| 1. |
|
01/09/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
"I enjoyed the visual effects used to create some hellish creatures and the amusing nods to 'The Exorcist'... But the movie slips in the last act." |
| 2. |
|
01/09/09 |
Weak |
"Someone says, 'Do not make me go Oprah on you. Because I will,' as if the entire movie isn't up to its chin in Oprah-ism." |
| 3. |
|
01/16/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
"The physical comedy isn't bad, but it's a little ragged, as is the movie's habit of busting out an '80s monster rock ballad whenever it's stuck." |
| 4. |
|
01/16/09 |
Very Good |
"...gives a heartfelt yet clear-eyed sendoff to the late Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace... discovers in Biggie a soul to match his 300-pound body." |
| 5. |
|
01/17/09 |
Very Good |
"Kids will be as enthralled by this film as you were by the live-action Disney movies of the '70s.... Adults (except dog haters) will be amused, as well." |
| 6. |
|
01/23/09 |
Weak |
"Flying monkeys, a minotaur and the gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge drop in and out like union workers who punch their time cards and then quit for the day." |
| 7. |
|
01/30/09 |
Moderate |
"The behind-the-scenes look at the world's largest film industry is gently humorous but almost totally lacking in the cynicism, self-hatred and ennui that characterizes inside-Hollywood flicks." |
| 8. |
|
01/30/09 |
Poor |
"...so lacking in ambition they should have called it 'Paycheck'... producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel are as convincing as Marcel Marceau doing John Wayne." |
| 9. |
|
01/30/09 |
Moderate |
"...a big finish doesn't always make up for everything that came before... Until then, it's basically 80 minutes of things jumping out and making loud noises." |
| 10. |
|
02/06/09 |
Poor |
"There is also a group of villains whose superpower is to holler loud enough to shatter glass and generally ruin everything. Maybe they should be called 'critics'?" |
| 11. |
|
02/06/09 |
Weak |
"The movie hopes to be regarded as childlike too, but there's a difference between kid-friendly and just regular old dumb." |
| 12. |
|
02/13/09 |
Weak |
"The movie limps along meaninglessly as Phoenix does his hangdog act and a deglamorized Paltrow frets about her busted relationship with a married man." |
| 13. |
|
02/13/09 |
Weak |
"Let me save you $12: A guy who is playing with a hockey stick in the toolshed asks Jason, 'Are you looking for this? Because it, uh, completes your outfit.' " |
| 14. |
|
02/13/09 |
Poor |
"Fisher looks adorable but otherwise wastes the considerable talents she showed in 'Wedding Crashers.' If there's a wall or a waiter, her orders are to crash into it." |
| 15. |
|
02/20/09 |
Very Good |
"...grueling to sit through. Yet the greasy, guilty thrill of being privy to your neighbors' most intimate dramas makes it impossible to stop watching." |
| 16. |
|
02/20/09 |
Very Good |
"Wajda, who lost his father in the purge, gives the film an awful silence and mystery at its core.... a clear-eyed and unsentimental work about memory and forgetting." |
| 17. |
|
02/27/09 |
Moderate |
"Even Oliver Stone would giggle at the notion that the CIA couldn't reach JFK through any means except via one of his blond playmates." |
| 18. |
|
02/27/09 |
Moderate |
"...gets one star for the admirable brevity of its running time and another for the definite article in its title, seemingly an implicit promise that there will be no sequel." |
| 19. |
|
03/04/09 |
Outstanding |
"...as fresh and magnificent in sound and vision as '2001' must have seemed in 1968, yet in its eagerness to argue with itself, it resembles 'A Clockwork Orange.' " |
| 20. |
|
03/13/09 |
Poor |
"...bears all the signs of having been composed by an inferior race of alien screenwriters from the Hackulon System..." |