Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 27%
| Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2009) | "
An interesting curiosity piece for Williams fans but a tough sell for today's audiences." Metromix.com Posted Dec 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 64%
| Police, Adjective (2009) | "
Tells its simple story with credibility and conviction, but I couldn't help wondering what Dirty Harry might do in the situation. Maybe there's a Romanian filmmaker ready to figure it out." Metromix.com Posted Dec 24, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 50%
| It's Complicated (2009) | "
Meyers' usually enjoyable brand of glossy escapism fails her here, resulting in a movie that's not nearly complicated enough." Metromix.com Posted Dec 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 37%
| Nine (2009) | "
By indulging the audience in shallow cinematic pleasures, Nine knows how to use style to trump substance." Metromix.com Posted Dec 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 89%
| Crazy Heart (2009) | "
Not that the modest story makes [Jeff] Bridges' accomplishment any less vital or [T-Bone] Burnett's music any less pleasurable." Metromix.com Posted Dec 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 100%
| The Vicious Kind (2009) | "
What initially seems like a [Neil] LaBute knockoff develops into its own rather interesting examination of men who mask pain with maliciousness." Metromix.com Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 82%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
[Director Tom] Ford's gorgeously glossy veneer could be viewed as superficial, if he wasn't so invested in exploring George's interior life." Metromix.com Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 40%
| The Lovely Bones (2009) | "
The changes Jackson and his collaborators make to Sebol's novel don't serve the material in any meaningful way. But the film isn't simply a failure as satisfying adaptation, it fails on its own terms." Metromix.com Posted Dec 10, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 89%
| Up in the Air (2009) | "
[Jason] Reitman's most mature film to date is about as grown-up, smart and savvy a film as anyone could hope for from Hollywood." Metromix.com Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 3/5
| Fresh 69%
| The Last Station (2009) | "
Struggles to make these remote characters truly come alive and never quite locates an interesting window into the personal life of an artist" Metromix.com Posted Dec 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 83%
| The Princess and the Frog (2009) | "
You'll walk away in a good mood, happy to see Disney back on track. But ... there's not much to remember in the morning." Metromix.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 31%
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | "
The rotten cliches pile up faster than the bodies in this Z-movie disaster. A total dud start to finish." Metromix.com Posted Nov 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Rotten 58%
| Mammoth (2009) | "
Less obsessed with coincidence and more interested in the ways people from various cultures connect, or don't quite connect, in everyday situations." Metromix.com Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
[Director Chris] Weitz seems to have taken the vampire thing a little too seriously -- his bland brand of Hollywood polish sucks the life out of the movie." Metromix.com Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 83%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
Crafted with the confidence and ambition of a master filmmaker, but that's not quite the same as the product of a filmmaker at his peak." Metromix.com Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 55%
| Uncertainty (2009) | "
An odd metaphysical exploration that never stops feeling like a stunt." Metromix.com Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 29%
| Women in Trouble (2009) | "
Penthouse Forum meets Pedro Almodóvar in this frantic slice of trash-masquerading-as-class." Metromix.com Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
A soundtrack in search of a movie ... a bid for nostalgia that comes across as simply tiresome when it isn't outright desperate." Metromix.com Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 80%
| Collapse (2009) | "
There's not much to Collapse beyond 77 minutes of one man talking about the possible end of society as we know it, and it's riveting stuff start to finish." Metromix.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 44%
| The Box (2009) | "
What's intended to be a trippy, philosophical sci-fi parable winds up more overwrought than unsettling." Metromix.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 5/5
| Fresh 91%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Precious is a force of nature. You don't simply watch the movie, you experience it -- in all its fury, hope, bitterness, grace, horror and redemption." Metromix.com Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
Everything you need to know about the depressing, unsavory Gentlemen Broncos can be summarized by a single shot: a close-up on a steaming pile of dog crap." Metromix.com Posted Oct 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 21%
| Amelia (2009) | "
If there's one thing Amelia wants us to know, it's that Amelia Earhart was her own woman. If there's another thing...I don't have a clue what it could be." Metromix.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
The goal of Ong Bak 2 was to make something bigger and better. They only succeeded with the first half." Metromix.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
No satisfying resolution, no sense of characters coming into their own, and no feeling that the world that's been created was interesting enough to sustain one movie, let alone several." Metromix.com Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 87%
