Movie Reviews by Jules Brenner

Quote for modern times:
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

            Albert Einstein

Click the picture for the review

*CINEMA SIGNALS*	Alphabetic Order \| Books \| DVD Movies \| Music (CDs & DVDs) \| Restaurants (of Los Angeles)
Green light, GO! Green&Amber, Good for some audiences Amber light, Somebody will like it Red light, Only the filmmakers like it Completely hopeless * Academy nomination expected ~ Love story ~ Festival entrant or winner ~ Comedy ~ [ND]: Not Distributed in USA (So far)

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Arthouse & Foreign Fare

[ 2010 ] "The Secret In Their Eyes"

* [Release not announced]
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

* [3/18/10]

[ 2009 ] "Jerichow"

[ 2008 ] "Shall We Kiss?"

*
"Retrieval"

*
"Bonneville"

"The Children of Huang Shi"

"4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days"

"The Counterfeiters"

Documentary Bin
[2009] "Leonard Cohen at The Isle of Wight 1970"
"In Search of Beethoven"
"The Perfect Cappuccino"
"Stock Shock"
"Earth: Nature's Most Amazing Events"
"60 Minutes Presents: Obama: All Access- Barack Obama's Road to the White House"
"Ballerina"

[2008] "Courting Condi"
"Stranded: I've Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" [DOC]
"In Search of Mozart"
"America the Beautiful"
"Poisoned by Polonium:
The Litvinenko File"
"Cool School: How L.A. Learned to Love Modern Art"
"Up the Yangtze"
"Bloodline"
"Forever"
"Young & Restless in China"
"Orthodox Stance"

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2010 Reviews:
"The Book of Eli" (Denzell Washington, Gary Oldman) ]

2009 Reviews:
"Avatar" (Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana) ]
"Sherlock Holmes" (Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law) [12/25]
"It's Complicated" (Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin) A comedy
"Up In the Air" (George Clooney, Vera Farmiga)
"Crazy Heart" (Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal) ]
"Brothers" (Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal)
"The Lovely Bones" (Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg)
"Precious: : Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" (Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique)
"The Road" (Viggo Mortensen, Kodi McPhee)
"Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans" (Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes)
"An Education" (Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard)
"The Messenger" (Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster)
"Pirate Radio" (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Sturridge) A comedy
"Jennifer's Body" (Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried)
"The Fourth Kind" (Milla Jovovich, Will Patton)
"Michael Jackson's This Is It" (Michael Jackson)
"Turning Green" (James Gallery, Timothy Hutton)
"The Damned United" (Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall)
"Where the Wild Things Are" (James Gandolfini, Max Records)
"Buddenbrooks" (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Jessica Schwarz)
"Surrogates" (Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell)
"A Serious Man" (Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick)
"Bright Star" (Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw)
"The Informant!" (Matt Damon, Scott Bakula)
"WhiteOut" (Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerritt)
"Inglorious Basterds" (Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent)
"District 9" (Sharlto Copley, Vanessa Haywood)
"The Time Traveler's Wife" (Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams)
"Shrink" (Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows)
"(500) Days of Summer" (Zooey Dschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson)
"Off Jackson Avenue" (John-Luke Montias, Jessica Pimentel)
"Public Enemies" (Johnny Depp, Marion Clotilard)
"The Hurt Locker" (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie)
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox)
"Moon" (Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey)
"The Taking of Pelham 123" (Denzel Washington, John Travolta)
Land of the Lost (Will Ferrell, Anna Friel)

Downloading Nancy (Maria Bello, Jason Patric)

Up (Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai)

Drag Me To Hell (Alison Lohman, Justin Long)
Terminator Salvation (Christian Bale, Sam Worthington)
Angels & Demons (Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer)
"Star Trek" (Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine)
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber)
State of Play (Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck)
"Bruno" (Sasha Baron Cohen) A comedy
"Fighting" (Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard)
"Fast & Furious" (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker)
"Skills Like This" (Spencer Berger, Kerry Knuppe)
"Knowing" (Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne)
"Duplicity" (Julia Roberts, Clive Owen)
"Watchmen" (Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman)
"An American Affair" (Gretchen Mol, Cameron Bright)
"The Boys Are Back" (Clive Owen, George McAnulty)
"He's Just Not That Into You" (Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Affleck)
"Donkey Punch" (Sian Brecklin, Robert Boulter)
"Inkheart" (Brendan Fraser, Eliza Hope Bennett)
"Taken" (Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace)
"Adam Resurrected" (Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe)

"Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia"

