Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 65%
| The Merry Gentleman (2009) | "
In a word: awful." — Daily Telegraph Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 62%
| The Girlfriend Experience (2009) | "
Steven Soderbergh is very much in experimental mode with this chilly, downbeat Manhattan drama." — Daily Telegraph Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 83%
| Disgrace (2009) | "
It’s a faithful adaptation, but one that’s been indifferently shot by director Steve Jacobs, whose blunt technique tends to flatten the book’s morose charge. Still, the acting is often excellent." — Daily Telegraph Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 48%
| The Descent: Part 2 (2009) | "
The last half-hour is a tense team scramble to get out, and stay out, but the best move in this above-par shocker is digging right back into the claustrophobic emotional traumas which made Part 1 so thrilling." — Daily Telegraph Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 46%
| The Box (2009) | "
Kelly’s obsessions are not entirely like anyone else’s, which is a recommendation of sorts, and he shoots more beautifully than ever, which is another. I won’t give up on him when his films are still this richly textured and high on their own ideas." — Daily Telegraph Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 89%
| Séraphine (2008) | "
A little long, but quietly rewarding." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 46%
| Nativity! () | "
For all that's wrong with Nativity!, there's something apt and endearing about how this sketchy, second‑rate production pulls its socks up for the climax." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 15%
| Mr. Right (2009) | "
Wants to be a Sex and the City for the Soho queen scene, only without the sex." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 56%
| Bunny & The Bull (2009) | "
Blokey whimsy can work, but when it’s misfiring there’s a high risk of being left down in the dumps." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 27, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 50%
| Glorious 39 (2009) | "
A bizarrely tasteless pet-euthanasia subplot -- clumsy parallels with the Holocaust abound -- is merely the wackiest turn the wildly unconvincing script takes: it’s well below Poliakoff’s more intelligent TV work." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 76%
| The First Day of the Rest of Your Life () | "
The movie’s keen to show off its period threads and craft solo acting moments, all of which it does entertainingly, but we can’t quite see the ties that bind: these feel like five characters in search of a common gene pool." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 81%
| Examined Life (2009) | "
This is an addictive and stimulating experience all round." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 20, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 29%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
For anyone on the outside looking in, the insulation of the characters from real danger makes it a bit of a drag." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 18, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 38%
| 2012 (2009) | "
Emmerich's vision of global huddling and new-dawn optimism has a harebrained naivety you almost want to treasure, but that's this idiot behemoth of a film all over: dim, dim, dim, and so absurdly overscaled that we're not supposed to mind." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 77%
| Harry Brown (2009) | "
Daniel Barber’s luridly brutal debut goes quickly way over the top." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 13, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
The movie’s winsome artificiality may drive you bananas." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
Either someone missed the memo about other people’s LSD trips being a colossal drag, or else they fed it to a goat." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 50%
| 1 Day () | "
Woolcock doesn’t strictly glamourise this guns-'n'-babymothers lifestyle, but her shortcuts to gritty pathos are nearly as questionable." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
At its best, this revamp gets the eerie oppressiveness of London fog and Marley’s rattling chains just right -- we all know the moral, but Zemeckis does remind us what a spine-chilling yarn it is." — Daily Telegraph Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 73%
| Starsuckers (2009) | "
A lot of valid points are scored in passing against the celebrity-industrial complex, but there’s not enough real news here." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 57%
| 9 (2009) | "
Where it needs emotive magic, it lays on a vague and maudlin religiosity -- we’re never quite sure what Acker thinks he’s preaching. 9? I’d give it a 6." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 60%
| Made in Jamaica (2006) | "
I found it hard to warm to this overlong documentary about new trends in reggae, perhaps because of the sense that all the less savoury aspects of that culture were being softballed." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 42%
| Colin (2009) | "
The absence of that free commodity, narrative surprise, makes it a movie whose resourcefulness you can applaud -- I wish Price well -- while secretly being glad you didn’t pay to see it." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh
| Rotten 57%
| Died Young, Stayed Pretty (2009) | "
The film reminds us of a tactile, cut-and-paste subculture that’s still alive and well in the internet age." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 21, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 84%
| Pontypool (2009) | "
Tight as a drum and the most inventive spin on a zombie-plague premise in years." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 47%
| Ong Bak 2 (2009) | "
The pleasingly goofy personality of the first film has hardened dismayingly. This one’s all rain, mud, blood and grim jungle duels, the balance tipping firmly towards bone-crunching fisticuffs rather than acrobatic stunt-work." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 66%
