- |
12 (2007) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
17 Again (2009) |
"It knows it has one thing going for it: teen idol Zac Efron. So it shows off that boy from beginning to end: shaggy hair, dreamy eyes, etc. ... '17 Again' is a virtual Efronathon, and I can't imagine his fans complaining." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
2012 (2009) |
"Remarkably, "2012" doesn't even really try to be profound, which is a good thing. All it tries to do is what it knows how to do best: entertain. At that, it comes up a winner." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
500 Days of Summer (2009) |
"Tom is a prime example of what happens when you grow up listening to too much sad British pop music: unrealistic expectations for romantic love and a taste for skinny ties and sweater vests. Now he's fallen, and fallen hard, for Summer. How could he not?" |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Blind Side (2009) |
" Bullock's the main reason to see the film: She's believably feisty and funny as an ex-college cheerleader turned into a strong-minded, NRA card-carrying Southern belle with whom you should not mess." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) |
"Brad Pitt spends a lifetime aging backward in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and there are points in the movie where your tired hindquarters feel as if they've been along for every minute of his strange journey." |
Matt Soergel |
- |
Defiance (2008) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) |
"Despite the obvious care given the story, at its heart it is a dry lump of coal. This "Christmas Carol" is curiously remote and cold." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 4/4 |
District 9 (2009) |
"Works as political commentary, blood-splattering action flick and sneaky-funny comedy." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 1/4 |
Fast & Furious (2009) |
"'Fast & Furious?' The stars of this sequel are more like Sluggish & Vaguely Grumpy, though it's nothing a little bit of fiber in their diets couldn't cure." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
Food, Inc. (2009) |
"It moves briskly through its impressive array of talking points, though you might wish it had lingered over a few of them for a little more depth. No matter. Consider it a primer on a deadly serious issue that affects all of us, several times a day." |
Matt Soergel |
- |
Gran Torino (2008) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) |
"In a world where the Transformers sequel can make a mint while being so lackadaisical and empty, it almost makes you wonder why the Potter crew bother to take such care. But let's not question it. Just enjoy it." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
In the Loop (2009) |
"Think of it as a celebration of the craft of screenwriting. This British comedy is dense with brilliant, profane and telling dialogue, with laugh-out-loud zingers that just keep coming and coming -- though few can be quoted here." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
The Informant! (2009) |
"Entertaining, but a bit glib, verging on disposable. But Damon saves it with his knockout performance." |
Matt Soergel |
- |
The International (2009) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
It Might Get Loud (2009) |
"Watch the little admiring smiles that creep onto the faces of The Edge and White as Page turns his Les Paul to 11 and starts blasting out the riff from "Whole Lotta Love." They're big rock stars, but all of a sudden they're 14 again." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
Julie & Julia (2009) |
"Like a souffle. Fluffy and delicious, and often this close to collapsing." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
Knowing (2009) |
"Basically two movies wrestling around in a burlap bag full of rocks: one an ambitious, big-idea sci-fi yarn, the other a horror movie as dumb as ... well, that's where those rocks come in." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 4/4 |
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) |
"If you had time traveled in from, say, 2008, you could watch the entire movie and not know that Michael Jackson is now dead. That's how restrained this astonishingly entertaining concert film is." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) |
" A happy, family-friendly movie without a mean bone in its mutated body, even though it features a giant killer robot machine and its four-eyed alien squid master, a megalomaniac who's out to kill and/or enslave all of humanity." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Observe and Report (2009) |
"As raunchy and as nihilistic as a two-minute punk song. It has its envelope-pushing rewards, at times .. but it tends to make its single-minded point over and over. After a short while, you begin to wonder: Is there anything on its mind? There isn't." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Planet 51 (2009) |
"It's good-spirited, and there are enough colorful characters to please its intended audience. Best of all is an Earth-built robot on wheels named Rover, who thinks it's a dog. He'll be a hit. If only the main characters were as interesting." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Play the Game (2009) |
"It isn't great movie-making, but it is a cheeky good time -- even if you've never wondered what Opie's pa would look like after a jolt of Viagra." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) |
"Sidibe's on-screen transformation is utterly believable and almost magical ... It's like watching a tiny flower grow in the merest crack on a dead-end highway: It could get crushed any minute." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
The Proposal (2009) |
"It's obviously formula stuff, and follows that formula so earnestly that at points you'll wince more than swoon (why does every big proclamation of love in the final scenes need to be made in public?)." |
Matt Soergel |
- |
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Star Trek (2009) |
"Standing in contrast to the angst-ridden, lumbering and dark vibe favored by so many action flicks, it has plenty for fans and almost as much for those who couldn't tell a tribble from a tricorder." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Terminator Salvation (2009) |
"As a lifelong fan of giant killer robots, it saddens me to say it. But sometimes giant killer robots aren't enough." |
Matt Soergel |
- |
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) |
Click here to see the review. |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) |
"Watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is like going to one of those chain all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants: The potatoes may be overbaked, the green beans limp and the beef lukewarm, but no way are you walking out of there hungry." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) |
"A long, melodramatic slog, hardly scary at all and missing the offbeat touches and disorienting passion that made the first so surprisingly enjoyable." |
Matt Soergel |
Splat 2/4 |
The Ugly Truth (2009) |
"As a girls'-night-out movie for those in the right frame of mind, it gets some laughs, even a few big ones. But this opposites-attract comedy is wildly uneven: There are long stretches of down time, and some of the humor is so crude it backfires." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Watchmen (2009) |
"Buckets of gore, truckloads of angst, hot superhero sex, full-frontal radiation-monster nudity, soap opera machinations, pulp fiction voice-overs, weekend trips to Mars .. and enough back stories for the next half-dozen superhero movies." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3/4 |
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) |
"Uneven ... Yet it has a beauty and integrity and wildness of its own - it's clear this is a film that just loves the book." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Whip It (2009) |
"There are no real villains here, just normal people making their way through life. And Bliss, while willful, is not horrible; she's just found something she needs to do, fishnets and all, and she's doing it." |
Matt Soergel |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Zombieland (2009) |
"Funny -- it turns out that when the zombie apocalypse is upon us, Escalades and Hummers will actually have a practical use." |
Matt Soergel |
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