REMEMBER ME
View Film Profile
|
 Reviews for Remember Me have largely found the film unable to live up to its potential. The film centers on the romance between a brooding Tyler (Robert Pattinson) and Ally (Emilie De Ravin), two people who have faced personal tragedy but for Variety's Todd McCarthy "...the romance never feels intense or deep enough to fully serve this purpose." Most criticisms revolve around Will Fetter's script with the Village Voice's Nick Pinkerton commenting that, "Fetters also has a knack for announcing his own clichés, which is what passes for self-awareness." The film is Pattinson's first major theatrical release since the blockbuster series but for Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, Pattinson's strong acting cannot overcome the weakness of the film, "Pattinson — a good actor, though the movie can't quit enshrining his brooding skills — struggles to find a through-line to this generalized notion of F. Scott Fitzgerald/J.D. Salinger raw youth." There are several dissenters including The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt and famed critic Roger Ebert but for the most part critics found the film to be disappointing. |
|
GREEN ZONE
View Film Profile
|
 Critics have had mixed feelings about Paul Greengrass' (Bourne Supremacy, United 93) latest film Green Zone starring Matt Damon. Inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran's nonfiction account Imperial Life in the Emerald City, the fictionalized movie depicts Army chief warrant officer Roy Miller (Damon) who is given the task to find the infamous weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq war. Most of the positive assessments of this film rest on Damon's acting, with J. Hoberman of Village Voice stating, "Greengrass's pyrotechnics aside, Green Zone works mainly because of the hardworking, always-believable Damon." However, a great deal of criticism has centered on the film's script which The New York Observer's Rex Reed calls a "follow-the-dots screenplay [which] turns everyone into such war-scarred clichés." To Anthony Lane of New Yorker magazine, it is Greengrass' characteristic thriller tone that is part of the problem as it "gave better value in the Bourne films, which, for all their low moods, were fired by basic fantasy, whereas the excitements of Green Zone sit uneasily with its examination of the real and recent past." |
|
BROOKLYN'S FINEST
View Film Profile
|
 Reviews for Antoine Fuqua's latest cop thriller Brooklyn's Finest have been largely critical. The film tells the story of three burned out Brooklyn cops played by Richard Gere, Ethan Hawkes and Don Cheadle. Many negative reviews focused on the Michael c. Martin's script which seems heavily bogged with familiarity as Robert Wilonsky's review in Village Voice notes, "Filled with every cop-movie convention since the invention of gunpowder and curse words, Brooklyn's Finest is three movies in one, all of which you've seen before." Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter goes on to explain, "Hugely implausible and relentlessly downbeat cop thriller lacks any sense of authenticity." Referring to the jam-packed ending, Variety's John Anderson remarks," The only thing missing is a point, which Fuqua circles for two hours without landing." Overall, critics were hoping for much more out of a director who depicted similar themes in Training Day, with much greater success. |
|
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
View Film Profile
|
 Response to Tim Burton's latest film Alice in Wonderland have been favorable if not universally positive. The heavily anticipated movie depicts a grown Alice (Mia Wasikowska) who returns to the fantasy world where she meets familiar characters played by Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham-Carter. Critics seem to have focused on the aesthetic appeal of Alice with Pete Hammond of Boxoffice Magazine calling it "visually stunning." However, for some this is not enough to make for a satisfying film, with Variety's Todd McCarthy stating "...it's a Disney film illustrated by Burton, rather than a Burton film that happens to be released by Disney." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter, however, has a different perspective on the film stating, "Armed with a smartly reshaped but still reverential script by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King), Burton has delivered a subversively witty, brilliantly cast, whimsically appointed dazzler that also manages to hit all the emotionally satisfying marks." |
|
COP OUT
by Lydia Ianni
View Film Profile
|
 Reaction to Kevin Smith's latest comedy Cop Out have been far from positive. The flick stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as a pair of New York cops, drawing heavily from mis-matched buddy comedies of the 1980s and 1990s, though The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips complains that while Cop Out uses dialogue from "everything from Heat to RoboCop... not once is it funny." The film marks the first time that Clerks director Kevin Smith has directed a feature he didn't write. For many critics, this is the precisely problem. Like many reviewers, Variety's Andrew Barker takes direct aim at the script, "Morgan, [Jason] Lee and bit-partner Adam Brody are all inherently funny, watchable actors, yet none of them find a gag worth selling in Robb and Mark Cullen's script." As Michael Phillips explains, "His [Smith's] directorial personality is not to be found." Roger Ebert echoes many critic's opinion stating, "When the muse visits him, Smith gets inspired and makes fun movies like Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Alas, Cop Out is not one of those movies." |
|
CRAZIES, THE
by Lydia Ianni
View Film Profile
|
 Reviews for The Crazies, a remake of the 1973 George Romero picture of the same name, have largely been favorable, with The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen stating, "This spirited yet faithful George Romero remake has the makings of a certified hit." The movie involves a small town in Iowa where the citizens are turned into zombies through a mysterious virus. Some reviewers, like Variety's Dennis Harvey, found changes from the original welcome, "Eisner and his scenarists (Scott Kosar, Ray Wright) make changes mostly for the better, ramping up the horror factor via tighter focus on the imperiled locals and the requisite hike in gory violence." Though critics have largely found the film praiseworthy, Roger Ebert's review seems to chastise The Crazies while noting its worth as a movie, "The last thing I need is another Jump Out/ Loud Noise/Alarming Chord Movie. Even a well-made one -- like this one, directed by Breck Eisner." |
|
|
 |  |  |
 |
|
 |
Other Current Reviews
|
| SHUTTER ISLAND
|
Though
many
critics
felt
that
Shutter
Island
is
not
up
to
Scorsese's
immense
talent,
they
have
reacted
favorably
to
the
film
on
the
whole.
