|
4/4
|
86%
|
The Tree of Life (2011) |
"
Aspires to be as mysterious and powerful -- and as attuned to the miraculous -- as the Episcopal service attended by its central family, or the baby's birth that functions as its core event. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 24, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
88%
|
Certified Copy (Copie Conforme) (2011) |
"
It may be merely a copy of life, but in its power, mystery, confusion and emotional resonance, 'it leads us to the original.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 10, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Ball of Fire (1941) |
"
'I've gone goofy, completely goofy,' Cooper says, as the chaos of slang overwhelms his orderly vocabulary: 'Bim-buggy, slap-happy.' Watching 'Ball of Fire,' you feel similarly liberated."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 18, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Scarface (1932) |
"
Completely relevant: Citizens complain that access to technologically more efficient guns is partly to blame for the crime wave; they fret over illegal immigrants; they worry that the 'new breed' of criminal is more uncivilized than its predecessor..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 18, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (Not Against the Flesh) (Adventures of David Gray) (Castle of Doom (1932) |
"
An often gauzy-gray movie that makes as much use of white as of the traditional horror-movie black, 'Vampyr' is so beautiful to look at, it's hypnotic."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 17, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
——
|
Heroes for Sale (1933) |
"
An astonishment: a no-punches-pulled social history of America from World War I to 1933 that covers trench warfare, drug addiction, Communism, automation, labor riots, false imprisonment, xenophobia, bread lines and more."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 17, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
Wild Boys of the Road (Dangerous Days) (1933) |
"
The film -- as propulsive as a locomotive -- is sympathetic to the plight of the young, the unemployed, the female and the ethnic (the 'boys republic' is open to black and Jewish youngsters). "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 17, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Another Year (2010) |
"
Non-fans might describe Mary as a victim of Leigh's cruelty, but she's also a beneficiary of the filmmaker's generosity: She's as fully realized a character as you are likely to see in any movie this year."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 4, 2011
|
|
4/4
|
88%
|
Black Swan (2010) |
"
Natalie Portman may not be exactly a spring chicken, but the beautiful performer is throttled, plucked and skewered in this elegant and grotesque tour de force of shocking, passionate and absurd psychodrama..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Dec 17, 2010
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
The Social Network (2010) |
"
'Citizen Kane' for the impatient digital era, with that masterpiece's decades-spanning morality tale of loss, hubris, loneliness and revenge compressed into a few years, and with an ex-girlfriend named Erica instead of a sled named Rosebud..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Oct 4, 2010
|
|
4/4
|
81%
|
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) |
"
For all its videogame references, this -- like Wright's previous films -- is at heart a genre satire, reinventing the John Hughes 1980s teen dramedy for the plugged-in, post-postmodern mashup generation. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 20, 2010
|
|
4/4
|
80%
|
I Am Love (2010) |
"
I'm calling 'I Am Love' the best movie of the year to date; a companion viewer called it 'repulsive'... Does one opinion invalidate the other? The movie is complex enough to invite such questions, and rich enough to resist answers."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 2, 2010
|
|
4/4
|
83%
|
Avatar (2009) |
"
Works as both a socially conscious Western update and as a true SF film, revealing the influences of such fine genre writers as Philip Jose Farmer, Larry Niven and especially Edgar Rice Burroughs (the 'John Carter of Mars' series)."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Dec 28, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
82%
|
Bright Star (2009) |
"
The most perfect film of the year."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Dec 18, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) |
"
A celebration of 'wild animals with true natures and beautiful talents.' (In other words, artists and children?)"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Dec 1, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
78%
|
Humpday (2009) |
"
Mumblecore meets screwball in 'Humpday,' an audacious character comedy that squeezes so much humor and pertinence out of its low budget and high concept that even the audience feels the pinch."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Sep 11, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
88%
|
Inglourious Basterds (2009) |
"
The cameo by Rod Taylor and the references to Yvette Mimieux (the stars of 'The Time Machine') are the tip-offs: This is Tarantino's celebration of cinema as time machine -- a device that can erase the years and, on an imaginative level, change the past."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 28, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo) (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) (2009) |
"
The sight of the giddy and newly bipedal Ponyo racing atop the waves of a magically roiling flood may be the happiest and most memorable image of the movie year."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 21, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
97%
|
The Hurt Locker (2009) |
"
A thoughtful nail-biter that inspires us to appreciate the precariousness and relative brevity of existence."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jul 31, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
Up (2009) |
"
Has something of the craziness of the classic Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comic-book stories created by Carl Barks in the 1940s and '50s..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 1, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
Sugar (2008) |
"
Sugar is a completely convincing character who inhabits what appears to be an utterly authentic world."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 1, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) (2008) |
"
Although the film focuses on a particular conflict, it paints war in general as an absurd and primitive exercise that seems as inexplicable to its perpetrators as to its victims."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 6, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
85%
|
Wendy and Lucy (2008) |
"
I can't think of a more generous or humane filmmaker than Kelly Reichardt."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 20, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
98%
|
Let the Right One In (2008) |
"
The director approaches this potentially sensationalistic material the way a cat creeps up on a live meal: with quiet patience and cunning."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 13, 2009
