Fresh
| Rotten 56%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
... the final product matches the title in both weirdness and drollery." — Brand X Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
With the suspense cranked so high, it's almost inevitable that the bloody finale comes as a bit of a letdown." — Brand X Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 48%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
Von Trier's previous sorties into torturing the audience ...were structured around issues of faith, God ... and the human condition. This time around, however, the thrust is either incoherent or so complex as to require a sharper mind than my own." — Brand X Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 71%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Thanks to both the added story elements and the visual choices, there is barely a drop of "magical" to be found; it's neither wondrous nor scary." — Brand X Posted Oct 18, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 0%
| Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) | "
The result is at times genuinely suspenseful ... and if the final twist doesn't drive you crazy, the cleverness may win you over." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 94%
| 35 Shots of Rum (2009) | "
Several sequences have little to no dialogue but give us a rich, ambivalent view of the characters and their feelings ... . It's a directorial risk that pays off with an indelible experience." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 93%
| An Education (2009) | "
... entertaining and perceptive, and distinguished by Mulligan's infectious presence." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 76%
| The Informant! (2009) | "
Despite the possibility of savage humor, Soderbergh has gone for a more amiable approach; the result doesn't have many big belly laughs, but its droll tone is consistently amusing." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Hurt Locker (2009) | "
Bigelow uses hand-held camera and eye-level character p.o.v. shots to create a gritty sense of being there." — Brand X Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 85%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
As with Levy's rye bread, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy [it]." — Brand X Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
It's not ... that he's entirely opposed to capitalism; what he's really going after is the corporatism that has made profit a goal beyond all ethical considerations." — Brand X Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 59%
| The Headless Woman (2009) | "
Martel -- having listed Herk Harvey's ultra-low-budget 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls as a favorite -- has now more or less remade it as an "art film": that is, she's slathered the pretentiousness on so thick that all the fun is gone." — Christian Science Monitor Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
It doesn't seem as fresh as Office Space or likely to achieve the same sort of iconic status, but there are enough laughs here to justify the time." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 51%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
This may be the least ambitious of Lee's films, but his directorial chops still guarantee a worthwhile experience." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
As it progresses, it increasingly takes its cues from Ernst Lubitsch's great Nazi farce To Be or Not to Be, except eventually even wackier and less realistic." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
We've seen most of the film's elements before ... but all these ideas have never been assembled in exactly this manner before, let alone with Blomkamp's wit and style." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 76%
| Cold Souls (2009) | "
Had Cold Souls come out exactly a decade earlier, it would have seemed utterly original and daring ... because it would have beaten Being John Malkovich to the screen by a few months." — Brand X Posted Sep 20, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| Art & Copy (2009) | "
Even without the nostalgic aspects, Art & Copy is thoroughly entertaining. But the film ends up being an advertisement for advertising. It's hard not to wonder if we're being sold a bill of goods." — Christian Science Monitor Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
Apatow packs enough decent jokes into an hour and a half to earn our affection. The problem is that after that hour and a half the movie goes on for nearly another hour, for a grand total of 2 hours and 25 minutes." — Brand X Posted Aug 3, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 47%
| Whatever Works (2009) | "
[T]he stiffness of David's performance gives one renewed appreciation for Allen's sometimes overlooked acting abilities.... But Allen continues to write the best jokes in the business." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 95%
| In the Loop (2009) | "
In the midst of the constant stream of mostly vacuous (and sometimes not) summer blockbusters, In the Loop is the tiniest of releases and one of the best ... maybe the best so far." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 83%
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) | "
The uniformly good performances and the often inspired craftsmanship arguably make this second only to Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban in the Potter pantheon." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 67%
| Brüno (2009) | "
I thought it was hysterical. I'm just not sure I'll respect myself in the (metaphorical) morning." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Rotten
| Fresh 67%
| Public Enemies (2009) | "
