|
| 1. |
|
11/30/09 |
Weak |
 "...a hybrid of unmatching parts -- shuffling between thriller, police procedural, family melodrama, and mystical fantasy... its momentousness turns into silliness." |
| 2. |
|
11/30/09 |
Very Good |
 "The movie has a hushed, sensual intensity and formal elegance that leaves no doubt Ford knows what he's doing behind the camera." |
| 3. |
|
11/30/09 |
Good |
 "...can be a bit on the nose (and the message songs Eastwood adds are overkill). Yet the lapses fade in the face of such a soul-stirring story..." |
| 4. |
|
11/30/09 |
Excellent |
 "Bridges is phenomenal.... 'Crazy Heart' gets to you like a good country song -- not because it tells you something new, but because it tells it well." |
| 5. |
|
11/30/09 |
Excellent |
 "James McAvoy, Helen Mirren, and Christopher Plummer offer a grand display of acting fireworks... 'The Last Station' slides gracefully between comedy and pathos (it aims for tragedy, but doesn't quite get there)." |
| 6. |
|
11/30/09 |
Fair |
 "Our two protagonists are tired, gaunt, and nameless... who spend the movie navigating through various hazards on their long journey to... where? I'm tempted to say it beats the hell out of me, but that may be the answer." |
| 7. |
|
11/23/09 |
Very Good |
 "Natalie Portman has some of the most difficult scenes, and this is her most accomplished work since 'Closer.' But 'Brothers' is Tobey Maguire's movie.... he bites into his character like a rabid dog." |
| 8. |
|
11/20/09 |
Fair |
 "...could have been as brave a movie as the first... If only director Chris Weitz had managed to tease out the real drama -- Bella's fear of aging -- instead of a tired one." |
| 9. |
|
11/09/09 |
Excellent |
 "In a year stuffed with kid-lit movie adaptations, it's the only one to successfully reach out to children and adults." |
| 10. |
|
10/12/09 |
Very Good |
 "...preserves the essence of Sendak's classic picture book while still managing to strike out in new directions." |
| 11. |
|
10/05/09 |
Very Good |
 "...the film makes us question the roots of all violence -- a far more complicated task than feeling sorry for a beaten horse." |
| 12. |
|
09/23/09 |
Good |
 "...it's both scathing and scattershot, smart and simplistic, moving and manipulative, sympathetic and self-aggrandizing, very funny and annoyingly facile." |
| 13. |
|
09/07/09 |
Good |
 "R.J. Cutler may not ask hard questions, but he keeps his eyes open and lets his unfolding story tell itself." |
| 14. |
|
08/10/09 |
Good |
 "...a sweet, anecdotal, comic embrace, a gentle reminder that it was once possible to overcome the cynicism of the times and believe that 'the flow' leads in a benign direction." |
| 15. |
|
07/20/09 |
Moderate |
 "Life, Apatow's movies suggest, is filled with angst, frustration, and tedium. The best you can do is laugh about it all, then pass it on." |
| 16. |
|
07/13/09 |
Moderate |
 "In short doses, 'Brüno' was a triumph. At feature length, 'Brüno' threatens to wear out his one-note welcome." |
| 17. |
|
06/08/09 |
Good |
 "...likable but paper-thin... an urban fairy tale with a happy ending that's anything but hard-won." |
| 18. |
|
05/18/09 |
Outstanding |
 "Hilarious, satirical and melancholy... may not go as deep as 'Y Tu Mamá También,' but it has a similar vivacity.... one of the year's most memorable offerings." |
| 19. |
|
03/02/09 |
Weak |
 "...meticulous, even slavish, in its re-creation of Gibbons's imagery, from colors to costumes to composition... takes loyalty to new limits. And that's exactly what's wrong with it." |
| 20. |
|
02/05/09 |
Poor |
 "All this might have been forgivable, perhaps, if the movie was able to somehow keep the argument of the book intact. Instead, it opts for the happy ending..." |
