|
54%
|
Lies (Gojitmal) (1999)
|
|
|
|
62%
|
The Blue Tooth Virgin (2009)
|
"The film is low budget and uneven in spots, but the dialogue is biting, Russell Brown's direction is often razor-sharp and the action climaxes with a virtuoso cameo appearance by the great Karen Black as a wily and wise script consultant."
|
William Arnold
|
|
41%
|
The Last House on the Left (2009)
|
"Iliadis is more visually sophisticated than Craven was in 1972 and works hard to sustain the mood and tension while still hitting the audience with blunt scenes of wincing violence."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
16%
|
Crossing Over (2009)
|
"... feels an awful lot like the multicultural Crash, complete with its crisscrossing stories, heavy ironies and even heavier moralizing."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
52%
|
Shuttle (2009)
|
"Instead of suspense, we get frustration at the stupidity of the characters."
|
Bill White
|
|
43%
|
Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
|
"Smarter than it trusts itself to be."
|
Andy Spletzer
|
|
91%
|
Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) (Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment) (2009)
|
"Troell's profound insistence that life -- even in its most miserable chapters -- is an occasion for rejoicing, goes beyond gender politics to a place of transcendent sublimity."
|
Bill White
|
|
59%
|
Phoebe in Wonderland (2009)
|
"... an involving and empathetic drama of mothers and daughters."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
64%
|
Watchmen (2009)
|
"Fans of the 1986 graphic novel Watchmen should be pleased with the eye-filling, slavishly faithful, long-time-coming film version that opens today and threatens to become the first true movie event of 2009."
|
William Arnold
|
|
68%
|
Ben X (2007)
|
"There are lessons to be learned, but rarely have such lessons been transformed into such vivid and emotionally affecting drama."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
82%
|
Two Lovers (2008)
|
"... a discomfortingly honest drama about the frustrations of love and desire."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
91%
|
Gomorrah (Gomorra) (2008)
|
"The sprawl makes it hard to follow... but it makes its point about the reach of the Camorra and the culture it has spawned."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
81%
|
Prima Ballerina (2009)
|
"Anyone who knows about ballet will find much to recognize in the lives of these young women, but for those who do not, the film will be a revelation."
|
R. M. Campbell
|
|
92%
|
Ballast (2008)
|
"... the cinematic equivalent of a miniature, a piece carved out of the stories of three troubled and damaged souls..."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
77%
|
Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys) (2008)
|
"[Nuri Bilge] Ceylan keeps the cascade of mistakes and mishaps... off-screen. His camera stays on the actions and reactions of his characters in the wake of the repercussions..."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
97%
|
The Class (2008)
|
"... filled with a world of real detail that blurs the line between documentary and fiction."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
92%
|
Under the Sea 3D (2009)
|
".. a visual pageant of strange undersea creatures hunting and scavenging and floating across the screen."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
59%
|
The International (2009)
|
"... for all its impressive set pieces and breathless momentum, it's neither passionate nor urgent."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
25%
|
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
|
"If cheesy, feel-good riches-to-reason romantic comedies are yours, this is your fix. It's a harmless indulgence that, like shopping, may make you feel good for the short term, but later you'll need more."
|
Athima Chansanchai
|
|
25%
|
Friday the 13th (2009)
|
"This new Friday the 13th is infinitely better than Jason X or Freddy vs. Jason, but it's still schlock."
|
Travis Nichols
|
|
12%
|
Pink Panther 2 (2009)
|
"They are joined by other typically good actors such as Jean Reno, Jeremy Irons, Lily Tomlin and Alfred Molina. Unfortunately, they're underused."
|
Andy Spletzer
|
|
22%
|
Push (2009)
|
"... delivers the requisite spectacle... but skimps on character and story."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
41%
|
He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
|
"This plodding, overlong film is like an awkward first date with an attractive setup whose heart isn't in it: polite, dull and seemingly unending."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
89%
|
Coraline (2009)
|
"This is fairy tale stuff right out of the Brothers Grimm .... Think Dr. Seuss by way of Edward Gorey."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
96%
|
Waltz with Bashir (2008)
|
"... you could call it an animated documentary by way of oral history, but it's best not to get caught up with labels concerning this film."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
68%
|
Were the World Mine (2008)
|
"Were the World Mine is an independent film that succeeds through the excellent work of a cast and crew whose imagination compensates for budgetary constraints."
|
Bill White
|
|
29%
|
New In Town (2009)
|
"Zellweger, despite her propensity to scrunch her face, has an easy chemistry with Connick that is unthreatening and enjoyable, and she's good at the physical comedy the role requires."
