Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
The writer-director is up to his old tricks, creating an onion of an experience -- a movie within a movie within a movie, irony in each layer, poignancy that stings and whimsy that bites." — Los Angeles Times Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 84%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
We're always looking for those performances that truly define an actor, where we can sit back and simply watch the talent soar. For Colin Firth, A Single Man is that film." — Los Angeles Times Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 24%
| Serious Moonlight (2009) | "
Serious Moonlight has its flaws, but then what marriage doesn't?" — Los Angeles Times Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 57%
| Brothers (2009) | "
Sheridan seems as conflicted as the Cahills about their virtues and failings." — Los Angeles Times Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 85%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
The dialogue is fresh-prince clever, the themes are ageless, the rhythms are riotous and the return to a primal animation style is beautifully executed." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 85%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
As in life, the presence of Welles never fails to overtake things and McKay's command of the subject is so Welles-ian that when he's in a scene everyone else fades a little. And neither [Linklater] nor the film ever quite recover from that." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 89%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
Foster leaves you hoping that Will finds his way home." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 86%
| Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) | "
Cold-blooded reptiles are lurking everywhere in the slick new noir Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, with snakes, iguanas, gators and especially Nicolas Cage at their slithering and cynical best." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 71%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
If Frank Capra was still around, director John Lee Hancock might have had to fight him for the job." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 55%
| The Little Traitor (2009) | "
A lyrical yet emotionally spare film about the unexpected casualties of war." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
Pirate Radio, the new rock-saturated comedy that proves life really is better when it's set to a '60s soundtrack, is, to borrow from the Stones, "a gas! gas! gas!"" — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
One that you hope will not be dismissed as too difficult, because it should not be missed." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 45%
| The Box (2009) | "
Have you ever actually tried watching paint dry? A sloth walk? Grass grow? You can have all the thrills with none of the chills courtesy of The Box, the painfully sluggish new sci-fi morality play from Donnie Darko creator Richard Kelly." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
By the time A Christmas Carol finishes piling its many shiny presents with their many bells and whistles under the tree, there's no room left for tears for Tiny Tim. Bah humbug indeed." — Los Angeles Times Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 88%
| Skin (2009) | "
In a day when it's difficult to say something new about the racial divide, Sandy's story has a poignant power as it underscores just how deeply the fissures run even when it's all in the family." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
Unfortunately Weitz can't quite get a handle on what the film should be, despite teaming up with the talented Brian Helgeland on the script." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 21%
| Amelia (2009) | "
History can weigh heavily on a filmmaker, and that is what happens with Amelia, a disappointing rendering of the remarkable life of Amelia Earhart." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 56%
| Trucker (2009) | "
There are so many wonderfully unconventional things to like about this tiny independent film, Monaghan's earthy and uncompromising performance chief among them, its depth surprising you at every turn." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 9%
| Opa! (2009) | "
Everything is flat except for the island's picturesque mountains, but you can look at those for only so long." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 41%
| New York, I Love You (2009) | "
Even the more predictable prove pleasurable." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| N/A | The Korean Wedding Chest (2009) | "
It is a rare chance to see the stunning, quiet work of Ottinger, whose films tell us only what we need to know. Nothing more, nothing less." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 12, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 67%
| Bliss (2007) | "
While the story is a dark and difficult one, the players in this morality tale are bathed in light and lost within breathtaking landscapes thanks to director of photography Mirsad Herovic." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Peli works at mining the unknown, the unknowable, like a minimalist, using small moments and virtually no special effects exceedingly well." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Good Hair (2009) | "
An amusing, poignant and surprisingly candid look at the topic with a disarming Rock coaxing answers and opinions from an eclectic cross section of African Americans." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 56%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
[It] does have its moments -- most of them courtesy of Gervais and his very specific brand of self-deprecating, always equivocating comedy -- just not nearly enough of them." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Peli works at mining the unknown, the unknowable, like a minimalist, using small moments and virtually no special effects exceedingly well." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 82%
