|
| 1. |
|
01/09/09 |
Moderate |
 "...a lopsided fable filled with female caricatures that are almost comical.... It turns out that a woman can save any marriage with a little home cooking and extra sex." |
| 2. |
|
01/09/09 |
Moderate |
 "Imagine one of those claws-out reality shows, like 'The Bachelor,' only without the self-awareness. Better yet, imagine a disempowering 'Mean Girls.' " |
| 3. |
|
01/15/09 |
Weak |
 "...any film that features Gary Oldman as a rabbi with exorcism powers isn't asking to be taken seriously... It helps if you haven't seen 'The Exorcist,' or for that matter any horror film." |
| 4. |
|
01/23/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Entertaining enough for young teens, but a little more thought could have made it appealing to adults as well." |
| 5. |
|
02/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "A work of wondrous animation with engaging characters, charming dialogue and more than a few intense moments." |
| 6. |
|
02/06/09 |
Weak |
 "...resorts to lazy stereotypes and comedy conventions. Says one geek to another at a costume party: 'I hope that's just your blaster poking me.' " |
| 7. |
|
02/06/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...short on narrative and long on advice, but still has a touch of sweetness." |
| 8. |
|
02/20/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...sweet... almost a throwback, lacking nudity, drug use and gag-worthy gags. That may not be the formula for a successful teen comedy, but it sure is refreshing." |
| 9. |
|
02/21/09 |
Weak |
 "...it doesn't add up to a whole movie.... the film flip-flops schizophrenically and without warning between broad slapstick and tear-streaked melodrama." |
| 10. |
|
02/27/09 |
Moderate |
 "Decent acting, but the contrived story lines obscure the film's important themes." |
| 11. |
|
03/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "...the superheroes are flawed, nuts, and worth the wait.... it delivers the goods. Twenty years earlier, it might have been considered a masterpiece." |
| 12. |
|
03/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "...here you'll find fat guys in cheap shirts sitting in shabby apartments and bickering over a few euro. This isn't the Mafia as we normally see it..." |
| 13. |
|
03/13/09 |
Moderate |
 "Riddled with logical black holes that even a 7-year-old could spot... has little respect for its audience and no concern at all for entertainment-starved parents." |
| 14. |
|
03/13/09 |
Very Good |
 "Its main goals are to shock, titillate, enrage and otherwise jolt your reflexes, which it does shrewdly and successfully.... it's horribly, shamefully satisfying." |
| 15. |
|
03/20/09 |
Moderate |
 "...it never quite gets the blood pumping.... despite all the husky-voiced pillow-talk about sex and adrenaline, there's little of either." |
| 16. |
|
03/27/09 |
Very Good |
 "...may lack a bit of heart, but it more than compensates with intelligent humor." |
| 17. |
|
04/03/09 |
Moderate |
 "...candy-colored automobiles, digital dashboards and automated female voices.... The pinnacle of cool is still the nitrous tank, which thrusts the cars into paved hyperspace." |
| 18. |
|
04/03/09 |
Weak |
 "...feels painfully thin.... though heartfelt, the film illustrates a cardinal rule of writing: Just because you lived it doesn't mean it's a story." |
| 19. |
|
04/03/09 |
Very Good |
 "By turns violent and sweetly romantic... rises above its usually somber genre - the realistic immigrant movie - by creating a narrative that pulses with youthful urgency." |
| 20. |
|
04/10/09 |
Poor |
 "Eventually 'Gigantic' decides to become a heartwarmer, and why not? Any ending - including nuclear devastation or a 1940s musical number - would have worked, too." |
