LAT RTMC RTC The Gist
documentary



Marwencol yes 100 100 *d:isn't standard man-triumphing-over-adversity-fare
The Two Escobars yes 91 100 *d:dynamically chronicles their meshed fates.
Boxing Gym. yes 91 80 *d:Frederick Wiseman's quietly provocative documentary
Bhutto yes 91 80 d:thorough and involving
Disco and Atomic War yes 90
d:although like the Cold War itself, the film does drag on at times, "Disco" really is a delight
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer yes 89 88 d:a taut and compelling investigation
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within yes 83
d:less as clear-eyed investigation than [an] intimate and moving portrait
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields yes 71 78 *Never heard of the singer-songwriter? After seeing this engaging documentary, you'll likely become a huge fan of his exceptional music.
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story yes 67 67 d:major focus on Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax.
Cool It yes 46 46 doesn't find Gore's truth inconvenient so much as distorted
Wasteland yes

*d:a vast landfill north of Rio de Janeiro
Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny yes

d:a wholly upbeat portrait of a popular, undaunted leader.
Lemmy so-so 89
d:the filmmakers leave something wanting
Troubadours so-so 80
d:plays like linked mini-biographies
The Kids Grow Up so-so 60 67 d:what might have been insufferable navel-gazing attains poignancy.
animated



Tangled yes 87 92 *proves a pleasure after a shaky start.
The Illusionist yes 86 82 *Sylvain Chomet [delivers] all sorts of visual and storytelling magic, as he did in 'The Triplets of Belleville
Summer Wars yes 77 80 *a sophisticated yet poignant family entertainment
Megamind so-so 67 69 clever, amusing
Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance so-so

doesn't suffer wandering attention spans.
Yogi Bear no 13 19 no pic-a-nic.
The Dreams of Jinsha no

a painstakingly if awkwardly assembled hand-drawn entry from Chinese animators.
regular movies



Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen yes 100 100 *follows the exploits of the 12th century Benedictine nun, a feminist centuries ahead of her time.
True Grit yes 95 95 *a film whose aim is always true
Nora's Will yes 94 88 *a man who fights a stubborn rear-guard action against his dead ex-wife's final wishes
127 Hours yes 93 100 *one man's incredible, unforgettable journey
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale yes 92 100 *likely to become a winter favorite for those allergic to holiday treacle.
The King's Speech yes 91 100 *the future king of England and his speech therapist
Another Year yes 91 86 *the everyday becomes extraordinary.
White Material yes 90 100 *a woman confronting armed chaos in Africa
Blue Valentine yes 90 82 an intensely intimate rendering of love
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench yes 86 100 a musical romance told in jazz and shot in black and white
The Fighter yes 86 76 rousing
Undertow yes 86
A man must come to terms with his sexuality and his dead lover
Unstoppable yes 85 90 A runaway train drama that never slows down
The Magician yes 83
a hit man improbably allows himself to be filmed in action
Amer yes 83
*a bravura exploration of fear and desire
Made in Dagenham yes 81 63 adaptation of the 1968 seamstress strike in England
Four Lions yes 81 58 *a comedic look at terrorists
Me Too yes 80
a coming-of-age story with a difference: Its hero has Down syndrome
Night Catches Us yes 77 75 manages to be both pertinent and dramatically persuasive
Heartless yes 76 100 *compelling psychological horror-thriller
Somewhere yes 76 70 more successful in creating ambience and visual imagery than it is in telling its story
Today's Special yes 75 56 *Imaginative, warm and witty
Mumbai Diaries yes 74 88 a shimmering, loving homage
Kaboom yes 71 75 takes the time-honored gambit of gradually revealing that nothing is as it seems
Biutiful yes 65 70 an ethereal yet visceral meditation on living and dying.
Zenith yes 63 67 evokes a bleak view of the human condition and a sense that pervasive paranoia might well be justified
Shake Hands with the Devil yes 63
Canadian Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallarme's peacekeeping mission to Rwanda
Change of Plans yes 53 57 a tasty French romantic comedy diversion with just a touch of seriousness thrown into the mix.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest yes 49 56 an extremely satisfying ending to the story of Lisbeth Salander
Love & Other Drugs yes 42 31 [a] love story that gets it right.
Twelve Thirty yes 25 40 *gradually draws the viewer into its thrall and builds to an unpredictable but effective climax.
Burning Palms yes 17
*fragility and desperation that lurk beneath the surface of the lives of some anonymous L.A. residents
Aftershock yes

