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C
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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
(2010)
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Eugene Novikov
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The only thing worse than a movie that resorts to painful cliches is one that resorts to painful cliches that are also wildly inappropriate.
Posted Sep 23, 2010
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C
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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Various actors taking Ledger's place turns out to make more sense than the rest of Parnassus... which starts strongly but soon begins to flail.
Posted Dec 27, 2009
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B+
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Avatar
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Avatar is revolutionary at least in this way: It is the most convincingly realized artificial world ever created from scratch for the screen. It's a movie to luxuriate in.
Posted Dec 18, 2009
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The Road
(2009)
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Maitland McDonagh
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The high-minded antithesis of 2012... The Road is mired in morning-after misery, set in a world where fear of a living hell is more reasonable than hope of heaven.
Posted Nov 25, 2009
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B-
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2012
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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The scenes of destruction composed by Emmerich's team--earthquakes, tsunamis, rains of earth and fire--have an enveloping majesty; they transcend mere expensive photorealism and cross over into art.
Posted Nov 13, 2009
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C-
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The Fourth Kind
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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What I want is to commission a remake of The Fourth Kind, this time by someone who is more concerned with storytelling than with showing off.
Posted Nov 05, 2009
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Gamer
(2009)
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Maitland McDonagh
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A streak of genius runs through this dystopian vision of a world in where VR games are played with real people ... it touches some exposed nerves before retreating into clichs.
Posted Nov 03, 2009
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9
(2009)
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Maitland McDonagh
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A flat-out gorgeous vision of a devastated world whose script is as thin and formulaic as the imagery is rich and original.
Posted Nov 03, 2009
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The House of the Devil
(2009)
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Maitland McDonagh
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If you love a nerve-stretching build up to a seriously creepy payoff, you'll want to see for yourself.
Posted Nov 02, 2009
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A-
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Where the Wild Things Are
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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It's a coming-of-age fairy tale, delivered with remarkable subtlety, patience, and confidence in its young audience.
Posted Oct 16, 2009
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B-
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Surrogates
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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If the movie gets a bit hokey on the surface, its haunting undercurrents never let up.
Posted Sep 25, 2009
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C+
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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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The definition of cinematic empty calories. It's like stuffing your face with cotton candy in lieu of dinner.
Posted Aug 07, 2009
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B+
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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That Half-Blood Prince stays true to Rowling's downbeat, morose vision is a testament to the integrity of this franchise and the fortitude of its fans. The movie is quiet, graceful and restrained.
Posted Jul 14, 2009
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F
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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Critics blithely refer to movies as 'painful' all the time, but this is the real deal.
Posted Jun 23, 2009
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A-
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Moon
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Like a lot of great scifi, it tells a small, self-contained story while hinting at something far larger and more troubling... It's one of the best movies of the year.
Posted Jun 12, 2009
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C
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Terminator Salvation
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Big, handsome, loud and dumb -- and it dishonors everything that preceded it.
Posted May 22, 2009
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D+
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Angels & Demons
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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May be a marginal improvement on its predecessor and source material, but at a brain-stabbing 140 minutes, it still reaches levels of tedium that are hard to conceptualize.
Posted May 15, 2009
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B+
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Star Trek
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Here is the highest compliment Abrams and company could have hoped for: They leave Star Trek better than they found it.
Posted May 07, 2009
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B-
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Eminently disposable, but that's almost the point: Wolverine remembers the days when action flicks were action flicks, and we were content with visceral thrills and basic storytelling competence.
Posted May 01, 2009
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C-
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Mutant Chronicles
(2008)
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Eugene Novikov
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The reason most movies don't include aliens, zombies, weird mysticism and a lot of swordfighting is that each of those elements... takes time to explore and nurture into something compelling.
Posted Apr 24, 2009
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4/5
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State of Play
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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State of Play mixes murders and mergers, foot-chases and fact-checking, gunshots and cutting cynicism; it's the rare suspense film with style, muscle and brains.
Posted Apr 17, 2009
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B-
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Alien Trespass
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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An affectionate, almost reverent homage to the science fiction of the 1950s: Not a lampoon so much as a faithful recreation.
Posted Apr 03, 2009
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B-
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Monsters vs. Aliens
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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As often happens, the best parts are the smallest -- throwaway moments shine (I particularly enjoyed the self-doubting self-destruct mechanism on the alien ship) while the big set pieces are quickly forgotten.
Posted Mar 27, 2009
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4/5
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Duplicity
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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A stylish, sexy, con-artist caper that finds romance in risk and vice-versa, Duplicity ... is a movie so dashing and fun, you may not notice how smart it is until you replay it in your head a few times.
Posted Mar 20, 2009
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3.5/5
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The Last House on the Left
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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Brutal, bloody, and bleak, The Last House on the Left is a rarity in an age of tepid remakes.
Posted Mar 12, 2009
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D
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Race to Witch Mountain
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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The sort of earnest, haphazardly constructed kidflick that offers nothing for the over-12 set and not much for little ones who've seen a few real movies in their young lives.
Posted Mar 12, 2009
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C
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Watchmen
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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The movie was reportedly trimmed from four hours to two hours and forty minutes, and that turns out to simply not be enough time. All the material is here, but its scope and power are lost.
Posted Mar 05, 2009
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D+
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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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I much prefer the flamboyant badness of the '94 flick to the attractive, even-keeled mediocrity of this one. Jean-Claude Van Damme's stock just rose considerably.
Posted Feb 27, 2009
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4/5
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Two Lovers
(2008)
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James Rocchi
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As we head into a spring of superheroes, special effects, and toy tie-ins, Two Lovers might be one of your last best chances to see real human beings on the big screen as they try to wrap their heads and hearts around the hopes and hurts of real life.
Posted Feb 19, 2009
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3/5
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The International
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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The International plays less like a modern action thriller and more like a conspiracy-minded '70s flick -- think Three Days of the Condor or The Parallax View.
Posted Feb 13, 2009
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3/5
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He's Just Not That Into You
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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Plenty of people are going to hate He's Just Not That Into You, but that sentiment is often the best indicator that a movie is doing something interesting.
Posted Feb 06, 2009
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B
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Coraline
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Deeply frightening, telling a story that could bore into your kids' nightmares if you're not careful.
Posted Feb 05, 2009
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B-
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Push
(2009)
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Eugene Novikov
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Push is supremely elegant, even beautiful; you can get lost in the visuals even as the narrative implodes. If ever there were a triumph of style over substance, this is it.
Posted Feb 05, 2009
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C-
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Outlander
(2008)
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Eugene Novikov
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For a movie about aliens and Vikings, Outlander turns out to be awfully rough going.
Posted Jan 22, 2009
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3/5
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Notorious
(2009)
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James Rocchi
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Notorious doesn't quite convey how hip-hop felt in the '90s ... (but) it manages to put a few new scratches and stutters into the beats and breaks of the conventional pop-star movie.
Posted Jan 15, 2009
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