|
| 1. |
|
05/17/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Every once in a while, a movie comes along that's so utterly shameless that it achieves a certain grandeur." |
| 2. |
|
05/17/12 |
Moderate |
 "...marked by one implausible and unsatisfying been-here-done-that twist after another." |
| 3. |
|
05/17/12 |
Weak |
 "For 'Mansome's' every truth ('Masculinity is performed for the evaluative eyes of other men'), there are a few dozen limp 'bits' provided by a roundtable of talking-head funnymen..." |
| 4. |
|
05/17/12 |
Weak |
 "...a bottleneck of half-comic escapades.... The variously eccentric characters and their flat Americana-kitsch backdrop never really feel like they're part of the same movie..." |
| 5. |
|
05/17/12 |
Poor |
 "The origin story of a beloved bedroom gadget... This device, known as 'Granville's hammer,' aptly suggests the bluntness of 'Hysteria.' " |
| 6. |
|
05/17/12 |
Good |
 "The style is extremely naturalistic, with the invisible camerawork and overlapping dialogue helping to smooth out the wild inconsistencies in the material." |
| 7. |
|
05/17/12 |
Weak |
 "...seems to exist to support its climax, in which the 'real' Aladeen tries to sell America on the perks of a dictatorship but ends up illuminating America itself." |
| 8. |
|
05/17/12 |
Fair |
 "...seems unaware of the dubiousness of its flippant-young-felons-gone-good conceit..." |
| 9. |
|
05/17/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...starts out feeling a little mousy and undistinguished.... finds a more natural stride once Harris's slightly nutty loneliness and O'Leary's wonderfully convincing skid start digging into each other..." |
| 10. |
|
05/17/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...well directed.... However, it fails in one crucial respect. There is a bright line, likely determined by age, between those who game and those who don't, and the film makes no concessions to the latter camp." |
| 11. |
|
05/17/12 |
Poor |
 "What atmosphere the film has can be credited to Matt Davies's sound design and post-rock stalwarts Tortoise, providing 31 flavors of ominous rumble on the soundtrack." |
| 12. |
|
05/17/12 |
Poor |
 "...ends with the beginning of a new life, whereas the movie leaves you hoping for a swift end to your own." |
| 13. |
|
05/17/12 |
Moderate |
 "High-fashion handsome Matthew Ludwinski has an affable thickness that limits the role of the eventual porn ingenue as often as it fills it out..." |
| 14. |
|
05/17/12 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a loving, exhaustive, warts-and-all look at the man who spent years battling his own alcoholism before a spiritual experience in the hospital set him on the course to help others." |
| 15. |
|
05/11/12 |
Fair |
 "...relies on slow-pitch, wasn't-the-past-dumb humor: The 1970s are lampooned for macramé art and inane pothead conversation, 'Love Story' and lava lamps and the Steve Miller Band." |
| 16. |
|
05/10/12 |
Very Good |
 "Tiny budgets work wonders on ghost movies -- it's what's not shown that truly frightens... Filipino writer-director Yam Laranas understands..." |
| 17. |
|
05/10/12 |
Fair |
 "A slick indie comedy that misses its snappy-irreverent mark..." |
| 18. |
|
05/10/12 |
Poor |
 "Like that of all movie adolescents before her, Ansiedad's convoluted scheme is fueled by her rage against Mom..." |
| 19. |
|
05/10/12 |
Poor |
 "...adopts the scorched-earth moral certitude and guiltless body count of the 'angry white male' Reagan-era action movie while turning the jingoistic politics inside out." |
| 20. |
|
05/10/12 |
Very Good |
 "...the kids exude an unforced naturalism that's a rare, marvelous thing." |
