instantwatcher.com

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

1. 30 Beats 2012 That's all that happens: drift from one unrealized, uninteresting character to another. full review
2. 360 2012 Much like its own characters, it dithers too much - and it dares too little. full review
3. Act of Valor 2012 The filmmakers are so intent on shooting the real SEAL deal that they forget this is supposed to be a movie: We need a story. full review
4. Bachelorette 2012 Headland works hard to reconcile the wild and the tame; if she never quite gets the balance right, ya gotta admire her bold juxtaposition of overdose-resuscitation gags with lessons on self-loathing and bulimia. full review
5. Casa de mi padre 2012 It's really strange, and it's really subtitled. full review
6. Compliance 2012 We feel like gutless witnesses to a crime. full review
7. Dark Horse 2012 [Solondz] pulls one too many narrative stunts, with one too many dream sequences, calling into question the reality of everything that's happened - including that soap-operatic finale. full review
8. The Dictator 2012 This isn't the last word on cinematic send-ups of totalitarianism -- for that, we still have Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator -- but it's a fine and riotous jab in the ribs. full review
9. God Bless America 2012 In this "Falling Down" of pop-cultural observation, Goldthwait forgets the thrill of the chase; he's more concerned with piercing verbal barbs than actual suspense. full review
10. The Grey 2012 A handsome but gabby take on the standard survivalist thriller that's more concerned with lofty metaphysics than which poor blockhead is about to bite it next. full review
11. How to Survive a Plague 2012 When it's over, this documentary lingers as a testament to extraordinary human bravery. It stands as one of the most heartbreaking and suspenseful sagas of the year. full review
12. The Hunger Games 2012 It features a functioning creative imagination and lots of honest-to-goodness acting by its star, Jennifer Lawrence, who brings her usual toughness and emotional transparency to the archer-heroine Katniss. full review
13. The Imposter 2012 This is as much a film about self-deception as it is about deception, and as such, it is a study in pain. full review
14. Intruders 2012 If you don't guess the big twist in the first 30 minutes, "Intruders" is half of a good movie. If you do, it's about a third of a good movie. full review
15. The Invisible War 2012 It is far too difficult to watch. Which means we must. full review
16. L!fe Happens 2012 Coiro ... mixes an off-beat premise and smart, spiky dialogue with the tired old rhythms of a standard romantic comedy. full review
17. ParaNorman 2012 The world of Blithe Hollow exists in real space. The residents have real bags under their eyes, real bellies at their belt buckles. Ugliness alternates with rapturous beauty ... full review
18. The Queen of Versailles 2012 Through a clear lens unclouded by politics or blame, it offers insight into the hazardous American practice of living beyond our means. full review
19. Red Lights 2012 By strict definition, any movie featuring Robert De Niro as a spoon-bending clairvoyant superstar ought to hold a few cards up its sleeve. full review
20. Safe 2012 None of this bears much or any resemblance to the real world, but the violence crunches, the editing snaps and the humorous one-liners pop at well-timed junctures. full review
21. Sleepwalk With Me 2012 It all adds up to a fine, funny exercise in disheveled self-deprecation: a self-portrait of a guy who can't control a major portion of his life. full review
22. Tonight You're Mine 2012 The script is as bland as they come. full review
23. Hobo With a Shotgun 2011 full review
24. Extract 2009 Extract isn't an instant classic, but it bumps along agreeably, its humor culled from serial bad decisions, mock-romantic discontent and lots of spirited overacting ripe with good intentions. full review
25. Five Minutes of Heaven 2009 full review
26. The Fourth Kind 2009 Ultimately, the film's narrative segments are far too glossy and over-stylized, larded with ponderous scoring, obvious melodrama and split-screen visuals that offset the "reenactments" with the "real." full review
27. New York, I Love You 2008 It's a bit too arty, and a bit too cute, but it charms and cajoles with the pluck of a native New Yorker. full review
28. Shrink 2008 Some of the humor is delicious. And there are a few fine moments of truth and pathos, most of them addressing a subset of grief often ignored on film. full review
29. The Yes Men Fix the World 2008 Beyond question, the results are overstated, outrageous and wildly juvenile. But they're also a hoot to watch. full review