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| 1. |
|
01/09/09 |
Poor |
 "It's apathy incarnate. It's the Bride of Floppenstein, a C-minus, a soggy, sad thing floating in a lukewarm limbo of sentimental mediocrity." |
| 2. |
|
01/09/09 |
Very Good |
 "...dramatically persuasive and well-paced. Bill Duke's workmanlike direction never gets in the way of the message, but it never becomes contrived." |
| 3. |
|
01/15/09 |
Moderate |
 "Canine enthusiasts and those under age 10 will lap up the sight of dozens of dogs making adorable faces and 'acting' in unison.... a dog of a movie..." |
| 4. |
|
01/15/09 |
Weak |
 "...a senseless Hollywood comedy... features one joke every six minutes... suffers from a formulaic, carbon paper-thin screenplay..." |
| 5. |
|
01/16/09 |
Poor |
 "If you're hungry for a good Bollywood musical, go to your local Indian market and ask for a DVD recommendation. Unfunny, baffling and exhausting, this should be avoided." |
| 6. |
|
01/23/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...solid and joyless.... The overqualified cast gives its all but logical lapses and sober-sided direction siphon off the fun." |
| 7. |
|
01/30/09 |
Moderate |
 "Made with a slick proficiency that could be mistaken for style... brain-rattling chases, brawls, torture and gun battles alongside images of sexually enslaved women..." |
| 8. |
|
01/30/09 |
Weak |
 "...provides a few small gasps and jumps and a soundtrack of squeamish violins like most of its contemporaries, but it's 87 minutes of disappointment and cliché." |
| 9. |
|
01/30/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...those of us who can look in the mirror and laugh at our earflap hats won't find it half-bad. The hokey caricatures are affectionate, not abrasive..." |
| 10. |
|
02/06/09 |
Moderate |
 "They not only toss in the kitchen sink -- they throw in the whole Home Depot plumbing department... It should give us the willies, but it's willy-nilly." |
| 11. |
|
02/06/09 |
Outstanding |
 "What makes this one a cut above the generic is a tart dose of drama and hard-bitten intelligence amid the candy corn.... it recognizes that love is ephemeral and elusive." |
| 12. |
|
02/06/09 |
Poor |
 "The brawling physical comedy is overstaged, the supporting players mug shamelessly, and Martin's tongue-twisting accent seems to have come from Pluto..." |
| 13. |
|
02/06/09 |
Very Good |
 "...deliciously creepy... a miraculous achievement. Movies often promise a magical experience and welsh on the deal. 'Coraline' delivers." |
| 14. |
|
02/13/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...a reboot with little in the way of actual horror. The latest installment in the franchise may please old fans, but new audiences may find it falling short." |
| 15. |
|
02/13/09 |
Very Good |
 "The images are glorious... the message that the ocean ecology is worth preserving is delivered without preaching." |
| 16. |
|
02/13/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Tykwer ('Run Lola Run') keeps the stranger-than-fiction premise grounded in reality, even as his spectacular 'Bourne'-influenced action scenes test the limits of believability." |
| 17. |
|
02/14/09 |
Weak |
 "Had 'Confessions' been truer to its chick-lit novel inspiration, the movie could have been fizzily enjoyable instead of sickening. It's hard to sympathize with Becky..." |
| 18. |
|
02/20/09 |
Very Good |
 "...not easy to find. So thanks to the film nerds at Magnolia Pictures for distributing this year's slate in two programs, one for live action and the other for animation." |
| 19. |
|
02/27/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "It won't win any awards for brilliance, but I laughed a little, guffawed at a couple of uproarious moments and generally enjoyed the film." |
| 20. |
|
02/27/09 |
Very Good |
 "There are no big dramatic conflicts, and story points are undeveloped or left dangling, but in its ragged, nonlinear way, 'Two Lovers' has more going on than most movies." |
