frankier/processed_multiscale_rt_critics · Datasets at Hugging Face

movie_title string	publisher_name string	critic_name string	review_content string	review_score string	grade_type string	orig_num float32	orig_denom float32	includes_zero bool	label uint8	scale_points uint8	multiplier uint8	group_id uint32
We Were Soldiers	Sacramento News & Review	Jim Lane	... Wallace shows a lazy tendency to rely on the time-tested conventions (which is the polite way of saying 'cliches') of war movies of yore.	3/4	4	3	4	false	4	7	2	2,116
Rocky Balboa	Sacramento News & Review	Jonathan Kiefer	This might be the best Rocky movie since the first Rocky movie. But if that sounds like a rave, just think of all the others.	C	short_letter	null	null	false	3	6	1	2,117
Hamlet	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	Oddly enough it's the picture's visuals -- its mournful, glassy Manhattan high-rises; its limos and Town Cars with their mirrorlike flanks -- that make it feel most like Hamlet.	9/10	10	9	10	false	8	10	1	2,118
All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre)	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	All About My Mother is a movie so intrinsically rich that it doesn't need any metaphors.	9/10	10	9	10	false	8	10	1	2,118
The Beach	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	Lacks imagination and energy.	3/10	10	3	10	false	2	10	1	2,118
Cecil B. Demented	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	[Waters] piles on one wacky notion after another, and somehow they stack without toppling.	9/10	10	9	10	false	8	10	1	2,118
The Perfect Storm	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	The Perfect Storm shook me, and the feeling lingered.	6/10	10	6	10	false	5	10	1	2,118
Sleepy Hollow	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	Danny Elfman's music is haunting and jaggedly elegiac, the perfect underpinning to the movie's look.	9/10	10	9	10	false	8	10	1	2,118
The Virgin Suicides	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	Sofia Coppola's adaptation of The Virgin Suicides ... captures the loveliest visuals and bits of language from Eugenides' book and faithfully, but not slavishly, transfers them to the screen.	9/10	10	9	10	false	8	10	1	2,118
A Perfect Murder	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	...snoozy, slack...	3/5	5	3	5	false	2	5	1	2,119
Conspiracy Theory	Salon.com	Charles Taylor	...listening to Gibson's Jerry try to communicate what he's been through isn't suspenseful; it's exhausting.	2/5	5	2	5	false	1	5	1	2,119
The Edge	Salon.com	Gary Kamiya	...a solid man-against-nature tale...	4/5	5	4	5	false	3	5	1	2,119
Happy, Texas	Salon.com	Mary Elizabeth Williams	...if the world is not exactly aching from a lack of fish-out-of-water criminal capers, Happy, Texas nevertheless pleasingly proves that even a shtick we've seen before can charm when it's done well.	4/5	5	4	5	false	3	5	1	2,119
The Horse Whisperer	Salon.com	Stephanie Zacharek	Redford seems to have fooled himself into thinking the story of The Horse Whisperer runs much deeper than it does.	2/5	5	2	5	false	1	5	1	2,119
Small Soldiers	Salon.com	Scott Rosenberg	Fortunately, it's possible to ignore the morals entirely and simply enjoy the filmmakers' skill at creating carefully contained mayhem in a microcosm.	4/5	5	4	5	false	3	5	1	2,119
Wild Things	Salon.com	Michelle Goldberg	Sure it's an exploitation movie, but this twisted Technicolor orgy is also a thriller in the original sense of that word.	4/5	5	4	5	false	3	5	1	2,119
The A-Team	Salon.com	Andrew O'Hehir	The A-Team is reasonably good fun. If you're a 12-year-old boy riding an intense Cherry Pepsi buzz and totally devoted to destroying some brain cells, that is.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,120
Best Worst Movie	Salon.com	Sam Adams	You might assume "Troll 2" aficionados are sarcasm-drenched hipsters, but "Best Worst Movie" argues that their appreciation is far less convoluted.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,120
Jackass 3	Salon.com	Sam Adams	For the most part, the dumber the stunt, the funnier it is.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,120
MacGruber	Salon.com	Sam Adams	The bibs and bobs are all in place, but the life-saving device never quite works as planned.	C+	long_letter	null	null	false	11	18	1	2,120
Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot)	Salon.com	Sam Adams	There are sections of "Micmacs" that express the joy of a certain kind of moviemaking so vividly you can't help bursting into a grin. But the movie leaves you with a hollow feeling, like the crash that comes after a sugar binge.	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,120
The American	Salon.com	Sam Adams	What redeems the movie, and then some, is the soulful weariness of Clooney's performance.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,120
Trash Humpers	Salon.com	Sam Adams	For the brave souls who make it to the end, there should at least be no question of the movie's sincerity.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,120
A Most Wanted Man	Salt Lake City Weekly	Scott Renshaw	[Bovell's screenplay] effectively strips down le Carré's narrative to a tense exploration of espionage in a world of constant fear, where the appearance of keeping people safer may be more important than actually keeping people safer.	3.5/5	5	3.5	5	false	5	9	2	2,121
Cosmopolis	Salt Lake City Weekly	Scott Renshaw	If Cosmopolis remains chilly and remote, it does so in a way that often feels unsettlingly familiar.	3/5	5	3	5	false	4	9	2	2,121