| Whip It (2009) | "
For the most part, the 34-year-old Barrymore, with much of her life spent in front of the camera and more than a few impressive producing credits already in the bank, proves steady on her feet, able to handle curves and straightaways with equal grace." — Los Angeles Times Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 83%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
If anything, the film is a reflection of the Web zeitgeist, where observation comes easily but insight is rare. What saves the documentary from becoming a complete frustration is the sheer, stunning prescience of Harris." — Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
The Boys Are Back is a bit like the parenting it portrays -- at times there is pain, mistakes will be made, but if you can get beyond that, there is pleasure to be found." — Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 89%
| No Impact Man (2009) | "
Finally an environmental advocacy film for those of us who have the best of intentions but a weakness for Peet's espressos, takeout dinners and an occasional Marc Jacobs sale, to say nothing of a dependence on toilet paper..." — Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 10, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
While Extract is mildly amusing and a slice of a mostly working-class world that doesn't make it into comedy that much anymore, it's not completely convincing as a movie." — Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
It's a frustrating complication of a movie with a sprawling story and grand ambitions -- and some truly grand acting -- that stumbles almost as often as it soars. Bummer." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 70%
| My One and Only (2009) | "
Just when you think nothing will break the summer heat, in blows a cool breeze." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
Yes, I realize this is a kids' movie, but that's no excuse for short-circuiting creativity." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 38%
| The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) | "
Yet where there should be heat, a cold wind blows." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 90%
| District 9 (2009) | "
In a good summer, there's usually a movie that will come out of nowhere and completely wow us. This is a good summer, and that movie is District 9." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 78%
| It Might Get Loud (2009) | "
The film culminates as the three finally come together on an empty soundstage in Hollywood for a conversation and a raucous jam session that is remarkable for its intimacy and its passion." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 37%
| G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) | "
Basically, the Joes are not bad, it's just that they could have been much better with a little less conversation, a little more action." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 43%
| Fragments (2009) | "
The grand statement it wants to make plays shallow instead of deep, leaving the film too weak-kneed to carry the weight of its broken world." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Paper Heart manages to work the meta mostly magically thanks to the sensibility brought by Yi, whose stand-up persona blends a childlike naiveté with an almost perpetual state of shy embarrassment." — Los Angeles Times Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
Park has created a rumination on morality and mortality that is not at all deadly, but funny and profound and at times intensely erotic." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 88%
| The English Surgeon (2009) | "
Like Marsh, the filmmaker has taken a sort of triage approach to telling the tale, with near-perfect pacing as he moves between Marsh, the patients, and Marsh's wonderful Ukrainian colleague, neurosurgeon Igor Kurilets." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
Sandler and Rogen and the rest are left to wander aimlessly, with tedious comedy gigs, an even more tedious faux sitcom and relatively vapid relationships masquerading as a plot." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 31, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 79%
| An Unlikely Weapon (2009) | "
A picture of a complex mind with a gift for capturing humanity and inhumanity with heartbreaking force." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 67%
| Bruno (2009) | "
Baron Cohen's instincts for outrage are spot on. It's not insight we need at all right now, but a very sharp bonk on the head." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 10, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 96%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
Packed as the new film is with so many interlocking love stories, of people and places, of ideas and experimentation, it's difficult not to leave the theater giddy at being swept up in her embrace." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 3, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 47%
| My Sister's Keeper (2009) | "
Where restraint might have raised up My Sister's Keeper, a heavy hand has brought it down." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jul 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) | "
Why does the third installment of this animated tale often feel so glacial it's a wonder Ray Romano's Manny the mammoth doesn't freeze in his tracks?" — Los Angeles Times Posted Jun 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 19%
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) | "
Though battles are Transformers' raison d'être, before it's over, Revenge will collapse under the weight of far too many of them." — Los Angeles Times Posted Jun 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 43%
| The Proposal (2009) | "
The Proposal is just a good old-fashioned romance, one in which people actually bring out the best in one another rather than the worst. How novel is that?" — Los Angeles Times Posted Jun 19, 2009 |
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