|
| 1. |
|
01/16/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Jamal Woolard and the always fascinating Anthony Mackie lead a fine cast in this somewhat compelling biography..." |
| 2. |
|
01/23/09 |
Moderate |
 "Convoluted and outrageous... You can think about 'Outlander' 16 different ways, and still arrive at the same conclusion: It just doesn't work." |
| 3. |
|
01/23/09 |
Very Good |
 "...a brisk and engaging adventure for kids who love books as well as for those who don't." |
| 4. |
|
02/06/09 |
Poor |
 "Confusing, too long and just plain silly... Director Paul McGuigan nudges this lurching behemoth along like a dead school bus lost in a forest." |
| 5. |
|
02/13/09 |
Outstanding |
 "There isn't a dull minute here, especially with Jim Carrey -- yes, Jim Carrey -- delivering a narration that somehow is both witty and soothing." |
| 6. |
|
03/20/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...an unusual, not-entirely-successful buddy film about the rules of male friendship.... has its heart in the right place. But its head is thick with dispiriting, cartoonish humor." |
| 7. |
|
04/03/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...about embracing abandon as an act of spiritual and creative renewal.... it's also about how a movie can be one such act. Just not this movie, unfortunately..." |
| 8. |
|
04/10/09 |
Poor |
 "Well, what do you know. It really is possible to get too much of Seth Rogen.... the film's meandering script never settles into a narrative groove." |
| 9. |
|
04/17/09 |
Very Good |
 "...a somewhat uneven comedy about a midlife sad sack who gets the chance to be a teen again. Efron carries the movie and proves to be a versatile and funny star." |
| 10. |
|
04/17/09 |
Moderate |
 "...an underdeveloped adaptation of a Michael Chabon novel about a naive boy-man navigating his way to adulthood. Nick Nolte, playing his father, is easily the best part of the film." |
| 11. |
|
04/24/09 |
Outstanding |
 "The real story is on the faces of this film's singers, dancers and musicians, and especially in Carlos Saura's beautiful, visual rendering of fado's passionate heart." |
| 12. |
|
05/01/09 |
Very Good |
 "There's a lot to admire, particularly the film's blunt, though not harsh, vision of two different yet equally evolved species proving to be as destructive as they are great." |
| 13. |
|
05/08/09 |
Weak |
 "A glum and slack family drama... punctuated by bright bursts of dreamy surfing images, but not enough to make the film rewarding... None of it is compelling, and the overall story is loose and patchy, like a poor, straight-to-DVD potboiler." |
| 14. |
|
05/23/09 |
Good |
 "Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno follow up their 2004 'The Yes Men' comic documentary with a wilder, friskier movie chronicling their recent hoaxes..." |
| 15. |
|
06/12/09 |
Very Good |
 "Eddie Murphy redeems himself as a live-action, comic actor in this family film about a father who takes financial advice from his daughter's imaginary friends." |
| 16. |
|
06/24/09 |
Moderate |
 "The script is 'Fallen's' greatest failing, a spiritually empty exercise in nonstop violence and an outright silly movie in many ways." |
| 17. |
|
06/26/09 |
Very Good |
 "...ambitiously probes the overlapping of different memories and perceptions that build up around loss -- adding exotica, trauma and surprises on the journey of discovery." |
| 18. |
|
06/30/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...strains to keep the franchise going, though the 3-D is nice and there is a lot to like in Simon Pegg's performance as a deranged weasel." |
| 19. |
|
07/10/09 |
Outstanding |
 "...unusual script is structured, in large part, as a relentlessly tense drama, a string of missions punctuated by James' and Sanborn's downtime restlessness." |
| 20. |
|
07/17/09 |
Outstanding |
 "Baratz's access to every stage of the process -- from Zopa's selection of a candidate to the testing of that candidate to the blessing of the Dalai Lama -- is phenomenal..." |
