instantwatcher.com

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

1. Ballplayer: Pelotero 2012 A scrappy documentary about teenage ballplayers in the Dominican Republic. full review
2. The Cabin in the Woods 2012 By the time the ride is over, director Drew Goddard and co-writers Goddard and Joss Whedon will change course three or four times, nodding and winking but never losing momentum. full review
3. Kill List 2012 "Kill List" has a slow build, but don't be lulled into complacency. This is one of the most violent and disturbing films you'll see in an art house. full review
4. The Moth Diaries 2012 Way too serious for its own good. full review
5. Ultrasonic 2012 An electronic score pulses throughout the film, which can be cliched in individual scenes but still goes in some unexpected directions. full review
6. The Devil's Double 2011 [It] does pick a solid lead actor in Dominic Cooper, whose impressive performance does a lot to distract from the story problems and strange tone shifts. full review
7. Dirty Girl 2011 Social satire, heartbreaking family drama and a lot of toe-tapping 1980s music attempt to exist in the same space. Watching this movie is like eating a hot fudge sundae and lasagna in alternating bites. full review
8. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy 2011 Movies about raising children or reconnecting with lost loves can be subtle and slow paced. But orgy movies need to go all out. There doesn't appear to be any other way. full review
9. Ironclad 2011 The core fan base of this English sword battle drama will pay for the boundary-pushing blood and gore. Why bore them with things like plot and context and production values? full review
10. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 2011 Young fans will lose their minds, although that would have happened if the film consisted of an hour and 45 minutes of Bieber brushing his teeth. Adult chaperones who care nothing of the star's music will find the film surprisingly tolerable. full review
11. Stake Land 2011 "Stake Land" bursts with action, ideas and interesting characters. full review
12. There Be Dragons 2011 "Dragons" may have seemed less out of place three decades ago, but it would have been a bad movie then as well. full review
13. True Legend 2011 The story is painfully simplistic, and it becomes quickly apparent that the narrative is a crude cement to hold together the carnage. full review
14. Undefeated 2011 It's a credit to directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Daniels that the personal stories of the kids and coaches resonate more than the wins and losses. full review
15. Casino Jack And The United States Of Money 2010 The snarky tone, use of musical puns and jokey graphics (was Keith Olbermann an executive producer?) undermine the impact of the story. full review
16. I'm Still Here 2010 I'm Still Here is like watching the 15 minutes in Boogie Nights where Dirk Diggler tries to become a recording artist, stretched into a full-length movie. full review
17. The Romantics 2010 The script fails to establish the likability of any of the main characters, which dulls the sense of urgency during the dramatic moments. full review
18. Tiny Furniture 2010 What Dunham lacks in polish, she makes up for in her ability to observe her generation, with the hardest truths coming at her own expense. full review
19. Blood: The Last Vampire 2009 If that sounds kind of hot, don't get your hopes up. full review
20. Collapse 2009 Collapse will leave you shaken about the future of the planet, and saddened about the shattered life of the messenger. full review
21. The House of the Devil 2009 There's a payoff in The House of the Devil, if you have the patience. Some of the scenes seem draggy, but the characters are complex, and their motivations are explained. full review
22. Kings of Pastry 2009 Beyond the treats, which are complicated and no doubt mind-bending to consume, the film has its layers as well. full review
23. The Missing Person 2009 There's a pretty good film if you give writer-director Noah Buschel a chance. The 31-year-old crafts a convincing noir tale, with a sense of realism that makes the experience pleasingly voyeuristic. full review
24. Survival of the Dead 2009 For the first time, a Romero zombie movie feels as if it was rushed out. full review
25. When You're Strange 2009 When You're Strange is a remedial Doors class, taught by a professor who sounds as if he's doing voiceovers for car commercials. full review
26. Play The Game 2008 Play the Game has all kinds of good intentions, but the comedy is too broad and the pacing is clumsy. Take away the dirty parts, and this is the type of thing you can get for free on the Hallmark Channel every day. full review
27. The Tale of Despereaux 2008 The Tale of Despereaux may not be a classic, but it still has a lot of class. full review
28. Hot Rod 2007 There's something that seems almost important about this picture. The creators have harnessed everything that's good about YouTube, and translated it into a big-screen movie. full review
29. Postal 2007 If this movie had been made by an unknown young director, a lot of critics would still be panning the movie for its inconsistencies -- but many others would be praising his courage. full review
30. Shooter 2007 The crushing two-hour-plus running time and Tom Clancy-for-dummies plot sabotage the film, which becomes particularly ridiculous in the last 30 minutes. full review
31. The Signal 2007 You will definitely appreciate this film's ambition, if not its execution. full review
32. Bloodrayne 2006 Uwe Boll is such a bad director that it must be intentional. full review
33. Curious George 2006 Although the makers of Curious George decided a 21st century update was necessary, they fill the movie with enough tributes to the Reys to take a lot of the sting away. full review
34. Jackass: Number Two 2006 I don't recall being in physical pain from laughing (which happened a couple of times during the first film), but the sequel still delivers what it promises. This is the Godfather II of tasteless prank films. full review
35. Severance 2006 If you can handle the warts-and-all filmmaking, Severance is definitely worth your time, if not your $9.50. In other words, wait a few months and definitely check it out as a rental. full review
36. Four Brothers 2005 A solidly built, yet forgettable revenge action movie that is notable mostly for its outstanding young cast. full review
37. Land of the Dead 2005 Land of the Dead is worth the wait, and dispels any fanboy concerns that the director was gone because he lost his mojo. full review
38. Serenity 2005 This genre picture is still a thrillingly original science fiction creation. full review
39. Once Upon a Time in Mexico 2003 Despite the movie's dark humor, violence and the occasional nonvoluntary facial surgery that will drive away the queasy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the most crowd-pleasing film in the series. full review