Selma	Salt Lake City Weekly	Scott Renshaw	DuVernay's film is too effective on its own dramatic terms for it to be reduced simply to an allegory for Where We Are Today, yet it's also tremendously encouraging for anyone who wonders if there's any hope for change.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,121
A Star Is Born	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	A... love story?	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,122
Adrift	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	A well-crafted film with great performances and convincing effects that brings home a powerful true story of young love and iron will.	B-	long_letter	null	null	false	12	18	1	2,122
Ant-Man and the Wasp	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Small but mighty	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,122
Avengers: Endgame	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Game over man, game over!	A	long_letter	null	null	false	16	18	1	2,122
BlacKkKlansman	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Going for the throat	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,122
Captain Marvel	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Thanos on notice!	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,122
Halloween	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Michael deserves better	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,122
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Don't mess with people's dogs.	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,122
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Fans will suck it up the way Julie Walters' Rose eats her emotions with a heaping helping of cake.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,122
Maze Runner: The Death Cure	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	A mercy killing	D+	long_letter	null	null	false	8	18	1	2,122
Mission: Impossible - Fallout	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	The action event of the summer	A-	long_letter	null	null	false	15	18	1	2,122
Paddington 2	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	A tenderhearted whimsical delight for all	A	long_letter	null	null	false	16	18	1	2,122
Peppermint	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	Because Taken, But With A Woman" wouldn't fit on the marquee	D+	long_letter	null	null	false	8	18	1	2,122
The Sunlit Night	Salt Lake Magazine	Richard Bonaduce	If you're going to ask me to consume your slice of life story, at least make that slice part of a satisfying sandwich.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,122
Mustang	Salt Lake Tribune	Sean P. Means	Ergven's luckiest break was finding the five charismatic young women to portray these powerful and truly individual characters.	3.5/5	5	3.5	5	false	5	9	2	2,123
Solo: A Star Wars Story	Salt Lake Tribune	Sean P. Means	Solo: A Star Wars Story works both on its own merits as an exciting action spectacle and as an origin story for the franchise's favorite scoundrel.	3.5/5	5	3.5	5	false	5	9	2	2,123
Sully	Salt Lake Tribune	Sean P. Means	Faithfully recaptures the events of the "Miracle on the Hudson."	4.5/5	5	4.5	5	false	7	9	2	2,123
Carnage	San Diego Reader	David Elliott	The acting marathon is adroitly blocked and paced by Polanski and impeccably shot by Pawel Edelman.	3/4	4	3	4	false	2	4	1	2,124
Crime After Crime	San Diego Reader	David Elliott	Despite its plodding tactics, the movie is an alarming witness.	3/4	4	3	4	false	2	4	1	2,124
G.B.F.	San Diego Reader	Scott Marks	Director Darren Stein's frequently on-target satire had me laughing enough to keep it interesting.	2/4	4	2	4	false	1	4	1	2,124
Moneyball	San Diego Reader	David Elliott	Brad Pitt is at the top of his own game as Beane. Cocky and often nonchalant, he is gnawed by doubts that he tries to cover by grabbing a snack or pitching a grin.	4/4	4	4	4	false	3	4	1	2,124
The Interview	San Diego Reader	Scott Marks	The suffocating level of redundancy on display kneecaps any legitimate chance the film had at embracing social satire.	1/4	4	1	4	false	0	4	1	2,124
Under the Skin	San Diego Reader	Matthew Lickona	Glacial in pace, skeletal in plot, and generally nasty, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin is a repetitive nightmare of drear and dread punctuated by moments of queasy-making horror.	1/4	4	1	4	false	0	4	1	2,124
The Devil's Miner	San Francisco Bay View	Kam Williams	This documentary which exposes the twin evils of child labor and silver mining, is a most powerful expose' of an ongoing, mass-scale human tragedy.	4/4	4	4	4	false	3	4	1	2,125
Shivers (They Came from Within) (The Parasite Murders)	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	Shivers, written and directed by Cronenberg, is a paranoid, prurient sexual nightmare.	3/5	5	3	5	false	4	9	2	2,126
Touch of Evil	San Francisco Chronicle	Bob Graham	The film has always been full of reckless energy, and now it is, as they say, better than ever.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
The Rock	San Francisco Chronicle	Peter Stack	Cage steals the show, adding a touch of wimpiness to the high-decibel bravado.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
Grind	San Francisco Chronicle	Peter Hartlaub	Attempts to combine the extreme sports visuals of a good Warren Miller ski film with the plot of a bad Tom Green picture and doesn't come close to landing on four wheels.	1/5	5	1	5	false	0	9	2	2,126
The Rape of Europa	San Francisco Chronicle	Kenneth Baker	Fortunately, historical facts far outweigh psychological speculation in The Rape of Europa.	3.5/5	5	3.5	5	false	5	9	2	2,126
