|
| 1. |
|
09/09/11 |
Moderate |
 "Choppy editing makes a hash out of the fight scenes, and, by the end, a Neanderthal sensibility asserts itself... Or to put it another way: 'I love you, man. POW!' " |
| 2. |
|
09/09/11 |
Outstanding |
 "...epic in scope and bears more than a passing resemblance to Soderbergh's 2001 blockbuster 'Traffic'.... undeniably riveting..." |
| 3. |
|
10/07/11 |
Moderate |
 "...shamelessly purloins the plucky-pugilist-punching-his-way-out-of-his-class plot line of 'Rocky.' " |
| 4. |
|
10/14/11 |
Moderate |
 "...a series of 'Boo!' moments that add up to less and less as director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. piles on more and more of them." |
| 5. |
|
10/28/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "The picture is all over the map, but Depp's performance is right on target as he captures the troubled spirit of his madman muse." |
| 6. |
|
11/04/11 |
Very Good |
 "Some of the humor is actually subtle... But most of it is broad and bawdy. Fans of the stoner duo wouldn't have it any other way." |
| 7. |
|
11/18/11 |
Very Good |
 "The gabble of kids' voices, the sharp chirps of birds, the sibilances of the wind coursing through a wheat field in a section where the boys are taken on a trip to the country, are all deployed to create a kind of tone poem that slowly but surely casts a spell..." |
| 8. |
|
11/23/11 |
Very Good |
 "...an endearing homage to a pioneering master of the movie medium, Georges Méliès..." |
| 9. |
|
12/09/11 |
Poor |
 "...filled with pee jokes, poop jokes, fart jokes, sex jokes and drug jokes, all unfunny.... the loathsome low point of the movie year." |
| 10. |
|
12/16/11 |
Moderate |
 "...the villain, played by Michael Nyqvist in a three-piece ice-cream suit that looks like it came from Tom Wolfe's closet, is a cipher, and the situations are nonsensical..." |
| 11. |
|
12/20/11 |
Very Good |
 "The picture permitted Spielberg to recapture the spirit of the fastest-moving and most purely enjoyable movie of his career, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.' " |
| 12. |
|
01/13/12 |
Weak |
 "...the characters convey little sense of being real people. They all seem like stand-ins, holding their places on screen until the real performers show up." |
| 13. |
|
01/27/12 |
Very Good |
 "...harshly beautiful... you feel you can practically see your breath as the story unfolds." |
| 14. |
|
02/10/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Just think of it as 'Bourne to Run'... [but] what 'Safe House' has and the 'Bournes' don't is Denzel Washington, and that's a significant difference indeed." |
| 15. |
|
02/24/12 |
Very Good |
 "...the SEALs handle their roles with impressive competence. Their line readings are convincing and, as you'd expect, they performed their own stunts." |
| 16. |
|
03/09/12 |
Weak |
 "...a cheesy looking (the 3-D adds nothing to the picture) quasi-epic filled with dullish characters and chaotically staged action scenes." |
| 17. |
|
03/09/12 |
Very Good |
 "Jiang Wen directs with great vigor, serving up plenty of blood and a lot of laughs as he turns his picture into a propulsive blast." |
| 18. |
|
03/16/12 |
Poor |
 "They set out to make a bad movie. They succeeded.... Epic fail. Get it out of here." |
| 19. |
|
03/30/12 |
Very Good |
 "...a totally immersive movie experience.... Raw, rough and relentless, it just keeps coming at you." |
| 20. |
|
04/06/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...be assured you already know exactly what lies within here. That's what makes the picture so comforting. No surprises.... Good, dirty-minded fun, all of it..." |
