|
| 1. |
|
09/20/12 |
Good |
 "...has a nice look, and strong performances, but ultimately, the Coulins fail to go deeply enough into the heads of their protagonists.... The perspective is all wrong..." |
| 2. |
|
01/25/12 |
Excellent |
 "Marin Ireland and Chris Messina are remarkable... in documenting two people who want to be together but are too scared to commit, this film is masterful." |
| 3. |
|
08/19/10 |
Very Good |
 "...an austere approach to a fascinating subject... a rare document of a terrible place and time, and those who lived there." |
| 4. |
|
11/01/12 |
Fair |
 "...the film's structure is odd, jumping around in Chapman's life in a way that makes the chronology and the significance of any given incident hard to understand." |
| 5. |
|
02/25/10 |
Outstanding |
 "...a well-told pulp story... thoroughly absorbing, exciting, even poetic. It's a full evening's entertainment." |
| 6. |
|
01/21/10 |
Excellent |
 "...full of memorable images and moments, from young Brodsky entering a magazine filled with pictures of banquets to him watching orchestra instruments float out of Leningrad as the government de-emphasizes the arts." |
| 7. |
|
01/13/11 |
Good |
 "There's nothing going on that hasn't been seen in dozens of other films, but the gray Norwegian milieu is memorable, and Skarsgård brings some redemptive soul..." |
| 8. |
|
05/09/13 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a bland, sub-'Hangover' comedy about guys on the make in South America.... The film is most successful in the way it subverts expectations." |
| 9. |
|
02/18/10 |
Excellent |
 "...shows characters of different backgrounds interacting peacefully as individuals, then shows how they subtly change when their affiliation with a group becomes an issue." |
| 10. |
|
09/13/11 |
Moderate |
 "The problem is that it's hard to believe that the people around the heroine haven't figured her out yet. Even with prosthetics, Close isn't all that convincing as a man." |
| 11. |
|
05/17/12 |
Weak |
 "...excruciating to watch for an hour and a half... Seen as some kind of absurdist, meta-textual horror story, 'American Animal' almost works. In every other way? It's fuckin' poopy-loopy." |
| 12. |
|
04/25/13 |
Excellent |
 "...playfully experimental... so alive with possibility and gusto that it makes other independent films look not just damnably safe, but inert." |
| 13. |
|
04/04/13 |
Good |
 "...has a lot of value, because Gregory is such a remarkable individual whose career has gone under-recorded on film and video." |
| 14. |
|
12/29/11 |
Moderate |
 "...relies too much on two particularly played-out indie clichés: a spare, plunky soundtrack, and a narrative structure that teases out characters' backstory far longer than necessary." |
| 15. |
|
08/12/10 |
Excellent |
 "Sort of like an 'Australian Goodfellas' with less sweep and more grubbiness... Thank goodness 'Animal Kingdom' is so stylish and sharply plotted." |
| 16. |
|
04/11/13 |
Very Good |
 "Cronenberg is more interested in ideas than in blood and guts.... it's rarely tedious, because he keeps coming up with clever new details..." |
| 17. |
|
12/13/12 |
Very Good |
 "Heavy-handedness aside, this film's stars get across what's at stake in a social issue that's getting closer every day to being settled, but remains damnably controversial." |
| 18. |
|
01/23/12 |
Very Good |
 "...never dull.... Nicholas Jarecki does get across something meaningful about how for a certain type of person, everything in life is a negotiation." |
| 19. |
|
04/25/13 |
Moderate |
 "...a standard-issue, earnest American indie, where the people do what's needed to serve the plot and the point, even if that means behaving like short-sighted idiots..." |
| 20. |
|
04/25/13 |
Fair |
 "Bahrani's intentions are good, and the movie's plot is suitably complex.... But the dialogue and performances are about at the level of a Founders' Day pageant." |