Air Force One	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	It's a gamble. Air Force One goes against the current grain of presenting presidents in movies as evil or idiotic, or mock heroic, as in last year's 'Independence Day.'	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Beverly Hills Ninja	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	A silly movie, with silly jokes and a silly story. But the talents at work in it are not silly.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
The Descent	San Francisco Chronicle	Peter Hartlaub	Do we even need men in horror films any more? They're bound to do something stupid, they almost always get killed in the end and don't look as good covered in sweat and blood.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
Face/Off	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	This is grand moviemaking with grand acting.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
The Ice Storm	San Francisco Chronicle	Edward Guthmann	[An] impressive adaptation of the Rick Moody novel.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	San Francisco Chronicle	Bob Graham	Even if flashy Ritchie's tall tale about the East End underworld starts to run out of steam, the punch line is so good that it makes up for a lot.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
The Night of the Hunter	San Francisco Chronicle	Edward Guthmann	Laughton creates terrific tension between Mitchum and his prey, turning the preacher into a bloodthirsty wolf and Willa's children into tender lambs.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Sharknado 2: The Second One	San Francisco Chronicle	David Wiegand	Usually, follow-ups to goofy films like the first Sharknado suffer because the makers are too conscious of the original. In this case, though, they just don't seem to give a shark.	1/5	5	1	5	false	0	9	2	2,126
Showgirls	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	Think of Flashdance but with an unappealing leading lady playing a woman whose fierce ambition is to do something not admirable, just ridiculous.	2/5	5	2	5	false	2	9	2	2,126
Sleuth	San Francisco Chronicle	Ruthe Stein	Shaffer, who adapted the 1972 version himself, surely would be less than thrilled by the post-modern, minimalist interpretation given to his best-known work, and understandably so.	2/5	5	2	5	false	2	9	2	2,126
Sling Blade	San Francisco Chronicle	Edward Guthmann	All the actors in Sling Blade do magnificent work, but it's Thornton who stays with you for days.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope	San Francisco Chronicle	John L. Wasserman	If anybody wondered where Lucas has been since the release nearly four years ago of American Graffiti, the answer is at hand. Star Wars... is the most exciting picture to be released this year -- exciting as theater and exciting as cinema.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Starship Troopers	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	Manages to be both fun and shocking -- sometimes in the same shot.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
L'Heure d'été (Summer Hours)	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	You won't find filmmaking more assured, commanding and evocative than that of Summer Hours in its opening scenes.	3/5	5	3	5	false	4	9	2	2,126
Taxi to the Dark Side	San Francisco Chronicle	Tamara Straus	Will go down in film history as a damning historical document of the Bush administration's wartime expansion of executive powers.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Teeth	San Francisco Chronicle	Peter Hartlaub	Extremely funny, very clever and still packs some cover-your-face bloody thrills that top any Saw or Hostel movie.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
Three Kings	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	It's George Clooney's best showcase to date -- a picture that is as strong as the war itself was dubious and one-sided.	5/5	5	5	5	false	8	9	2	2,126
Trainspotting	San Francisco Chronicle	Mick LaSalle	This is not dour social realism. It's a shot- from-a-cannon youth movie, with likable young people sticking needles in their arms in working-class Edinburgh.	4/5	5	4	5	false	6	9	2	2,126
Persuasion	San Francisco Examiner	Barbara Shulgasser	Austen was always fun to read, and known for her candid insight into human affairs, but somehow Michell and Dear seem to have left these basic ingredients out.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,127
Emma	San Francisco Examiner	Barbara Shulgasser	It is necessary to report that Paltrow is the biggest drawback of Douglas McGrath's Jane Austen adaptation Emma.	D-	long_letter	null	null	false	6	18	1	2,127
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle)(Every Man for Himself and God Against All)	San Francisco Examiner	Walter V. Addiego	Kaspar Hauser is one of the purest film examples I know of in which an artist of Romantic sensibility puts society to the test and finds it wanting.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,127
Julien Donkey-Boy	San Francisco Examiner	Wesley Morris	Julien feels like it could go blow up at any time. It implodes instead, and the meltdown, though visible in one of the final sequences, is still corrosive.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,127
The Lost World - Jurassic Park	San Francisco Examiner	Barbara Shulgasser	Most of the writing is the blandest sort of twaddle, jokes you can practically recite along with actors.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,127
