Nationwide Releases
Certified Fresh: The Descent
The Descent
A group of women go spelunking, get caved in, and while trying to find another exit find something else much more horrible.
RT Score: 83%
RT Consensus: Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide this riveting, claustrophobic horror film.
“Made with a connoisseur’s love of muck, blood, inky darkness, and equal parts elegance and ewwww, The Descent raises the level of the post-Blair Witch, post-Open Water horror game.”
— Lisa Schwarzbaum
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Prepare to be scared senseless, and then, when you think you have it figured, your certainty will be shaken by scenes built to scare you even more.”
— Peter Travers
ROLLING STONE
“Hugely claustrophobic and skin-crawlingly intense … and then the flesh-eating monsters come out. Hyperbole be danged: This is the best, purest horror film in years.”
— Andrew Wright
THE STRANGER (SEATTLE, WA)
“The Descent pulls you down into a dark nightmare and doesn’t let you come up for air until the end-credits roll.”
— Staci Layne Wilson
ABOUT.COM
“Packed with slick surprises, jarring jolts, gruesome gore, and unbearable tension, The Descent is one of the best horror films of the past several years.”
— Scott Weinberg
EFILMCRITIC.COM
“The Descent doesn’t need to exist: a script that goes beyond outlandish. Actors who’d flunk out of Make Believe 101. Blind creatures that see things. Did we mention continuity?”
— Stephen Williams
NEWSDAY
Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Will Farrell takes on NASCAR.
RT Score: 75%
RT Consensus: Though it occasionally stalls, Talladega Nights’ mix of satire, clever gags, and excellent ensemble performances put it squarely in the winner’s circle.
“Excuse the viewers if they fall asleep at the wheel.”
— Phil Villarreal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
“The laughs come and go, but Ferrell makes NASCAR his bitch funny. Funnier. And more fun. And then the fun skids to a stop.”
— Peter Travers
ROLLING STONE
“This one scores laughs right down to its gloriously gaga climactic smooch.”
— Owen Gleiberman
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Outfitted with more bloated southern stereotypes than the parking lot at Shoney’s and bursting with red, white and blue, Ricky Bobby is a southern superhero who’s both charismatic and cavalier.”
— Mike Ward
RICHMOND.COM
“This isn’t a movie, it’s an infomercial, and one with an honest-to-god Applebee’s commercial that airs during the movie itself.”
— Pete Vonder Haar
FILM THREAT
The Night Listener
Robin Williams is an author and late-night talk show hosts who builds a relationship with a young listener. When he goes to meet him, he can’t find him anywhere.
RT Score: 43%
RT Consensus: This psychological thriller compels by blurring the line between truth and fiction; unfortunately, the film itself gets muddled in a hazy account of Maupin’s original novel.
“80 percent a superb thriller, backloaded with 20 percent gotcha and goodbye. That’s a scandalous way to treat a viewer.”
— Phil Villarreal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
“A potentially engrossing tale ineptly told.”
— Frank Swietek
ONE GUY’S OPINION
“The twisty but thin script is neither complex enough to be a fascinating character study nor exciting enough to be a satisfying thriller.”
— Matt Stevens
E! ONLINE
“A surprisingly taut thriller, even though there really isn’t anything that thrilling about the subject matter.”
— Jon Popick
PLANET SICK-BOY
“Adapted from Armistead Maupin’s highly anticipated, woefully executed 2000 novel, this is surely among the best bad movies of the year.”
— Wesley Morris
BOSTON GLOBE
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
The barnyard animals go all crazy when the humans are away.
RT Score: 29%
RT Consensus: Unimaginative and unfunny, this tale of barnyard mischief borders on udder creepiness and adds little to this summer’s repertoire of animated films.
“This often amusing but also aimless and forgettable animated comedy is noteworthy mostly for its random musical numbers and surprising amounts of violence.”
— Peter Hartlaub
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“The CG animation looks like rubbery plastic instead of animals, and much of it is spent on jokes related to derrieres and hindquarters.”
— Jeffrey M. Anderson
COMBUSTIBLE CELLULOID
“Barnyard is brought to us by the same comedic genius that made Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Use that as your personal gauge about how good (or bad) this movie will be.”
— Kevin Carr
7M PICTURES
“[T]he culture of juvenile pranks and misdemeanors and a nightly hoedown that combines a Vegas casino and a cattle-town country bar is more appropriate for older kids…”
— Sean Axmaker
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
“… an odd mix of coming of age film and an animated Babe where bulls wag exaggerated udders along with their feminine counterparts.”
— Laura Clifford
REELING REVIEWS
Limited Releases
My Country, My Country
For eight months around the January 2005 elections in Iraq, documentary shows how the U.S. occupation is affecting everyday life and one doctor’s election campaign.
RT Score: 86%
“Regardless of on which side of the fence viewers stand, this documentary will reverberate.”
— Joe O’Connell
AUSTIN CHRONICLE
“… easily the most valuable piece of film to emerge about the war in all of its three-plus years.”
— Michael Atkinson
VILLAGE VOICE
“Although this incisive documentary features an extraordinary Iraqi, it offers real insight into the general state of mind and peoples’ reactions to the American occupation.”
— John P. McCarthy
BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
“Often, the film is muddled — it isn’t until the second half that the doctor who is the main subject is revealed to be a Sunni who considers the people who blow up schools and police stations to be ‘the resistance.’”
— Kyle Smith
NEW YORK POST
“From its plaintive title to its melancholy soundtrack, My Country, My Country is an appropriately mournful look at the chaos of Iraq under American occupation.”
