1
|
76/100
|
Family Obligations (2019)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The story and themes the movie explores are familiar, but they are examined with enough nuance and eccentric charm to distinguish the film from others of this ilk.
EDIT
Posted Mar 3, 2020
|
2
|
76/100
|
Chameleon (2019)
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Dan Jardine
|
Chameleon is a taut thriller that rewards an observant viewer.
EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2019
|
3
|
52/100
|
Trauma Therapy (2019)
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Dan Jardine
|
The director shows no flair for the genre, as he generates little tension in the therapeutic sessions, and fails to use the setting to create feelings of dread or claustrophobia
EDIT
Posted Dec 23, 2019
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4
|
82/100
|
ANYA (2019)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Anya may be small in budget, but it is big in humanity, intelligence and emotional impact
EDIT
Posted Nov 4, 2019
|
5
|
80/100
|
Sunday Girl (2019)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Ambrosio has a very good eye for symmetrical compositions and creative camera placement, as well as an astute sense of detail in the costumes and set design.
EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2019
|
6
|
60é100
|
Human Capital (2019)
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Dan Jardine
|
The overlapping narratives drag the simple story out, making a relatively short 97 minute film feel like a bit of a slog.
EDIT
Posted Sep 10, 2019
|
7
|
74/100
|
The Riot Act (2018)
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Dan Jardine
|
While there are a few narrative implausibilities, they never derail the story, and while the story takes on a bit more thematically then it can ultimately deliver, it is generally preferable that a film's reach exceeds its grasp.
EDIT
Posted Sep 2, 2019
|
8
|
70/100
|
The Iron Orchard (2018)
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Dan Jardine
|
A toe-tapping score and well-paced narrative drive round out the film's many competencies
EDIT
Posted Aug 1, 2019
|
9
|
67/100
|
Ophelia (2018)
|
Dan Jardine
|
It is not entirely successful, but has enough going for it at the purely technical level that it may find an audience. I am not it, however.
EDIT
Posted Jun 24, 2019
|
10
|
71/100
|
Ghost Light (2018)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Ghost Light is a success in a minor key
EDIT
Posted Jun 8, 2019
|
11
|
56/100
|
The Outsider (2019)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The Outsiders suffers from a lack of a single moment of narrative surprise or subtlety, as it follows the conventions of the genre slavishly.
EDIT
Posted Jun 1, 2019
|
12
|
76/100
|
Bull (2019)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Bull could easily slide into sentiment, but maintains the course as a quiet, naturalistic film set in a dying corner of the country, involving characters on the outer periphery of society who participate in an industry that is in atrophy
EDIT
Posted May 17, 2019
|
13
|
79/100
|
Tater Tot & Patton (2017)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Writer/director Kightlinger is to be commended for choosing a low-key approach suitable to the material, while guiding his actors to follow the lead of his script and direction.
EDIT
Posted Apr 14, 2019
|
14
|
71/100
|
America Adrift (2016)
|
Dan Jardine
|
a familiar story infused with intelligence and directorial elan
EDIT
Posted Mar 12, 2019
|
15
|
52/100
|
Streaker (2017)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Long gone are the days when watching grown people running naked on a field of sport is very much fun, but this film manages to drain the last few drops out of that particular humour barrel.
EDIT
Posted Mar 11, 2019
|
16
|
58/100
|
The Remarkable Life of John Weld (2018)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The key problem with the film is its lacks a thematic focus. While a lot of interesting things happened in Weld's life, there is no larger theme that provides his life with significance.
EDIT
Posted Feb 10, 2019
|
17
|
68/100
|
Stay Human (2018)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Stay Human is an affecting and engaging document, and one that could not be more well-timed.
EDIT
Posted Jan 23, 2019
|
18
|
70/100
|
A Boy Called Sailboat (2018)
|
Dan Jardine
|
A wee fable whose ability to charm will be in direct correlation to one's default cynicism setting.
EDIT
Posted Jan 14, 2019
|
19
|
90/100
|
The Florida Project (2017)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The pathos of the film proves to be gut-wrenching
EDIT
Posted Mar 14, 2018
|
20
|
76/100
|
Diner (1982)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The male quintet of friends is amusingly lampooned in Levinson's clever and cutting script, a refreshingly honest depiction of an era often bathed in sepia-toned nostalgia.
EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2016
|
21
|
93/100
|
City Lights (1931)
|
Dan Jardine
|
City Lights is a paean to our best impulses, a plea for humanitarianism and justice.
EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2016
|
22
|
87/100
|
Captains Courageous (1937)
|
Dan Jardine
|
An unlikely love story of two opposites splendidly directed by Fleming.
EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2016
|
23
|
82/100
|
Amarcord (1973)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Fellini shoots much of the film in muted colors that seem slightly out-of-focus, as if he were attempting to transport us into a dreamlike state.
EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2016
|
24
|
91/100
|
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Sherlock Jr. is Keaton's signature statement, and mind-warping flight of fancy on the dreamlike nature of films and the fluid nature of our ontological existence.