White Squall	San Francisco Examiner	Barbara Shulgasser	The storm sequence is worth the wait, as scary and dramatically filmed as any ocean disaster you've seen in the movies, but the tribunal that follows is so muddled as to end the film in a great big anti-climax.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,127
Alex & Emma	San Jose Mercury News	Bruce Newman	The perfect date movie for pseudo-literary half-wits.	1.5/5	5	1.5	5	false	1	9	2	2,128
Definitely, Maybe	San Jose Mercury News	Bruce Newman	The picture does have a certain unimpeachable charm.	B-	long_letter	null	null	false	12	18	1	2,129
Coraline	San Jose Mercury News	Randy Myers	All involved in this production deserve praise for turning Coraline into a triumph of storytelling and cinematic technology. Whether you're young, middle-age or older, you'll adore it.	A-	long_letter	null	null	false	15	18	1	2,129
Inception	San Jose Mercury News	Randy Myers	Inception is the blockbuster we've all been thirsting for, a sleek brain-twister that makes the other 2010 mainstream releases look puny, drab and empty-headed in comparison.	A	long_letter	null	null	false	16	18	1	2,129
Shrek Forever After	San Jose Mercury News	Charlie McCollum	There is no happy ending for the Shrek franchise.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,129
Taking Woodstock	San Jose Mercury News	Charlie McCollum	The characters are all representative of the period but they come off as one-dimensional, more symbols than individuals.	C	long_letter	null	null	false	10	18	1	2,129
The King's Speech	San Jose Mercury News	Randy Myers	Firth makes us feel his alienation, his self-loathing and his sense of privilege. He gives the film its full-bodied voice, one that's perfect in tone, perfect in pitch.	A	long_letter	null	null	false	16	18	1	2,129
One Fine Day	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Peggy Fernandez	If you're a big Pfeiffer fan, you'll be horribly disappointed.	C+	long_letter	null	null	false	11	18	1	2,130
Anna and the King	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Peggy Fernandez	Filmed in Malaysia, with an elaborate reconstruction of the original royal palace, it's gorgeous enough to make you want to visit your travel agent right after closing credits.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,130
Mansfield Park	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Catherine Graham	It's hard to imagine a more delightful time spent at the movies this holiday season than with this adaptation of Austen's Mansfield Park.	A	long_letter	null	null	false	16	18	1	2,130
Tumbleweeds	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Wallace Baine	Given its obviousness, Tumbleweeds is still worthy of attention thanks principally to the queenly Janet McTeer.	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,130
Addicted to Love	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Peggy Fernandez	But if a twisted stew of retaliation and romance tickle your taste buds, you'll find it's an amusing little treat.	B-	long_letter	null	null	false	12	18	1	2,130
American History X	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Wallace Baine	One of the year's more absorbing films.	A-	long_letter	null	null	false	15	18	1	2,130
A Beautiful Mind	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Catherine Graham	Granted, it's uplifting to see mental illness portrayed on the screen in a humane fashion and world-class intellectuals elevated to heroic status. But A Beautiful Mind feels contrived from beginning to end, a paint-by-the-numbers biography.	C-	long_letter	null	null	false	9	18	1	2,130
Better than Chocolate	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Catherine Graham	Better Than Chocolate depicts the universal humor in the acts of seduction and coupling.	B	long_letter	null	null	false	13	18	1	2,130
Bicentennial Man	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Catherine Graham	Chris Columbus -- who is undeniably skilled at making funny movies -- has the deft touch of a steamroller when it comes to serious matters of the heart, mechanical or otherwise.	F	long_letter	null	null	false	1	18	1	2,130
Breaking the Waves	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Wallace Baine	Emily Watson gives this musty spiritualism a flesh and-blood sympathetic center. Her purity of emotion, be it bliss, fear or sorrow, are convincingly unactorly and the camera -- even Von Trier's handheld pseudo-documentary one -- loves her face.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,130
The Cable Guy	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Wallace Baine	Those who like enjoy seeing performers open up their ids in the name of comedy might get a kick out of Carrey's spooky malevolence. Others, however, enter at their own risk.	B-	long_letter	null	null	false	12	18	1	2,130
The Cooler	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Wallace Baine	Makes some daring artistic risks and largely succeeds.	A-	long_letter	null	null	false	15	18	1	2,130
Daylight	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Adam Sandel	As Daylight and other recent thrillers prove, it's much easier to create synthetic disasters, tornadoes, dinosaurs and dragons than it is to create sympathetic, believable human beings.	C	long_letter	null	null	false	10	18	1	2,130
Enemy of the State	Santa Cruz Sentinel	Michael Gaither	Scott creates suspense by utilizing believable technology and realistic, well-grounded characters.	B+	long_letter	null	null	false	14	18	1	2,130

