|
| 1. |
|
01/09/12 |
Weak |
 "...takes a complex, controversial political figure -- in this case longtime Brazilian Workers' Party firebrand and two-term President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva -- and purées him into a generalized, insipidly inspirational character..." |
| 2. |
|
10/03/11 |
Outstanding |
 "Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are bona fide motion-picture makers whose works bristle with the kind of propulsive thrust that would have had pure action pioneers like Raoul Walsh or Allan Dwan taking notes." |
| 3. |
|
08/15/11 |
Moderate |
 "...finds the auteur [John Sayles] stumbling in the direction of Robert Redford's bloodless lectures ('Lions for Lambs,' 'The Conspirator')... frustratingly sacrifices cinematic expressiveness and human nuance in favor of anachronistic, on-the-nose parallels." |
| 4. |
|
08/08/11 |
Very Good |
 "...playfully yet bitingly evokes the titular Arabian Nights fabulist in contemporary Egypt.... brims with faith in storytelling as art's great way of lifting society's veils." |
| 5. |
|
01/24/11 |
Very Good |
 "Araki's mellow maturity scarcely blunts his sense of playful, erotic daring, and here he fuses the fleshy with the anxious to fashion something like the new decade's own queer-eyed 'Repo Man.' " |
| 6. |
|
10/25/10 |
Moderate |
 "...does provide Claude Chabrol with an affecting final self-portrait in Depardieu's wry, slightly melancholy sleuth, a man grown plump with age and comfort yet to the end continuing to search and inquire." |
| 7. |
|
10/07/10 |
Outstanding |
 "...a sumptuous and fluid work that, at its best, gives the elating impression of flipping through a book as the pages evaporate into smoke." |
| 8. |
|
10/04/10 |
Weak |
 "A textbook example of a polished camera trying to camouflage a hollow center... filled with clogged-up artistry and septic cuteness." |
| 9. |
|
09/20/10 |
Weak |
 "The older Woody Allen gets, the more the nebbish-jester mask dissolves to reveal the pinched sneerer underneath. Can a longtime comedy writer really be this unwarmed by life?" |
| 10. |
|
09/15/10 |
Excellent |
 "...relentless... this is a furious, pared-down parable enriched by director Jerzy Skolimowski's sardonic understanding of man's desperation forever alternating between prey and predator." |
| 11. |
|
09/13/10 |
Good |
 "...languid-erotic... another trip to Japan's past, namely the late '60s when students took to street protests and the titular Beatles ballad seemed to throb for every doomed lover." |
| 12. |
|
08/16/10 |
Moderate |
 "...it's harder to overlook the film's unexpectedly trite ear for music and willingness to trade cultural insight for obvious, crowd-pleasing gags..." |
| 13. |
|
10/11/09 |
Very Good |
 "...ethereal, elliptical, sinewy filmmaking.... strikes the senses as much as the director's great films, but its lack of mystery ultimately keeps it from lingering like them." |
