S. James Snyder
S. James Snyder's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Chicago Tribune
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Cove (2009) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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El Cártel (2009) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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Surveillance (2008) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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(undefined) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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At the Edge of the World (2008) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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The Windmill Movie (2008) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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The Moon and the Sledgehammer (1971) |
As peculiar as it is hypnotic, Philip Trevelyan's 1971 oddity documents a bold British family living off the grid in the Sussex woods. - Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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Shutterbug (2009) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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Tickling Leo (2009) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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Grace Is Gone (2007) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Nov 17, 2011
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La Pivellina (2009) |
Covi and Frimmel work their neorealistic magic, turning what might have been a sappy maternal-awakening melodrama into a simplistic, genuinely sweet tribute to motherhood, Italian style. - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 31, 2011
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Born and Bred (2011) |
[Frimmer's] meandering, repetitive interviews dilute the sport's intensity, while his rigorously linear approach buries the suspense. - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 17, 2011
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Damn! (2011) |
Damn! clearly knows a thing or two about fameballs, but it leaves the rest of the heavy lifting to the viewer. - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 10, 2011
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Battle for Brooklyn (2010) |
Nothing propels a documentary like injustice, and Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley's infuriating chronicle of an outer-borough David-versus-Goliath saga plays like a marathon of inequity. - Time Out
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| Posted Jun 15, 2011
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Dumbstruck (2010) |
Some ventriloquists win the fame game, while some remain stuck in the D-list dugout. The fact that Dumbstruck doesn't even attempt to differentiate these camps makes the film feel as if it's just talking out of the side of its mouth. - Time Out
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| Posted Apr 21, 2011
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The Mechanic (2011) |
It's all about pacing. The story moves so swiftly, that intensity becomes the thing. The only thing. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Jan 31, 2011
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Little Fockers (2010) |
"Little Fockers" has all the appeal of reheated Apple Pie. Time for this crew to think a little fresher. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Dec 22, 2010
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Unstoppable (2010) |
Frank and Will aren't superheroes or super agents, they're blue collar champions. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Nov 11, 2010
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Fair Game (2010) |
A riveting historical political thriller with heart to spare. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Nov 03, 2010
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Gerrymandering (2010) |
Good policy does not ensure good drama; Gerrymandering summarizes an urgent issue but forgets to detail the true fallout. - Time Out
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| Posted Oct 13, 2010
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Stone (2010) |
While the three lead actors prove capable of luring us in and defying our expectations, we gradually realize they have nowhere interesting to go. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Oct 06, 2010
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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) |
Veering from admiration to mockery, from anti-bailout to pro-business, [Oliver] Stone's sequel is one confused little nostalgia trip. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Sep 23, 2010
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Clear Blue Tuesday (2009) |
An overcrowded, emotionally erratic anthem of NYC endurance. - Time Out
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| Posted Sep 01, 2010
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Takers (2010) |
Subplots go on and on, in a noble but meandering attempt to add emotional backbone to the chaos. It's too bad, because the action ... is pretty darn good. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Aug 26, 2010
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The Expendables (2010) |
Shamelessly in love with its movie stars, and these stars deliver. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Aug 12, 2010
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Neshoba: The Price of Freedom (2008) |
Some questions, this compelling movie reminds us, still require answers. - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 11, 2010
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Charlie St. Cloud (2010) |
Does offer a grizzlier, more sullen [Zac] Efron than we've seen before and yet ... it's shocking how director Burr Steers steers clear of the story's natural bleakness. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Jul 30, 2010
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Charlie St. Cloud (2010) |
With its assurances that everything happens for a reason and everything will be alright, a potentially haunting story becomes a philosophical one-way street. - Chicago Tribune
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| Posted Jul 30, 2010
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The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) |
A peculiar case of a messy blockbuster that would work much, much better as a 45-minute affair. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Jul 14, 2010