We Were Soldiers

Sacramento News & Review

Jim Lane

... Wallace shows a lazy tendency to rely on the time-tested conventions (which is the polite way of saying 'cliches') of war movies of yore.

3/4

4

3

4

false

4

7

2

2,116

Rocky Balboa

Sacramento News & Review

Jonathan Kiefer

This might be the best Rocky movie since the first Rocky movie. But if that sounds like a rave, just think of all the others.

C

short_letter

null

false

3

6

1

2,117

Hamlet

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

Oddly enough it's the picture's visuals -- its mournful, glassy Manhattan high-rises; its limos and Town Cars with their mirrorlike flanks -- that make it feel most like Hamlet.

9/10

10

9

10

false

8

10

1

2,118

All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre)

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

All About My Mother is a movie so intrinsically rich that it doesn't need any metaphors.

9/10

10

9

10

false

8

10

1

2,118

The Beach

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

Lacks imagination and energy.

3/10

10

3

10

false

2

10

1

2,118

Cecil B. Demented

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

[Waters] piles on one wacky notion after another, and somehow they stack without toppling.

9/10

10

9

10

false

8

10

1

2,118

The Perfect Storm

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

The Perfect Storm shook me, and the feeling lingered.

6/10

10

6

10

false

5

10

1

2,118

Sleepy Hollow

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

Danny Elfman's music is haunting and jaggedly elegiac, the perfect underpinning to the movie's look.

9/10

10

9

10

false

8

10

1

2,118

The Virgin Suicides

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

Sofia Coppola's adaptation of The Virgin Suicides ... captures the loveliest visuals and bits of language from Eugenides' book and faithfully, but not slavishly, transfers them to the screen.

9/10

10

9

10

false

8

10

1

2,118

A Perfect Murder

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

...snoozy, slack...

3/5

5

3

5

false

2

5

1

2,119

Conspiracy Theory

Salon.com

Charles Taylor

...listening to Gibson's Jerry try to communicate what he's been through isn't suspenseful; it's exhausting.

2/5

5

2

5

false

1

5

1

2,119

The Edge

Salon.com

Gary Kamiya

...a solid man-against-nature tale...

4/5

5

4

5

false

3

5

1

2,119

Happy, Texas

Salon.com

Mary Elizabeth Williams

...if the world is not exactly aching from a lack of fish-out-of-water criminal capers, Happy, Texas nevertheless pleasingly proves that even a shtick we've seen before can charm when it's done well.

4/5

5

4

5

false

3

5

1

2,119

The Horse Whisperer

Salon.com

Stephanie Zacharek

Redford seems to have fooled himself into thinking the story of The Horse Whisperer runs much deeper than it does.

2/5

5

2

5

false

1

5

1

2,119

Small Soldiers

Salon.com

Scott Rosenberg

Fortunately, it's possible to ignore the morals entirely and simply enjoy the filmmakers' skill at creating carefully contained mayhem in a microcosm.

4/5

5

4

5

false

3

5

1

2,119

Wild Things

Salon.com

Michelle Goldberg

Sure it's an exploitation movie, but this twisted Technicolor orgy is also a thriller in the original sense of that word.

4/5

5

4

5

false

3

5

1

2,119

The A-Team

Salon.com

Andrew O'Hehir

The A-Team is reasonably good fun. If you're a 12-year-old boy riding an intense Cherry Pepsi buzz and totally devoted to destroying some brain cells, that is.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,120

Best Worst Movie

Salon.com

Sam Adams

You might assume "Troll 2" aficionados are sarcasm-drenched hipsters, but "Best Worst Movie" argues that their appreciation is far less convoluted.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,120

Jackass 3

Salon.com

Sam Adams

For the most part, the dumber the stunt, the funnier it is.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,120

MacGruber

Salon.com

Sam Adams

The bibs and bobs are all in place, but the life-saving device never quite works as planned.

C+

long_letter

null

false

11

18

1

2,120

Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot)

Salon.com

Sam Adams

There are sections of "Micmacs" that express the joy of a certain kind of moviemaking so vividly you can't help bursting into a grin. But the movie leaves you with a hollow feeling, like the crash that comes after a sugar binge.

