instantwatcher.com

Susan Stark, Detroit News

1. Bloody Sunday 2002 Would that Greengrass had gone a tad less for grit and a lot more for intelligibility. full review
2. Bowling for Columbine 2002 There is simply no doubt that this film asks the right questions at the right time in the history of our country.
3. Changing Lanes 2002 Directed with purpose and finesse by England's Roger Mitchell, who handily makes the move from pleasing, relatively lightweight commercial fare such as Notting Hill to commercial fare with real thematic heft.
4. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys 2002 A flawed but fascinating piece. full review
5. Igby Goes Down 2002 Steers shows mastery of a truly tricky point of view. He's immensely aided in the cause by an A-list cast.
6. The New Guy 2002 full review
7. Paid in Full 2002 full review
8. Punch-Drunk Love 2002 It's wacky. It's unpredictable. It's sure to give pause to Sandler fans and, smaller in number but every bit as dedicated, to Watson admirers too. full review
9. Rollerball 2002 full review
10. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams 2002 A fantastical fun house of a film, one that freely, joyfully, considerately expands upon themes set forth in last summer's sleeper family audience hit. full review
11. Star Trek - Nemesis 2002 Star Trek: Nemesis spins a fascinating and, finally, quite moving variation on an old saw: You're your own worst enemy.
12. Stuart Little 2 2002 Like the hugely successful first film, the sequel provides pleasant, engaging if largely disposable entertainment for the general audience. full review
13. The Sum of All Fears 2002 Bold, imaginative, rational and persuasive an account of the lethally dangerous world we live in, The Sum of All Fears is an international spy drama with visceral impact.
14. Treasure Planet 2002 Moody, involving and endlessly inventive, Treasure Planet lacks only the element of delight, of joyfulness that marks the very best animation has to offer.
15. Windtalkers 2002 Directed without the expected flair or imagination by Hong Kong master John Woo, Windtalkers airs just about every cliche in the war movie compendium across its indulgent two-hour-and-fifteen-minute length. full review
16. Black Hawk Down 2001 Black Hawk Down sends you away impressed, properly horrified and then thoughtful about the lessons ignored from the battle it exhaustively describes. full review
17. Along Came a Spider 2001 No matter how average the script, the direction or the company, any movie that stars Freeman is worth two hours and nearly 10 bucks. full review
18. America's Sweethearts 2001 You go to America's Sweethearts anticipating a prime flossy, glossy entertainment. You come away better by a few laughs but with expectations sadly deflated. full review
19. The Animal 2001 full review
20. Atlantis - The Lost Empire 2001 Certainly, the eye is busy throughout this movie. Verbally, however, it's an often-daunting affair. full review
21. Gosford Park 2001 Disappointing is too soft a choice of words. full review
22. Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India 2001 A one-stop shopping experience in the cinema of the subcontinent. full review
23. The Musketeer 2001 Regularly if inadvertently, Catherine Deneuve provides The Musketeer with its sole point of fascination. full review
24. Rat Race 2001 Terminally dumb, noisy and tasteless, Rat Race is the quintessential big-studio August movie, one for the summer season's dumping ground.
25. Sexy Beast 2001 full review
26. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider 2001 Its heavily mined narrative throws all sorts of ridiculous twists into the mix in order to put Croft through her punishing paces. full review
27. Tomcats 2001 An inept, gross variation on Farrelly brothers' themes.
28. Vanilla Sky 2001 A hopeless jumble of romance, psychodrama, sci-fi and spiritual posturing. full review
29. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle 2000 A sweet treat for the family audience. full review
30. Billy Elliot 2000 A model of purposefulness; a movie rich, but not lost, in background detail and fair-minded in its account of Thatcherite woes to the working class. full review
31. Blow Dry 2000 full review
32. The Gift 2000 A glorious textbook example of a gifted film maker's ability to transform a familiar genre and, thrillingly, to confound our expectations in the process. full review
33. Hamlet 2000 Icy-cold in its palette and unwaveringly cool in its application of modern settings and gizmos to a text that stands up to endless reinvention, this is a Hamlet that brings imagination matched by thoughtfulness to its appeal to both eye and ear.
