Young Adult. All Critics (180) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (143) | Rotten (35) | DVD (8) There has always been something so inward about [Theron;] she can seem detached or deprived. But here it's as if the script and the direction felt bound to heed that loneliness, and let the actress go with her bravery and the depressive sag of her mouth. There is a raw honesty here rare in movies, and it's very funny too - excruciating at times. Young Adult may be the year's most engaging feel-bad movie. There's little about Mavis that makes for feel-good revelry. As good as Theron and Oswalt are, and they're very good, Young Adult doesn't give them enough room to breathe. A low-key, indie-style comedy that plays precariously close to an unfunny sociopathic case study. You sense the teeth-chattering chill almost as deeply as you admire the bravery of a pitch-black performance by Theron that begs nothing but contempt for her scurrilous Mavis Gary.
A cautionary tale? Anthropological rather than aspirational. Go see. The Artist. All Critics (227) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (223) | Rotten (4) | DVD (4) The whole thing is so damn clever and charming, it might just sneak off with Best Picture. It isn't arty or intellectual, though it is artful and ingenious, and it's the rare crowd-pleaser that never feels obvious or pandering. There is literally nothing wrong with it. I don't have a single nit to pick, minor flaw to point out or little bit that annoyed me. It is pure magic from the first frame to the last. You can't fault it as smart entertainment, which eschews parody to make a sincere tribute that also serves as cogent current commentary. The movie ever fully shakes off its air of skillfully executed experiment, but it's spirited and charming nonetheless.
For a movie that is so much about technique, it's surprising how affecting the story is. That the film is so convincing and so engaging despite the lack of dialogue is an unquantifiable triumph. The Artist is a joyous and enchanting film. The Muppets. All Critics (210) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (197) | Rotten (9) | DVD (8) A film bursting at the seams with sheer, unadulterated joy: watch it, and the world seems just that little bit brighter...
It may not entirely work as a movie, but The Muppets shines as a piece of touching pop nostalgia. The purity of the nostalgia turns this franchise film into a love letter to childhood. You can rest easy - if you have previously loved the Muppets, you will likely currently love The Muppets. The chorus of one of the songs declares, 'I've got everything that I need, right in front of me.' [Filmmakers] hew close to the essential innocence informing the Muppets' silliness. What is a Muppet? The Muppets never went away, and "The Muppets" is a celebration of that. The giddiness that Jim Henson & Friends brought to the original Muppets is missing. The muppets are back, just like we remember them, with catchy tunes and meta humor. Marvellous. Everything here just works. Warrants multiple viewings.
The Adventures of Tintin. All Critics (203) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (51) | DVD (4) There are so many variables moving so fast that it's a wonder Spielberg didn't have someone onboard from Princeton's department of Higher Math to help keep track. But his crack team here is enough. It's delirious stuff, often laugh-out-loud funny. The action grows wearisome as it grinds on, and the film becomes a succession of dazzling set pieces devoid of simple feelings.
A frenetic bonbon with an empty center, and a movie made without any perceivable audience outside of filmmakers besotted by their own innovative processes. The Adventures of Tintin comes at you in a whoosh, like a volcano full of creative ideas in full eruption... It hits home for the kid in all of us who wants to bust out and run free. Hergé was the pioneer of an even-handed style of cartooning with solid lines and no shading that became known as ligne claire, but there is a decided lack of clear lines in this erratic movie adaptation of his work.
50/50. All Critics (184) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (172) | Rotten (12) | DVD (5) Add 50/50 to your want to see list. And then make an appointment for your annual physical with your doctor. Still, it's Gordon-Levitt's choices that continue to impress. Sure, he owned one of the most jaw-dropping sequences in last summer's blockbuster Inception. But the actor remains drawn to profoundly human-scale hurts and quiet triumphs. Gordon-Levitt is an agreeably undemonstrative actor who plays well opposite the burbly Rogen. Chances are about 90/10 that you'll enjoy 50/50. Scene by scene, 50/50 can be both amusing and moving, with the tightly wound Gordon-Levitt and the boundaryless Rogen forming an oddly complementary pair. It's a film about cancer, but it never succumbs to the morose trappings of its cinematic cousins ... it's done with such a subtle grace that it's easy to forget your heart is being tugged at by filmmakers.
An honest, earnest and powerful look at a young person's battle with cancer. The Descendants. And, like his other films, it's a blend of humor and sadness, though I think this one might be the least funny, and the most emotionally stirring. It's rather depressing, but it's also quite real, which is what I love and hate about his films, since they can be really hard to watch at times, yet they are films that are must-sees. The story here revolves around Matt King, a disillusioned workaholic lawyer in Hawaii who is forced to re-examine his life after his wife becomes comatose following a boating accident. Even before the accident he already had a lot on his plate: work consumes him, and, even more pressing, he has been wrestling with the decision to sell his family's land which had been handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.
That, and as he puts it, "I was the understudy parent", so his relations with his 10 and 17 year-old daughters isn't exactly wonderful. When the end credits began to roll, I was stunned. Hugo. All Critics (205) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (192) | Rotten (13) | DVD (3) Being a hardcore cinephile (like Scorsese) might add a layer of enjoyment, but it certainly isn't a prerequisite for walking in the door. A sense of wonder, however, is. Scorsese transforms this innocent tale into an ardent love letter to the cinema and a moving plea for film preservation.
It might be curtains for celluloid, but Scorsese, a boyish 69, clearly isn't leaving the stage any time soon. Thematic potency and cinematic virtuosity -- the production was designed by Dante Ferretti and photographed by Robert Richardson -- can't conceal a deadly inertness at the film's core. For all the wizardry on display, Hugo often feels like a film about magic instead of a magical film...
I have seen the future of 3-D moviemaking, and it belongs to Martin Scorsese, unlikely as that may sound. "Hugo" is a magical cinematic experience, and a masterpiece so unlike anything Scorsese has made before. Drive. All Critics (236) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (218) | Rotten (17) | DVD (9) What it had going for it was an uncanny and moving relationship between Gosling and Mulligan. Sure, it's shallow, but it's also slickly compelling, beautifully crafted and so damn shiny. In grabbing our attention, [Refn] diverts it from what matters.
The horror lingers and seeps; the feelings are sponged away. The extreme and escalating violence will prove off-putting to some-frankly, I'm surprised not to have been among them-but for the rest, Drive is a needle-punch of adrenaline to the aorta. In reworking genres without quoting shamelessly, Refn proves himself his own man and a guy quite capable of taking us places we didn't even know we wanted to go.
Drive is pedal-to-the-metal stuff. This is pop art of the highest degree. Hands down the coolest film of 2011, Drive is a stylised genre film where the genre is constantly changing. Delivers the thrilling action goods with craft and distinctive style. Moneyball. All Critics (228) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (215) | Rotten (13) | DVD (3) As an example of smarter-than-average Hollywood fare - and a sly dig at modern sporting politics - 'Moneyball' has all the key bases covered. One of the most soulful of baseball movies -- it confronts the anguish of a very tough game.
The real protagonist of Moneyball, however, is Beane himself, played with great charisma by Brad Pitt. [Pitt] provides ballast and a swaggering humor to a movie that, too often, strives to be The Social Network of baseball movies. Pitt, who has a producing credit, is not the sole reason this tremendous -- yet intimate -- sports tale soars over the fences. The bench is deep. Moneyball turns an unlikely subject interesting, making a professional sport the nexus where past and future collide.
Australia may not exactly be mad for the game, but I suspect - I hope - that the latest film from Bennett Miller (Capote) will inspire a few more people to become immersed in it.