involving, well-acted saga
Essential Killing yes

a grueling, offbeat tale of human survival
Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster so-so 95 100 conflicting impulses between drizzly emotional moments and slap-happy frenzy.
Dogtooth so-so 92 91 part enigma, part allegory and even part sci-fi in its creation of a completely alternate reality
Applause so-so 85 83 leaves you wanting more
The Way Back so-so 81
in its best moments is ... as big as life itself.
Fair Game so-so 79 72 seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 so-so 78 72 isn't for the uninitiated.
I Love You Phillip Morris so-so 77 73 one mixed bag of a movie
Barney's Version so-so 74 75 flawed but exhilarating
Red Hill so-so 74 57 hybrid western/slasher [with] a commendably entertaining calling-card oomph.
Die Fremde so-so 73 80 worthy if uneven study of the tragedy of honor crimes.
The Housemaid so-so 71 63 sleek, erotic and suspenseful, at least for the first hour
The Company Men so-so 70 78 great cast at the service of a so-so movie.
Outside the Law so-so 64 40 its the heart of the brothers that sometimes confounds the director
Eichmann so-so 60
richly detailed and timelessly important — but also ponderous
Jolene so-so 59 57 a watchable excursion into human frailty and foibles
Morning Glory so-so 54 43 Rachel McAdams gives the kind of performance we go to the movies for
Welcome to the Rileys so-so 54 42 flawed yet promising film
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader so-so 50 48 wonderful moments and delightful characters, but overall falters.
Every Day so-so 47 50 intriguing, yet woefully uneven
For Colored Girls so-so 33 31 Its poetry is hot and searing
The Dilemma so-so 25 31 the actor's good-time character grows up.
The Rite so-so 17 23 What did you expect? Spinning heads? Pea soup?
Country Strong so-so 17 17 down-home comfort
Skyline so-so 10 0 space aliens drop in on Los Angeles, luring the city's residents
A Marine Story so-so

drive[s] home its underlying message about the injustice of "don't ask, don't tell"
Violet Tendencies so-so

enjoyable if uneven sex comedy
Meskada so-so

never quite builds a solid momentum or finds a true sense of purpose
If You Are the One 2 so-so

a mildly charming dose of romantic gloss
Black Swan no 86 85 an overheated slog
Rabbit Hole no 84 81 an air of genteel familiarity stifles
Inspector Bellamy no 81 83 a sadly bland footnote to an illustrious and influential career
A Somewhat Gentle Man no 75 57 promises a more complex and full-blooded portrait than the film is able to deliver.
Monsters no 62 56 blunted by a weak plot, forgettable dialogue and sloppy politics
No Strings Attached no 52 53 bits sound like they were cribbed from bathroom stall scribes
Tron: Legacy no 49 31 there's not nearly enough new life.
The Mechanic no 48 31 [A] cheap, cruddy remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson vehicle
The Warrior's Way no 46 40 a tiresome lab experiment in computer-generated tropes and green-screen oppressiveness.
The Next Three Days no 45 37 Run, Russell, run! Save yourself.
Faster no 43 27 violent but bland
The Green Hornet no 43 22 a boring bromedy that features mumblecore heroics instead of the real thing.
Due Date no 39 45 John Hughes did it better
The Other Woman no 38 15 mostly flat and plodding
Burlesque no 33 27 Big Musical Numbers by the score rather than a film
Queen of the Lot no 33 20 has become even sloppier regarding basics like photography, editing and sound recording
All Good Things no 31 44 too fact heavy
Sanctum no 30 32 the gee-whiz factor is overwhelmed by the oh-jeez writing
From Prada to Nada no 27 17 more in common with a slapped-together TV movie
Repo Chick no 22 0 feels slapdash, ill-formed and out-of-touch.
Gulliver's Travels no 21 19 falls between complete disaster and loads of fun
Wild Target no 21 18 seems destined to spin dangerously out of control.
The Tourist no 21 7 international intrigue and mistaken identity aren't enough to overcome the lackluster chemistry.
The Taqwacores no 11
a thin veneer of tiresome obnoxiousness
Saw 3D no 10 15 has so little creativity, its goriness provokes laughter or sleep.
Little Fockers no 10 4 just isn't funny
Alien Girl no 10 0 a grim, artless Russian-made gangster picture
The Roommate no 8 0 a waste all around of young, attractive actresses
Waiting for Forever no 7 0 an insipid contemporary fairy tale
Hemingway's Garden of Eden no 5 0 thoroughly distracted by elephant hunting
Season of the Witch no 4 0 an oddly lifeless tale set during the Crusades.
The Nutcracker in 3D no 0 0 Your Thanksgiving turkey has arrived on schedule
Walkaway no

suffers from a marked lack of energy
Break Ke Baad no

Indian romcom: engaging performances. Too bad the script doesn't live up to them.
The Assistants no

This movie about wanting to make a movie doesn't make for much of a movie.
Dead Awake no

poorly structured and even more poorly shot
Violent Blue no

[a] drearily indulgent slog
Ong Bak 3: The Final Battle no

Gone is the scrappy, brutal wit of the original
What Women Want no

this Chinese-language carbon copy doesn't find a distinctive voice.