Authors

Movie Boeuf

Rating Title | Year Quote Author
95%

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)

"The oddest bird here doesn't have wings."

David N. Butterworth

85%

Gunner Palace (2005)

"Frank and fascinating, Gunner Palace brings the Iraqi War home, putting the dangerous and boring lives of U.S. soldiers into equally provocative perspective."

David N. Butterworth

20%

The Ring Two (2005)

"Less is often more but in the case of The Ring Two, the lazily-titled sequel to the popular -- and enormously successful -- The Ring, more is less, more or less."

David N. Butterworth

91%

Downfall (Der Untergang) (2004)

"Bruno Ganz dominates Downfall, a long but never dull look at Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker."

David N. Butterworth

81%

Dear Frankie (2005)

"Dear Frankie, with its strong casting and confident direction, is a lasting love letter worth experiencing."

David N. Butterworth

30%

Be Cool (2005)

"Get 'Shorty out of your head for a couple of goofy, irreverent hours and there's a good chance you'll enjoy this inferior yet amiable sequel."

David N. Butterworth

96%

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)

"An unsentimental look at how beauty, artistry, and hope can emerge from the most unexpected of places."

David N. Butterworth

46%

Constantine (2005)

"Devilishly more entertaining than it has any right to be."

David N. Butterworth

69%

Hitch (2005)

"Reminds us, sweetly, charmingly, and humorously, what Will Smith used to be like before he became an overnight action sensation."

David N. Butterworth

10%

The Wedding Date (2005)

"Laudably manages to avoid the inherent sordidness of Pretty Woman and the underlying sadness of My Best Friend's Wedding."

David N. Butterworth

88%

Bad Education (La Mala educación) (2004)

"A rare disappointment from Almodóvar: perilously over the top gay chic coupled with an overly familiar condemnation of the Holy Catholic Church's blind eye towards pedophilia."

David N. Butterworth

42%

A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

"Delights as often as it dulls the senses."

David N. Butterworth

83%

In Good Company (2004)

"Topher Grace dominates this smart and funny film with a thing or two to say about how people are treated and treat each other in the workplace."

David N. Butterworth

72%

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

"Nicely cast and technically adept, Lemony Snicket is the first film in a likely franchise I could fortunately tolerate."

David N. Butterworth

78%

A Very Long Engagement (2004)

"The director and star of Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Audrey Tautou) reunite for this grimmer, grimier, but no less magnificent moviegoing experience."

David N. Butterworth

53%

Spanglish (2004)

"Director James L. Brooks has given us some familial and cultural truths to think long and hard about, with ironic performances to savor."

David N. Butterworth

68%

Closer (2004)

"Despite formidable performances by Roberts, Law, Portman, and Owen, Mike Nichols's Closer is weakened by both its source material and odd directorial decision making. "

David N. Butterworth

18%

After the Sunset (2004)

"Spends so much time down Selma Hayek's shirt fronts that we come away suffocated."

David N. Butterworth

97%

The Incredibles (2004)

"A masterfully crafted entertainment that devolves into an overlong, overly loud, and disappointingly stock shoot 'em up."

David N. Butterworth

48%

Saw (2004)

"Saw's intriguing and genuinely creepy premise is quickly undone by the limitations of both the script and the performers."

David N. Butterworth

96%

Sideways (2004)

"The wine metaphors flow like, er... wine in this bold, boisterous, and eminently quaffable road movie/buddy movie hybrid from director Alexander Payne."

David N. Butterworth

92%

Vera Drake (2004)

"Another bleak, harrowingly realistic drama from Mike Leigh highlighted by a phenomenal star turn by Imelda Staunton in the title role."

David N. Butterworth

77%

Team America - World Police (2004)

"Surprisingly good natured given its take-no-prisoners lampooning of ethnic and cultural stereotypes, the war in Iraq, homosexuality, AIDS... not to mention Hollywood's finest."

David N. Butterworth

62%

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

"David O. Russell continues to prove just how wacky a filmmaker he truly is. In 'Huckabees the laughs are mixed, but the wackiness couldn't be more inspired."

David N. Butterworth

61%

The Last Shot (2004)

"The Last Shot commits the cardinal sin of comedies: it isn't funny."