Shutter
Island
involves
a
traumatized
(more)
|
| GHOST WRITER, THE
|
Reviews
have
been
positive
for
Roman
Polanski's
latest
thriller
The
Ghost
Writer,
though
the
actual
intellectual
depth
of
the
film
is
a
source
of
contention
between
critics.
The
Ghost
(more)
|
| PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
|
Percy
Jackson
&
the
Olympians:
The
Lightning
Thief
may
be
the
best
reviewed
of
the
major
motion
pictures
released
this
weekend,
but
critics
are
far
from
universal
in
praise.
(more)
|
| WOLFMAN, THE
|
Most
critics
have
compared
The
Wolfman
with
the
1941
film
starring
Lon
Chaney
that
it
was
based
on-
but
not
favorably.
The
2010
film
The
Wolfman
stars
Benicio
del
(more)
|
| VALENTINE'S DAY
|
Valentine's
Day,
a
star-studded
romantic
comedy
from
director
Garry
Marshall,
has
many
critics
less
than
impressed.
The
story
involves
multiple
storylines
about
love
over
a
24
hour
period
in
(more)
|
FROM PARIS WITH LOVE
|
Critics
have
not
reacted
well
to
the
John
Travolta
action
flick
From
Paris
with
Love
with
The
New
York
Observer's
Rex
Reed
calling
the
film
"a
good
example
of
(more)
|
| DEAR JOHN
|
Critics
have
been
largely
dismissive
of
the
romantic
Dear
John,
deeming
it
superficial
and
highly
manipulative.
The
film
comes
from
a
book
of
the
same
name
from
bestselling
author
(more)
|
| EDGE OF DARKNESS
|
Reviews
for
Edge
of
Darkness
have
been
mixed,
though
many
critics
have
reacted
favorably
to
Mel
Gibson's
performance.
Gibson
plays
a
cop
who
will
stop
at
nothing
to
find
(more)
|
| WHEN IN ROME
|
Critics
have
not
reacted
well
to
When
in
Rome,
the
romantic
comedy
featuring
Kristin
Bell
and
Josh
Duhamel.
The
story
concerns
a
woman
who
unwittingly
makes
several
men
fall
(more)
|
| EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES
|
Critics
have
not
reacted
favorably
to
Extraordinary
Measures,
a
film
depicting
the
real
life
father
John
Crowley
(Brendan
Fraser)
who
fought
to
save
his
children
from
a
rare
form
(more)
|
| TOOTH FAIRY
|
By
and
large,
film
critics
have
recommended
Tooth
Fairy,
a
comedy
in
which
Dwayne
"The
Rock"
Johnson
plays
Derek
Johnson
a
professional
hockey
player
that
is
forced
to
work
(more)
|
| BOOK OF ELI
|
The
Hughes
brothers'(Menace
II
Society,
From
Hell)
The
Book
of
Eli
is
a
post-apocalyptic
film
involving
a
tacit
man
named
Eli
(Denzel
Washington)
who
along
with
Solara
(Mila
Kunis)
(more)
|
| LAST STATION, THE
|
Critics
have
reacted
favorably
to
The
Last
Station,
a
period
drama
depicting
the
relationship
between
dying
Russian
author
Leo
Tolstoy
(Christopher
Plummer)
and
his
wife
Sofyka
(Helen
Mirren).
Most
(more)
|
|
| |
 |  |  |  | |
|
