Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap. All Critics (28) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1) There's no faulting the lyrical excellence on display.
These guys are legends for a reason. Rap confirms the art of the form from the inside. Only time can sort out the rest. Essential viewing and a nice companion piece to "Wild Style," "Style Wars" and other key hip-hop documentaries. In his debut as a documentarian, Ice T creates a vibrant portrait of how and why rap came to be. This is a film that does sweat the technique, with at times illuminating and spirited results.
The interviews are often revealing and funny. Despite its relative shortcomings, the film is a must see for anybody like me who worships the golden era of hip-hop where the artists actually had something to say Fantastic hip-hop documentary has profanity, some drug use. It's an insider's celebration of the form, studded with straight-to-camera rhymesmithery from its best practitioners. The film is educative, entertaining, in almost all senses a blast. No. All Critics (116) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (8) | DVD (1) Gripping and suspenseful even though the ending is already known.
The best movie ever made about Chilean plebiscites, No thoroughly deserves its Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. "No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox. "No" is filmmaking of the first order. A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain. A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ... No is an open conversation about the very means by which we understand ourselves and our societies, the way that we internalize advertising and news footage. Larraín shows how idealism and venality sat side by side, how quickly the brutal circumstances in which Pinochet came to power were forgotten and how little seemed to change once he left.
It works as drama. Bullhead. All Critics (68) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (10) | DVD (1) It's one of those films you have to reconstruct in your mind.
Some of the dialogue is overloaded, but the formidable cinematography, by Nicolas Karakatsanis, envelops us in an ever-darkening world. Many terms applied to action movies - muscular, animalistic, testosterone-fueled - are literally true of Bullhead. Despite the unlikely setup, this Oscar-nominated thriller proves that where illegal substances are concerned, one line of trafficking is as deadly as another. Even though the crime story winds up overwhelming the proceedings, it's the characters that make Bullhead so powerful and so unique. [It] has enough strands of story for an epic tale. Roskam hooks us like a master and leads us where he needs to and wants to - on HIS terms and those that the story demands. I Wish. All Critics (68) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (63) | Rotten (4) Every performance works, every character fits, every observation rings true.
What's so remarkable about the happiness the film brings is its simplicity. Like a train, "I Wish" is slow to build momentum, then it carries us away in a wondrous rush. You watch it remembering the days when you should have walked but simply had to run, and when you believed that, if you wished hard enough, your dead pet just might come back again. What a kind and wise movie this is. [The] film is built around performances by two real-life brothers who are as unaffected, spirited and lovable as I can imagine, and one of the pleasures of "I Wish" is simply spending time with them.
Amour. All Critics (191) | Top Critics (51) | Fresh (178) | Rotten (13) | DVD (2) This is realism that enlarges our conception of the term.
Now at the end of the year comes a masterpiece, not just the best of the year, but one of the best ever: Michael Haneke's Amour. Trintignant perfectly captures the resolve that eventually borders on obsession, as the woman he loves gradually, maddeningly, disappears before his eyes, and he does whatever he can to prevent it, though he knows it's impossible. Many viewers will find echoes of their grandparents, parents, or even themselves in these characters. A movie that is utterly worthy of its all-encompassing title. The resulting interplay of ruthless restraint and unavoidable passion, plus the film's refusal to shrink from depicting the inevitable horrors of physical deterioration, is devastating. a profoundly humane and deeply challenging depiction of the emotional and physical ravages of old age Compelling and incredibly heartbreaking... Jiro Dreams of Sushi. All Critics (88) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (1) | DVD (2) The exquisite nigiri slices gleam with freshness, and you do learn about the component parts to the perfect serving of sea eel or gizzard shad.
It's torture to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi -- if you are on an empty stomach. By the time this graceful film is over you understand why Japan has declared the bald, bespectacled Jiro a national treasure. Even if you've never tasted sushi, the man's singleness of purpose will inspire you. Gelb apparently understood that his subject was itself so taking that he wouldn't need filmic embellishments to keep his viewers alert.
Obsessive, we were saying? This documentary strikes a balance between storytelling and food porn that's hard to come by in foodie flicks. Barbara. All Critics (73) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (5) It persuades us early on that its aura of political tension and suspicion, its taciturnity, its very strictness of silent observation as it begins, are fostering an intelligent thriller.
Though the film runs a mere 105 minutes, it weighs on viewers like an eternity. The movie examines the possibility of maintaining one's humanity in a truly oppressive society. Hoss, wearing her blond hair pulled back tight, and wearing an expression of inscrutable melancholy, gives a performance that doesn't feel like a performance at all. The occasional ravings of the patients, ringing off the walls in Petzold's measured quiet, provide an appropriate backdrop to the heroine's need for freedom, yet the movie's politics never trump its humanity. Searching for Sugar Man. All Critics (120) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (110) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1) At 85 minutes, it's a tight, sharp achievement, yet one of the things I love about it is simple: It moves to a relaxed rhythm, in sync with its slightly otherworldly subject.
This story has an uplifting arc that suggests this isn't the last we'll hear of this forgotten hero of pop. The search for a long-lost pop icon has an unexpected payoff. [A] moving, lyrical account ... Director Malik Bendjelloul's engaging, cleverly structured documentary about the legendary folk singer Rodriguez is shaped like a mystery. You watch "Searching for Sugar Man" at first fascinated by the mystery - what happened to Rodriguez?
As a documentary, "Searching for Sugar Man" falls short, but as an enormously satisfying feel-good story it hits the mark.