2011)
|
"Try as he might to mold this woeful story into something momentous, Zhang turns the picture into punishment, ruining such extraordinary displays of bravery and fortitude with pounding aggression."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
2%
|
One for the Money (2012)
|
"Fans of Evanovich's work should walk away satisfied, perhaps even delighted with the adaptation. Everyone else will simply be able to walk away, which is saying something considering the debilitating toxicity of Heigl's recent output. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
77%
|
The Grey (2012)
|
"Telling potential viewers they're about to watch a group of men slowly expire for two hours isn't appetizing, leaving the suits scrambling for marketable elements that don't even appear in the picture. It's bad form."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
32%
|
Man on a Ledge (2012)
|
"Ledge is best left hanging in the air, staying close to stationary characters. Once it starts down a dopey blockbuster route, it ceases to be of any entertainment value."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
93%
|
Coriolanus (2011)
|
"The essence of the picture remains with the Bard, the rest carries on with a wrathful charge, generating frustrating distance and intensity, often in the same instant. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
51%
|
Perfect Sense (2012)
|
"Frustrating at times, possibly too insistent when it comes to screen poetry, but the concept is intriguing, offering enough scenes of oddity and distress to hold attention and occasionally raise anxiety levels."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
82%
|
Crazy Horse (2012)
|
"Wiseman seizes the essence of an iconic institution, viewing the inner workings and end product of this concentrated creative energy. Crazy Horse is an illuminating delight. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
15%
|
The Divide (2012)
|
"It's not a film for everyone. Heck, it's not a film for anyone, yet underneath the oppressive atmosphere of this insistently nasty movie are a few persuasive scenes of panic set against a terrifying doomsday scenario. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
29%
|
Underworld Awakening (2012)
|
"It's a sequel that compliments parts one and three. If you enjoyed part two, we can't be friends."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
76%
|
The Innkeepers (2012)
|
"Retains some personality and a reasonable case of the creeps. West keeps the festivities rather subdued, but those exhausted by the current state of shock cinema might find themselves appreciating this spooky breather. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
45%
|
The Rebound (2012)
|
"Although it bears the marks of studio intervention, much of the blame remains firmly with Freundlich, who's incapable of arranging a single honest moment in this uncomfortable, frightfully strained creation. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
45%
|
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012)
|
"A tighter edit wouldn't save the feature, but it would relieve its increasingly claustrophobic ambiance, allowing a firmer connection to the mourning. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
80%
|
Haywire (2012)
|
"Soderbergh attempts to battle predictability with predictability, though it's hard to argue with the movie's sporadic concentration. When Haywire wakes up, it's a blast. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
36%
|
Red Tails (2012)
|
"Largely clumsy with anything that doesn't find the men zipping through the clouds, creating a deflating moviegoing sensation. Parts of the picture are remarkable, but there's not enough historical grit and considered dialogue."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
34%
|
Joyful Noise (2012)
|
"Those with less tolerance for the stridently manic stylings of Queen Latifah and miserable Disney Channel-style conflicts should stay clear and thank the heavens for the ticket money saved."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
54%
|
The Iron Lady (2012)
|
"Smears a life across the screen, surveying triumphs and disasters, remaining as close to Thatcher's personality as possible, favoring intensity of thought over a meticulous recreation of history."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
48%
|
Contraband (2012)
|
"At this point, I think Giovanni Ribisi has been sent back in time by the machines to terminate subtle screen acting. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
91%
|
Beauty and the Beast (In 3D) (2012)
|
"3D doesn't downplay the inherent artistry of the effort, but it doesn't enhance anything outside of ticket prices."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
——
|
Shanghai ()
|
"The technical achievements of the picture are numerous, making Shanghai painless to watch. It's maintaining interest in the eroding mystery and its passive players that's a significant challenge."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
54%
|
In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)
|
"Jolie will happily serve up sexual violence and disturbing gunplay to smack around her audience, but meaningful characterization is lacking, constipating the soulfulness of the screenplay. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
5%
|
The Devil Inside (2012)
|
"It's fitting the feature has no ending, as I'm not convinced it ever actually started. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
73%
|
Kill List (2012)
|
"Mumbled and intentionally impenetrable, the effort is a taxing sit with enormously skillful screen elements, molded into an interpretive shocker that's often not worth the time to unravel. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
74%
|
Norwegian Wood (2012)
|
"The script doesn't possess all of the answers, but there's enough here to leave the movie sporadically stunning and consistently perceptive."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
68%
|
Roadie (2012)
|
"An appealing mood of discomfort that's marvelously executed by the cast, hitting a few persuasive beats of disappointment and resignation that keeps the story grounded in an intriguing, lived-in reality. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
0%
|
Shelter ()
|
"The conflicting speeds of the feature create chaos, derailing a familiar but promising junk food thriller, which tries much too hard to keep the viewer off the scent of a mystery they will likely show limited interest in to begin with. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
96%
|
Pariah (2011)
|
"It's a deeply flawed picture, but the core intensity of contemplation and hesitation is outstanding, allowing the characters a life beyond cliché."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
80%
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012)
|
"Elements of threat are established, yet everything in the picture is frustratingly ephemeral, unwilling to foster menace in a manner that reflects Kevin's own growing evil. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
7%
|
In My Sleep (2010)
|
"Little screen finesse to support Wolf's aspirations, leaving behind an ambitious but inept production that has difficulty maintaining chills, thrills, and, well, camera focus. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
12%
|
The Darkest Hour (2011)
|
"To get to the creature feature basics, one must endure a full court press of ghastly moviemaking decisions, creating a dispiriting amateur ambiance with a premise that seems capable of coughing up a few easy thrills."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
76%
|
War Horse (2011)
|
"While it seems like grand slam material for the bearded maestro, the story rarely gets off the ground, lost between its dreamy storybook qualities and need to reinforce the bone-chilling tragedy of war. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
53%
|
Albert Nobbs (2012)
|
"Close is magnetic, accepting an acting experiment with a thrilling fearlessness and devotion to complete immersion. If only the rest of the production matched her grace and concentration."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
75%
|
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
|
"A satisfactory but slightly poky romp, saved by marvelous, expressive animation that generates a crisp, colorful feel for the world Belgian artist Herge created so very long ago."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
97%
|
The Artist (2011)
|
"There are certain productions that wear a broad smile and carry little personality, with director Michel Hazanavicius's valentine to moviemaking days of yore perfectly, utterly, monumentally...fine. "
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
63%
|
We Bought a Zoo (2011)
|
"Loses touch with reality, turning this life-changing, tear-shedding, lion-roaring rebirth process into a glorified sitcom. A few beautiful scenes glazed with Crowe-brand wonder barely redeem it."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
|
93%
|
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)
|
"Cruise has matured and so has his elaborate spy game, dialing down the gritty paranoia to make room for audacious missions of survival and retrieval, finding plenty of invention and elasticity left in the franchise."
|
Brian Orndorf
|