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) | "
Gilliam’s imagination rubbing up against his constricted budget, and CGI showmanship is not on any level his forte. You miss the hand-made charm and extravagant matte-work of Brazil, even Baron Munchausen." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Thirst (2009) | "
This fervid extravaganza is easily Park’s best film since Oldboy." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 18%
| Love Happens (2009) | "
It’s not a comedy. It certainly isn’t funny." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
It’s fitting that Zombieland ends up in an amusement park, because it basically is one. You get your money’s worth." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 67%
| District 13: Ultimatum (2009) | "
It's muscular, dumb entertainment, edited like gangbusters and with villains who want to blow up the entire Parisian underclass." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 4, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 27%
| Pandorum (2009) | "
Cabin fever in space is a durable idea for horror, but the main feeling this one from the Resident Evil gang is likely to inspire is cosmic déjà vu." — Daily Telegraph Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Rotten 59%
| Creation (2009) | "
A sad, searching piece of work about the reluctant labour of a great idea." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 36%
| Je Veux Voir (2009) | "
The line between worthy and pompous is a tightrope right the way through, and the filmmakers don’t have the shoes for it." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh
| Fresh 76%
| The Firm (2009) | "
The odd thing is that Love’s version feels so bright and breezy, as if he’s cosying back up to a wider audience who were turned off by Outlaw’s grimy nihilism. If that’s the case, it’s a wacky choice of subject, but the effort’s appreciated." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 66%
| Away We Go (2009) | "
This won't go down as much of a success story for Mendes, but, unlike his more grandiose projects of late, it's not a complete dead end." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 67%
| The Agent (2009) | "
The advances up for grabs date the script instantly to a jollier time for publishing, but it’s more of a bummer that Lesley Manning’s direction is of the plonk-the-camera-anywhere variety." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 8%
| 31 North 62 East (2009) | "
Writer-director Tristan Loraine has grand schemes in the pipeline, but this absurd stab at sub-Tom-Clancy conspiracy thrills won’t help his credentials. When Craig Fairbrass is your closest thing to a badge of quality, be afraid." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 86%
| Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) | "
What an unexpected treat this turns out to be – as messy and riotous as a kindergarten food- fight, with teacher tied up in the corner." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 18, 2009 |
Rotten 0/5
| Rotten 4%
| Miss March (2009) | "
An almost perfect atrocity. It is a towering K2 of bobbins... the most mangy, noxious, charmless, sexist, racist, unfunny, infantile, stomach-turning, grotesque, clueless, inept and stupid film of the year." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 94%
| Fish Tank (2009) | "
Arnold works wonders almost everywhere in this film: the drip-drop drabness of kitchen-sink drama is stilled, alive, and newly dangerous." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 47%
| Dorian Gray (2010) | "
Beyond mildly risqué bisexual assignations, the filmmaking isn’t terribly adventurous, but cinematographer Roger Pratt gives it an inky opulence, and it’s quite watchable." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 86%
| 500 Days of Summer (2009) | "
An ideal version of this film would be painful and playful, and a good deal less cluttered. But the one we get certainly has delightful moments. After any exposure to this year’s unfailingly smelly mainstream romcoms, it’s a breeze." — Daily Telegraph Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 68%
| Funny People (2009) | "
The film has some obvious problems – it sprawls, and goes on too long. But it’s funny in such a thoughtful, rounded, adult way, and deflects sentimentality so confidently, that it won me over anyway." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 82%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
Broken Embraces is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside a slightly overindulgent parade of gushing film references." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 29, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 45%
| Shorts (2009) | "
It’s like a pre-teen Pulp Fiction." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 24, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 15%
| I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) | "
This adaptation of Larry Doyle’s bestseller is too soul-starved and lethally bland to warm the cockles." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 24, 2009 |
Fresh 4/5
| Fresh 61%
| Chiko (2008) | "
It's hard to take your eyes off Moschitto's bulldog-like antihero - with his dangerous lips and furtive power plays, he makes Vincent Cassel in Mesrine look like Dale Winton's camper twin." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 24, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 76%
| Afterschool (2009) | "
Originality is perhaps the major missing component, but this still stacks up as a nifty debut with ideas and ambition to spare." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 55%
| Orphan (2009) | "
Directing with a wink and some style, Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) knows that it’s possible to be totally absurd and witty with it -- he has that trash touch." — Daily Telegraph Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
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