David N. Butterworth

21%

Resident Evil - Apocalypse (2004)

"Makes Tomb Raider look like an epic."

David N. Butterworth

61%

Wimbledon (2004)

"As predictable and impotent as a John McEnroe outburst."

David N. Butterworth

26%

Anatomy of Hell (2004)

"Pretentious pornographic stuff and nonsense."

David N. Butterworth

53%

A Dirty Shame (2004)

"What's shocking today is very different to what was shocking 20 years ago... but John Waters doesn't seem to have noticed."

David N. Butterworth

72%

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

"An enjoyable and visually dashing computer-generated exercise."

David N. Butterworth

46%

Rick (2004)

"Simply put, rrrrRick is grrrreat!"

David N. Butterworth

70%

Criminal (2004)

"A competent Americanization of the Argentinian film Nine Queens, with John C. Reilly seemingly enjoying his atypical leading role."

David N. Butterworth

50%

Vanity Fair (2004)

"Reese's piece certainly looks good, it's just not terribly engaging."

David N. Butterworth

21%

AVP - Alien Vs. Predator (2004)

"I didn't hate it nearly as much as I ought to have, thought I would, and/or everyone else."

David N. Butterworth

95%

Hero (2004)

"Zhang Yimou's Hero is another stirring example of how beautifully rendered films with subtitles stand a chance of hitting paydirt in the multiplexes."

David N. Butterworth

64%

We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)

"This cautionary tale for adults might be a little close to the bone, perhaps, for some audience members, but it's a sincere and finely-wrought ensemble piece."

David N. Butterworth

88%

The Five Obstructions (2003)

"A vain and vapid intellectual exercise that only serves to illustrate Lars von Trier's unswerving arrogance."

David N. Butterworth

87%

Zatôichi (The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi) (2003)

"Part Three Stooges, part 'Seven Samurai, Zatôichi is the film Quentin Tarantino tried to realize with the one-two sucker punch of Kill Bill."

David N. Butterworth

86%

Collateral (2004)

"Another winning Michael Mann character study (see: The Insider, Heat, Thief) with Jamie Foxx revelatory in the lead."

David N. Butterworth

72%

Open Water (2004)

"Open Water muddies a compelling subject matter via shoddy and incompetent filmmaking. A shallow and frustrating exercise in treading water."

David N. Butterworth

74%

Calendar Girls (2003)

"'They dropped everything for a good cause' would seem to refer more to the filmmakers than the gutsy, middle-aged women shedding their clothes for a hospital couch."

David N. Butterworth

86%

Garden State (2004)

"A sublime and sophisticated debut from writer/director/star Zack Braff, this year's Lost in Translation with Newark, NJ standing in for Tokyo."

David N. Butterworth

88%

Metallica - Some Kind of Monster (2004)

"Comparisons to This is Spinal Tap abound in this inside look at the heavy metal rock band Metallica, but This is Spinal Tap was a heck of a lot of fun also."

David N. Butterworth

20%

Thunderbirds (2004)

"The filmmakers, clearly never having seen the original TV series, sideline the spacecraft and reduce this debacle to what essentially amounts to boys 'n' The Hood."

David N. Butterworth

81%

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

"As remakes go Demme's film is one of the better ones, but why does Hollywood insist on remaking classics when there are so many bad ones out there needing improvement?"

David N. Butterworth

48%

De-Lovely (2004)

"De-Lovely is missing the passion and brio it needs to function on a level that best befits its iconic subject -- clever, witty and seemingly effortless in its creation."

David N. Butterworth

67%

The Door in the Floor (2004)

"An excellent rendering of the first third of A Widow for One Year, and one of the best John Irving adaptations to date thanks to the Oscar (R)-worthy Bridges and Basinger."

David N. Butterworth

16%

Twist (2004)

"There's nothing here a handful of show-stopping production numbers -- or a good steam cleaning -- couldn't fix."

David N. Butterworth

93%

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

"By focusing on his characters as much as his special effects, Sam Raimi has made that rare sequel, one that's every bit as good as the original."

David N. Butterworth

83%

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

"Fahrenheit 9/11 doesn't add very much to Moore's all-too-familiar outrage but it certainly puts a human face on war... and a battle-scarred and bloodied face it is."

David N. Butterworth

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