|
| 1. |
|
01/11/12 |
Fair |
 "...visually ravishing, dramatically austere... the result is a dry, uninvolving Freudian study... the film offers no new angle on tropes that were already tired a century ago..." |
| 2. |
|
12/13/11 |
Moderate |
 "...perceptive... nonetheless feels like a working-out of social and personal themes that hasn't quite achieved the full leap from page to film." |
| 3. |
|
09/03/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "An enjoyably slick but entirely soulless update of Fritz Lang's controversial 1956 noir, 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt'... wholly devoid of mystique..." |
| 4. |
|
02/04/08 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a polished but verbose whodunit... Some auds will enjoy its plentiful, philosophy-lite bantering and games-playing; others may feel it gets in the way of the entertaining if outlandish plot." |
| 5. |
|
01/20/12 |
Good |
 "Though it slickly offers up drama, black comedy and enjoyable perfs in due measure, the pic never develops much bite, though it does bare its fangs." |
| 6. |
|
10/23/11 |
Good |
 "...designed to give auds sleepless nights, and mostly succeeds.... Luis Tosar's perf is sufficiently gripping to paper over some credibility flaws..." |
| 7. |
|
10/03/11 |
Good |
 "...credible, fast-moving, hard-nosed fare, confirming helmer Enrique Urbizu's reputation as one of Spain's sharper genre helmers." |
| 8. |
|
09/29/10 |
Good |
 "...no-frills, sincere if sometimes cliched drama nicely sidesteps sentimentality and haranguing social criticism... wobbly dramatics are compensated for by a wonderful central perf from kid thesp Hernan Ocampo." |
| 9. |
|
12/21/09 |
Good |
 "...sometimes uplifting, sometimes... a basically touching, engaging parable about the importance of unconventionality..." |
| 10. |
|
03/17/09 |
Good |
 "Partly a film about films and partly a film about love, Pedro Almodovar's 'Broken Embraces' can't quite decide where its allegiances lie." |
| 11. |
|
10/27/10 |
Very Good |
 "...reps crude, violent, flashy and sentimental fare, but with a sharp, intelligent edge... This blood-spattered fantasy about a Barcelona street kid trying to make good for Mom revels happily in its own cliches, delivering well-crafted, high-testosterone entertainment..." |
| 12. |
|
09/25/09 |
Very Good |
 "...absorbing and at times moving... two fine central perfs hold interest throughout, keeping at bay side issues that continually threaten to swamp the drama." |
| 13. |
|
03/08/13 |
Excellent |
 "...hugely entertaining.... Almodovar packs a motley crew into a cramped space, zooms in on their winsome idiosyncrasies, and watches what happens." |
| 14. |
|
05/22/12 |
Excellent |
 "...quietly devastating.... Esparza's debut feature is far from hard-hitting, aestheticizing its tale with artful ellipses and juxtapositions." |
| 15. |
|
11/06/11 |
Excellent |
 "...this beautifully lensed portrait moves elegantly back and forth in time to limn the life of a woman who perpetually struggled to find her place." |
| 16. |
|
09/10/10 |
Excellent |
 "...powerful, richly layered... Iciar Bollain's fifth feature is her most ambitious and best, driving its big ideas home through a tightly knit Paul Laverty script..." |
| 17. |
|
07/02/10 |
Excellent |
 "...satisfyingly intense... keeps the viewer tightly handcuffed during its first hour before falling victim to the fraud of improbability.... The cast is superb..." |
| 18. |
|
12/30/09 |
Excellent |
 "...a compelling, gracefully told account of an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history." |
| 19. |
|
02/08/05 |
Excellent |
 "...a consummately achieved, lyrical meditation on how to capture things before they're gone... Rodriguez's lensing is superb, and similar attention is paid to the sounds of rural life." |
| 20. |
|
10/04/09 |
Outstanding |
 "A deeply rewarding throwback to the unself-conscious days when cinema still strove to be magical... simply mesmerizing.... Juan Jose Campanella's finest film." |
