|
| 1. |
|
02/21/13 |
Very Good |
 "It is in part a portrayal of the deprivations, both material and spiritual, of the Cultural Revolution. But it just as expressively depicts the universal condition of childhood..." |
| 2. |
|
08/11/11 |
Weak |
 "Fleischer and Eisenberg don't demonstrate any rapport here.... The cast rarely finds a plausible way to deliver the Tarantino-meets-Apatow dialogue..." |
| 3. |
|
08/18/11 |
Good |
 "...neither innovative nor profound, but it is kinetic, visceral and sometimes moving.... it does bring the war part of the way home." |
| 4. |
|
01/03/13 |
Good |
 "...offers a few insights, and fascinating updates on the most compelling characters.... Most lives are fairly settled, so there are fewer surprises and breakthroughs." |
| 5. |
|
06/21/12 |
Moderate |
 "...barely simmers, and certainly doesn't scorch... heady themes -- art, fidelity, religion, death, the search for meaning -- are merely invoked rather than explored." |
| 6. |
|
11/22/11 |
Good |
 "...a smart if somewhat timid drama.... Freud plus Jung plus Cronenburg should have equaled something a little more dissonant and troubling." |
| 7. |
|
09/01/11 |
Moderate |
 "...deserves credit for not entirely wimping out.... an unexpectedly well-sustained script saves this movie from being the lamest." |
| 8. |
|
11/09/12 |
Weak |
 "The movie's candor doesn't yield any great revelations, or even a lot of laughs. The animated biopic is for Python cultists and completists only." |
| 9. |
|
04/20/12 |
Very Good |
 "A tender tale of role reversal.... often poignant but leavened with humor... a film that aspires to evoke simple-hearted feelings of love, loss and duty." |
| 10. |
|
03/09/12 |
Weak |
 "More bland than actively bad... Cliff Curtis, Kerry Washington and Clark Duke do what they can with the sit-com script." |
| 11. |
|
02/24/12 |
Moderate |
 "...gripping when it focuses on procedural details. But whenever the movie goes Hollywood, its celebration of steely competence softens into macho sentimentality." |
| 12. |
|
12/14/11 |
Good |
 "...engrossing, even if it does lack the element of surprise.... Science ultimately trumps commerce and conspiracy, but the movie isn't entirely a profile in courage." |
| 13. |
|
07/26/12 |
Very Good |
 "...a portrait of a brave (or simply stubborn) eccentric... Ai is a great movie subject... he understands the power of appearing larger than life on the silver screen." |
| 14. |
|
10/18/12 |
Weak |
 "Perry and Fox's combat would look hopelessly mismatched, except that Rob Cohen shot and edited it so incoherently; camera movements are more violent than the blows." |
| 15. |
|
06/14/12 |
Good |
 "...the film's appeal has less to do with plot than mood.... it is about a self-centered man who finally realizes he was never the crux of mom and dad's lives." |
| 16. |
|
04/25/13 |
Weak |
 "...dreary.... fails to finesse an essential problem: how to make a boring man interesting.... the miscast Firth doesn't bring anything to the role..." |
| 17. |
|
04/15/11 |
Weak |
 "...nearly as stilted, didactic and simplistic as Rand's free-market fable." |
| 18. |
|
10/12/12 |
Weak |
 "...less of a slog than the first movie. But there's only so much the filmmakers can do with the novel's antiquated story and didactic dialogue." |
| 19. |
|
05/16/13 |
Good |
 "While not neglecting historical details, the director takes a modernist approach to storytelling... Winocour, who also scripted, often makes her points without words." |
| 20. |
|
11/30/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...shows the director's mastery of chaotic spectacle and massed human motion.... but Feng's historical horror show would be more moving if it were less openly emotional." |