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) |
"
Even if you're not as moved as you think you ought to be by the fairytale 'rags to rajah' storyline, you're likely to be awed by the film's visual and sonic density..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Dec 19, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) |
"
Poppy is not a contradiction of but an artistic first cousin to Leigh's previous heroine, Vera Drake; both are open, fearless, unselfish and compassionate women, trying to craft the best life possible out of the potentially dreary material of existence."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Nov 21, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
83%
|
Tropic Thunder (2008) |
"
To peg 'Tropic Thunder' as a satire of moviemaking is to limit its anarchic, outlandish appeal. It's like saying 'South Park' is about an elementary school."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 14, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
The Dark Knight (2008) |
"
A drama about hard moral choices, 'The Dark Knight' is 'The Godfather' of superhero movies -- or, at least, 'The Departed.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jul 18, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
WALL-E (2008) |
"
Pixar's boldness has advanced with its achievements in special effects. The opening act of 'WALL-E' is as melancholy as the Ray Bradbury short story, 'There Will Come Soft Rains'..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 27, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
There Will Be Blood (2007) |
"
Those who believe America is trading blood for oil will find agreement in the film's very title, as well as in the action of prospecting and drilling, in which heavy stakes are driven into the Earth's heart to loose dark gushers..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 21, 2008
|
|
4/4
|
94%
|
In the Shadow of the Moon (2007) |
"
Fills you with pride for your country and your species..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Sep 28, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
96%
|
Ratatouille (2007) |
"
Brad Bird makes cartoons, yet I don't think there's a filmmaker anywhere with more respect for his audience."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 29, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
97%
|
Killer of Sheep: The Charles Burnett Collection (2007) |
"
A time capsule of 1970s style and attitude that remains utterly timeless in its respect for its characters and its recognition of the despair, passion, boredom, playfulness and cruelty nurtured not just by life in the ghetto but by life itself."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 19, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
95%
|
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) (2006) |
"
Unlike many other popular fantasists, del Toro is brave and honest enough to acknowledge that if fantasy is a refuge, it's not necessarily a shield."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 29, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
87%
|
The Last King of Scotland (2006) |
"
Compositions are dense with beautiful and brutal images; and when the camera wobbles and the cuts become frequent, the freneticism is justified by the increased fracturing of Amin's sanity and Garrigan's security."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 29, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) |
"
Whatever profound differences distinguish the current conflict from World War II, a similarity is that the enemy (on every side) is defined by the proponents of war as the 'other.' Part of Eastwood's achievement is to erase this otherness."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 29, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
Children of Men (2006) |
"
Utterly convincing in the density of its street-level detail and occasionally awe-inspiring in the bravado of its complicated action sequences..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 5, 2007
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) |
"
To paraphrase a great possum: We have met the racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic crazy Kazakh, and he is us."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Nov 6, 2006
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
The Departed (2006) |
"
The rats are dead; long live the rats."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Oct 6, 2006
|
|
4/4
|
90%
|
Half Nelson (2006) |
"
The teacher treats his underprivileged students with good-humored respect; what's remarkable is that the filmmakers treat their characters -- and the audience -- with a similar lack of condescension."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Sep 22, 2006
|
|
4/4
|
87%
|
The Proposition (2005) |
"
As pitiless an Aussie Western as one might expect from the pen of self-consciously gloomy songwriter Nick Cave, who titled one defining album 'Murder Ballads.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jun 9, 2006
|
|
4/4
|
89%
|
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006) |
"
A documentary with all the suspense, comedy, pathos and surprise of a great narrative film..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted May 26, 2006
|
|
'4/4'
|
87%
|
A History of Violence (2005) |
"
A reminder that conventional action filmmakers are as untrustworthy as politicians who won't allow citizens to see the body bags produced by a war. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Sep 30, 2005
|
|
'4/4'
|
93%
|
Grizzly Man (2005) |
"
Works on multiple levels -- all riveting."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Aug 26, 2005
|
|
'4/4'
|
74%
|
War of the Worlds (2005) |
"
It may be no coincidence the president's poll numbers and the movie industry's ticket sales are both in a slump: Doom-and-gloom scenarios are playing out offscreen and on..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jul 1, 2005
|
|
'4/4'
|
93%
|
Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai) (2004) |
"
Profoundly metaphorical and almost unbearably heart-wrenching in its recognition of the essential aloneness of life..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted May 27, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
90%
|
Kung Fu Hustle (2005) |
"
The humor may be lowbrow, but the Looney Tunes timing is impeccable."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 22, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Vera Drake (2004) |
"
Vera seems a figure 'stamped from the dough of human suffering with a heart-shaped cookie knife,' to appropriate Nathanael West's phrase."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 3, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Million Dollar Baby (2004) |
"
After Freeman refers to a place that exists "somewhere between nowhere and goodbye," we realize he's identified the dark space inhabited by all the film's characters."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 3, 2005
|
|
4/4
|
91%
|
The Corporation (2004) |
"
A must-see that exposes the increasing interconnection of business, politics and 'every living system of Earth'..."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Oct 25, 2004
|
36%
41%
7%
22%
16%
