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| 1. |
|
03/27/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "The eerie buildup is mostly pro forma.... But the backstory of the haunted house, revealed slowly in sepia-toned hallucinations, really is creepy." |
| 2. |
|
04/17/09 |
Outstanding |
 "...the world of the film is so thickly detailed, its performances so human and compelling, that a few small flaws are easily overlooked." |
| 3. |
|
05/22/09 |
Excellent |
 "...instills an appreciation for the tremendous amount of work and passion that the performers put into their craft." |
| 4. |
|
06/26/09 |
Excellent |
 "At one point, we see the prime minister neatly rip a page out of the mystery novel he's reading. 'The killer was about to be revealed,' he explains. 'I never want to know.' " |
| 5. |
|
07/10/09 |
Weak |
 "A handful of moments are genuinely funny... But every time the story shows some glimmer of originality, it immediately retreats back to formula." |
| 6. |
|
08/14/09 |
Excellent |
 "...winner of the Audience Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival... the one thing these creative filmmakers cannot give their story is a happy ending." |
| 7. |
|
08/14/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...the narrative is less assured than in the masterful 'Spirited Away.' " |
| 8. |
|
08/14/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a film that's provocative but flawed is a lot more interesting than a perfectly made piece of junk." |
| 9. |
|
08/21/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...not the subtlest of commentaries on 21st-century globalism, but it's a provocative one nonetheless." |
| 10. |
|
09/04/09 |
Weak |
 "Bullock certainly has the awkward part down, yammering away like a 'search overload' victim in one of those Bing commercials." |
| 11. |
|
09/25/09 |
Excellent |
 "...the Armageddon of gross-out sex comedies. Seriously, this movie just may mark the end of civilization. Vile, hateful and undeniably funny..." |
| 12. |
|
10/02/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...for all the raunchy jokes and bloody noses, almost everything about this movie feels tentative. The action sequences are oddly lacking in adrenaline..." |
| 13. |
|
11/25/09 |
Weak |
 "No doubt the fast-flying weaponry and the ticking body count will please fans of other stylized gorefests, such as '300,' but for the rest of us, it's a big, bloody bore." |
| 14. |
|
12/11/09 |
Outstanding |
 "...smart storytelling combines with spectacular visual set pieces and a spicy musical gumbo to deliver one of the finest films of the year, in any genre." |
| 15. |
|
12/18/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...devolves into banal boilerplate about love and tolerance, along with the quickest shortcut to pathos in the filmmaking universe, a visit to a children's cancer ward." |
| 16. |
|
01/29/10 |
Moderate |
 "...while the on-screen personalities draw the viewer into the story, the film doesn't journey nearly as far or as deep as it could have." |
| 17. |
|
02/05/10 |
Very Good |
 "...surprisingly effective... it links the arguments of its talking-head academics with real-world perspectives from the fields, the mines and the streets of the Third World." |
| 18. |
|
03/05/10 |
Weak |
 "...takes its arty ambitions so seriously that the audience simply can't.... Really, it's just another collection of noir-lite clichés." |
| 19. |
|
03/12/10 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Brooding biopic.... Slow-moving and occasionally ponderous in tone, 'Creation' nonetheless is an intriguing portrait of a man and a time that changed everything." |
| 20. |
|
03/19/10 |
Very Good |
 "...a career highlight for director Andy Tennant ('Sweet Home Alabama,' 'Hitch').... a perfectly enjoyable way to kill a couple of hours." |