— Jeannette Catsoulis
NEW YORK TIMES
Quinceanera
A girl is about to turn fifteen and celebrate her special day (Quinceanera), when her family finds out she is pregnant. Shunned, she goes to live with her great-granduncle and her gay cousin who has also been rejected.
RT Score: 85%
RT Consensus: This slice-of-life story of a teenage girl in Echo Park is both a sweet crowd-pleaser and a perceptive look at socioeconomic community issues.
“… a we’re-down- with-the- locals indie kitchen-sink drama …”
— Lisa Schwarzbaum
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“While it’s certainly humorous and a little sentimental in places, this unique ensemble piece is finely attuned to the way real lives are lived right now.”
— Bob Strauss
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
“As sweet and gentle as it is, Quinceañera is quite clear-eyed about human cruelty and indifference.”
— Kevin Thomas
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Not only does it offer a refreshingly different view of Latin American life from the usual gangbanging, but it sharply notes the changing fortunes of L.A. minorities — Latino, gay or both — and the way social changes are reflected in real estate.”
— Ken Fox
TV GUIDE’S MOVIE GUIDE
The Bridesmaid
Two people meet at a wedding and fall madly in love quickly. Then the man starts to learn some unsettling things about his new girlfriend.
RT Score: 83%
RT Consensus: Chabrol has crafted another sophisticated, unsettling thriller about sinister doings among the bourgeoisie.
“Chabrol’s scrutiny of human behavior is remarkable for its laidback intensity and absence of finger-wagging.”
— Ed Gonzalez
SLANT MAGAZINE
“Skilfully adapted from a Ruth Rendell novel and set in a provincial French town, The Bridesmaid is a slyly enjoyable thriller with echoes of Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train.”
— Tom Dawson
BBC
“Much of the action here isn’t portrayed onscreen but is conveyed through dialogue … but, in the sister’s case, results in the audience not fully appreciating the situation or, worse, caring about it.”
— Annlee Ellingson
BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
“When the master of French thrillers Claude Chabrol meets the mistress of English suspense fiction Ruth Rendell, the result is a potent if very classic blend.”
— Deborah Young
VARIETY
“Now well into his 70s, Claude Chabrol — the French Hitchcock — continues to turn out enjoyable thrillers about skeletons in bourgeois closets.”
— V.A. Musetto
NEW YORK POST
The Boynton Beach Club
Old people find romance again at a local Bereavement Club.
RT Score: 61%
“A bittersweet comedy about aging Baby Boomers and their valiant efforts to find love and their share of happiness in an active adult community in Florida.”
— Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE
“Best seen as a pilot for a Golden Girls spinoff, ready for cancellation in week two.”
— Ella Taylor
L.A. WEEKLY
“It’s all harmless enough, predictable but refreshingly free from condescension, and will probably find a long life on cable television.”
— Glenn Whipp
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
Jailbait
A young guy gets sent to a maximum-security prison under the three-strikes law and becomes Mr. Submissive.
RT Score: 0%
“Jailbait argues that prison is an unpleasant place to spend time, but didn’t Oz already destroy any remaining romantic notions about life behind bars years ago?”
— Nick Schager
SLANT MAGAZINE
“Unless you like listening to graphic descriptions of gay sex, then don’t waste your money.”
— Eric Lurio
GREENWICH VILLAGE GAZETTE
“… the umpteenth prison drama to focus on the lurid threat of forced submission.”
— Jim Ridley
VILLAGE VOICE
“The cruelty of the law has been better demonstrated with news stories, and unless you’re a Californian with two strikes against you, I don’t know why you’d want to do this movie to yourself.”
— Jack Mathews
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
“I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to make a prison picture as utterly boring as Jailbait.”
— Lou Lumenick
NEW YORK POST
The L.A. Riot Spectacular
A parody of the 1992 L.A. riots.
RT Score: 0%
“Stunningly, the end of ‘The L.A. Riot Spectacular’ promises a sequel taking on the OJ Simpson trial. If I have to physically go to the west coast and prevent this from happening, I’m prepared to make that commitment.”
— Brian Orndorf, EFILMCRITIC.COM
“A film that works overtime to offend each and every ethnic group and economic class that makes up the smoggy purgatory of Los Angeles while simultaneously patting itself on the back for being so putatively daring, The L.A. Riot Spectacular is a cynical exercise in erstwhile satire that s all the more frustrating for the wasted opportunity it represents.”
— Chris Barsanti, FILMCRITIC.COM
Surprisingly, I actually liked this movie a lot. Foxy Rachel McAdams is some kind of manager at some swanky hotel in Miami where VIPs frequently stay. It so happens that some big Homeland Security guy is checking in there tonight, though that’s very hush hush. She’s flying back there from the west coast on a red eye flight and keeps bumping into super creepy Cilian Murphy in the airport lines and at the bar. Miraculously, they are also sitting together on the flight. The story proceeds to go on that Cilian Murphy is setting up a hit on Mr. Homeland Security and is quasi-holding Rachel McAdams’ father hostage unless she helps set it up from the inside of the hotel. She then proceeds to do all of this crazy stuff to save her father and Mr Homeland Security.
Sharon went up and sang “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. She was fine besides being nervous in the beginning. Lynz put some songs in to sing, but then ended up grabbing them back. Keiran couldn’t make up his mind and then never put a song in. I finally found “Take the Skinheads Bowling” by Camper Van Beethoven, which I knew I could sing since I can sing as well as Dave Lowery (not at all). I put that in. Marci was still looking through the book.
