On the occasion of Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s release, we ranked all the films in the MCU.
The flicks below are the best things I got out to see in multiplexes and arthouses in 2009.
A present-tense record of nation-splitting turmoil, the film is a landmark of activist cinema.
As with the most maddening exemplars of Irish literature, the plot’s hallucinogenic intransigence is its own bitter joke.
Like Nine, and like Robert Altman’s Ready to Wear, this dud coasts entirely on the reputations of its participants.
Old Partner unfolds as an uncomfortably voyeuristic study in peasant-class misery.
The film provides Ellen Burstyn with a Very Special Awards-Bait Role as a dying opium addict.
The phenomenon of the holiday makes it necessary for practically everyone to get into the spirit of things.
Canons form based on availability.
Pop culture’s most enduring sleuth gets a welcome, modernized makeover in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.
Earlier this year in Toronto, we chatted about charlatans and artists, Monty Python and Faustian deals, and, finally, Heath Ledger.
The story is so paper-thin one surmises it was scrawled on soggy toilet paper somewhere.
The film is a galumphing bacchanal of illusionist clutter that’s frequently unwieldy but rarely less than deeply felt.
Never mind that the stars are spectacularly misaligned.
James Cameron outdoes himself by creating a numinous and oneiric universe.
James Cameron’s Avatar is through and through his baby.
A somewhat amusing yet trite example of the modern-day screwball comedy.
Another serial killer movie, and this one’s so bad it reaffirms how often we take even mediocre pictures for granted.
Nine is a passionless production by a creatively blocked director.
And now, let’s see who I can piss off this time.
The film simmers as a naturalistic drama of a haphazardly recreated family under strain.