movie review

Stories 621 - 640 | << Prev   Next >>

Race-for-Cure Pic Regrettably Ordinary

 Race-for-Cure Pic 
 Regrettably Ordinary 

'extraordinary measures' REVIEW
Jan 22, 2010 8:47 AM CST

Race-for-Cure Pic Regrettably Ordinary

Despite Harrison Ford and Brendon Fraser, it's small-screen fare

(Newser) - Medical drama Extraordinary Measures is well-intentioned and reasonably compelling, say critics, but most of them agree that it's TV-movie rather than big-screen fare.
  • The first release from CBS films doesn't go beyond its "genotype as a disease-of-the-week telepic," writes Rob Nelson at Variety , "despite the star power
...

Mirren, Plumber Dazzle as Tolstoy and the Mrs.
 Mirren, Plumber Dazzle 
 as Tolstoy and the Mrs. 
Movie Review: the last station
Jan 15, 2010 11:18 AM CST

Mirren, Plumber Dazzle as Tolstoy and the Mrs.

Biopic The Last Station is 'lusty, roaring' tour-de-force

(Newser) - Critics are hopping aboard at The Last Station, a lively drama about Leo Tolstoy's final days starring Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren. Here’s what they’re saying:
  • “The arrival of a movie with as much intelligence and artistry as The Last Station should also be accompanied by the
...

Jackie Chan Can't Save Spy Next Door
 Jackie Chan Can't 
 Save Spy Next Door 
MOVIE REVIEWS
Jan 15, 2010 8:33 AM CST

Jackie Chan Can't Save Spy Next Door

Not even an action star can save this flick

(Newser) - An ex-spy corralling a crew of unruly munchkins seems like a recipe for PG fun, especially when that spy is Jackie Chan. But critics agree—The Spy Next Door just ain't funny.
  • This is True Lies without the striptease or Arab-maiming," writes Michael Phillips for the Chicago Tribune. "
...

Book of Eli : Apocalypse, Sarah Palin Style
 Book of Eli: 
 Apocalypse, 
 Sarah Palin Style 
MOVIE REVIEW
Jan 15, 2010 6:10 AM CST

Book of Eli: Apocalypse, Sarah Palin Style

Denzel Washington impressive in post-apocalyptic road fable

(Newser) - The Book of Eli is almost certainly the best post-apocalypic Christian action movie you'll see this year, say critics, although many were put off by the preaching.
  • The directors scored with the casting—Denzel Washington as a grizzled gunslinger protecting the world's last Bible—the fight scenes and the explosions,
...

Wonderful World ? No, Terrible
 Wonderful World? No, Terrible 
Movie Review
Jan 8, 2010 2:39 PM CST

Wonderful World? No, Terrible

Broderick mopes about in sentimental, cliched dramedy

(Newser) - Critics are not sold on Wonderful World, a creaky indie starring Matthew Broderick as a misanthropic children’s folksinger. Here’s what the critics are saying:
  • World is “a checklist-indie that offers up clichés with gusto,” even flirting with Magical Negro stereotypes, writes Nick Schager of Slant
...

Daybreakers Dim, But It's No Twilight
 Daybreakers 
 Dim, But It's 
 No Twilight 
MOVIE REVIEW
Jan 8, 2010 12:05 PM CST

Daybreakers Dim, But It's No Twilight

It either breaks the vamp-flick mold, or is another sorry entry

(Newser) - Critics agree that Daybreakers is visually inventive, but the B-movie charms of this vampire/oil allegory don't snare everyone. Some opinions:
  • Willem Dafoe "and his Southern drawl goose things up," Joe Neumaier writes for the New York Daily News , and Ethan Hawke "has a greasy romanticism." But
...

Youth In Revolt Funny, Familiar
 Youth In Revolt Funny, Familiar 
Movie Review
Jan 8, 2010 10:15 AM CST

Youth In Revolt Funny, Familiar

If you're not sick of Michael Cera, you'll probably like it

(Newser) - Youth in Revolt was shot in early 2008, which, Ty Burr of the Boston Globe notes, was “before some of us started getting tired of watching Michael Cera play Michael Cera.” If you aren’t tired of Cera’s adorably dorky shtick, you’ll find Youth a sharp...

Amy Adams Can't Save Leap Year
 Amy Adams 
 Can't Save 
 Leap Year 
MOVIE REVIEW
Jan 8, 2010 8:11 AM CST

Amy Adams Can't Save Leap Year

Irish setting one of few pluses about predictable rom-com

(Newser) - The Irish scenery is charming in the new romantic comedy Leap Year, but most critics run out nice things to say about the movie beyond that.
  • Amy Adams does her best as an American seeking to exploit an Irish tradition about women proposing once every 4 years, but her considerable
...

Nine Is Nowhere Near a 10
 Nine Is Nowhere Near a 10 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 25, 2009 2:13 PM CST

Nine Is Nowhere Near a 10

But if you like the style and the stars, then just eat the ice cream

(Newser) - Critics agree: Nine is no 8½. Some enjoy a star-studded song-and-dance, but most don't like the song part, and they find the stars misused at best. Some opinions:
  • "Step right up, pay $10, and you can see eight superstars, six of whom have won Oscars, singing songs in sparkly
...

It's Complicated Really a Simple Rom-Com
 It's Complicated 
 Really a Simple Rom-Com 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 25, 2009 11:53 AM CST

It's Complicated Really a Simple Rom-Com

It may not be complicated, but Alec Baldwin's performance shines

(Newser) - Some critics see Nancy Meyers' latest as somewhat more reasoned and subtle than her usual fare. But It's Complicated is still a formulaic flick—with a scene-stealing turn by Alec Baldwin. A few takes:
  • The flick " isn't nearly complicated enough, but at least Meyers has dropped something a bit
...

