Latest Theatrical Reviews

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Inglourious Basterds (2009)

A whole lot of movie, but it’s also technically mature filmmaking to a thematically juvenile end.
Lorna's Silence (2009)

The Dardenne brothers have seemed infallible, but their signature style begins to show strain in Lorna’s Silence.
Adam (2009)

An admirable dramatic investigation into life with Asperger's and a story with the intelligence not to insult ours.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Very nearly everything that's wrong with Hollywood, but darn if it won't give an action-hungry audience its money's worth. It's ridiculous, it's stoopid, and it puts its planes in the air like it just don't care.
The Cove (2009)

Informative, exciting, and surprisingly emotional...its goal is to alert the world to the abuse and consumption of dolphins.
Julie & Julia (2009)

Together the film's parallel stories do make slightly more than the sum of their ingredients, cooking up undemanding summer fun.
In the Loop (2009)

With a bite that’s going to leave a mark, In the Loop is the year’s best comedy to date.
The Hurt Locker (2009)

With the help of a well-informed screenplay by journalist Mark Boal, Bigelow dispenses with the red-wire/blue-wire lies Hollywood told you and replaces them with a heady brew of documentary realism and action poetry.
The Girl From Monaco (a.k.a. La fille de Monaco) (2009)

The French comedy-drama The Girl from Monaco demonstrates how an excess of liberté and fraternité can be hazardous to the health, especially where there is an absence of egalité.
Tetro (2009)

There’s still much to admire in the visual craft and offbeat cultural sampling Coppola heroically brings to a homogenized cinema, but Tetro rides off the rails.
Public Enemies (2009)

True-crime story or romantic myth-making? This was the question I brought in to Michael Mann's Public Enemies...and, though seemingly an either-or proposition, the question still on my mind when I walked out.
Chéri (2009)

Doesn’t so much get anything wrong; it just fails to go oh so right.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Never in the field of blockbuster movies has so much been spent on so little.
Waltz with Bashir (2008)

The most artful film of the year, Waltz with Bashir works equally well as a potent anti-war film and as a creative examination of the psyche and the nature of memory.
Land of the Lost (2009)

It’s all mildly entertaining in an incredibly stupid, borderline coherent way...But in banishing formula, the film ends up, well, lost.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

With splashy digital effects and punchy stuntwork, the solid T3 slides along enjoyably, but doesn't have the impeccable story and visual design of the previous entry.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Pulls out the stops, setting the gold standard for expensive, explosive summer blockbusters.
Taking Lives (2004)

Willfully stupid and obvious for most of its running time, this serial-killer thriller lulls the audience into one gasp-worthy, rug-pulling moment that, while stupid, isn't exactly obvious.
Star Trek (2009)

It's this Star Trek's greatest stroke of genius to conceive of Kirk and Spock as two rebels looking for a cause...
Every Little Step (2009)

That ultimate vulnerability of putting it all on the line through and for their art...is the beating heart of Bennett's work and Every Little Step's fine return to it.
12 (2009)

Most of all, 12 serves as a reminder of the ultimate responsibility one can take, for a human life. As Arthur Miller might have said, these men deciding the fate of a teenage boy are all his fathers.
Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

The coup de grace comes in the form of Ginormica, a clever metaphor of figurative and literal female empowerment...Plus there’s lots of explosions.
Watchmen (2009)

Any film that depicts a 'superheroic' rapist-brute as a self-styled parody of America's 'true face' can hardly be accused of thematic squeamishness, and any film that sends readers back to the comic for Moore (and Gibbons) has served the public interest.
Two Lovers (2009)

Heartbreakingly explores our romantic delusions, and the tragedy of always wanting more than we can have.
Fanboys (2009)

If you want to hear characters talk to each other in Star Wars dialogue, I've got a couple of trilogies for you.
America the Beautiful (2008)

The film's examination of our beauty-obsessed culture—however familiar—remains unfortunately necessary.
Wendy and Lucy (2008)

America is about to see a sharp upturn in hard-luck stories, which makes Kelly Reichardt’s small-scale drama Wendy and Lucy sadly timely.
New in Town (2009)

The recipe of New in Town isn't secret, and it tastes like pablum to me.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

The hero is named for a disgusting bodily function that's hardly PG material, but the movie itself seems to be aimed at grade schoolers.
Che (2008)

A complex production mounted, with confidence and a scrupulous eye for detail, by one of our great American filmmakers.
Hotel for Dogs (2009)

It's not a TV remake, with pooches playing the parts made famous by James Brolin, Anne Baxter, and Connie Sellecca. Damn.
Saving Marriage (2008)

A portrait of democracy in action with high personal stakes and, as such, a moving emotional experience.
W. (2008)

Equal parts comedy (inevitably only-in-America satire) and Oedipal psycho-drama...[from] the bard of American political cinema.
What Just Happened (2008)

A scathing insider look at Hollywood...De Niro gives one of his most winning performances of recent years...
Flash of Genius (2008)

Unfortunately, the film’s editing creates a confusing chronology and awkward pace, but it’s easy to see why producers saw a satisfying audience experience in Kearns’ moral crusade.
Save Me (2008)

A film that stands the best chance of winning the hearts and minds of those who now embrace the gay 'recovery' movement.
The Lucky Ones (2008)

The annoyance of its Screenwriting 101 script is hard to overcome, but The Lucky Ones just about works in spite of itself, as an actor’s showcase.
Choke (2008)

Incorporates Freudian psychodrama, twisted romance, and national satire while giving redemption the Heimlich maneuver.
Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

It’s too easy to hold the film’s at arm’s length and scoff at Sparks’ cynical repetition of psycho-romance clichés and meteorological metaphors.
What Happens in Vegas (2008)

Another predictable romantic comedy, one that insists that spending time locked into an unhappy marriage doesn't breed contempt, but sows love.

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