Mann and his writers recount Dillinger's story clearly and with more historical accuracy than some of the earlier film versions, but you're left wondering, "So what?"" — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 92%
| Drag Me To Hell (2009) | "
Raimi doesn't merely pull out all the stops in his new horror film.... He pulls them out, purees them, stews the pulp in phlegm and vomit, pours us a nice bowlful and then throws it right in our faces. I mean that in the nicest possible way." — Brand X Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 52%
| The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) | "
Scott has updated the setting, but, more significantly, he's refashioned things in tone, style and theme, deftly recasting it to fit the standard template of the contemporary Hollywood action film." — Brand X Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 36%
| Angels & Demons (2009) | "
It [has] the sort of exposition that gives exposition a bad name." — Brand X Posted Jul 30, 2009 |
— | Fresh 100%
| Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2003) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Mar 31, 2009 |
— | N/A | Lost Junction (2003) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
— | Fresh 80%
| I Capture the Castle (2003) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Mar 26, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 100%
| Street Fight (2006) | "
"...completely gripping and enraging."" — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Jan 19, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| Night Watch (2005) | "
...better than most of our domestic product..." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Jan 19, 2009 |
— | N/A | The Year That Trembled (2002) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Dec 31, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 71%
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) | "
Despite its length and expansive pace, it's never dull. And, despite the dubiousness of its stabs at being "meaningful," it still leaves you with more than most mega-productions." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 23, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 91%
| Gomorrah (2009) | "
[T]here's nothing here to draw us in -- nothing particularly interesting or engaging about the stories or the characters." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Rotten
| Fresh 80%
| Nothing But the Truth (2008) | "
Lurie's style has grown increasingly fluid, and the players (especially Farmiga) deliver, but he tosses everything away with the last twist." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 36%
| Adam Resurrected (2008) | "
It seems to have been written in a tone of magical realism, but the director is Paul Schrader, a filmmaker who has many talents, but no feel for whimsy, let alone magic." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 98%
| The Wrestler (2008) | "
... handily his best leading performance in years ... possibly ever .... Director Aronofsky ... plays it straight, giving us a clear, linear narrative, interrupted only by one intercut flashback. The step away from pyrotechnics becomes him." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 19, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 79%
| Gran Torino (2008) | "
[It gives] Eastwood a chance to be funnier than he's been in a long time." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 87%
| Timecrimes (2008) | "
A witty, well-made addition to the [time travel] subgenre." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 77%
| Doubt (2008) | "
Shanley [opens] up his four-character original enough to make it more cinematic without destroying the claustrophobic air of the characters' school-bound, almost medieval, world." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Rotten
| Rotten 21%
| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) | "
Gort the robot looks the same but is ten times bigger and a tenth as interesting -- a good metaphor for the whole project." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 91%
| Frost/Nixon (2008) | "
Howard and Morgan are able to structure a series of largely mundane events for maximum suspense." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 93%
| Milk (2008) | "
[Later] you realize that [Penn] doesn't innately look that much like Milk -- which is a sign of how terrific his performance is. Josh Brolin is no less perfect as White..." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 38%
| Transporter 3 (2008) | "
For the most part, the fights and chases are as implausible as the story, but there's an extraordinarily clever escape-from-certain-death bit about 20 minutes from the end that I don't think I've ever seen before." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Dec 12, 2008 |
— | N/A | My Dinner With Jimi (2003) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Dec 3, 2008 |
— | N/A | Undermind (2003) |
Click here to read article — Variety Posted Dec 1, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 22%
| Nine Dead Gay Guys (2003) | "
Takes place in such a cartoonish, good-natured universe it's hard to imagine anyone taking offense." — Variety Posted Nov 27, 2008 |
Fresh
| Rotten 58%
| The Dukes (2008) | "
Between the performances and the nice visual style, the whole feels greater than the sum of its plot points." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 20, 2008 |
Fresh
| Fresh 86%
| A Christmas Tale (2008) | "
Once the connections become clear, however, this often bitter story almost becomes a thriller, as we fear the next outburst or revelation and its aftermath." — Los Angeles CityBeat Posted Nov 17, 2008 |
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