LAT RTMC RTC
documentary



The Interrupters yes 100 100 *d:inspirational
We Were Here yes 100 100 d:how the AIDS epidemic devastated and transformed San Francisco's gay community.
Summer Pasture yes 100
d:has an earthy intimacy and compassion for its subjects
Senna yes 92 87 d:a moving tribute to one of the best Formula One drivers who ever lived
Bobby Fischer Against the World yes 86 100 d:expertly constructed
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 yes 84 86 *d:electric
Life in a Day yes 81 75 d:tries to capture the rhythms and unravel the rhymes of a single 24-hour period.
Pearl Jam Twenty yes 65 50 d:celebrates the Seattle rock band on its 20th anniversary
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles yes 61 67 d:something mysterious, a little strange and a lot of fun.
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress yes 54 64 *d:behind the scenes at the restaurant hailed as the most influential in the world.
Programming the Nation? yes 43 33 d:profoundly disturbing, as ambitious as it is provocative
The Harvest/La Cosecha yes

d:the physical toll of migrant farm work on young workers
Darwin yes

d:a beautiful, elegiac work with unexpected impact and meaning
There Was Once yes

d:illuminating
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure so-so 71 63 taped arguments of alcoholics [and] their strange and increasingly sad afterlife
Battle for Brooklyn so-so 70 67 d:Although not exactly even-handed, the movie proves a deft look at a reluctant crusader
Jane's Journey so-so 45 40 d:does not make for compelling cinema
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator so-so 45 20 d:a naggingly studied tone
The Boy Mir: Ten Years in Afghanistan so-so

d:gets under your skin in ways that are memorable and poignantly real
Rebirth so-so

d:suffers occasionally from sentimental overreach
The Whale so-so

d:the talking-head testimony, it grows repetitive
Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place no 64 64 d:a psychedelic trip to nowhere
The Weird World of Blowfly no 60
d:The music is dirty and the film is a downer
Finding Joe no 43
d:weighed down by a barrage of declarations from zealots
Chasing Madoff no 41 25 d:frenzied
Born and Bred no 33
d:reaches for some big-picture connect-the-dots it can never quite pull together
Sarah Palin: You Betcha! no 29 17 d:stale and journalistically lacking
In Search of God no

d:painfully inept
Connected no

d:dizzyingly jammed with animated and archival imagery
animated



Nine Nation Animation yes 93 100 *accomplished shorts from around the world
The Smurfs no 21 24 By turns grating and cloying, misguided.
regular movies



Weekend yes 96 100 a moving and empathetic look at how relationships develop
Rapt yes 95 83 *Well-acted and procedurally sleek
Moneyball yes 94 97 *a story that goes beyond baseball.
The Guard yes 94 89 *a great gust of very funny fresh air.
Silent Souls yes 93 100 *a marvel
Take Shelter yes 93 93 *a world of darkness visible and unexpected light, as recognizable as it is surreal
50/50 yes 93 88 maintains its balance remarkably well.
Point Blank yes 92 100 *Unfolding at a blistering clip from its slam-bang opening through its bravura close
Attack the Block yes 89 86 *works as both a sci-fi horror flick and a teen adventure film.
Bellflower yes 88 100 *male aggression, fractured love, one tricked-out muscle car and a homemade flamethrower
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame yes 87 89 *splendid, action-filled period epic
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil yes 87 89 *a refreshingly upending horror-comedy bromance.
The Hedgehog yes 86 100 an exquisite, intimate film of restraint and delicacy
Higher Ground yes 84 87 intelligence, wit and mature spirit
Mozart's Sister yes 82 89 societal inequalities act as a dissonant countermelody to a famous artist's biography
Rise of the Planet of the Apes yes 81 79 *Smart, fun and thoroughly enjoyable
The Myth of the American Sleepover yes 77 73 evoking a coming of age as it should be rather than the way it really is.
The Debt yes 77 71 *a superbly crafted espionage thriller packed with Israeli-Nazi score settling
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life yes 76 60 Unconventional, imaginative, nothing if not audacious
Mysteries of Lisbon yes 75 83 *moves with its own logic, dreamlike and unshakable.
Crazy, Stupid, Love yes 75 76 *grand romantic gesture about grand romantic gestures
Fright Night yes 74 88 *clever, funny remake of the 1985 vampire film
The Help yes 73 68 an unlikely rebellion in a Southern town in the 1960s
Littlerock yes 72 67 ethereal and ephemeral musing on the art and artifice of communication.
The Mill and the Cross yes 71 63 dramatizes the creation of Pieter Bruegel's 1564 painting "The Way to Calvary"
Griff the Invisible yes 69 44 comically dismantles our superhero-worshiping culture
Good Neighbors yes 65 75 *Quirky, creepy and increasingly involving
Mr. Nice yes 57 80 *a compelling film about international drug trafficker Howard Marks
"3" (Drei) yes 50 43 involving, even when sentimentality creeps [in]
The Sleeping Beauty yes 46
*Sly and playful, it's a beauty.
Colombiana yes 36 50 a scandalous blend of action, sex and violence
Special Treatment yes 33 40 complex, compassionate and endlessly illuminating
Creature yes 11 14 *delightfully dopey
Politics of Love yes

