|
| 1. |
|
05/16/12 |
Very Good |
 "...loose and silly and occasionally exhilarating... in the tradition of Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' (obviously) and the Marx Brothers' antiwar masterpiece 'Duck Soup.' " |
| 2. |
|
05/14/12 |
Fair |
 "I'm getting tired of the Burton-Depp mix of morbid self-pity and gonzo aggression. It was a great partnership for a while, but Burton needs a new mascot." |
| 3. |
|
05/14/12 |
Moderate |
 "...would be better if it were gentler. It's broadly written and played, the actors too busy telegraphing their characters' emotions to let us contemplate their faces in peace." |
| 4. |
|
05/07/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a tad 'Juno'-esque for comfort, but Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez) sounds like teen girls I know... the movie goes soft. But it has the unpretentious energy and charm of a good YA girls' novel." |
| 5. |
|
05/07/12 |
Excellent |
 "Hirokazu Kore-eda's compositions have a sympathetic detachment that Americans rarely value but is, for many Japanese, the whole point of art." |
| 6. |
|
05/07/12 |
Excellent |
 "...grueling/magical... I found myself convinced that a child's hopeful spirit can actually triumph over the physical world." |
| 7. |
|
04/30/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...both campy and reverential. Comic-Con nerds will have multiple orgasms. I had a blast." |
| 8. |
|
04/30/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...has a sweet finish, but for me it still left a bitter taste." |
| 9. |
|
04/27/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Jack Black is highly amusing... and yet I spent most of the movie trying to imagine someone else in the part -- someone not so obviously doing a silly impersonation." |
| 10. |
|
04/23/12 |
Excellent |
 "...a droll bloodbath... Director Morten Tyldum winds his jack-in-the-boxes in full view, and still you jump when they're sprung... Grisly thrillers don't get much more delectable." |
| 11. |
|
04/23/12 |
Good |
 "...blandly made but intense... Zal Batmanglij keeps the movie even-keeled, with nothing to break the trance until a last scene that upends everything we thought we knew." |
| 12. |
|
04/16/12 |
Weak |
 "...heartbreakingly limp.... it has the shapeless spread of nonfiction, of a home movie with a hint of that newfangled mumblecore thing the kids these days are into." |
| 13. |
|
04/16/12 |
Very Good |
 "...harrowing... Mia Hansen-Løve's touch is glancing, suggestive, the locations conjuring inner states, the art concealed: She gives the impression of breathing her story rather than telling it." |
| 14. |
|
04/13/12 |
Good |
 "...directed in the super-kinetic house style by two novices, James Mather and Steven St. Leger. 'Die Hard' in orbit is a fun high concept..." |
| 15. |
|
04/13/12 |
Very Good |
 "The combination of childlike glee and grown-up precision is a wonder. The movie actually earns the right to exist, which is no mean feat." |
| 16. |
|
04/09/12 |
Very Good |
 "...gleefully jumbling together every kind of modern horror picture... there are enough gory surprises around every bend to keep you laughing/screaming/cringing.... The movie is fun..." |
| 17. |
|
04/09/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...keeps most of the turmoil under the surface, but what's on top is tense, pregnant, and ineffably sad... The film is crisp, evenly paced, its colors bright, as sharp as the winter cold." |
| 18. |
|
04/06/12 |
Moderate |
 "...directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg pack the frames with enough firm female bodies to hold the audience's interest." |
| 19. |
|
04/02/12 |
Very Good |
 "...wobbly and borderline twee, but it deepens as it goes along and becomes rich.... Whit Stillman is the most charitable of satirists.... he allows these poseurs to pick themselves up and find a better pose..." |
| 20. |
|
04/02/12 |
Fair |
 "Director Tarsem Singh is one of those would-be visionaries whose visions never quite coalesce and take wing." |