2008 Reviews:
"Last Chance Harvey" (Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson) A comedy
"Good" (Viggo Mortensen, Jacob Isaacs)
"Revolutionary Road" (Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet)
"The Reader" (Kate Winslet, David Kross) *
"Seven Pounds" (Will Smith, Rosario Dawson)
"Nothing But the Truth" (Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon)
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett)
"The Wrestler" (Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei) [12/19]
"Gran Torino" (Clint Eastwood)
"Doubt" (Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman)
"Eagle Eye" (Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan)
"While She Was Out" (Kim Basinger, Lukas Haas)
"Defiance" (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber)
"Frost/Nixon" (Frank Langella, Michael Sheen)
"Punisher: War Zone" (Ray Stevenson, Julie Benz)
"Australia" (Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman)
"Milk" (Sean Penn, Josh Brolin)
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Dev Patel, Freida Pinto) *
"Nights In Rodanthe" (Richard Gere, Diane Lane)
"Gomorrah"
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (Asa Butterfield, Vera Farmiga)
"City of Ember" (Saiorse Ronan, Bill Murray)
"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" (Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks)
"Changeling" (Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich)
Synecdoche, New York" (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Mortimer) A comedy
"Let the Right One In" (Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson)
"I've Loved You So Long" (Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein)
"Pride and Glory" (Edward Norton, Jr., Colin Farrell)
"W." (Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks)
"What Just Happened?" (Robert DeNiro, Bruce Willis)
"The Express" (Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown)
"Humboldt County" (Fairuza Balk, Jeremy Strong)
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan) A comedy
"Body of Lies" (Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe)
"Rachel Getting Married" (Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt)
"Lakeview Terrace" (Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson)
"Appaloosa" (Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen)
"Traitor" (Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce)
"Burn After Reading" (George Clooney, John Malkovich) A comedy
Sukiyaki Western Django
"Bangkok Dangerous" (Nicolas Cage, Charlie Yongue)
"Death Race" (Jason Statham, Joan Allen)
"Tropical Thunder" (Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr)
"Elegy" (Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz)
"Bottle Shock" (Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman)
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (Brendan Foster, Jet Li)
"Swing Vote" (Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll)
"Frozen River" (Melissa Leo, Misty Upham)
"The Dark Knight" (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger)
"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson)
"Mamma Mia" (Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried)
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Ron Perlman, Selma Blair)
"The Wackness" (Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby)
"Hancock" (Will Smith, Charlize Theron)
"Tell No One" (Francoise Cluzet, Marie-Josee Croze)
"Wall-E" A comedy
"The Edge of Heaven"
"Wanted" (Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy)
"The Happening" (Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel)
"The Incredible Hulk" (Edward Norton, Liv Tyler)
"The Strangers"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (Harrison Ford, Karen Allen)
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (Ben Barnes, Anna Popplewell)
"Speed Racer" (Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci)
"Iron Man" (Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow)
"The Ruins" (Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone)
"Redbelt" (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alice Braga)
"The Life Before Her Eyes" (Evan Rachel Wood, Uma Thurman)
"Street Kings" (Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker)
"Smart People" (Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker)
"Jack and Jill vs the World" (Freddie Prinze Jr., Taryn Manning)
"Leatherheads" (George Clooney, Renee Zellwegger)
"The Visitor"
"Flawless" (Demi Moore, Michael Caine)
"Run Fatboy Run" (Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton)
"21" (Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey)
"Boarding Gate" (Asia Argento, Michael Madson)
"Vantage Point" (Dennis Quaid, William Hurt)
"Sleepwalking" (Charlize Theron, Nick Stahl) -
"Funny Games" (Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt)
"Snow Angels" (Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell)
"Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" (Frances McDormand, Amy Adams) A comedy
"The Other Boleyn Girl" (Scarlet Johansson, Natalie Portman) +
"Cloverfield"
"Charlie Bartlett" (Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey, Jr.)
"Diary of the Dead" (Joshua Close, Michelle Morgan)
"Fool's Gold" (Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson)
"In Bruges" (Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson) A comedy
"The Hottie & the Nottie" (Paris Hilton, Christine Lakin)

"Four Minutes"
"Paranoid Park"
"Undoing"
"Orthodox Stance"
"Beaufort"
"The Grand"
"Sex and Death 101" A comedy
"Forever"
"Lost in Beijing"
"Water Lilies"
"Bloodline"
"The Children of Huang Shi"
"Up the Yangtze"
"Bonneville"
"Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic"
"Jumper"
"The Visitor"
"The Strangers"
"Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File"
"Kabluey"
"Yella"
"Edge of Heaven"
"War, Inc." A comedy
"City of Men"
"Retrieval"
America the Beautiful
Deal
Reprise
Man On Wire
Days and Clouds
The Tree of Life
Dear Zachary
Eden
The Class
Pathology

