Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this
publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following
Tomatometer-approved critic(s):
Jeffrey Westhoff
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
1.5/4
It is refreshing to see Rickman in a heroic role, but everything else about this overripe travesty reeks to high heaven.
Posted Jan 5, 2007
2
3/4
Miss Potter (2007)
Succeeds on its performances, its sunny re-creation of London from 100 years ago and a winsome tone than matches Zellweger's scrunchy face.
Posted Jan 5, 2007
3
3.5/4
Children of Men (2006)
Filming Children of Men as if it were a war documentary enhances its urgency, but Cuarón allows quieter moments to disturb us as well.
Posted Dec 28, 2006
4
3/4
Dreamgirls (2006)
If only a few numbers were less screechy, the movie would be solid gold.
Posted Dec 28, 2006
5
2/4
The Good German (2007)
If The Third Man could create a bleak world without characters spewing obscenities, The Good German also could have managed it.
Posted Dec 22, 2006
6
1.5/4
The Good Shepherd (2006)
The film purports to tell the inside story of the first 20 years of the CIA, but Damon's Bourne movies are more realistic spy stories.
Posted Dec 22, 2006
7
3/4
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Before we realize it, we care about this palooka again, care about him like we haven't since 1979's Rocky II.
Posted Dec 20, 2006
8
3/4
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Smith's performance is definitely on par with Julia Roberts' in Erin Brockovich.
Posted Dec 15, 2006
9
3/4
Charlotte's Web (2006)
Charlotte's Web may not emerge from the shadow of that other talking pig movie, but in its own humble way, it is radiant.
Posted Dec 15, 2006
10
2/4
The Holiday (2006)
Myers has established herself as Nora Ephron Lite, which is the same as establishing yourself as white bread without the crust.
Posted Dec 12, 2006
11
3/4
Blood Diamond (2006)
A top-notch adventure movie with fantastic production values and the cold, sharp edge of a machete.
Posted Dec 12, 2006
12
3/4
Apocalypto (2006)
The plot has been stripped to the essence of chase and survival.
Posted Dec 8, 2006
13
3/4
The Nativity Story (2006)
Many moments are overpowering and humbling, thanks to the source material. This is not a great film or an especially good one, but I don't have to remind you where its story ranks among those ever told.
Posted Dec 2, 2006
14
2.5/4
Flannel Pajamas (2006)
With "Flannel Pajamas" Lipsky has written an excellent off-Broadway play, not a film.
Posted Dec 2, 2006
15
3.5/4
Bobby (2006)
As we experience Kennedy's compassion and eloquence in newsreel footage and hear the campaign speech he delivered that night, we comprehend the film's overwhelming sense of loss.
Posted Dec 2, 2006
16
1.5/4
Déjà Vu (2006)
Not a thing about this story withstands two second's worth of scrutiny.
Posted Dec 2, 2006
17
1/4
In Fur the filmmakers have created something more unbearable than the pretentious biopic of a suffering artist: the pretentious pretend biopic of a suffering artist.
Posted Nov 19, 2006
18
3/4
Happy Feet (2006)
While the film's visual inventiveness and technological innovations can be daunting at the start, Miller chose his featured animal well. No creatures are more irresistible than penguins, even when they sing disco.
Posted Nov 19, 2006
19
4/4
Casino Royale (2006)
Casino Royale is the riskiest of Bonds, and it immediately establishes itself among the series' top tier because almost every gambit pays off.
Posted Nov 15, 2006
20
3/4
A Good Year (2006)
The humor is fast and witty - P.G. Wodehouse on rocket fuel.
Posted Nov 10, 2006
21
4/4
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Indulge the movie's excesses, and it rewards the viewer's intelligence with humor mingled with insight, warmth and painless lessons in literary theory.
Posted Nov 10, 2006
22
3.5/4
Flushed Away (2006)
This is one of those movies that sends kids - and adults - out of the theater listing dozens of things that made them laugh.
Posted Nov 3, 2006
23
2/4
A cinematic stunt that works occasionally, but not often enough.
Posted Nov 3, 2006
24
3/4
Catch a Fire (2006)
Noyce's instincts for suspense are so potent that Catch a Fire works as a thriller even if you ignore his politics.
Posted Oct 31, 2006
25
2/4
Running With Scissors (2006)
Running With Scissors loses its edge because we want to see more of Baldwin and less of everyone else.
