|
1.5/4
|
Scoop
(2006)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Last year's Match Point marked a surprising return to vital filmmaking form for Woody Allen, but that movie had the distinct advantage of not being a comedy.
Posted Aug 05, 2015
|
|
1.5/4
|
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
(2014)
|
Josh Larsen
|
A throw-everything-at-the-wall movie, in hopes that something - the romance, the action, a villain maybe? - might stick.
Posted Apr 30, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Bling Ring
(2013)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...an account of youthful disaffection being assuaged by excessive materialism.
Posted Jun 14, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
Iron Man 2
(2010)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...may mark the beginning of Mickey Rourke's re-descent (cooing to a cockatoo in Russian will do that).
Posted May 05, 2010
|
|
1.5/4
|
Mamma Mia!
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...perhaps the worst example of what is known as a 'jukebox musical.'
Posted Jul 17, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Journey to the Center of the Earth
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
There is a fundamental reason why 3-D technology doesn't work...
Posted Jul 10, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
You Don't Mess With the Zohan
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
It's as if Sandler took a trip to Israel and came back with 6,000 jokes about hummus (the 6,000 penis jokes he didn't have to go anywhere to find).
Posted Jun 05, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989)
|
Josh Larsen
|
A blueprint for how a blockbuster sequel should be done.
Posted May 07, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
Deal
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
It's quite possible that I still would have been bored out of my mind during Deal even if I cared a lick about poker.
Posted Apr 24, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...acknowledges that there is an emotional component to sex - even for men.
Posted Apr 17, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Chapter 27
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...ostensibly about the last few days in Chapman's life, but it's really about how much Leto's belly bulges over his waistband.
Posted Mar 28, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Drillbit Taylor
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
During the final showdown, there is almost as much teen pummeling going on as in Never Back Down. Unfortunately, Never Back Down was funnier.
Posted Mar 20, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
Snow Angels
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...something like an extremely elegant episode of 'The Jerry Springer Show.'
Posted Mar 07, 2008
|
|
1/4
|
Witless Protection
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Did someone give a starring role to a Matador, one of the obese male cheerleaders who perform during time outs at Chicago Bulls' games?
Posted Feb 22, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
Charlie Bartlett
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
It's not much of a movie, but it is an impressive calling card for the young star.
Posted Feb 21, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
Vantage Point
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...a marketing hook first and a movie ... well, actually, never.
Posted Feb 21, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
Be Kind Rewind
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...makes you nostalgic for the early days of backyard moviemaking, before digital video cameras and desktop editing software turned everyone into mini-Spielbergs.
Posted Feb 21, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
Le Doulos
(1961)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The macho criminal underworld of French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville has a nasty, nearly misogynistic edge here...
Posted Feb 15, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Spiderwick Chronicles
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...a wonderful stand-in for childhood itself, when kids often have adventures involving things only they can see.
Posted Feb 14, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
Definitely, Maybe
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...one of ickiest framing devices in recent memory.
Posted Feb 14, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Jumper
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Director Doug Liman is after something ambitious here...
Posted Feb 14, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
In Bruges
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Could Colin Farrell's true calling be as a comedian?
Posted Feb 08, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
The Manchurian Candidate
(1962)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...goes down the rabbit hole, though never too far to lose its satirical relevance to the insanity of real-world politics.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
1/4
|
The Godfather, Part III
(1990)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Considering the way it inadvertently lampoons and nearly diminishes the earlier two films, this is nothing less than a travesty.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
The Godfather, Part II
(1974)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Shadows lurk throughout the movie, as they do over the Corleones' lives.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
The Godfather
(1972)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...a metaphor for creating and protecting your own business in this country - only with the added glamour of guns.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
(2006)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The performance footage is less engaging than your average standup act on Comedy Central, while the backstage interviews about the comedic craft are pointless.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
You can often gauge how desperate a comedy is by the number of attacking animals it features.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
Fool's Gold
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
McConaughey bravely rips off his shirt, throws himself in front of the women and selflessly absorbs the camera's leers.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
1/4
|
The Hottie & the Nottie
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The multiple levels of self-delusion on display are astonishing.
Posted Feb 07, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The unique POV is not a gimmicky technique but a transferring of creative responsibility.
Posted Feb 02, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
The Eye
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...turns things upside down for a horror movie - you want to be alone in the dark.
Posted Feb 01, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
Over Her Dead Body
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...so bland, lifeless and unimaginative I wanted to poke the screen to make sure it was really there.
Posted Jan 31, 2008
|
|
1/4
|
Meet the Spartans
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Frequently pauses to shower someone with vomit, pus, urine or excrement. It should be called Meet the Bodily Fluids.
Posted Jan 25, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...rises above any pro-choice or pro-life preachiness because the picture's first concern is for the humanity of its characters, born or not.
Posted Jan 25, 2008
|
|
0/4
|
Untraceable
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
When Lane isn't preaching about the heinous violence, she's babbling on in tech speak. It's like having a Dell rep describe the plot of Saw.
Posted Jan 24, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
She's Gotta Have It
(1986)
|
Josh Larsen
|
From the start, it was less important whether or not you agreed with Lee than if you appreciated him for stirring things up.
Posted Jan 23, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
Cassandra's Dream
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The cast makes the most of Allen's predetermined screenplay.
Posted Jan 18, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
Cloverfield
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...rescues the Godzilla genre from the realm of kitsch.
Posted Jan 17, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
27 Dresses
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
The trouble isn't that you can see exactly where this is going, but that none of the possibilities are anything other than clichéd
Posted Jan 17, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
Mad Money
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
There is such a thing as overcasting.
Posted Jan 17, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Sort of like watching Lord of the Rings through a smudged television screen.
Posted Jan 11, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
First Sunday
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...isn't really funny until it turns sentimental at the end.
Posted Jan 10, 2008
|
|
2/4
|
The Bucket List
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
There is only one way this could possibly have been entertaining: if Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman had switched roles.
Posted Jan 10, 2008
|
|
1.5/4
|
One Missed Call
(2008)
|
Josh Larsen
|
It's shameful how even when Hollywood looks in novel places for material, the studios manage to make that material mind-numbingly routine.
Posted Jan 03, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
There Will Be Blood
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...almost as if Terrence Malick had directed Citizen Kane.
Posted Jan 03, 2008
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Orphanage
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Of all the fright flicks that came out in the last 12 months, this is the one that made us hardened critics in the screening room literally jump in our seats.
Posted Jan 03, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
Etel ... has a wonderful face for the movies - it's as shiny as a kid's could be, yet also somehow tinged with darkness, as if he's busy processing adult concerns.
Posted Dec 25, 2007
|
|
3/4
|
The Great Debaters
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
...enough to make you hope that one of these days Washington will forgo such conventional genre trappings and unleash his own Do the Right Thing.
Posted Dec 25, 2007
|
|
1/4
|
Youth Without Youth
(2007)
|
Josh Larsen
|
If Coppola had started his career with this sort of mush, we might never have gotten Apocalypse Now or The Godfather.
Posted Dec 21, 2007
|
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