|
| 1. |
|
06/02/08 |
Good |
 "...director Ursula Meier generally distinguishes her feature debut by not pushing elements to melodramatic or farcical extremes." |
| 2. |
|
06/16/08 |
Weak |
 "...stretched to a two-hour run time, Doctorow's socially critical tale is reduced to queasy spectacle as Bryce Dallas Howard lookalike Chastain bares all opposite a slew of actors..." |
| 3. |
|
09/12/08 |
Outstanding |
 "...violently funny... Despite a few minor missteps, the film is fully imagined in visual and aural terms..." |
| 4. |
|
09/17/08 |
Weak |
 "Zombie subgenre's sociopolitical import is squandered here, give or take a pretentious talk about the power of speech." |
| 5. |
|
10/06/08 |
Very Good |
 "...a playful riposte to the notion that movies are for turning one's mind off." |
| 6. |
|
10/24/08 |
Excellent |
 "...scores viscerally as well as intellectually. Gorgeously photographed performances by semi-pro Portuguese dance-music bands set one's eyes ablaze and toes tapping, but director Miguel Gomes goes further to work the brain..." |
| 7. |
|
01/19/09 |
Moderate |
 "...lacks the objectivity needed to put the lawyer's shift from '60s fist-pumper to '80s and '90s headline-grabber in proper context." |
| 8. |
|
01/19/09 |
Poor |
 "...disastrously inane... Primo footage of recording sessions, concert perfs and various backstage trips is ubiquitous -- and sadly squandered... punishingly banal..." |
| 9. |
|
01/19/09 |
Very Good |
 "...a culture-clash dramedy whose background in Middle-East conflict is leavened with vibrant energy, balanced politics and droll humor..." |
| 10. |
|
01/21/09 |
Excellent |
 "A vastly entertaining film, with a playfully suave and acrobatic perf by co-writer Michael Jai White in the title role..." |
| 11. |
|
01/21/09 |
Excellent |
 "...astounding... burrows into the thin and darkly funny spaces between artistry and vanity, isolation and community, collaboration and exploitation, sanity and madness." |
| 12. |
|
01/29/09 |
Weak |
 "Though pregnant with possibility, it fails to deliver... Near the end of a lean 89 minutes, Eliza learns to feel fortunate, but by then, audience empathy is scarce to nonexistent." |
| 13. |
|
02/05/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a totally faithful adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel -- and an accurate look at early '80s-era Los Angeles.... the film is banal by obvious intent..." |
| 14. |
|
02/13/09 |
Fair |
 "...a by-the-numbers remake of the crudely elemental slasher whose '80s and '90s sequels made a half-billion-dollar killing for Paramount worldwide." |
| 15. |
|
02/27/09 |
Fair |
 "Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from videogames... at least gives action fans plenty to ogle..." |
| 16. |
|
03/30/09 |
Poor |
 "Heavy on stunts but light on plausibility, humor, surprise, visual ingenuity or psychological depth..." |
| 17. |
|
04/18/09 |
Poor |
 "...rewards the sizable cult audience of 2006's 'Crank' with more of the same, only stupider.... sole laugh comes courtesy of an elliptical intertitle -- '9 Seconds Later'..." |
| 18. |
|
05/04/09 |
Very Good |
 "Filmmaker Alex Karpovsky does for comedic improvisation what 'The Aristocrats' did for the dirty joke: He offers a loosely sociological study of the form while milking the material for sizable laughs." |
| 19. |
|
05/16/09 |
Weak |
 "...tests the viewer's tolerance for a protagonist whose flighty irresponsibility borders on unforgivable... never invites its audience along for the ride..." |
| 20. |
|
05/18/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...plenty arty and only arguably constructive in its tasteful fictionalization of a violent tragedy.... takes sufficient care to seem nonexploitative, and its violence, while aptly disturbing, is often obscured when not presented entirely off-camera." |