Prior Years

2007
Reviews
2006
Reviews
2005
Reviews
2004
Reviews

2003
Reviews
2002
Reviews
2001
Reviews
1999-2000
Reviews

Oscar Nominations
(2009)
for the Academy Awards, 3/7/10

Best of the Year
(2009)
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Up
Star Trek
State of Play
Jerichow

Indies of Special Note
(2009)
"The Hurt Locker"
"Sin Nombre"
"Off Jackson Avenue"
"Precious"

Surprise Hits
(2009)
"District 9"
"The Hurt Locker"
"The Proposal"
"The Other Side"

Best Screenplays
(2009)
"Sin Nombre"

Best in Animation
(2009)
Up
Coraline

Award Buzz
(2009)
"The Hurt Locker"
(Best Actor, Jeremy Renner)

Best Musical
(2009)
This Is It

Most Overrated
(2009)
"Up In the Air"
"Creation"
"A Single Man"

Top Grossers, Summer 2009
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (Paramount) / $399.6
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Bros.) / $295.1
"Up" (Disney) / $289.9
"The Hangover"(Warner Bros.) / $270.7
"Star Trek" (Paramount) / $256.8
(Box Office Mojo, 9/4/2009)
Best CGI Effects
(2009)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

DVDs You've Got To Have
(2009)
No Country For Old Men
Stranded: I've Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" [DOC]
Johnny Got His Gun

Oscar Nominations
(2008)

Check out all of our

MARQUEE VIDEOS
(here or on YouTube)

Worst
(2009)
Land of the Lost
Lost in a haze of satiric unfunniness. Bruno
Ahem, Mr. Cohen, you're pushing it. Jennifer's Body
Oh, so badly written A Single Man
Singularly overrated. Creation
Not only another terrible biopic but one of the worst of the epoch)

Best of the Year
(2008)
The Edge of Heaven
Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader
Ironman
"Moscow Belgium" *
The Counterfeiters
(Best Foreign Language film, 2007)
Four Minutes
(In German)

Award Buzz
(2008)
The Edge of Heaven
(Best Foreign Language film of the year)
Frost/Nixon
(Best Actor Performance by Frank Langella)
Milk
(Best Actor Performance by Sean Penn)
Doubt
(Best Actor Performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman)
The Wrestler
(Breakthrough performance by Mickey Rourke)
The Dark Knight
(Best Supporting Actor Performance by Heath Ledger)
The Visitor
(Modestly excellent performance by Richard Jenkins)
Doubt
(Best Actress Performance by Meryl Streep)
I've Loved You So Long
(Best Actress Performance by Kristin Scott Thomas)
Frozen River
(Outstanding performance by Mellisa Leo)
Revolutionary Road
(Best Actress Performance by Kate Winslet)
Rachel Getting Married
(Possible Best Actress Performance by Anne Hathaway)
The Reader
(Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet)
Slumdog Millionairre
(Best Director: Danny Boyle)
Slumdog Millionairre
(Best Adapted Screenplay: Danny Boyle)
The Reader
(Best Adapted Screenplay: David Hare)
Slumdog Millionairre
(Best Soundtrack score by A.R. Rahman)

Worst
(2008)
Deal
Sex and Death 101
While She Was Out

Most sensual
(2008)
Boarding Gate

Funniest
(2008)
Moscow Belgium
Get Smart
Hancock
In Bruges

Least Funny (of those trying to be)
(2008)
The Hottie & the Nottie
War, Inc.
Ghost Town
Drillbit Taylor

Best in Animation
(2008)
Bolt
Wall-E (1st act)

Best in Documentary
(2008)
Man on Wire
Courting Condi
"Stranded"

Best in Horror
(2008)
Let the Right One In

Interactive Feedback Leaders
Atonement
Into the Wild
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

JB reviews on Reuters
(It changes, so you could get a blank page)

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" has outgrossed "The Incredibles" and "The Passion of the Christ" in worldwide earnings (6/19/08) and "Iron Man" has outswung "King Kong." Crashing over both of them is "Death Race." Want to see the current line up of all-time boxoffice hits and see which is the most successful Harry Potter and what movie tops them all?
Click this button for a list that may surprise you.
Click this button for more reviews than you see on the list:

Worthy of note:
Read My Lips
(French crime film noir with unexpected twists)
Talk To Her
Nominated, Best Original Screenplay
Edge of Madness
Superb story and storytelling, avail on DVD

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