 |
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2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Goes off on a bunch of wild, convoluted tangents that don't add up and grow sillier by the minute. By the time nosebleed epidemics, watery portals and NASA experiments are added into the mix, the picture has walked off a ledge it never recovers from."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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4/4 |
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(2009) |
|
"Precious is a rarefied beauty, an innately human story that offers inspiration without sap, fleeting hope without contrivance, ultimate redemption with sincerity. One of the year's best and boldest."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A loopy, fact-scattered comedy close to woeful in its failure at producing laughs and some much-needed levity. If there is some big, meaningful point to the film, it is lost in a landmine of slapstick and mugging."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"In a land of recycled ideas and remakes, The Fourth Kind is a valiant original, no matter how deceptive it may ultimately be."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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3/4 |
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(2009) |
|
"Children not already familiar with the past iterations of A Christmas Carol will be in heaven if they can get past the spookier elements, while the rest of viewers will be happy with, if not quite euphoric for, what Robert Zemeckis has cooked up."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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2.5/4 |
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(2009) |
|
"An uneven comedy that gets high scores for the amount of laughs it does provide. My assessment? Normal is overrated."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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3/4 |
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(2009) |
|
"A resonant coming-of-age story, at once tough and delicate, that signifies how much times have changed in the proceeding fifty years, and, in other ways, how much they have stayed the same."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The film paints Michael Jackson in a glorious light, making certain that, since he did not live to see his visions come to fruition on the London stage, this cinematic rough draft would be a swan song worth being proud of."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The good news: it is easily a step up from the worthless, dirge-worthy likes of Saw IV and Saw V. The not-so-good news, then, is that the film is still unnecessary and convoluted, the series having long since run out of steam and freshness."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
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"A morbidly insensitive insult."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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| |
2.5/4 |
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(2009) |
|
"There is an undoubted vision behind the cameras, one that is bound to only crystallize if the powers-that-be give this potential new franchise the nurturing it deserves."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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| |
2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Overly glorifies its human subject, cautious to get its hands dirty and dig beneath the surface of Earhart's public life. And yet, even so, Hilary Swank is a joy to watch."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The Stepfather is studio-produced drivel that puts a negative label on horror movies and psychological chillers. The only pleasure to be had from watching it is to so easily be able to pick it apart."
[movie review] |
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DustinPutman.com |
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2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"When does a highly watchable movie stop being a beacon of enjoyment and turn into a morally reprehensible insult? For one, when its name happens to be Law Abiding Citizen."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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| |
4/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Bold and cinematic, at once wondrously epic yet achingly intimate and honest. Touting it as this century's answer to 1939's The Wizard of Oz would not be flagrant hyperbole."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A faint promising shadow of the potential masterwork it should have been."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"After traveling to Eden with the shallow, self-involved, unpleasant twits that populate Couples Retreat, you'll be wishing they'd all have packed their bags and gone straight to hell, instead."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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| |
3.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A fairy tale gone fatalistically wrong, the stark opposite of happily ever after. Impresses with its sheer dauntless, sobering nerve."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Puts to shame most major studio horror releases. Classy even while getting down-and-dirty, unusually savvy about the importance of tension and character nuance over viscera and a soulless body count."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
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3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The viewer walks out of Paranormal Activity wishing there was more to it, while acknowledging all the same that the film's cumulative impact is formidable, permeating long after the lights have come up."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Anyone up on current events and at least passingly familiar with the history of the U.S. will learn few new insights. What they will learn is that they have seen this all before, and done better, by a director who seems to be going through the paces."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Perhaps bites off more than it can comfortably chew, but isn't without a pleasing portion of food for thought for viewers tired of being unchallenged by mainstream studio fare."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Never less than sheer fun, Whip It enlivens Bliss' touching journey and makes roller derby seem so much cooler than boring old football or basketball."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Playing like a useful survival guide to an undead outbreak, a guts-filled horror film that turns George Romero on his head, and a knowing, occasionally referential screwball comedy, Zombieland is a zippy blast."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"By the time one of the creatures tosses a character a pipe and they proceed to martial arts fight, it's safe to presume that a shark has been jumped and there is no turning things around."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Broaches topical subjects with a meditative quality that blends nicely with its dark brand of not-so-far-off fantasy."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Where's Thin Lizzy when you need them?"
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Some of the students specialize in classical music, others in dance, and still others in singing and acting, but the one thing they all have in common is their apparent enrollment in Clichés 101."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A surprisingly thoughtful romantic drama saddled with a climactic scene so cloying and artificial that one can hardly believe it's part of the same movie. And yet, what surrounds this five-minute faux pas is really kind of great."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Jennifer's Body could strip away its violence and otherworldly elements and would still work as a supernaturally-tinged emblem of teenage life."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Repetitive to the point of supreme annoyance, The Informant! would have been better informed with a page-one rewrite."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"It is often not the case that genuine originality shines through in studio filmmaking, but that feat has been more than achieved here."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"In spite of a peppy pace and speckles of inspiration here and there, Sorority Row feels empty and laborious when it should be fun, insincere when it should be earnest. Much like the sisters of Theta Pi, a brain couldn't have hurt, too."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"When serious moments are accompanied again and again by collective widespread laughter from an otherwise well-behaved audience, it is a tell-tale sign that something has gone very wrong in translation from page to screen."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Ranks down there with Battle for Terra as the year's weakest animated venture."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"When Mary tearfully confesses that she wears her red boots because they make her toes "feel like ten friends on a camping trip," the viewer doesn't know whether to explode in laughter or die from the osmosis of Sandra Bullock's own humiliation."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Stunningly impersonal and underdeveloped, Gamer consists of pawns posing as people going through the motions of directors Neveldine's and Taylor's ugly orgy of style over substance."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The plot strands wander all over the place with minimal focus, adding up to one overwhelming question: what was the point?"
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
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| |
2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The destination of the title is never in any doubt, but the getting-there is giddily devious and playful. For the fourth outing in a thought-tired series, The Final Destination has some surprising sparks of life to it yet."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Almost shocking how skillfully anchored it is, Halloween II is confidently and assuredly its own beast, and what a beast it is."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Idealistic but not idealized, the film contains a bittersweet quality that suggests without spelling out how truly monumental, meaningful, and one-of-a-kind Woodstock was."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Superficial and, by the end, insulting, such an anti-feminist slap in the face that one can scarcely believe the film was written and directed by women."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"So smug and self-satisfied that it drains from the proceedings whatever charm there might have been."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
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| |
4/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Fierce, fascinating, literate, ballsy, shocking, whimsical, devastating, brazenly inventive, and nothing less than wholly hypnotic."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard could have been more agonizing to sit through. As is, it is merely a disposable failure. The film just wanders along, complacent and insincere as it heads down a dead-end street."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
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| |
2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Is The Time Traveler's Wife terrible? Not really. Striving for meaning as it revolves around the process of life, the film remains perilously thin and unenlightening."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A lovely and unique feast for the eyes and the heart."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Exceptionally entertaining, but also keenly knowledgeable about music and the history and reverence behind it. Bandslam is more unadulterated fun than it has any right to be."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Majestic and matter-of-fact in equal measure, District 9 provides purposefully difficult and uneasy food for thought to go along with its more visceral thrills."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
|
|
| |
1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Viewers certainly won't be able to accuse G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra of lacking in sound and fervor, but that's just the problem. With nothing else to latch onto, the picture's ceaseless bombastic overload grows tedious rather than exciting."
[movie review] |
|
DustinPutman.com |
|
|