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,120

The American

Salon.com

Sam Adams

What redeems the movie, and then some, is the soulful weariness of Clooney's performance.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,120

Trash Humpers

Salon.com

Sam Adams

For the brave souls who make it to the end, there should at least be no question of the movie's sincerity.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,120

A Most Wanted Man

Salt Lake City Weekly

Scott Renshaw

[Bovell's screenplay] effectively strips down le Carré's narrative to a tense exploration of espionage in a world of constant fear, where the appearance of keeping people safer may be more important than actually keeping people safer.

3.5/5

5

3.5

5

false

5

9

2

2,121

Cosmopolis

Salt Lake City Weekly

Scott Renshaw

If Cosmopolis remains chilly and remote, it does so in a way that often feels unsettlingly familiar.

3/5

5

3

5

false

4

9

2

2,121

Selma

Salt Lake City Weekly

Scott Renshaw

DuVernay's film is too effective on its own dramatic terms for it to be reduced simply to an allegory for Where We Are Today, yet it's also tremendously encouraging for anyone who wonders if there's any hope for change.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,121

A Star Is Born

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

A... love story?

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,122

Adrift

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

A well-crafted film with great performances and convincing effects that brings home a powerful true story of young love and iron will.

B-

long_letter

null

false

12

18

1

2,122

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Small but mighty

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,122

Avengers: Endgame

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Game over man, game over!

A

long_letter

null

false

16

18

1

2,122

BlacKkKlansman

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Going for the throat

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,122

Captain Marvel

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Thanos on notice!

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,122

Halloween

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Michael deserves better

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,122

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Don't mess with people's dogs.

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,122

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Fans will suck it up the way Julie Walters' Rose eats her emotions with a heaping helping of cake.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,122

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

A mercy killing

D+

long_letter

null

false

8

18

1

2,122

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

The action event of the summer

A-

long_letter

null

false

15

18

1

2,122

Paddington 2

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

A tenderhearted whimsical delight for all

A

long_letter

null

false

16

18

1

2,122

Peppermint

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

Because Taken, But With A Woman" wouldn't fit on the marquee

D+

long_letter

null

false

8

18

1

2,122

The Sunlit Night

Salt Lake Magazine

Richard Bonaduce

If you're going to ask me to consume your slice of life story, at least make that slice part of a satisfying sandwich.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,122

Mustang

Salt Lake Tribune

Sean P. Means

Ergven's luckiest break was finding the five charismatic young women to portray these powerful and truly individual characters.

3.5/5

5

3.5

5

false

5

9

2

2,123

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Salt Lake Tribune

Sean P. Means

Solo: A Star Wars Story works both on its own merits as an exciting action spectacle and as an origin story for the franchise's favorite scoundrel.

3.5/5

5

3.5

5

false

5

9

2

2,123

Sully

Salt Lake Tribune

Sean P. Means

Faithfully recaptures the events of the "Miracle on the Hudson."

4.5/5

5

4.5

5

false

7

9

2

2,123

Carnage

San Diego Reader

David Elliott

The acting marathon is adroitly blocked and paced by Polanski and impeccably shot by Pawel Edelman.

3/4

4

3

4

false

2

4

1

2,124

Crime After Crime

San Diego Reader

David Elliott

Despite its plodding tactics, the movie is an alarming witness.

3/4

4

3

4

false

2

4

1

2,124

G.B.F.

San Diego Reader

Scott Marks

Director Darren Stein's frequently on-target satire had me laughing enough to keep it interesting.

2/4

4

2

4

false

1

4

1

2,124

Moneyball

San Diego Reader

David Elliott

Brad Pitt is at the top of his own game as Beane. Cocky and often nonchalant, he is gnawed by doubts that he tries to cover by grabbing a snack or pitching a grin.

4/4

4

false

3

4

1

2,124

The Interview

San Diego Reader

Scott Marks

The suffocating level of redundancy on display kneecaps any legitimate chance the film had at embracing social satire.

1/4

4

1

4

false

0

4

1

2,124

Under the Skin

San Diego Reader

Matthew Lickona

Glacial in pace, skeletal in plot, and generally nasty, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin is a repetitive nightmare of drear and dread punctuated by moments of queasy-making horror.

1/4

4

1

4

false

0

4

1

2,124

The Devil's Miner

San Francisco Bay View

Kam Williams

This documentary which exposes the twin evils of child labor and silver mining, is a most powerful expose' of an ongoing, mass-scale human tragedy.

4/4

4

false

3

4

1

2,125

Shivers (They Came from Within) (The Parasite Murders)

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

Shivers, written and directed by Cronenberg, is a paranoid, prurient sexual nightmare.

