12 Top Movie Reviews

Here are the 12 top movie reviews that I’ve come across recently. Some are for newer films, but a few are throwbacks to movies currently available on DVD. I’ve included a links to each of them.

Avatar – Manohla Dargis is one of these critics who likes to use lots of big words, but the woman can write. Witness her gushing review for James Cameron’s Avatar, a film she refers to as “a trippy joy ride about the end of life–our moviegoing life included–as we know it.”
Leap Year – This romantic tale starring Amy Adams has drawn the ire of most critics, and Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe is no exception. In a well-written rant, he argues that the film contains “neither a trace of believability nor a sense of legitimate fun.”
Up in the Air – Critics have been fawning over this George Clooney film, but not Stephanie Zacharek from Salon.com. She calls it a “deboned version of Walter Kirn’s 2001 novel of the same name.” She also asserts that the film “comes off not as topical but as opportunist.” If you want to get a different perspective on a critically-lauded film, be sure to read this review.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel – It’s unsurprising that many grown critics would dump all over this children’s film, especially considering that the main characters are a trio of shrill-voiced rodents. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe is among the film’s detractors, going so far as to comment, “Little kids will love it. You’ll need a hazmat suit.”
Sherlock Holmes – The latest big screen version of Sherlock Holmes has performed well over the holiday season, and most critical responses were positive. Star Tribune critic Colin Covert liked the film, which he refers to as “a swashbuckling, pratfalling romp designed to make cerebral Holmes purists drop their monocles into their teacups.” The rest of his movie review is as compellingly-written as that excerpted.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil – A. Jaye, a UK novelist, writes DVD movie reviews for our site each week. His latest for Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the story of aging rockers pursuing their dreams of heavy metal glory, is his best review yet. He calls the film “manipulative but entertaining”.
Big Stan – This is among my favorite reviews that I’ve written. I was thrilled to work in the line, “If you’re a serial rapist, you might find Big Stan hilarious.“ This Rob Schneider comedy is billed by the star as an “anti-man raping film.” If that’s not a high comedy, then I don’t know what is.
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo – No mention of Rob Schneider would be complete with listing Roger Ebert’s hilarious take on the sequel to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. The review ends with the classic line, “Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.” You’ll need to read the whole review to fully appreciate the closing jab.
North – And before we move on, I wanted to share another of Roger Ebert’s top movie reviews. This one is for North, a comedy directed by Rob Reiner. To say he hated it would be an understatement, as Ebert damn near rains hellfire on the disappointing feature film. In the opening paragraph, he refers to it as “one of the most unpleasant, contrived, artificial, cloying experiences I’ve had at the movies.” And it gets worse from there.
The Hurt Locker – This movie is bound to get nominated for several Oscars, and Gregor Turley reviewed it back when it was still in limited release. Click to read his full thoughts, including why he called the film’s tension “physically palpable and exhausting.”
The September Issue - Each year, Vogue magazine publishes their massive September issue, a publication that has a great effect on the world of fashion. The woman behind it all is Anna Wintour, a legend in the industry who’s also subject to frequent parody and rumors. In this fascinating documentary, Wintour is examined in-depth, and critic Roxanne Downer takes a look at the whole affair. Read all about this film that she calls “deliciously catty and satisfyingly brilliant.”
Urban Cowboy – This John Travolta vehicle is an oldie but a goodie, and DVD critic Michael Muniz critiques it for A1 Movie Reviews. He refers to the characters as “primal” and the overall film as “very sexy.” On the flipside, he comments that Urban Cowboy is “predictable from start to finish.” Read the whole review and make up your own mind.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these 12 top movie reviews, but keep in mind that there are literally thousands of movie reviews available online. The best strategy is to find a movie critic or two that you really like, and then read their thoughts every week. I recommend Roxanne Downer or Gregor Turley, our resident critics at A1 Movie Reviews.

You can buy copies of many of these films at our Amazon link, and we’ll get a small commission which helps us pay for the hosting of the site, among other things.

You’ll probably also be interested in some of our other recent blog posts about movie reviews:

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 1:38 am and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Top Movie Reviews

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