Posted Oct 31, 2006
26
3/4
The Prestige (2006)
Following The Illusionist, The Prestige is this season's second thriller about stage magic at the end of the 19th century. The Prestige is the more satisfying.
Posted Oct 21, 2006
27
2.5/4
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Amin's story is so thick with drama, terror and bloodshed, why create a fictional character to serve as a vantage point?
Posted Oct 20, 2006
28
3/4
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
The most intriguing, and in some ways most courageous, aspect of Flags is how Eastwood deconstructs the use of the word 'hero.'
Posted Oct 20, 2006
29
2.5/4
If Pettyfer approached the material as a teenage James Bond movie, the actors playing the villains approached Stormbreaker as a teenage Austin Powers movie.
Posted Oct 12, 2006
30
3/4
If Li must leave his signature genre, better this entertaining bit of history than the wall-to-wall boredom of Hero.
Posted Oct 7, 2006
31
2.5/4
The Departed (2006)
It may not be vintage Scorsese, but it is exciting Scorsese.
Posted Oct 7, 2006
32
2/4
All The King's Men (2006)
Like Polonius in "Hamlet," All the King's Men takes on airs as it pretends to explain the mysteries of life although it really says nothing of significance.
Posted Sep 21, 2006
33
2/4
Hollywoodland (2006)
The fatal flaw of Hollywoodland is as basic as the mystery genre gets: too much detective, not enough detecting.
Posted Sep 21, 2006
34
4/4
Lassie (2006)
Lassie achieves greatness through its rich supply of goodness.
Posted Sep 1, 2006
35
4/4
The Fallen Idol (1949)
Many themes are tragic, but Fallen Idol also extols the resilience of innocence.
Posted Aug 28, 2006
36
2.5/4
How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
The lessons about bullying and standing up for yourself aren't forced too strongly, giving How to Eat Fried Worms the same appeal as the best Little Rascals shorts.
Posted Aug 28, 2006
37
3/4
Accepted (2006)
You have to cheer a film that chooses the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" as its anthem and not something by Matchbox 20.
Posted Aug 21, 2006
38
3/4
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Snakes on a Plane is good fun that could have been great fun.
Posted Aug 21, 2006
39
2/4
Step Up (2006)
Despite being declared 'one of the film industry's most sought-after choreographers' in the press notes, director Anne Fletcher often films her principal dancers from the waist up.
Posted Aug 11, 2006
40
3/4
Scoop (2006)
Jackman slips easily into the ambiguous menace of his Cary Grant role.
Posted Aug 9, 2006
41
3.5/4
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Despite the indie-film stereotypes in the character profiles, the actors find the humanity in their roles and stick to it through every joke and tragedy.
Posted Aug 9, 2006
42
2/4
Miami Vice (2006)
Several voters at Jumptheshark.com believe the Miami Vice TV show jumped the shark when Don Johnson married Sheena Easton. The big-screen version of Miami Vice jumps the shark about 45 minutes into the movie.
Posted Aug 9, 2006
43
3/4
The Ant Bully (2006)
It does have a spunky pace and the clever humor Davis' team brought to the Jimmy Neutron movie and TV series.
Posted Aug 9, 2006
44
3.5/4
World Trade Center (2006)
Stone taps into great reserves of undiscovered subtlety.
Posted Aug 9, 2006
45
3.5/4
Monster House (2006)
The ultimate movie for 10-year-old boys.
Posted Jul 20, 2006
46
2.5/4
Clerks II (2006)
With Smith, you have to take the crass with the inspired, but unlike Quentin Tarantino, Smith has something to say. Sometimes it's worth sitting through a ton of sick jokes to hear it. Clerks II is one of those times.
Posted Jul 20, 2006
47
1.5/4
Lady in the Water (2006)
For a movie constantly explaining itself, M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water doesn't make a drop of sense.
Posted Jul 20, 2006
48
2/4
You, Me and Dupree (2006)
When your straight man gets more laughs than you, it's time to modify your act.
Posted Jul 14, 2006
49
3/4
This is not an exercise in fabricated nostalgia, but a raucous chronicle of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
Posted Jul 14, 2006
50
2/4
Strangers with Candy (2005)
Strangers With Candy is Nacho Libre for the self-proclaimed cool kids.
Posted Jul 7, 2006