|
| 1. |
|
01/12/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Carlos Reygadas is attempting to induce a state of transcendence, and his approach sometimes works... you have to surrender to the movie to keep from going buggy." |
| 2. |
|
01/12/09 |
Very Good |
 "...juicy, revved-up, semi-satisfying... the movie's performances are exultant." |
| 3. |
|
02/02/09 |
Excellent |
 "...it's the big, dolorous Neeson who makes the movie a keeper. He does not gloat, he does not preen.... His motivation is clear: He wants his daughter back." |
| 4. |
|
02/02/09 |
Excellent |
 "...finely tuned... young writer-director Barry Jenkins has a gift for getting into the heads of his two African-American protagonists..." |
| 5. |
|
02/02/09 |
Very Good |
 "...exquisite, entrancing, very occasionally enervating... but I could have done with a touch less entrancement and a touch more... story." |
| 6. |
|
02/09/09 |
Excellent |
 "Although Paltrow is radiant, it's Phoenix's movie. He is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before..." |
| 7. |
|
02/09/09 |
Fair |
 "If the movie didn't pander so madly to the audience for 'Sex and the City' and 'Legally Blonde,' it might have been a comedy touchstone instead of a cringeworthy footnote." |
| 8. |
|
02/09/09 |
Moderate |
 "The structure feels random, and the characters remain at arm's length.... the movie is small potatoes: excellent journalism, so-so art." |
| 9. |
|
02/16/09 |
Poor |
 "You really have to screw it up to dishonor the memory of a movie as shitty as the original 'Friday the 13th.' Heads should roll." |
| 10. |
|
02/16/09 |
Excellent |
 "Wajda does not tell this story from the perspective of the child he was... No one spells out why bad things are happening to bewildered people." |
| 11. |
|
02/16/09 |
Moderate |
 "...another movie that says you can't defeat a nefarious multitentacled multinational colossus if you stay within the system: The only hope is vigilante justice." |
| 12. |
|
02/23/09 |
Fair |
 "...as cornball as it is, I like 'Crossing Over' better than Haggis's multiple-Oscar winner 'Crash,' which was both cornball and reductionist..." |
| 13. |
|
02/23/09 |
Good |
 "The reason to see this is Gretchen Mol. She has a mild, natural way of holding herself that's likably unactressy -- in every film, she seems both smart and grounded." |
| 14. |
|
03/02/09 |
Weak |
 "Alan Moore refused to put his name on the movie, which must have hurt Snyder and company terribly; they've made the most reverent adaptation of a graphic novel ever." |
| 15. |
|
03/16/09 |
Excellent |
 "...unusually nimble... the formula is unnervingly (and hilariously) inside out.... a howl, but maybe it's better not to think about it too hard." |
| 16. |
|
03/16/09 |
Outstanding |
 "There isn't a shot that looks like something you've seen before." |
| 17. |
|
03/16/09 |
Very Good |
 "...fascinating -- and extremely entertaining if you don't mind being morally corrupted at every juncture.... we can finally relax and enjoy the torture..." |
| 18. |
|
03/23/09 |
Excellent |
 "...stunning.... a true drama, a tug-of-war between hope and resignation in which neither player openly speaks to what's coming." |
| 19. |
|
03/23/09 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...deeply shallow -- cheap reversals all the way down. But it's a passably amusing brainteaser." |
| 20. |
|
03/23/09 |
Outstanding |
 "It's rigorous, evocative, and, in spite of its grisly imagery, elegant. It's a triumph -- of masochistic literal-mindedness." |