3/5

5

3

5

false

4

9

2

2,126

Touch of Evil

San Francisco Chronicle

Bob Graham

The film has always been full of reckless energy, and now it is, as they say, better than ever.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

The Rock

San Francisco Chronicle

Peter Stack

Cage steals the show, adding a touch of wimpiness to the high-decibel bravado.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

Grind

San Francisco Chronicle

Peter Hartlaub

Attempts to combine the extreme sports visuals of a good Warren Miller ski film with the plot of a bad Tom Green picture and doesn't come close to landing on four wheels.

1/5

5

1

5

false

0

9

2

2,126

The Rape of Europa

San Francisco Chronicle

Kenneth Baker

Fortunately, historical facts far outweigh psychological speculation in The Rape of Europa.

3.5/5

5

3.5

5

false

5

9

2

2,126

Air Force One

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

It's a gamble. Air Force One goes against the current grain of presenting presidents in movies as evil or idiotic, or mock heroic, as in last year's 'Independence Day.'

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Beverly Hills Ninja

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

A silly movie, with silly jokes and a silly story. But the talents at work in it are not silly.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

The Descent

San Francisco Chronicle

Peter Hartlaub

Do we even need men in horror films any more? They're bound to do something stupid, they almost always get killed in the end and don't look as good covered in sweat and blood.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

Face/Off

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

This is grand moviemaking with grand acting.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

The Ice Storm

San Francisco Chronicle

Edward Guthmann

[An] impressive adaptation of the Rick Moody novel.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

San Francisco Chronicle

Bob Graham

Even if flashy Ritchie's tall tale about the East End underworld starts to run out of steam, the punch line is so good that it makes up for a lot.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

The Night of the Hunter

San Francisco Chronicle

Edward Guthmann

Laughton creates terrific tension between Mitchum and his prey, turning the preacher into a bloodthirsty wolf and Willa's children into tender lambs.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Sharknado 2: The Second One

San Francisco Chronicle

David Wiegand

Usually, follow-ups to goofy films like the first Sharknado suffer because the makers are too conscious of the original. In this case, though, they just don't seem to give a shark.

1/5

5

1

5

false

0

9

2

2,126

Showgirls

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

Think of Flashdance but with an unappealing leading lady playing a woman whose fierce ambition is to do something not admirable, just ridiculous.

2/5

5

2

5

false

2

9

2

2,126

Sleuth

San Francisco Chronicle

Ruthe Stein

Shaffer, who adapted the 1972 version himself, surely would be less than thrilled by the post-modern, minimalist interpretation given to his best-known work, and understandably so.

2/5

5

2

5

false

2

9

2

2,126

Sling Blade

San Francisco Chronicle

Edward Guthmann

All the actors in Sling Blade do magnificent work, but it's Thornton who stays with you for days.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

San Francisco Chronicle

John L. Wasserman

If anybody wondered where Lucas has been since the release nearly four years ago of American Graffiti, the answer is at hand. Star Wars... is the most exciting picture to be released this year -- exciting as theater and exciting as cinema.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Starship Troopers

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

Manages to be both fun and shocking -- sometimes in the same shot.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

L'Heure d'été (Summer Hours)

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

You won't find filmmaking more assured, commanding and evocative than that of Summer Hours in its opening scenes.

3/5

5

3

5

false

4

9

2

2,126

Taxi to the Dark Side

San Francisco Chronicle

Tamara Straus

Will go down in film history as a damning historical document of the Bush administration's wartime expansion of executive powers.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Teeth

San Francisco Chronicle

Peter Hartlaub

Extremely funny, very clever and still packs some cover-your-face bloody thrills that top any Saw or Hostel movie.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

Three Kings

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

It's George Clooney's best showcase to date -- a picture that is as strong as the war itself was dubious and one-sided.

5/5

5

false

8

9

2

2,126

Trainspotting

San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle

This is not dour social realism. It's a shot- from-a-cannon youth movie, with likable young people sticking needles in their arms in working-class Edinburgh.

4/5

5

4

5

false

6

9

2

2,126

Persuasion

San Francisco Examiner

Barbara Shulgasser

Austen was always fun to read, and known for her candid insight into human affairs, but somehow Michell and Dear seem to have left these basic ingredients out.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,127

Emma

San Francisco Examiner

Barbara Shulgasser

It is necessary to report that Paltrow is the biggest drawback of Douglas McGrath's Jane Austen adaptation Emma.

D-

long_letter

null

false

6

18

1

2,127

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle)(Every Man for Himself and God Against All)

San Francisco Examiner

Walter V. Addiego

Kaspar Hauser is one of the purest film examples I know of in which an artist of Romantic sensibility puts society to the test and finds it wanting.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,127

Julien Donkey-Boy

San Francisco Examiner

Wesley Morris

Julien feels like it could go blow up at any time. It implodes instead, and the meltdown, though visible in one of the final sequences, is still corrosive.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,127

The Lost World - Jurassic Park

San Francisco Examiner

Barbara Shulgasser

Most of the writing is the blandest sort of twaddle, jokes you can practically recite along with actors.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,127

White Squall

San Francisco Examiner

Barbara Shulgasser

The storm sequence is worth the wait, as scary and dramatically filmed as any ocean disaster you've seen in the movies, but the tribunal that follows is so muddled as to end the film in a great big anti-climax.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,127

Alex & Emma

San Jose Mercury News

Bruce Newman

The perfect date movie for pseudo-literary half-wits.

