Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
After the quick-fire wit of Juno, this is disappointing." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
This indie squib wobbles briefly on a tightrope between sincerity and cuteness before plunging headlong to a death-by-whimsy." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
Interesting title, promisingly quirky subject, top-drawer cast – such a duff movie." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno () | "
Unearths footage of camera tests and experiments in kinetic art and colouration that suggest how very remarkable the film might have been. At times, it recalls Hitchcock's use of optical trickery in Vertigo." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
Scores high on swooping visuals and meticulous draughtsmanship." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 50%
| 1 Day () | "
The street patois is at times incomprehensible, the plot is a joke and the music is absurdly aggressive." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
Bright Star deals with the sonnets and the bonnets – top marks to the production and costume designer, Janet Patterson – with wit and restraint, and proves that a chaste romance needn't lack for passion, or poetry." — Independent Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 83%
| Thirst (2009) | "
The film is way too long, and quite sick, though Park's demented lyricism will stay with you." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 81%
| Triangle (2009) | "
This seaborne psycho-thriller has an unusual creepiness about it." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 48%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
The energy is intense, the athleticism is wild, the overall effect – pretty monotonous." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 84%
| Pontypool (2009) | "
McHattie and Houle are terrific as the besieged duo." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
If it were a send-up of couples therapy and its absurd language the film would at least be about something, but it hasn't even that much intelligence." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 65%
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) | "
It is a shame that Gilliam didn't settle for being an animator, because these squiggles of invention are so much more his forte than film directing." — Independent Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 94%
| Katalin Varga (2009) | "
At times we seem to be watching the reconstruction of an ancient folk tale, and Strickland, as if entrusted with its telling, hardly puts a foot wrong." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
A zombie comedy funnier than Shaun of the Dead? They said it couldn't be done, but here it is." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 94%
| Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee (2009) | "
Even with a short running time (71 mins) this scrappy, unendearing squib outstays its welcome." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 94%
| Goodbye Solo (2009) | "
It's touching in its way, though Bahrani's writing is not nearly as strong as his visual sense, and the denouement is perhaps too understated for its own good." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 18%
| Love Happens (2009) | "
What a title. Not that this crybaby romantic drama deserves much better." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 98%
| Up (2009) | "
Up is buoyant with thrills and spills, yet it's anchored, quite movingly, in the acceptance of mortality. This rollercoaster ride will leave everyone on an up." — Independent Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 0%
| The Spell (2009) | "
This Leeds-set occult mystery is made in so earnest and amateurish a style as to make the Children's Film Foundation look like Hitchcock." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 27%
| Pandorum (2009) | "
Some scary moments, but its final half-hour is a right old mess, and the title is doomed never to be remembered." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 67%
| District 13: Ultimatum (2009) | "
A Parisian conspiracy thriller of frankly preposterous dimensions." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 10%
| My Life in Ruins (2009) | "
Might as well be called My Big Fat Greek Package Holiday." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 96%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
There's not much discipline and it's way too long, but in common with her best work, it has a dreamy sort of charm." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 100%
| The Army of Crime (2009) | "
A sombre and gripping account of guerrilla fighters in Paris." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
This topsy-turvy place hasn't the watertight consistency to persuade us, and its star, for all his talent, is not a romantic comedian. That's the truth as I see it." — Independent Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Soloist (2009) | "
Its oddness is chastening: what's ostensibly a triumph-of-the-spirit number doesn't make you feel very triumphant after all." — Independent Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 6%
| Whiteout (2009) | "
Apart from a lascivious shot of his scantily clad star, director Dominic Sena keeps the action fairly swift under blizzard-like conditions: at times we seem to be watching people fight inside a snow globe." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 84%
| The September Issue (2009) | "
Almost nothing of insight is allowed to intrude on the story, the single point of curiosity being the mild tension between the editor and her flame-haired, forthright creative director Grace Coddington." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 4%
| Miss March (2009) | "
This "comedy" might be the Worst Movie Ever Seen, even with the aftershock of the Wayans Bros' Dance Flick still lingering." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 75%
| Julie & Julia (2009) | "
The movie is not objectionable – it's very affectionate, and has a light comic tone – but it is insufferable. Tweeness and whimsy eclipse any spark of thoughtfulness. The resulting confection is two hours of drama-less self-congratulation." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Fish Tank (2009) | "
Arnold controls this simmering tension as adroitly as she did in her first film: it's a real skill to present quite unpleasant characters and then reveal them as vulnerable, even loveable." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 89%
| Adventureland (2009) | "
It is a coming-of-age picture which seems not so different from any other but hits delightfully odd notes thanks to Mottola's terrifically smart script and a cast of mostly eager young actors." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 23%
| Sorority Row (2009) | "
I'm not sure there's any point to this beyond an invitation to ogle teenage girls in their underwear, running and screaming." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 48%
| Dorian Gray (2010) | "
Parker's staging and direction are hopelessly inert; the orgy scenes are knocked off from Eyes Wide Shut, while the later movement into darkness looks (and sounds) like a cheap slasher movie." — Independent Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 100%
| Tricks (2007) | "
Andrzej Jakimowski's squib of humdrum life hides a yearning heart." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 25%
| The Red Baron (2009) | "
The dogfights are competently handled, and Headey looks awfully sweet in her Boden version of 1917 mufti, but the stodgy comic-book dialogue keeps shooting plausibility down in flames." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 38%
| Passchendaele (2008) | "
For most of its length the film keeps to the home front, saving its dramatic switch to the Western Front for the final reel, by which point the plot has nailed its rather novelettish colours to the mast." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
District 9 is a South African sci-fi B-movie that punches well above its weight even as it falls back on inspiration from major-league precedents." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 76%
| Bustin' Down the Door (2008) | "
At times it's quite moving – Wayne Bartholomew breaks down on camera as he recalls his hardscrabble childhood – though Edward Norton's narration has all the nuance of an I-Speak-Your-Weight machine." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 95%
| Big River Man (2009) | "
This chronicle of his swim is fuzzy and flaky: the implication is that Strel, exhausted and delirious from his efforts, suffered a mental breakdown. His story requires a comparable narrator: one wonders what Werner Herzog might have done with it." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 87%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
I've read somewhere that (500) Days of Summer is being called the Annie Hall de nos jours; that's a slur on a great movie, not to say on nos jours." — Independent Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 92%
| Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1 (2009) | "
Vincent Cassel fully commits himself to the role." — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 50%
| Jetsam (2008) | "
To mention echoes of Notorious and The Conversation would be to flatter Simon Welsford's first feature, but his keen sense of place and atmosphere point to a career worth watching." — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
There will be other challengers in time, but so far The Hurt Locker is easily the best film to come out of the Iraq war." — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
Vulgarity and sentimentality are set up in a fight to the death. I laughed a few times, mostly at Jonah Hill's nerdy but casual smarts." — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 29%
| The Final Destination (2009) | "
The film-makers' inventiveness with each death is at once camp and heartless; every scene is so heavily loaded with the potential for violent calamity that after a while one's cynical laugh turns to a weary "whatever..."" — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 83%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
The director is toying with us, he knows it, and he knows we know it. This isn't a dud, it's just a small disappointment." — Independent Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 46%
| Shorts (2009) | "
No denying his energy, but it's like the energy of a kid with attention deficit disorder: his stories can't settle on anything for more than a few minutes." — Independent Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 14%
| I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) | "
The pace is oddly sluggish, the flashbacks are awkward, and most of the risque lines die a death, but there are two reasons to stay with it – Rust himself as the super-dweeb hero and Jack T Carpenter as his movie-quoting best friend." — Independent Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
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