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A-
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Magnolia
(1999)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Anderson has dared to make a movie that refuses to conceal its excesses, an amazing abundance of strong emotion, technical verve and pure performance power.
Posted Jul 15, 2023
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C
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10 Things I Hate About You
(1999)
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Robert Denerstein
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"10 Things" has trouble being one thing. It's neither Shakespeare nor John Hughes, but falls into a fizzy middle ground.
Posted Jul 11, 2023
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2.5/5
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Wild Things
(1998)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Alternately exaggerated and serious, the film could have used fewer surprises and more suspense. What it doesn't need more of is sleaze.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
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B
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Pride & Prejudice
(2005)
|
Robert Denerstein
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The big-screen version of Pride & Prejudice doesn't disappoint and may even reach a few young people who normally might not be attracted to a period piece.
Posted Jul 27, 2021
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|
C
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Bottle Shock
(2008)
|
Rick Warner
|
Unfortunately, Miller can't decide whether he's doing a relationship movie or one about the intrigue of world-class winemaking. Mingling the two left me with a somewhat sour aftertaste.
Posted Aug 15, 2008
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B+
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
(2008)
|
Mike Pearson
|
A popcorn movie that delivers precisely what it promises. The dialogue is tepid and the outcome is preordained, but it moves at the brisk pace of a carnival ride, leaving you breathless and ready for another spin.
Posted Jul 11, 2008
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B
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Sex and the City
(2008)
|
Lisa Bornstein
|
If Sex and the City is a hit, it will be partly because it's an enjoyable and somewhat true depiction of female friendship. But grown women will also go to see it because, finally, someone made a movie for them.
Posted May 30, 2008
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|
C+
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Semi-Pro
(2008)
|
Michael Mehle
|
A film with funny moments but just as many wasted opportunities.
Posted Feb 29, 2008
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|
B
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(2007)
|
Lisa Bornstein
|
The film benefits from Burton's consistency of vision. Swooping camera work and a sense of really discomfiting fantasy do the groundwork. When characters break into song, it fits in the world Burton has built.
Posted Dec 21, 2007
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B-
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Resurrecting the Champ
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Jackson's performance helps Resurrecting the Champ make its weight, if only by a couple of pounds.
Posted Aug 24, 2007
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|
B+
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Transformers
(2007)
|
Mike Pearson
|
Transformers is the comic-book movie on steroids, a fusion of sound and fury and sci-fi plotting that leaves plenty of room for a franchise.
Posted Jul 03, 2007
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|
C+
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Unconscionably long at 2 hours and 48 minutes, saddled with a plot that badly needed streamlining and running a bit low on humor, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End may not sink, but it certainly sometimes founders.
Posted May 25, 2007
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|
C
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Bug
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
By the end, the actors look as if they've been beaten to a near pulp, and the audience may share some of that feeling.
Posted May 25, 2007
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|
B
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Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Grbavica increases in power as it progresses. It's a movie about the ways in which people yearn for healing and about the many obstacles that work to prevent it.
Posted May 18, 2007
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|
C+
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Fay Grim
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
In the end Fay Grim probably shares one unfortunate quality with the Hollywood movies so reviled in IndieWorld: It may be an unnecessary sequel.
Posted May 18, 2007
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B
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Shrek the Third
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
An amusing -- if not consistently brilliant -- edition of a series that has yet to show signs that it needs to call it quits.
Posted May 18, 2007
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|
B+
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Away From Her
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Away From Her deals with a subject that easily could have turned maudlin. But the performances in Away From Her are pitch-perfect throughout, and Polley never begs for an emotional response she doesn't try to earn.
Posted May 11, 2007
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B
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Waitress
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Look, Waitress is no groundbreaker, and it's not likely to change anyone's life. But it provides a showcase for Russell, who knows how to make the most of it.
Posted May 11, 2007
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|
C-
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28 Weeks Later
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
An hour and a half of high-voltage bombardment, 28 Weeks Later doesn't really match the novelty of its predecessor.
Posted May 11, 2007
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|
C-
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The Ex
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Blink and you might miss Mia Farrow, who turns up as Peet's slightly addled mother. She probably should have stayed home.
Posted May 11, 2007
|
|
B
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After the Wedding
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Bier's not timid about tossing any number of volatile ingredients into an already-simmering pot.
Posted May 04, 2007
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|
C+
|
The Valet
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Think mediocrity, so much so that if you took away the French subtitles and had the characters speaking English, you'd have an American comedy most critics would shrug off as derivative and a trifle empty.
Posted May 04, 2007
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|
C-
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Lucky You
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
We get lots of high-stakes poker and too much pulseless drama in Lucky You, the latest movie to wander through the casinos of Las Vegas.
Posted May 04, 2007
|
|
B
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Spider-Man 3
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
If there's a moral to be gleaned from Spider-Man 3 -- aside from the fact that heavily promoted franchise movies tend to rake in megabucks -- it's this: Movies don't necessarily need to hit grand slams to score.
Posted May 04, 2007
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|
B+
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The Wind That Shakes the Barley
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
[Loach] has made an often handsome, always sobering movie that does what the best movies do: leave us a whole lot less sure about what we ought to think.