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Despicable Me (2010) |
At once a derivative extension of Pixar's themes and a replica so polished and creative that it's hard to resist. - Metromix.com
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| Posted Jul 09, 2010
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Grown Ups (2010) |
Grown Ups betrays everything sweet, sincere and low-key that actuality makes it special. - Chicago Tribune
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| Posted Jun 24, 2010
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Jonah Hex (2010) |
With a total running time that barely hits 80 minutes, it's hard to believe they even paid [John] Malkovich and [Megan] Fox to show up. - Chicago Tribune
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| Posted Jun 18, 2010
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Burzynski: the Movie (2010) |
Through all the fuzzy science, Merola sees a savior; you'll see a dull editorial masquerading as objective reporting. - Time Out
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| Posted Jun 02, 2010
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The Juche Idea (2008) |
In the director's hands, these societal passion plays and "documentaries" offer a terrifying, top-down perversion of art itself -- another insidious extension of politics by other means. - Time Out
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| Posted May 26, 2010
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In My Sleep (2009) |
All the labored explanations (and tedious psychology) that follow the bad behavior and bloodshed make for a serious buzzkill. - Time Out
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| Posted Apr 28, 2010
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The Cartel (2009) |
Veteran TV anchor Bob Bowdon's feature debut has all the intricate nuance of an evening newscast; its analysis is heavy on diagnosis but simplistic when it comes to the cure, as well as woefully ignorant of racial and fiscal complications. - Time Out
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| Posted Apr 14, 2010
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Pornography (2009) |
Taken independently, these chapters probe the thorny porn star-viewer exchange, but Kittredge can't connect the dots into a worthy climax. In other words: all foreplay, no full release. - Time Out
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| Posted Apr 14, 2010
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Dancing Across Borders (2009) |
An illuminating profile but a sloppy snapshot of the immigrant experience, Anne Bass(TM)s documentary charts the rise of Cambodian Sokvannara Sar on America(TM)s ballet stages. - Time Out
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| Posted Mar 24, 2010
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Easier With Practice (2009) |
Geraghty's performance is harrowing: Clinging to the phone and tortured by his ecstasy, he weaves empathy out of a flawed loner's dysfunctional fetish. - Time Out
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| Posted Feb 24, 2010
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Phyllis and Harold (2008) |
Kleine forgoes good-old-days nostalgia in an effort to examine a generation that braved the new America sans a rule book. - Time Out
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| Posted Feb 17, 2010
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Falling Awake (2009) |
Playing smarter and smoother than the plot, Cisneros uncorks an antimacho performance that deviates from type. - Time Out
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| Posted Feb 03, 2010
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Defamation (2009) |
Meet Yoav Shamir -- the Israeli Michael Moore, who marches through the power centers of the U.S. and his homeland to challenge the religious orthodoxy. - Time Out
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| Posted Nov 18, 2009
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Turning Green (2005) |
Both Project Greenlight runners-up, directors Michael Aimette and John G. Hofmann get the teen angst and Gaelic aesthetic right; too bad their third-act thuggery isn't just routine, but ridiculous. - Time Out
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| Posted Nov 11, 2009
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The Providence Effect (2009) |
Swooning but shallow, this doc plays like a promotional commercial for Providence St. Mel, a private school on Chicago's impoverished West Side that sends 100 percent of its graduates on to college. - Time Out
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| Posted Sep 23, 2009
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If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans (2008) |
The risk of such hands-off filmmaking is that the narrative itself can become mired in the mundane; there's little that happens here to shed light on the way this renowned shutterbug works or thinks. - Time Out
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| Posted Sep 16, 2009
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The Rashevski Tango (2003) |
- Time Out
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| Posted Sep 11, 2009
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The Painter Sam Francis (2008) |
It's a stirring snapshot of that strange space where the act of creating can be a religious experience. - Time Out
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| Posted Sep 09, 2009
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Sandstorm (2009) |
What could have been a riveting thriller about a guilt-riddled cop cracking up instead becomes a series of monster-versus-saint confrontations and some seriously hammy advocacy. - Time Out
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| Posted Sep 02, 2009
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Gospel Hill (2008) |
It's a familiar formula: Greedy suits touting high-rise schematics and targeting blue-collar citizens end up locking horns with a local firebrand. Guess who wins? - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 26, 2009
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Grace (2009) |
Paul Solet's gyno-horror flick is certainly twisted but only slightly unnerving; the movie is about as gripping as one might expect given that its infant monster is both mute and cradle-bound. - Time Out
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| Posted Aug 12, 2009
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