clever and lively
Bodyguard yes

*a rousing example of Bollywood-style pure escapist entertainment
My Brother's Bride yes

the singing, dancing and settings, including the Taj Mahal, are stunning.
My Afternoons With Margueritte yes

as soft and light as a summer breeze
@urFrenz yes

bracing yet understated drama.
Dolphin Tale so-so 83 88 well-meaning if stridently heart-tugging
Contagion so-so 82 82 some of its many plot strands play out less convincingly than others
The Future so-so 81 75 The film doesn't have much of a motor. But there's a lot to like, and to admire.
Circumstance so-so 75 75 sometimes choppy narrative
Our Idiot Brother so-so 67 67 [An] amiable, if underachieving comedy
Amigo so-so 62 64 Uneven but ultimately affecting
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie so-so 61 52 the hullabaloo might be lost on anyone who isn't a 'Gleek.'
Gun Hill Road so-so 58 44 narrative conflict leads inexorably into clichéd parent-child showdown
House of Boys so-so 57
a mostly winning combo of sex, old-fashioned corn, romance-novel fantasy and AIDS tragedy
Puncture so-so 55 78 more downer than dander-raiser
Brighton Rock so-so 51 38 stylish but heavy-going
Berlin 36 so-so 50
doesn't clear the bar for dramatic impact
30 Minutes or Less so-so 44 34 just sharp enough at its peaks to be frustrating in its valleys
Beware the Gonzo so-so 44
feels timid and unadventurous
The Afterlight so-so 38 0 glacially paced, symbolism-heavy
Conan the Barbarian so-so 26 23 it's kind of a wicked blast to watch, especially if you're in the mood for some righteous revenge.
Machine Gun Preacher so-so 22 13 could have used a good deal more of his discipline
Apollo 18 so-so 21 0 a low-key and unassuming film of rising tension rather than big scares or wild shocks.
The Neighbor so-so

"Neighbor" is no masterpiece but is distinctive and deeply felt.
The Road to Freedom so-so

needs more shape, more nuance and more punch.
Drive no 93 84 uncomfortable mixing of classic noir and contemporary mayhem.
Warrior no 82 82 shows promise before ultimately overdosing on its own testosterone
The Whistleblower no 64 53 too well-intentioned for its own good
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark no 59 47 Scary … at least until about 30 minutes in
Final Destination 5 no 57 26 Prepare to groan
3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy no 50
It plays more as pretense than plot
Archie's Final Project no 50
Self-consciously fizzy but tasteless and ultimately sour
The Devil's Double no 49 58 relentlessly violent and lurid
Cowboys & Aliens no 44 53 A leaden mash-up of western and science-fiction elements that ends up noisy, grotesque and unappealing
Margaret no 43 36 a turbulent, unrealized dream
Restless no 37 24 ultimately runs aground on the film's overly familiar trappings.
Straw Dogs no 36 46 miscast, barely functional in terms of technique, stupid and unnecessary
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy no 29 45 uneven
One Day no 27 25 the pieces never come together in this disappointing romantic drama
Shark Night 3D no 24
a disposable hard-body-count B movie
What's Your Number? no 23 7 a sub-par romantic comedy
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D no 23
isn't so much bad as it is just boring
The Change-Up no 21 18 hacky and repellent
Stay Cool no 20
cartoonish figures, bad jokes and hackneyed situations
I Don't Know How She Does It no 17 14 enough to make you urp.
Bunraku no 16 20 gets lost in its bells and whistles
Seven Days in Utopia no 13 7 earnest but as flat as the Texas terrain.
Tanner Hall no 13 0 Detention would be better than watching 'Tanner Hall'
Dream House no 8 0 fails to scare up any thrills
The Family Tree no 7 0 scattered
Abduction no 3 0 the all-star elders surrounding our squinting hero
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll no 0 0 Neither the nods to musical greatness nor the '70s-cred presence of Peter Fonda dispels the hokeyness of the story.
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star no 0 0 Unfunny sexual euphemisms abound, making for a lazy, R-rated comedy.
Where the Road Meets the Sun no

lots of missed connections, earnest but inorganic, trying hard but uninvolving
Café no

either mundane or clichéd — or both.
One Fall no

ultimately feels minor and superficial
First Dog no

spottily acted … corn and treacle.