34. Happy Accidents 2000 full review
35. Hard Core Logo 2000 full review
36. Malena 2000 Funny as it is sobering. full review
37. Meet the Parents 2000 With all due respect to giggles, though, you would do better to rent Raging Bull. full review
38. Memento 2000 full review
39. Merci Pour le Chocolat 2000 An elegant, exquisitely modulated psychological thriller.
40. Mission: Impossible 2 2000 Bottom line, M:I-2 seems destined to create the kind of excitement and box-office punch that insiders have been predicting since the turn of the century. full review
41. The Original Kings of Comedy 2000 You can almost feel the electric charge between the huge, packed auditorium in Charlotte, N.C., where the film was shot, and the four comic originals on stage. full review
42. Our Song 2000 Confirms [McKay's] gift for catching ordinary folk in authentic terms on film. full review
43. Quills 2000 full review
44. Scary Movie 2000 A movie that keeps testing just how low it can go. full review
45. Shaft 2000 Sleek, urgent, knowing, gleefully profane and above all ultra-cool, Shaft blows into the summer movie season like a breath of fresh air. full review
46. The Taste of Others 2000 full review
47. The Tigger Movie 2000 An engaging romp. full review
48. Traffic 2000 In compelling terms, it puts bitter economic, social and racial truth before our eyes. Continue to blink or see. Your choice. full review
49. But I'm A Cheerleader 1999 full review
50. Double Jeopardy 1999 Piles one loony twist on another with dizzying abandon when it's not bogged down drinking up scenery that has been exploited to a fare-thee-well on the big screen. full review
51. For Love of the Game 1999 full review
52. The General's Daughter 1999 The General's Daughter is an overheated thriller populated by actors who far outclass the material. full review
53. An Ideal Husband 1999 full review
54. Man on the Moon 1999 This is a movie that testifies in blisteringly persuasive terms to the intense, particular genius of Jim Carrey. full review
55. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1999 A magical film! full review
56. The Muse 1999 There are bits in this movie that are so bright, so amusing and so truly, madly, deeply tied to a life most of us will never know, that you can't help watching the film with fascination. full review
57. My Life so Far 1999 full review
58. October Sky 1999 It is a film that treats its teen-aged hero and his pals as distinctive, sentient human beings. full review
59. Plunkett & Macleane 1999 full review
60. Ride with the Devil 1999 full review
61. Runaway Bride 1999 full review
62. She's All That 1999 full review
63. Snow Falling on Cedars 1999 Snow Falling on Cedars makes its most powerful impression in totally silent stretches. full review
64. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut 1999 Raunchy, riotously irreverent and thrillingly rangy! full review
65. Superstar 1999
66. Teaching Mrs. Tingle 1999 As a routinely cruel, often vicious, miserably unhappy teacher, Mirren offers a complex, brilliantly disciplined performance! full review
67. Topsy-Turvy 1999 full review
68. Waking the Dead 1999 full review
69. A Walk on the Moon 1999 full review
70. The War Zone 1999 full review
71. Another Day In Paradise 1998 Woods creates another of his patented high-voltage characters. full review
72. Black Dog 1998 full review
73. Clay Pigeons 1998
74. Disturbing Behavior 1998 full review
75. Godzilla 1998 full review
76. Half Baked 1998 full review
77. High Art 1998 full review
78. The Impostors 1998 full review
79. Kurt & Courtney 1998 full review
80. Little Voice 1998 full review
81. The Mask of Zorro 1998
82. Mercury Rising 1998 full review
83. Next Stop Wonderland 1998 full review
84. A Night at the Roxbury 1998
85. Pi 1998
86. Primary Colors 1998 The movie itself makes no judgment. It's smart enough to ask you to do that by yourself and for yourself. full review
87. Psycho 1998
88. The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) 1998 full review
89. Return to Paradise 1998
90. The Rugrats Movie 1998 full review
91. Shakespeare in Love 1998 With glittering shows of erudition and playfulness, Shakespeare in Love mixes history, fiction, comedy and romance to create a pure joy of a movie! full review
92. Slums of Beverly Hills 1998 full review
93. Velvet Goldmine 1998 full review
94. Very Bad Things 1998 ...uneven but frequently funny... full review
95. What Dreams May Come 1998 In both concept and execution, they testify to painfully banal sensibilities. full review
96. Anaconda 1997
97. The Apostle 1997 full review
98. As Good As It Gets 1997 Urbane, alert, funny, compassionate. full review
99. Breakdown 1997 A classic summer movie that has smarts plus sizzle. full review
100. Chasing Amy 1997 Often funny but ultimately wrenching full review
101. Cop Land 1997
102. The Devil's Own 1997 full review
103. Eve's Bayou 1997 full review
104. Face/Off 1997
105. The Frighteners 1997 full review
106. Good Will Hunting 1997 Between this film and John Grisham's The Rainmaker, Damon surfaces as one swell addition to the front line of screen actors. full review
107. Gridlock'd 1997 full review
108. Home Alone 3 1997 full review
109. Hoodlum 1997 full review
110. How to Be a Player 1997 full review
111. Jackie Brown 1997 [A] surprisingly sluggish Tarantino piece. full review
112. Liar Liar 1997 This is Carrey's most mature (and mainstream) comic turn, with flashes of introspection and tenderness. full review
113. Mimic 1997 full review
114. Mrs. Brown 1997 full review
115. The Peacemaker 1997 full review
116. Private Parts 1997 This is Sterno, not heat, but still plenty rude, crude and lewd. full review
117. Red Corner 1997 full review
118. She's So Lovely 1997 full review
119. A Smile Like Yours 1997 full review
120. Switchback 1997 full review
121. Trekkies 1997 full review
122. Welcome to Sarajevo 1997 full review
123. The Wings of the Dove 1997 full review
124. Michael Collins 1996
125. 101 Dalmatians 1996 full review
126. Albino Alligator 1996 full review
127. Beautiful Girls 1996
128. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America 1996 full review
129. Bottle Rocket 1996 full review
130. Brassed Off 1996 full review
131. The First Wives Club 1996 full review
132. Flirting With Disaster 1996 full review
133. Happy Gilmore 1996 full review
134. James and the Giant Peach 1996 full review
135. Jingle All the Way 1996 full review
136. Jude 1996 full review
137. Love Serenade 1996 full review
138. The Nutty Professor 1996 The Nutty Professor isn't much of a movie, but it's certainly a prime showcase for Eddie Murphy's enormous talent. full review
139. The Pallbearer 1996 full review
140. Restoration 1996 full review
141. Ridicule 1996 full review
142. Scream 1996 full review
143. Sgt. Bilko 1996 full review
144. Sling Blade 1996 full review
145. The Substitute 1996 full review
146. Trainspotting 1996 full review
147. Trees Lounge 1996 full review
148. Unhook the Stars 1996 full review
149. Cry, the Beloved Country 1995 full review
150. Dead Man 1995 full review
151. Eye For An Eye 1995 full review
152. A Month by the Lake 1995 full review
153. Sudden Death 1995
154. Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead 1995 full review