 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C+ |
|
(2009) |
|
"Content to occupy that middle ground where insights are authentic but far from revelatory and comedy is more amiable than riotous."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Though his narrative's morality-play suspense and Bernard Herrmann-esque score recall Hitchcock, Kelly seems to have selected the '70s so that he can fully channel early-years Steven Spielberg."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A clear step in the right direction for Zemeckis and his pet techno-project, the film nonetheless ultimately sabotages itself by prizing the hectic over the heartfelt."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 .5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Despite positioning itself as a Napoleon Dynamite-style comedy about a spazzy social retard, Splinterheads seems to have misplaced most of its jokes."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Smith's subject Michael Ruppert never registers as much more than an eloquent but largely untrustworthy quack."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(2009) |
|
"A teen-targeted public service announcement."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(2009) |
|
"Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher pile tribulations onto their protagonist not to inform but merely to exploit."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C+ |
|
(2009) |
|
"So blatantly nonsensical that the action quickly tips over into campiness."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A true-life tale of prejudice that hinges on a unique anomaly."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 .5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A promotional film best suited for broadcast in an office lobby."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The true abiding love affair here remains between Duffy and QT."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.0/4.0 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Saw VI plays like the last gasp for relevance of a heavy-metal series that has not only gone regurgitation-rusty but seems lacking much of a will to live."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C- |
|
(1999) |
|
"[A] dim-witted, aesthetically clunky Tarantino clone."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Amelia attempts the yeoman's task of recounting a tale about which it has virtually nothing to say."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 3/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"In its best moments, the film exudes an almost Miyazakian love of flight, notably during the hero’s maiden soar through the clouds."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"At the very least, such triteness will dredge up a desire to keep the Weitz family -- brother Chris was responsible for the leaden Golden Compass debacle -- away from the first chapters of big-budget franchises."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"A portrait of parenthood that’s apt to turn one into an ardent advocate of contraception, Motherhood portrays such shrill, mopey and all-around unpleasant adults that it’s hard to believe any of them found procreative partners."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 B+ |
|
(1998) |
|
"Exhibits an almost pitch-perfect balance between condescension and compassion."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"a shabby substitute for its original."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 B+ |
|
(2009) |
|
"A mature, striking exploration of the way that kids feel."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(2009) |
|
"Only sporadically feels like an effort interested in grappling with the miserable fallout from tragedy."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(2009) |
|
"Has all the get-up-and-go of a dead battery."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Ultimately comes off as merely an excuse for stars to take a vacation on the studio's%u2014and moviegoing public's%u2014dime."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(2009) |
|
"Never congeal[s] into an emotionally coherent or compelling whole."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C- |
|
(2006) |
|
"[A] stilted, affected term-paper treatise on the human condition."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 C |
|
(1999) |
|
"Feels like an overly deliberate meta-Bressonian prank."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"For High School Musical fans unwaveringly devoted to Corbin Bleu, Free Style provides ample opportunity to swoon over the former East High basketballer's big floppy hair and Disney Channel-grade emoting."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The parallel-tracks structure smoothly reveals cause-effect relationships even as it sometimes feels designed to gussy up the narrative's straightforward rise-and-fall arc."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 3.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Bronson is a fast, ferocious, wickedly funny portrait of one man's acceptance of his bone-deep animalism."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Unlike its spiritual predecessor Shaun of the Dead, Fleischer's film doesn't really get either zombie movies or human relationships."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The Invention of Lying sets its sights high before settling for comfortable lovey-dovey convention."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Belman only skims the surface; even his depiction of the admirable Joyce (who ditched corporate America to chase his dream of being a mentor) shows a preference for tidy sound bites over intense inquiry."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 .5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"This intertwined tale of people struggling on society's fringe plays like bad community theater."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Ultimately seems just as calculated and mechanical a pose as Dumont's previous efforts."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Says so much that's familiar if not downright clichéd, it winds up saying nothing at all."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"The further Bower journeys into the spacecraft's bowels, with Payton providing navigation tips from back in their original sleep chamber, the less Pandorum unnerves."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Neither blue teeth nor virgins make appearances, but Russell Brown’s torpid indie does deliver plenty of ponderous chitchat about truth, deception, criticism and artists’ motivations."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 3/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"With rugged reverence, Sweetgrass depicts the final sheepherder drive into Montana's Beartooth mountains."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Old-hat tropes under a superficially stunning veneer."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 .5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Underlit and generally shot with an eye toward unattractiveness, Beer in Hell also goes for ugliness in its dialogue."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 2/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Fontaine dramatizes Coco's struggles respectfully if mundanely, crafting believable period detail for her procession of key-life-moment scenes, all of which employ serviceable but far from groundbreaking psychologizing."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Narratively and grammatically dim redemption pap."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 3/5 |
|
(2009) |
|
"It may not have the heart or subtle artistry of Up, but then again, Pixar’s 3-D outing didn’t feature a mustache-tearing monkey, a manchild encased in a giant cooked chicken, or a beefy, bounding cop voiced by Mr. T."
[movie review] |
|
Time Out New York |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 B |
|
(2009) |
|
"A period piece typified by restraint, delicacy and the romantic spirit of its renowned subject."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Klapisch's "It's a small world" plotting is sunk by both bland artistry and dull insights into his milieu."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Another fervent call-to-arms from one side of the aisle."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 A- |
|
(2009) |
|
"Depicts everyday details and conveys overarching emotional upheavals with a compassion and gentleness that's quietly devastating."
[movie review] |
|
Lessons of Darkness |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1.5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"It's a wonder Whiteout isn't in 3D, what with its initial onslaught of in-your-face flying propellers, crashing planes, and a lingering close-up of Kate Beckinsale stripping to her skivvies."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 1/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"For his remake of Fritz Lang's last American film, Peter Hyams retains the German Expressionist's narrative conceit but otherwise ratchets up the sleek car-commercial flashiness."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 .5/4 |
|
(2009) |
|
"Casting its south-of-the-border setting as a dingy, nightmarish hellhole of hookers and red neon lights, Not Forgotten is a feature-length anti-tourism campaign for Mexico."
[movie review] |
|
Slant Magazine |
|
 |