instantwatcher.com

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine

  1. 2 Days in New York 2012 At least we'll always have 2 Days in Paris. full review
  2. Bachelorette 2012 The best reason to see Bachelorette is Dunst, once a child star with an uncanny ability to project maturity, now an actress with an ever-increasing range. full review
  3. Casa de mi padre 2012 About five minutes of its mercifully short 84 minutes would make a nice sketch on Ferrell's Funny or Die. full review
  4. Detachment 2012 Everywhere you turn in Detachment, someone is trying to make you feel like hell. full review
  5. The Do-Deca-Pentathlon 2012 Do-Deca is a stripped-down examination of male relationships and identity crisis. It's as if someone picked up a bromance and shook the dumb bits out. full review
  6. Girl In Progress 2012 The mystery of Eva Mendes' slow-simmering career continues. full review
  7. The Innkeepers 2012 The Innkeepers makes such youthful passivity seem nearly as treacherous as opening the cellar door. full review
  8. Jiro Dreams of Sushi 2012 It's beautifully photographed and explained at every stage from market to table, a foodie's dream night at the movies. The gentle shaping of the fish and sushi could lull you into a trance. A hungry trance. full review
  9. The Queen of Versailles 2012 I feel contempt for my contempt for these people. Whether that's my problem or the film's, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm leaning toward blaming Greenfield. full review
  10. Red Lights 2012 Red Lights reaches for a The Sixth Sense-style twist and whiffs it completely. full review
  11. Silent House 2012 Sarah does any number of silly things while scurrying through this not-so-silent house, but keeps the audience on her side; you want her to get out of the house immediately but you don't get annoyed with her when she can't. full review
  12. Albert Nobbs 2011 With its unpredictable sexual politics and quirky little hero/heroine Albert Nobbs has the edge of quinine, a peculiar taste that won't entice everyone but worked for me. full review
  13. Buck 2011 Buck has the air of a beautiful little mystery; even knowing the uplifting outcome, you wonder at the strength that brought him to this place. full review
  14. First Position 2011 At least half of these young dynamos and their families, all vying for coveted scholarships and spots in ballet companies, could brighten the most forlorn perspective on the state of the American dream. full review
  15. Friends With Benefits 2011 It is elevated by energetic dialogue, the sexual chemistry between the leads and the fact that the miscommunication that keeps bliss at bay - there's always one in a rom-com, and usually it is annoyingly unbelievable - is plausible. full review
  16. Margin Call 2011 Margin Call might have lost me completely if it weren't for Spacey, who delivers his meatiest, most nuanced work in years. full review
  17. Undefeated 2011 I wanted it blow my mind, to flatten me. Demanding, I know. full review
  18. Warrior 2011 Warrior's three principle characterizations are compelling - Nolte in particular gives a tempered performance as the shambling, sad-eyed wreck of a dad - but not enough to mask the film's lesser elements. full review
  19. Extract 2009 Judge's gifts parallel those of his leading man. His plotting is full of funny, unpredictable moments but lacks the grating hysteria of the comic genre. full review
  20. Ondine 2009 Intoxicatingly beautiful... full review