Posted Apr 27, 2007
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|
B
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Year of the Dog
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Year of the Dog has a sweetly off-kilter quality about it, and it also lays claim to an additional virtue: It probably won't remind you of every other dog movie you've ever seen.
Posted Apr 27, 2007
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|
C+
|
Diggers
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Clam diggers don't venture into the deepest waters, and neither, for the most part, does the movie. [It] serves up any number of slight moves, the kind associated with films that keep their gazes narrow and content themselves with small revelations.
Posted Apr 27, 2007
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|
B
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Black Book
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
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It's as interesting as anything Verhoeven's attempted in some time.
Posted Apr 20, 2007
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|
A-
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Killer of Sheep
(1977)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Purposefully uneventful and made in a minor key, Killer of Sheep moved me to tears. Contemporary audiences may not recognize it as a great movie. There's not an ounce of slick in it; it's neither manipulative nor hurried.
Posted Apr 20, 2007
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|
C+
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Fracture
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Fracture is aptly named. It's one of those movies in which cracks appear the minute you begin to look too closely.
Posted Apr 20, 2007
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|
C+
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In the Land of Women
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Kasdan, who also wrote the screenplay, allows a fairly large variety of problems to accrue.
Posted Apr 20, 2007
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|
B
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Hot Fuzz
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Rarely have we seen a British comedy in which the protagonists are armed to the teeth with both wit and automatic weapons.
Posted Apr 20, 2007
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|
D+
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Pathfinder
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Blood flows freely here, but the movie never creates a keen sense of involvement or mystery. Even a major cliffhanging (literally) set piece winds up blurred by the addition of a blinding snowstorm.
Posted Apr 13, 2007
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|
C-
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Perfect Stranger
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
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Perfect Stranger soon begins to look like another setback for Berry.
Posted Apr 13, 2007
|
|
C+
|
Disturbia
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Reasonably smart and sometimes funny -- right up until the end, when it sells out its intelligence in favor of a standard-issue dose of overwrought violence.
Posted Apr 13, 2007
|
|
B
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Grindhouse
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
At three hours, the movie can become a bit of an ordeal. I'd say pack a lunch, but if Rodriguez and Tarantino have done their job right, you'll be too grossed out to eat it.
Posted Apr 09, 2007
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|
B
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Orchestra Seats
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
It's one of those 'what's-not-to-like' movies, a fantasy about life and Paris that passes painlessly, a trifle elevated by its Parisian settings and our desire to lose ourselves in them.
Posted Apr 01, 2007
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|
B-
|
Blades of Glory
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Blades of Glory doesn't pack quite the wallop of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, but it offers enough rewards to keep Ferrell fans happy.
Posted Mar 30, 2007
|
|
C
|
Meet the Robinsons
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
It probably won't leave you feeling cheated, but its futuristic bric-a-brac and brainy young hero may not make your spirits soar, either.
Posted Mar 30, 2007
|
|
B+
|
The Lookout
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Scott's script feels as economical and focused as an entry in Chris' diary, and it provides the framework for a thriller that, for the most part, has been hard-boiled to near perfection.
Posted Mar 30, 2007
|
|
A-
|
Days of Glory
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
A shattering tale of bravery and unrewarded loyalty.
Posted Mar 23, 2007
|
|
B
|
Color Me Kubrick
(2005)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Colour Me Kubrick earns a place on the shelf where all the oddballs reside, defying us to come up with reasons to justify their idiosyncratic existences -- and perhaps not caring whether we do.
Posted Mar 23, 2007
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|
|
Pride
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
This kind of story always manages to generate a bit of juice, and both Howard and Bernie Mac do their best to add character to the proceedings.
Posted Mar 23, 2007
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|
|
Shooter
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Shooter winds up being the movie that would have left us scratching our heads about Wahlberg's choices had he actually won the best supporting actor award for his terrific work in The Departed.
Posted Mar 23, 2007
|
|
|
Reign Over Me
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The movie often feels as if it's drifting, yet it has a sad, lingering presence.
Posted Mar 23, 2007
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|
|
Hurricane on the Bayou
(2006)
|
Erika Gonzalez
|
Despite its split personality, Hurricane offers more good than bad, including a lively soundtrack featuring Benoit, the Neville Brothers and Fats Domino.
Posted Mar 16, 2007
|
|
B-
|
Starter for 10
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
A modest, almost negligible British comedy.
Posted Mar 16, 2007
|
|
B
|
The Namesake
(2006)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The Namesake ambitiously reveals the gains and perils of assimilation, and it heightens awareness about how difficult it can be to strike the right balance between family demands and personal development.
Posted Mar 16, 2007
|
|
C-
|
I Think I Love My Wife
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The off-color humor and R-rated language seems an attempt to reach out to his fan base, but in all, this attempt at "realistic" comedy never seems funny or emotionally insightful enough to matter.
Posted Mar 16, 2007
|
|
D+
|
Premonition
(2007)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
She's confused. We're confused. So is the movie.
Posted Mar 16, 2007
|
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