Downey's Holmes Fun, If Not Faithful
 Downey's Holmes 
 Fun, If Not Faithful 
Movie Review
Dec 25, 2009 9:12 AM CST

Downey's Holmes Fun, If Not Faithful

Critics are mixed on action-hero update of hallowed detective

(Newser) - Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie’s action-hero take on Sherlock Holmes will have purists scrambling for a calming pipe, but its target audience won’t be disappointed. Here’s what the critics are saying:
  • “The whole movie, in its popcorn way, is bumptiously extravagant,” writes Owen Gleiberman
...

Hear About the Morgans? Keep It to Yourself
 Hear About the Morgans? 
 Keep It to Yourself 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 18, 2009 12:16 PM CST

Hear About the Morgans? Keep It to Yourself

Sam Elliott's mustache steals the show. No, really.

(Newser) - The highlight of Did You Hear About the Morgans? for most critics is their own joke that Sam Elliott's mustache deserves separate billing. Some reactions:
  • The film is so "lumpish and crude" that Colin Covert saves most of his ire for a geographical offense. "The landscape around Yellowstone,
...

Blunt Burnishes Lackluster Young Victoria
 Blunt Burnishes 
 Lackluster Young Victoria 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 18, 2009 11:43 AM CST

Blunt Burnishes Lackluster Young Victoria

Actress carries a film that does not depart from genre conventions

(Newser) - Whether they find the film delightful costumed fluff or a dreary museum piece, most critics agree Emily Blunt is lovely as The Young Victoria. Some takes:
  • "Winningly played" by Blunt, Keith Phipps writes for the Onion AV Club , Victoria is "a bright, vivacious, willful, and sometimes rash monarch-in-the-making,
...

Jeff Bridges Makes Crazy Heart Sing
 Jeff Bridges Makes 
 Crazy Heart Sing 

Movie Review
Dec 18, 2009 9:48 AM CST

Jeff Bridges Makes Crazy Heart Sing

Career-topping performance should catch Oscar's attention

(Newser) - Jeff Bridges is already earning Oscar buzz for his turn as a hard-luck country singer in Crazy Heart. And the critics think it’s all deserved:
  • Bad Blake’s a “juicy, career-crowning role, and Bridges plays the hell out of it,” writes Peter Travers of Rolling Stone . The
...

Avatar Amazes and Awes
 Avatar Amazes and Awes 
MOVIE REVIEWs
Dec 18, 2009 7:09 AM CST

Avatar Amazes and Awes

Cameron's comeback 'the most vivid fantasy world seen on screen'

(Newser) - James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar has been hailed as the future of filmmaking and the stunning fantasy world he has created more than lives up to the hype, say impressed critics.
  • "Avatar delivers," writes Steven Rea at the Philadelphia Inquirer . "Combining beyond-state-of-the-art moviemaking with a tried-and-true storyline
...

Invictus Does Mandela Justice
 Invictus Does Mandela Justice 
movie review
Dec 11, 2009 11:32 AM CST

Invictus Does Mandela Justice

Morgan Freeman is superb in the main role

(Newser) - Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela tale, Invictus, wins mostly solid reviews, and everybody loves Morgan Freeman in the main role:
  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone : " Freeman seems born to play Mandela, and he never delivers a false note." Eastwood "shames the usual Hollywood showboating" and makes a "film
...

Lovely Bones Hits and Misses
 Lovely Bones Hits and Misses 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 11, 2009 6:52 AM CST

Lovely Bones Hits and Misses

Peter Jackson's adaptation meets mixed reviews

(Newser) - Peter Jackson's crafts a fantastic vision of the afterlife in The Lovely Bones, say critics, but some feel it came at the expense of the human side of the story of a murdered teen, adapted from the book by Alice Sebold.
  • "By turns warmly sentimental, serial-killer sinister, and science-fiction
...

Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort
 Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort 
MOVIE REVIEW
Dec 4, 2009 2:52 PM CST

Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort

Filming slain writer's script a fine sentiment, poorly executed

(Newser) - When Waitress writer-director Adrienne Shelly was murdered, in 2006, she left behind the script for Serious Moonlight. Critics speculate that she might have made it work, but that hasn't happened:
  • "A wife duct-tapes her husband to a chair and tells him that she will make him fall in love
...

Brothers Has Strong Acting, Weak Heart
 Brothers Has Strong 
 Acting, Weak Heart 
movie review
Dec 4, 2009 12:20 PM CST

Brothers Has Strong Acting, Weak Heart

Critics wonder: Why did Jim Sheridan need to do this remake?

(Newser) - Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver solid performances in Jim Sheridan's war movie Brothers, but the film doesn't measure up to the 2004 Danish original, say critics:
  • Peter Howell, Toronto Star : "It's still a film worth seeing, if only for the performances, but it seems to be
...

Everybody's Fine ? No, Everybody's Sappy
 Everybody's Fine? 
 No, Everybody's Sappy 
Movie Review
Dec 4, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Everybody's Fine? No, Everybody's Sappy

De Niro the best part about predictable holiday treacle

(Newser) - Critics are divided on Everybody’s Fine: Some think the family drama is okay because of Robert De Niro, and others think it’s awful despite him. What they’re saying:
  • It’s “a thoroughly fake movie that is about, of all things, the need for truthfulness,” writes
...

Stories 621 - 640 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser