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| 1. |
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05/04/12 |
Very Good |
 "Climate-change documentaries are almost always disturbing, but 'The Island President' communicates a special urgency." |
| 2. |
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04/27/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...a complex, multilayered tale that reveals new meanings as it introduces each new character.... The lack of predictability helps to keep the narrative flowing forward." |
| 3. |
|
04/20/12 |
Moderate |
 "...the lecture can sometimes sound like a series of slogans. That doesn't mean the message isn't valid, but much of it feels familiar and unnecessarily predigested." |
| 4. |
|
04/13/12 |
Poor |
 "...resembles a movie less than it suggests an evening of determined, incoherent channel-hopping -- with the help of a remote control that's apparently stuck on 'random.' " |
| 5. |
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04/06/12 |
Very Good |
 "...doesn't concentrate on secretly shot footage of street violence between soldiers and rebels... plays almost like a travelogue at times, providing geography and history lessons..." |
| 6. |
|
03/23/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...the well-cast Boy (James Rolleston) and Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu) are given rich fantasy lives that erupt into scenes of almost genial mayhem." |
| 7. |
|
03/16/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "For a movie that deals with suicide, homelessness and cocaine addiction, writer-director Paul Weitz's latest family drama feels strangely bland." |
| 8. |
|
03/09/12 |
Very Good |
 "...removes all hints of underground romanticism... Even a scene in which a woman tries on a victim's abandoned shoe, hoping that it will fit Cinderella-style, establishes a surprising gravity." |
| 9. |
|
02/24/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...the kind of unabashedly romantic movie that endorses and celebrates the notion of love at first sight.... made with more passion than caution..." |
| 10. |
|
02/17/12 |
Very Good |
 "Garriott's story is unique, a stranger-than-fiction tale that is unlikely to be topped. And the images from space -- crisp, spectacular, haunting -- make it worth the trip." |
| 11. |
|
02/03/12 |
Very Good |
 "...a streamlined, modern-dress two-hour Roman epic.... an assured film-directing debut." |
| 12. |
|
02/03/12 |
Outstanding |
 "A major breakthrough in Tehran-based cinema... [Director Asghar] Farhadi's fifth feature film demonstrates a technical assurance and a storytelling gift that make you wonder why his previous work hasn't been widely seen." |
| 13. |
|
01/27/12 |
Very Good |
 "...fast-paced, engaging... Sarkozy seems to mean exactly what he says, even when he's lying for his cause, and Denis Podalydès has the skill to demonstrate that." |
| 14. |
|
01/20/12 |
Very Good |
 "Just try to find a conventional narrative structure in 'My Joy'... For long stretches, it appears to be a road movie headed nowhere. Still, the detours it uncovers are fascinating." |
| 15. |
|
01/06/12 |
Very Good |
 "...a showcase for many conflicting viewpoints.... may open your eyes to the deliberate way some cities are designed -- and the accidental ways in which others become distorted." |
| 16. |
|
12/30/11 |
Very Good |
 "The filmmakers may not explain everything that passes before their cameras (why is caterpillar fungus such a hot commodity?), but that's part of the intrigue in this vanishing way of life." |
| 17. |
|
12/09/11 |
Very Good |
 "...swept the British Independent Film Awards, including best picture, actress and debut director." |
| 18. |
|
11/23/11 |
Outstanding |
 "...dense with witty visual detail that helps to distract from the somewhat trumped-up moral dilemma at its center." |
| 19. |
|
11/18/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Certainly it's easier to watch than von Trier's previous disaster epic, 'Antichrist,' thanks in part to the casting. John Hurt and Charlotte Rampling make an especially volatile ex-couple..." |
| 20. |
|
11/11/11 |
Outstanding |
 "...there's something profoundly inspirational about this portrait of a community coming together to battle prejudice and disease.... celebrates the selflessness of caregivers who stuck around and refused to flee disaster." |