1.5/5

5

1.5

5

false

1

9

2

2,128

Definitely, Maybe

San Jose Mercury News

Bruce Newman

The picture does have a certain unimpeachable charm.

B-

long_letter

null

false

12

18

1

2,129

Coraline

San Jose Mercury News

Randy Myers

All involved in this production deserve praise for turning Coraline into a triumph of storytelling and cinematic technology. Whether you're young, middle-age or older, you'll adore it.

A-

long_letter

null

false

15

18

1

2,129

Inception

San Jose Mercury News

Randy Myers

Inception is the blockbuster we've all been thirsting for, a sleek brain-twister that makes the other 2010 mainstream releases look puny, drab and empty-headed in comparison.

A

long_letter

null

false

16

18

1

2,129

Shrek Forever After

San Jose Mercury News

Charlie McCollum

There is no happy ending for the Shrek franchise.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,129

Taking Woodstock

San Jose Mercury News

Charlie McCollum

The characters are all representative of the period but they come off as one-dimensional, more symbols than individuals.

C

long_letter

null

false

10

18

1

2,129

The King's Speech

San Jose Mercury News

Randy Myers

Firth makes us feel his alienation, his self-loathing and his sense of privilege. He gives the film its full-bodied voice, one that's perfect in tone, perfect in pitch.

A

long_letter

null

false

16

18

1

2,129

One Fine Day

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Peggy Fernandez

If you're a big Pfeiffer fan, you'll be horribly disappointed.

C+

long_letter

null

false

11

18

1

2,130

Anna and the King

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Peggy Fernandez

Filmed in Malaysia, with an elaborate reconstruction of the original royal palace, it's gorgeous enough to make you want to visit your travel agent right after closing credits.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,130

Mansfield Park

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Catherine Graham

It's hard to imagine a more delightful time spent at the movies this holiday season than with this adaptation of Austen's Mansfield Park.

A

long_letter

null

false

16

18

1

2,130

Tumbleweeds

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine

Given its obviousness, Tumbleweeds is still worthy of attention thanks principally to the queenly Janet McTeer.

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,130

Addicted to Love

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Peggy Fernandez

But if a twisted stew of retaliation and romance tickle your taste buds, you'll find it's an amusing little treat.

B-

long_letter

null

false

12

18

1

2,130

American History X

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine

One of the year's more absorbing films.

A-

long_letter

null

false

15

18

1

2,130

A Beautiful Mind

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Catherine Graham

Granted, it's uplifting to see mental illness portrayed on the screen in a humane fashion and world-class intellectuals elevated to heroic status. But A Beautiful Mind feels contrived from beginning to end, a paint-by-the-numbers biography.

C-

long_letter

null

false

9

18

1

2,130

Better than Chocolate

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Catherine Graham

Better Than Chocolate depicts the universal humor in the acts of seduction and coupling.

B

long_letter

null

false

13

18

1

2,130

Bicentennial Man

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Catherine Graham

Chris Columbus -- who is undeniably skilled at making funny movies -- has the deft touch of a steamroller when it comes to serious matters of the heart, mechanical or otherwise.

F

long_letter

null

false

1

18

1

2,130

Breaking the Waves

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine

Emily Watson gives this musty spiritualism a flesh and-blood sympathetic center. Her purity of emotion, be it bliss, fear or sorrow, are convincingly unactorly and the camera -- even Von Trier's handheld pseudo-documentary one -- loves her face.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,130

The Cable Guy

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine

Those who like enjoy seeing performers open up their ids in the name of comedy might get a kick out of Carrey's spooky malevolence. Others, however, enter at their own risk.

B-

long_letter

null

false

12

18

1

2,130

The Cooler

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine

Makes some daring artistic risks and largely succeeds.

A-

long_letter

null

false

15

18

1

2,130

Daylight

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Adam Sandel

As Daylight and other recent thrillers prove, it's much easier to create synthetic disasters, tornadoes, dinosaurs and dragons than it is to create sympathetic, believable human beings.

C

long_letter

null

false

10

18

1

2,130

Enemy of the State

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Michael Gaither

Scott creates suspense by utilizing believable technology and realistic, well-grounded characters.

B+

long_letter

null

false

14

18

1

2,130