|
| 21. |
|
01/18/13 |
Fair |
 "...a fantasy of hyper-violence that plays like an NRA vision of America the Beautiful.... Slapdash in its character portraits, the movie is slambang in its action scenes..." |
| 22. |
|
01/11/13 |
Fair |
 "...there's rarely a quiet time for a movie that loves what guns can do.... This vivid, deadpan cartoon of sadism is 'Chinatown Lite,' 'L.A. Inconsequential.' " |
| 23. |
|
12/21/12 |
Fair |
 "...very ordinary... Christopher McQuarrie gets the gist of the story but not the juice.... Even when the film is cool, it manages to be wrong." |
| 24. |
|
12/21/12 |
Fair |
 "...slogs along... well-meaning does not automatically equal good movie. Some organic life is needed. And the only crop 'Promised Land' harvests is Capra Corn." |
| 25. |
|
12/14/12 |
Excellent |
 "...may not reach the delirious heights of 'Pulp Fiction'.... But it's undeniably, gloriously Tarantino: all talk and all action." |
| 26. |
|
12/14/12 |
Poor |
 "...many of the numbers have the impact of a stranger shouting in your face.... Viewers should be rooting for the characters, not for the actors to do their jobs well." |
| 27. |
|
12/07/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...the movie lacks majesty. Grand in parts, it is too often grandiose or grandiloquent; and the running time is indefensible.... a scrupulous rendering..." |
| 28. |
|
12/06/12 |
Fair |
 "...splendidly efficient in its action sequences (car crash, knife fight, snowmobile chase), dawdling in dialogue scenes that should smolder with tension." |
| 29. |
|
11/25/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...a powerhouse thriller... This is movie journalism that snaps and stings, that purifies a decade's clamor and clutter into narrative clarity, with a salutary kick." |
| 30. |
|
11/09/12 |
Very Good |
 "...sturdy, sometimes starchy... 'Lincoln' is brain food and, at another pivotal moment in American political history, an instructive feast." |
| 31. |
|
11/09/12 |
Outstanding |
 "...a necessary, rather than mandatory, addition to the year's popular culture.... has the life, grandeur and gravity of a satisfying, stand-alone entertainment..." |
| 32. |
|
10/26/12 |
Excellent |
 "...has a character sharpness and an openness to ambiguity that are rare... A canny director and a top star decided to dig deep to find the core of a compromised hero." |
| 33. |
|
10/19/12 |
Very Good |
 "...subtle, pensive, alarming... acknowledges the seductive musk of attractive people in close proximity, in an age when fidelity is just the longest f-word." |
| 34. |
|
10/19/12 |
Fair |
 "You go not to be scared but to remember the thrills you felt watching the first film. Instead of a journey into fear, this is a nostalgia trip -- déjà boo! all over again." |
| 35. |
|
10/05/12 |
Excellent |
 "...the year's most inventive, endearing animated feature.... This movie is an attic experiment for its makers to be proud of and for audiences to cherish." |
| 36. |
|
10/05/12 |
Moderate |
 "Megaton's direction aspires to the power and noise of an atomic blast. 'Taken 2' doesn't quite get there... somehow Neeson makes the ridiculous plausible." |
| 37. |
|
09/28/12 |
Outstanding |
 "Ang Lee piles visual miracle atop emotional epiphany... Magical realism was rarely so magical and never before so real." |
| 38. |
|
09/28/12 |
Very Good |
 "...well served by actors who behave not as if they were dropped carelessly into the future but spent their whole desperate lives there... fascinating - if not quite fabulous..." |
| 39. |
|
09/21/12 |
Good |
 "If the modest and moving 'Trouble With the Curve' won't overwhelm anybody, it's still an engaging winner, like a junk-ball pitcher who stays in the bigs on grit and heart." |
| 40. |
|
09/21/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...alternately engrossing and annoying... the performances are so sharp that viewers may wish it had been shot by someone who knew how to find the right point of view..." |
