|
| 21. |
|
11/14/12 |
Moderate |
 "A standard-issue mezzobrow Holocaust melodrama... paradigmatically heavy on emotional-cue emphasis, nostalgia, and reaction-shot pathos..." |
| 22. |
|
10/18/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...its undulating flow of gentle, loving sarcasm and the entertaining shiver it gives these characters squares it firmly in the tradition of old-school screwball romances..." |
| 23. |
|
10/18/12 |
Very Good |
 "...here is Dano's one-man show, a post-Cassavetes gift to the lowly god of grit and 'authenticity'... never strays from the odiferous aura around his Joby." |
| 24. |
|
10/17/12 |
Outstanding |
"...against all odds, it is something of a wonder, a palm-size ball of banter and irony and earnestness that never stops rolling and almost never misses the sweet spots." |
| 25. |
|
10/03/12 |
Very Good |
 "...never less than provocative.... Isaki Lacuesta cuts together his nutty threads without emphasis or agenda; it has the unpressured flow and good humor of a slow river ride." |
| 26. |
|
09/27/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "It is, for a contemporary CGI-fraught fantasy-slash-living-video-game, not at all bad, dotted with moments of Bosch and steady on its storytelling feet." |
| 27. |
|
09/26/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
"...a Robert E. Howard-based sword-and-sorcery demi-epic... brisk, atmospheric, and faithful, for better or worse, to Howard's earnest voice." |
| 28. |
|
09/13/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...charming if tone-deaf... Stylistically, the film is not far from Outdoor Channel TV docs, but the historical road less traveled is beguiling enough." |
| 29. |
|
09/13/12 |
Excellent |
 "...sometimes Jarecki's ethical needle wavers and seems to side with Gere's weasel, but that might be because the actor is so convincing..." |
| 30. |
|
09/13/12 |
Moderate |
 "The dialogue is as stock as the characters, and Elgin James's visual palette never surpasses the adequate." |
| 31. |
|
09/12/12 |
Excellent |
"Jarecki slices his cake and has it, too: We bizarrely empathize with the amoral hero's stressed-out tightrope walk... Gere is so convincing..." |
| 32. |
|
09/12/12 |
Poor |
 "There's almost a Seussian vibe in this heap, but no hint that it's intentional... 'Branded' has ideas, but unfortunately, the ideas are reeking batshit nuts... You've been warned." |
| 33. |
|
09/05/12 |
Very Good |
"A lean character study of a classic, if hardly articulate, modern lost-boy archetype... Paul Dano, with his remarkably guileless meta-teen puss, is thoroughly convincing..." |
| 34. |
|
08/29/12 |
Moderate |
"...a polished but anemic indie... resonates as a résumé builder more than a manifestation of street cred." |
| 35. |
|
08/15/12 |
Weak |
 "...ostensibly tackles the current recession by comparing it to the Great Depression.... That and every idea trotted onto Hoffman's desktop is old hat..." |
| 36. |
|
08/09/12 |
Fair |
 "Now, we have Jeremy Renner as another Treadstone mega man, and though he is a likable enough pug-nosed action figure, the Damonlessness is sorely felt." |
| 37. |
|
08/08/12 |
Fair |
"Given the film's relentless slam-blam effect, it's rather amazing that anybody gets to act at all... the techno-gibberish flies like confetti." |
| 38. |
|
08/08/12 |
Excellent |
 "...hypnotic and fascinating... intensely rhythmic, brooding, and contemplative... the iconography of maddened white men lost in the Torrid Zone wilderness never gets old." |
| 39. |
|
08/02/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a deft, atmospheric Errol Morris-style tour.... harbors queasy mysteries at its center, as true-crime TV pro Layton micro-analyzes every step of the case..." |
| 40. |
|
08/01/12 |
Moderate |
 "A paradigmatic parable about urban alienation and the modern eradication of community... the film is a self-mirroring enigma; the lack of facts becomes thematic." |