|
Paula Nechak
|
|
58%
|
Taken (2009)
|
"Longtime action cinematographer Pierre Morrel proves adept at using the quick, claustrophobic cuts of the Bourne franchise and the Transporter flicks."
|
Travis Nichols
|
|
38%
|
Outlander (2009)
|
"... a skimpy script with unimaginative characters, mundane dialogue and routine plot twists."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
39%
|
Inkheart (2009)
|
"... focused on giving the film a palpable threat of potentially fatal consequences and the characters an emotional foundation."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
85%
|
Wendy and Lucy (2008)
|
"This is survival, revealed in all the blunt details of a documentary portrait and the simple power of [Michelle] Williams' unadorned, Oscar-worthy performance."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
57%
|
Defiance (2009)
|
"An absorbing family saga, a thrilling combat movie and a backwoods epic that conveys the feel of a frontier-community-under-duress with the vividness of a John Ford classic."
|
William Arnold
|
|
46%
|
Hotel for Dogs (2009)
|
"In the end, the message is what prevails. The movie's political and moral points -- and theme about creating family however you can find it -- elevate it above the average kids movie."
|
Paula Nechak
|
|
43%
|
Chandni Chowk To China (2009)
|
"Children and undiscriminating adults may enjoy the flurry of eye-catching activities that storm incessantly across the screen for its 2 1/2 hours, but the reigning stupidity of the enterprise is liable to tire anyone else in attendance."
|
Bill White
|
|
33%
|
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
|
"An inoffensive way to spend 90 minutes, unless of course you're on the husky end of the spectrum, in which case they're all going to laugh at you."
|
Travis Nichols
|
|
51%
|
Notorious (2009)
|
"For anyone looking for something as real or engaging as Biggie's music -- or a good introduction to it -- will be disappointed by this mediocre celluloid life-after-death."
|
Travis Nichols
|
|
70%
|
Last Chance Harvey (2009)
|
"... it's a pleasure to see mature portraits of adult characters who put their vulnerabilities on the line."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
66%
|
Che: Part One (The Argentine) (2009)
|
"... two films and a unified work with each half mirroring, complementing and informing the other."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
81%
|
Azur et Asmar (Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest) (2006)
|
"It's a simple tale with magical imagery and a worthy message, but it's also alive with offbeat humor and witty observations of childhood behavior and adult suspicion."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
33%
|
Not Easily Broken (2009)
|
"Director Bill Duke can't avoid the stereotypes... or the sermonizing of the lesson."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
10%
|
Bride Wars (2009)
|
"All it takes is a bride scorned to turn a stock movie character into a raving caricature of emotional instability."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
|
98%
|
The Wrestler (2008)
|
"It's bleak, credulity straining and often stomach-turning, but it definitely works as a heart-tugging character study, and Rourke's performance as the has-been title character is golden."
|
William Arnold
|
|
50%
|
The Feature (2008)
|
"In a rare moment of personal illumination, he admits that "sometimes there are artists who are just no good." If nothing else, The Feature proves this statement."
|
Bill White
|
|
——
|
20 Seconds of Joy ()
|
"Jens Hoffmann's perceptive portrait of Norwegian base jumper Karina Hollekim."
|
Bill White
|
|
68%
|
Revolutionary Road (2008)
|
"It is as fascinating as a train wreck, as well as the most sensitive, wryly compassionate, immaculately acted and uncannily real a movie portrait of a dysfunctional marriage as I can remember seeing since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
|
William Arnold
|
|
61%
|
The Reader (2008)
|
"With its probing script by David Hare, painterly camerawork by Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, confident direction by Stephen Daldry and impeccable supporting performances, every frame of the movie screams filmmaking excellence."
|
William Arnold
|
|
79%
|
Gran Torino (2009)
|
"An enjoyable movie hybrid that's part politically incorrect comedy, part vigilante action movie and part smiley-face parable of urban American multiculturalism."
|
William Arnold
|
|
73%
|
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
|
"It has been a while since mainstream Hollywood has come up with a big-budget, big-star vehicle as unique, audacious and rewarding as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
|
William Arnold
|
|
61%
|
Valkyrie (2008)
|
"Valkyrie is a highly intelligent and deeply engrossing historical drama and, frame for frame, the year's most suspenseful nail-biter."
|
William Arnold
|
|
64%
|
Marley & Me (2008)
|
"David Frankel directs with a modesty and restraint that favors the people over the situations, and he really captures the chemistry of a family dog in the mix."
|
Sean Axmaker
|
