Fresh 3.5/4
|
The Docks of New York (1928)
|
"visually evocative and narratively intriguing, such that even its generally terrible ending can’t quite undermine the overall sense that you have just seen something profoundly of its time and ahead of it"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
The Last Command (1928)
|
"Jannings is a forceful screen presence and his characterization of the general is impressive in its oscillation between power and loss"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Underworld (1927)
|
"von Sternberg’s visual style and the art direction by German émigré Hans Dreier elevate Underworld into something more than a run-of-the-mill crime picture"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Machine Gun McCain (1970)
|
"an absorbing mixture of dramatic pathos and criminal intrigue, one of those rare gems of late-1960s international filmmaking that is all but unthinkable today"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) (1959)
|
"its romanticized perspective makes it all seem in hindsight a bit shallow and facile"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Piranha 3-D (2010)
|
"funny and gross and tasteless as it is, it frequently feels like too much, as if Aja is swinging for the fences of cult moviedom at every moment"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
|
"leaves no mediated stone unturned and tosses anything and everything into its conceptual blender with an infectious wild abandon"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
The Expendables (2010)
|
"misses many opportunities to truly exploit its old-school ethos, instead falling into the trap of hyper-edited incoherence"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 1.5/4
|
Eat Pray Love (2010)
|
"little more than a self-indulgent wallow in white upper-class privilege feigning depth by cloaking itself in fortune cookie wisdom"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
After.Life (2010)
|
"makes you think too much about what it’s doing, rather than what it’s about, thus drawing you away from the deeper philosophical questions of life and death at its core"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Escape from New York (1981)
|
"an enthralling, if sometimes inadvertently cheesy adventure yarn, an intriguing window into the fears and anxieties of the early Reagan years, and a film-lover’s cavalcade of genre mash-up"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Kalifornia (1993)
|
"Brad Pitt’s performance is crucial, and he rips into the character with a frightening sense of unhinged egomania, violently subverting the Redford-lite pretty-boy image with which so many wanted to associate him"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
Crumb (1995)
|
"an absolutely disarming documentary and one of the very best of its kind"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Louie Bluie ()
|
"a jaunty, engaging documentary that never at any point pretends to be comprehensive or in any way complete"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
The Other Guys (2010)
|
"the movie is at its best when it plays with the various ways in which Ferrell’s genial awkwardness constantly sharpen the razors in Wahlberg’s eyes"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 2.5/4
|
Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
|
"its primary virtue is its sheer and relatively unpredictable ridiculousness"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
|
"never preachy, but instead relies on the characters to ground the issues and make them feel real, rather than manufactured"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Bull Durham (1988)
|
"Shelton’s sharp sense of how these characters interact and improve each other (both knowingly and unknowingly) gives the film its impact"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
A Prophet (Un prophete) (2010)
|
"the rarest of crime films: One that turns us inside out with concern not only for Malik’s physical safety, but for the safety of his soul"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
|
"a mixture of live-action and stop-motion animation that is heavy on fever-dream spectacle, but fairly shallow in terms of character"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 2.5/4
|
The Prowler (1981)
|
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 2.5/4
|
The Prowler (1981)
|
"a better-than-expected entry into that most despised of genres"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
The Red Shoes (1948)
|
"gloriously original and provocative--a truly groundbreaking fusion of reality and fantasy that helped pave the way for future musicals"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Winter's Bone (2010)
|
"leavens its worst moments with a sense of compassion and tenderness that reminds us to understand and empathize with, rather than judge, the characters"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
|
"uneven, but fascinatingly nasty adaptation of Thompson's 1952 novel "
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
Inception (2010)
|
"the balance of philosophical ideas and narrative tension are more than enough to keep the film not just engaging, but utterly riveting for its entire duration"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
There Was a Father (1942)
|
"a poignant, even tragic portrait of the nature of sacrifice"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) (Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment) (2009)
|
"takes the art of photography with the utmost seriousness, and each shot in the film is testament to the powers of composition and lighting"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Despicable Me (2010)
|
"delivered with an energetic mix of dark humor and emotional genuineness"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Predators (2010)
|
"to say that it is the best of the Predator sequels is little more than faint praise"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Brooklyn's Finest (2010)
|
"For all its powerful moments (of which there are many), it feels too calculated and pre-programmed in its downward spiral."
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
|
"brings a smoother, more confident style and tone that balances the romance and the violence in a way that gives the film more weight."
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 2.5/4
|
Eyeborgs (2010)
|
"has an unfortunately schlockly, straight-to-video title that undercuts what is otherwise a smart cautionary tale built on an all-too-believable premise"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Role Models (2008)
|
"Role Models plays loose and easy, but not to the point of being lazy."
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2/4
|
The Last Airbender (2010)
|
"a vast and largely joyless--at times leaden--epic"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) (2009)
|
"Haneke knows how violence seeps into every recess of our lives, and he evokes it not to titillate, but to engage and challenge"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Knight & Day (2010)
|
"delivers plenty of bang, but with a much-appreciated wink"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 1/4
|
Grown Ups (2010)
|
"even the most die-hard of Happy Madison followers will have a hard time managing more than a few chuckles while slogging through this sloppy ode to middle-age male-dom"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
Toy Story 3 (2010)
|
"Like all the best sequels, Toy Story 3 builds upon and deepens the characters, relationships, and themes that fueled the previous entries in the series"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Don McKay (2010)
|
"Goldberger makes the most of his eclectic, multi-Oscar-nominated cast to make up for the lack of scope and visual panache, not to mention the sometimes strained machinations of his plot"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 4/4
|
Il deserto rosso (Red Desert) (1964)
|
"a multi-layered treasure that offers much, but never easily"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
The Karate Kid (2010)
|
"as warm and affirming as its predecessor, and the manner in which it stakes its own claim to the material is just enough to make it feel like something more than just opportunism"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Night Train to Munich (Gestapo) (1940)
|
"testament to the skillful manner in which British filmmakers were able to produce entertaining yarns during increasingly dark times"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 2.5/4
|
She's Out of My League (2010)
|
"manages to strike a workable balance between the crass and the poignant, even if it sells some of its characters a bit short"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3/4
|
Mystery Train (1989)
|
"Jarmusch finds visual poetry in the run-down, the ignored, and the decrepit, especially via the use of neon colors cutting into the darkness and the gray"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2/4
|
The A-Team (2010)
|
"a dud, a movie that tears up the screen trying to please you but ends up just rattling your gray matter and then disappearing from memory"
|
James Kendrick
|
Fresh 3.5/4
|
Splice (2010)
|
"a film of ideas, one that demands attention and thought"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2/4
|
Killers (2010)
|
"little more than a potentially good idea badly executed"
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2.5/4
|
Get Him to the Greek (2010)
|
|
James Kendrick
|
Splat 2/4
|
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
|
"its lack of even one truly memorable moment is testament to its prefabricated lack of inspiration"
|
James Kendrick
|