instantwatcher.com

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

1. Bloody Sunday 2002 A great achievement: tense and passionate, a film that one feels not just emotionally but also physically. full review
2. Irreversible 2002 Is there a point to this spew, a cry against the mongrel violence of men? Or is Noe merely a sadist who enjoys inflicting ugly, pitiless images on his audience? full review
3. Ram Dass: Fierce Grace 2002 A generous, inspiring film that unfolds with grace and humor and gradually becomes a testament to faith. full review
4. America's Sweethearts 2001 Doesn't contain a single genuine emotion. It's just as bogus and hollow as the movie business it portrays. full review
5. The American Astronaut 2001 Hit-and-miss comedy. full review
6. The Fluffer 2001 Glatzer and Wash try to explore the nature of obsession and the ambiguity of sexual categories in The Fluffer, but it's hard to give two hoots about any of these characters. full review
7. Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India 2001 A rippingly good, old-fashioned movie epic that takes the best of Bollywood cinema ... and elevates it for an international audience. full review
8. No Such Thing 2001 Hartley never gets a firm grasp on this material. full review
9. Session 9 2001 The story doesn't quite pay off, characters are underwritten and the surprise ending is contrived and unconvincing. full review
10. Vanilla Sky 2001 The film's aim -- to dazzle and inspire -- is sapped by Cruise's vein-popping, running-the-marathon performance. full review
11. Wet Hot American Summer 2001 A sloppy, unhinged hellzapoppin that occasionally hits its targets but more often seems out of control and desperate to please. full review
12. Dark Days 2000 full review
13. Gangster No. 1 2000 Doesn't offer much besides glib soullessness, raunchy language and a series of brutal set pieces ... that raise the bar on stylized screen violence. full review
14. The Gift 2000 Logic is mocked, plot strands capriciously abandoned. Actors chew upholstery, and the heroine has so many 'Don't open that door, lady!' moments that the movie starts to play like an unintended parody of overblown hokum. full review
15. Memento 2000 Bound to be talked about, debated and eviscerated far more than it's understood. full review
16. Merci Pour le Chocolat 2000 Merci Pour le Chocolat has a restraint and rigor that we don't see in commercial American films, the kind that a director creates when he has no interest in sentimentality or in soliciting the audience's favor. full review
17. Our Song 2000 The movie's soul isn't its plot but the relationships among the girls. full review
18. Scream 3 2000 Fulfills its modest ambitions by delivering a glib slasher spoof for the mall crowd. full review
19. The Taste of Others 2000 Rich with vivid characters and revelations about the illogical yet human ways in which we crash and intersect. full review
20. Traffic 2000 With Traffic, his most ambitious and complex film to date, Soderbergh again proves himself one of our most inventive filmmakers. full review
21. Being John Malkovich 1999 It's tremendously entertaining, and probably worthy of repeat viewings. full review
22. An Ideal Husband 1999 [T]his Husband plods and ambles and bears the burden of a soundtrack that resembles a wimpy meditation tape. full review
23. Joe the King 1999 full review
24. Snow Falling on Cedars 1999 Plodding and self-serious. full review
25. Superstar 1999 Delivers plenty of laughs and succeeds on a level that recent SNL movies didn't. full review
26. The War Zone 1999 full review
27. Black Dog 1998 full review
28. Eternity and a Day 1998 A gorgeous elegy of a film. full review
29. Kurt & Courtney 1998 full review
30. Psycho 1998 Vaughn and Heche bring energy and freshness to the parts originated by Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. Heche is so good, in fact, and so frisky and watchable in her role, that after her grisly demise in the shower you miss her for a long time. full review
31. Relax ... It's Just Sex 1998 full review
32. Velvet Goldmine 1998 full review
33. The Apostle 1997 full review
34. Chasing Amy 1997 Lacks insight and finesse, and feels like a boldfaced Rorschach for Smith's own hang-ups. full review
35. The Frighteners 1997 An object lesson in what to avoid when making the transition from low-budget films to studio productions. full review
36. The House of Yes 1997 Presumably it worked far better onstage, where MacLeod's absurdist tale and self-conscious, Beckett-like wordplay probably found a friendlier context. full review
37. How to Be a Player 1997 full review
38. Mrs. Brown 1997 full review
39. Office Killer 1997 It can't decide what it wants to be -- slasher fest, social satire or revenge comedy -- and ends up being an awkward goulash. full review
40. Private Parts 1997 Surprisingly entertaining but grossly dishonest. full review
41. Welcome to Sarajevo 1997 A compelling but jumbled film that examines the line between journalistic detachment and passion. full review
42. The Wings of the Dove 1997 full review
43. Albino Alligator 1996 full review
44. Basquiat 1996 full review
45. Beautiful Girls 1996 It's the women who break the monotony of this dudes-in-flux saga... full review
46. Boyfriends 1996 full review
47. The First Wives Club 1996 full review
48. Flirting With Disaster 1996 full review
49. Happy Gilmore 1996 It may smell awful from a distance, especially if you have low tolerance for lowbrow humor, but up close this yarn about an unlikely golf star is fairly painless. full review
50. Jingle All the Way 1996 full review
51. The Nutty Professor 1996 This is a chance to see Murphy doing what he does best, and for that alone it's worth seeing. full review
52. Ridicule 1996 full review
53. Sling Blade 1996 All the actors in Sling Blade do magnificent work, but it's Thornton who stays with you for days. full review
54. Walking and Talking 1996 full review
55. Butterfly Kiss 1995 full review
56. The Crossing Guard 1995 full review
57. Dead Man 1995 full review
58. The Doom Generation 1995 Amy's a screaming, speed-addled banshee, and not the sort of chick you'd want to run into late at night (or spend 85 minutes with in a darkened theater). full review
59. Fallen Angels 1995 Wong brings tremendous vigor and audacity to the effort, asking us to question the most basic rules of storytelling and commercial filmmaking. full review
60. Fire on the Mountain 1995 full review
61. Four Rooms 1995 The result is a batch of shrill, self-indulgent sketches that turn so wretched in spots you start to wonder if the filmmakers wanted them to be bad. full review
62. Sister My Sister 1995 full review
63. Smoke 1995 full review
64. Heavenly Creatures 1994 full review
65. Love and a .45 1994 full review
66. Nell 1994 full review
67. I, the Worst of All 1990 full review
68. Barbarella 1968 Fonda looks sensational and glides through this romp like a dazed, ripe-to-the- touch innocent. full review