| The House of the Devil (2009) | "
Slow, yet oddly spellbinding, horror film ... a living, breathing nostalgia piece oozing period authenticity" Metromix.com Posted Oct 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 11%
| The Stepfather (2009) | "
[Nelson] McCormick has crafted a horror remake so undistinguished it makes Prom Night look like a masterpiece of transgressive filmmaking." Metromix.com Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 95%
| The Maid (2009) | "
Both a domestic dramedy and a workplace procedural, incisively revealing the emotional consequences of living with a family that you're never quite a part of." Metromix.com Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 82%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
Worth seeing once (preferably with a large audience, preferably after dark), but then what? The success of the film's suspense makes it the ultimate in disposable entertainment." Metromix.com Posted Oct 15, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Requires its audience to take a giant leap, use their minds and, occasionally, go to some uncomfortable places ... an uncommonly bold and brilliant piece of filmmaking." Metromix.com Posted Oct 13, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 61%
| Peter and Vandy (2009) | "
Flirts with indie-filmmaking-by-the-numbers but still manages a refreshingly clear-eyed look at relationships." Metromix.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 94%
| The Damned United (2009) | "
Classy light drama gets its larger than life scope from Brian Clough's own massive ego and Michael Sheen's sharp performance in the role." Metromix.com Posted Oct 8, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
Lying ambitiously stakes its claim to the highest level of film comedies. And by doing so, it just might be the best comedy of the year. Honestly." Metromix.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
There's nothing wrong with a little light comedy after a zombie apocalypse leaves humanity utterly devastated. But there's nothing very smart about it either." Metromix.com Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/5
| Rotten 35%
| Blind Date (2009) | "
[Patricia] Clarkson has the ability to make any character interesting, but if there's ever been a test of how enjoyable it is to watch a film just because she's in it, this is it." Metromix.com Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 41%
| Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009) | "
Sometimes humorous, sometimes repulsive, never insightful, the movie comes off like the work of an overeager college student." Metromix.com Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 40%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
By mixing a detective story and futuristic robots the filmmakers were likely aiming for the next Blade Runner. They wound up with the next Battlefield Earth." Metromix.com Posted Sep 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 75%
| Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) | "
[Michael] Moore hasn't made a measured film because he's not looking for a measured response. He wants to get his viewers outraged and shake them out of their complacency." Metromix.com Posted Sep 23, 2009 |
Rotten 3/5
| Fresh 67%
| Paris (2009) | "
This mishmash is only sporadically successful." Metromix.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 84%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
A small film, but also an uncommonly lovely work." Metromix.com Posted Sep 17, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 44%
| Jennifer's Body (2009) | "
Jennifer's Body plays it safe and familiar. Juno would not be pleased." Metromix.com Posted Sep 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 96%
| Crude (2009) | "
Keeps a tight focus on a sprawling topic, condensing three years of production into a narrative that neatly lays out the history of the controversy, the opposing viewpoints and key players" Metromix.com Posted Sep 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 70%
| American Casino (2009) | "
Has the feel of a quickie made-for-TV doc. It's bare bones ... but timely." Metromix.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 63%
| Extract (2009) | "
[Mike] Judge's most modest offering yet -- less quotable than Office Space, less provocative than Idiocracy" Metromix.com Posted Sep 3, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 83%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
Portrait of an egomaniac capitalizing on technology remains plenty valuable as a peek into the past that few would want to see become the future." Metromix.com Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/5
| Fresh 100%
| Still Walking (2009) | "
A gentle, absorbing drama that carefully modulates sentimentality with an eye for the way family members can be casually cruel to each other and outsiders." Metromix.com Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 21%
| Halloween II (2009) | "
Zombie was interested in more than just a quick cash-in sequel. But Halloween II can't quite convince that a follow-up was necessary." Metromix.com Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4.5/5
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
As entertaining as it is audacious, a film that showcases Tarantino in top form and boasts a multitude of characters who could easily carry a movie of their own." Metromix.com Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
Decent filler for kids but too tedious for adults, [Robert] Rodriguez already proved he can do better than this with the first two Spy Kids." Metromix.com Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/5
| Rotten 58%
| Art & Copy (2009) | "
[The] relentlessly positive approach results in a movie that feels like it was made for an advertising convention, not general audience consumption (let alone edification)." Metromix.com Posted Aug 20, 2009 |