|
| 1. |
|
05/17/08 |
Fair |
 "...interweaving name actors into the docu fabric smacks of auteurism for the sake of it... pic says nothing new or revealing that hasn't been said in countless other movies..." |
| 2. |
|
01/01/10 |
Good |
 "...takes a while to lay out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half.... Most of the character development is packed into this second half, which packs several unexpected dramatic reversals despite the generally light tone." |
| 3. |
|
02/19/10 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...ascetic, chamber-like... spiced up with some pratfall humor and visually enhanced by saturated lensing of the dusty red landscapes that slightly recalls Zhang's 'Hero.' " |
| 4. |
|
05/15/09 |
Good |
 "Bae Du-na is perfectly cast here as Nozomi, holding the screen in a tour de force of ingenuous wonderment... But at more than two hours, the jam is simply spread too thin." |
| 5. |
|
02/17/10 |
Weak |
 "...grindingly slow, content-light fare for card-carrying minimalists.... the pic's biggest flaw is that the viewer has no idea what the main characters are thinking or feeling and therefore tunes out emotionally at an early stage." |
| 6. |
|
09/21/09 |
Moderate |
 "Based on the amazing but true tale of a German male athlete forced to secretly compete as a woman to overshadow a Jewish female teammate... sports a strong lead cast but is diminished by TV-style helming and production qualities." |
| 7. |
|
02/19/09 |
Very Good |
 "Bigtime Bollywood meets small-town India with quietly entertaining, finally moving results.... the two worlds start to come together, with a final half-hour that pulls a couple of surprises prior to an understated, affecting finale." |
| 8. |
|
05/21/07 |
Good |
 "...given dramatic heft by good perfs -- especially by actress du jour Ozgu Namal -- and careful direction by producer-helmer Abdullah Oguz." |
| 9. |
|
02/10/09 |
Fair |
 "Like a passable bottle of champagne... fizzes and slides down quite easily but lacks real body and doesn't really hit the spot." |
| 10. |
|
05/14/09 |
Excellent |
 "At times semi-impressionistic, at others gut-wrenchingly up close and personal... recalls Central Euro war dramas of the '50s and '60s..." |
| 11. |
|
05/18/08 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a small film with a big heart." |
| 12. |
|
08/13/08 |
Excellent |
 "...proof that a good script and simpatico direction and performances can overcome budgetary restrictions.... has a satisfyingly complete dramatic arc..." |
| 13. |
|
09/15/09 |
Fair |
 "Pulpy script, played by a largely Brit cast on sitcom autopilot, is partly redeemed by a dignified perf from Ethiopian supermodel Liya Kebede..." |
| 14. |
|
02/23/09 |
Weak |
 "...plays like the carcass of a bigger, more coherent and perhaps better costumer.... dramatically choppy, poorly dialogued and woodenly played." |
| 15. |
|
02/10/09 |
Poor |
 "Painfully gauche in both scripting and acting... an East-West yarn of sapphic love that crashes on the reefs of its exoticism.... Clumsy English dialogue doesn't help..." |
| 16. |
|
07/31/09 |
Very Good |
 "This thoroughly entertaining, tightly cut slice of widescreen hokum goes the usual route of focusing on a small, dysfunctional group before the badass brine hits, but with much more leavening humor than most Western efforts." |
| 17. |
|
09/02/09 |
Good |
 "...has a restlessness and almost tactile feel, mirroring the young protag as he forms a curious relationship with the birth mother who once abandoned him." |
| 18. |
|
01/20/09 |
Excellent |
 "Strongly recalling the best Hong Kong studio productions of the '70s... Donnie Yen is aces as Ip, with a simple dignity that exactly mirrors the movie's own..." |
| 19. |
|
09/01/08 |
Excellent |
 "A tightly constructed 'dramatic thriller' in which the tension comes as much from what the characters are thinking as from what they end up doing..." |
| 20. |
|
02/08/09 |
Moderate |
 "...despite the emotive subject matter, pic is often too sluggish dramatically, and never knits together its stock Western characters into a satisfying whole." |