EDIT
Posted May 29, 2015
|
25
|
54/100
|
Frank (2014)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film tries very hard for quirky, but (barely) manages annoying.
EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2015
|
26
|
|
The Theory of Everything (2014)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The treatment of the subject matter goes over to what is essentially religious adoration.
EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2015
|
27
|
68/100
|
Get On Up (2014)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film's relative lack of any actual drama in the narrative is ultimately the result of a biographical approach too dedicated to flattery.
EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2015
|
28
|
89/100
|
The Firemen's Ball (1967)
|
Dan Jardine
|
I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard that I cried, but I did for The Firemen's Ball, and more than once.
EDIT
Posted Feb 11, 2015
|
29
|
71/100
|
Wild (2014)
|
Dan Jardine
|
A solid entertainment that treats the central story of redemption with honesty
EDIT
Posted Feb 11, 2015
|
30
|
62/100
|
Alan Partridge (2013)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The creaky premise of the plot is behind the times by decades, not years.
EDIT
Posted Jan 25, 2015
|
31
|
90/100
|
Ida (2013)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film's moral complexity is laudable
EDIT
Posted Jan 25, 2015
|
32
|
82/100
|
Nightcrawler (2014)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Nightcrawler gives us what we want--a "happy ending"-- as well as what we deserve-- a deliciously ironic comment on what passes for success in contemporary society.
EDIT
Posted Jan 23, 2015
|
33
|
87/100
|
Force of Evil (1948)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film cleverly uses illicit numbers running as a metaphor for unethical business practices in post-war America
EDIT
Posted Jan 9, 2015
|
34
|
82/100
|
The Killing Fields (1984)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Ngor's naturalistic and empathic portrayal of his character's desperate fight for survival is the key to this film's visceral power.
EDIT
Posted Jan 9, 2015
|
35
|
88/100
|
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Welles fearlessly inverts the Shakespearean emphasis on Henry's rise to power, instead encouraging us to look at the world from the perspective of those he left behind in his climb to the top.
EDIT
Posted Dec 30, 2014
|
36
|
89/100
|
Scarface (1932)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The pre-noir gangster genre was in many ways defined by the innovative approaches taken by Hawks in this film.
EDIT
Posted Dec 30, 2014
|
37
|
69/100
|
Time Bandits (1981)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Gilliam opts for an acerbic and often nasty tone that risks offending the very audience at which it purported to be aimed.
EDIT
Posted Dec 30, 2014
|
38
|
70/100
|
Kagemusha (1980)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film swings like a pendulum between stillness and action, an occasionally jarring mix of David Lean-like panoramas with intimate character study.
EDIT
Posted Dec 27, 2014
|
39
|
76/100
|
Stardust Memories (1980)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Woody Allen's altar is the art of filmmaking, and Stardust Memories is his crisis of faith.
EDIT
Posted Dec 27, 2014
|
40
|
77/100
|
Jean de Florette (1986)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Jean de Florette is as melodramatic as any soap opera, but its treatment is just a little askew, just off-center enough for the film to evolve into a moving and powerful pastoral tragedy.
EDIT
Posted Dec 27, 2014
|
41
|
78/100
|
Harvey (1950)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Elwood may be a drunk (or not -- does he ever actually take a drink?), and he may be delusional, but he is also happier, less neurotic, and more content than the so-called normal people who surround him and claim to be looking out for his best interests.
EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2014
|
42
|
86/100
|
Jezebel (1938)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The film's success is wrapped around Davis' steely performance and the elegant production values
EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2014
|
43
|
80/100
|
Julius Caesar (1953)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz manages to showcase the Bard's dialogue in a film that also has the visual appeal of Oscar-winning art direction.
EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2014
|
44
|
90/100
|
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Director William Dieterle manages a difficult task well, creating a film of both great sweep and remarkable intimacy.
EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2014
|
45
|
76/100
|
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Herzog's film confirms that dreamers and their obsessions can give us otherwise unimaginable moments of pure beauty.
EDIT
Posted Jul 30, 2014
|
46
|
65/100
|
Taps (1981)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Mildly engaging, but burdened by a predictable climax.
EDIT
Posted Jul 29, 2014
|
47
|
79/100
|
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Playing the part as if born to it, Cooper is at the top of his game, imbuing Deeds with just the right blend of empathy and intelligence.
EDIT
Posted Jul 27, 2014
|
48
|
72/100
|
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Director Alexander Korda is the chief beneficiary of Laughton's larger-than-life performance, as his conservative helmsmanship fails to provide the film with a distinctly personal stamp
EDIT
Posted Jul 27, 2014
|
49
|
81/100
|
Hud (1963)
|
Dan Jardine
|
Patricia Neal delivers a subtle and sensual Oscar-winning performance.
EDIT
Posted Jul 17, 2014
|
50
|
77/100
|
Sounder (1972)
|
Dan Jardine
|
The family's solidarity in the face of intimidating odds -- poverty, racism, injustice -- gives the movie a humanistic, optimistic center.
EDIT
Posted Jul 17, 2014
|