|
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
|
73%
21%
63%
85%
46%
40%
