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Now Playing Magazine

Now Playing Magazine is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Brent Simon, Brian Thomas, Eric Moro, Scott Collura.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
1/5
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011) Phil Brown
Posted Jan 22, 2013  Edit critic review
3/5
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) Glenn Sumi
Posted Jan 22, 2013  Edit critic review
D-
Eaten Alive (1976) Brent Simon This bayou-set, thinly imagined Psycho knock-off is little more than a derisible piece of slasher mayhem, notable for Tobe Hooper's association and costar Roberta Collins' assertion that star Neville Brand later tried to sexually assault her.
Posted Sep 23, 2006  Edit critic review
C
The King (2005) Brent Simon A Southwestern American pastoral of dormant menace, The King is a film of triple-dipped mood that turns on an act of shocking violence, but still seems to substitute willful indistinctness for insight.
Posted Sep 22, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
The Break-Up (2006) Brent Simon There's nothing broken about The Break-Up, which turns rom-com conventions on their side in free-wheeling fashion, and in doing so colorfully, wittily celebrates what it is about men and women that both attract one another and drives us crazy.
Posted Sep 22, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Twelve and Holding (2005) Brent Simon A refracted glimpse of American suburbia through the eyes of three pre-teens grappling with grief, reprisal and loneliness, the film boasts some great adolescent performances but can't overcome a rigidly partitioned structure and tonal inconsistency.
Posted Sep 22, 2006  Edit critic review
C-
Scoop (2006) Brent Simon A ramshackle and laboriously whimsical comedic trifle that falls back on Woody Allen's increasingly tired penchant for nattering faux-realism.
Posted Sep 18, 2006  Edit critic review
A-
Monster House (2006) Brent Simon In an era of meticulously muggy, corporate-vetted movies designed to launch possible franchises before the first film has even released, Monster House plays pleasingly to audiences of almost any age, driven by a strong sense of wonderment.
Posted Sep 18, 2006  Edit critic review
B
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Brent Simon Though generally presented in a fawning, overly obsequious style, the film also has a heartening degree of candor... and its triumph is the manner in which it highlights the notion of political will as a renewable resource.
Posted Sep 18, 2006  Edit critic review
C+
You, Me and Dupree (2006) Brent Simon Owen Wilson just does what he does, and allows you to take it or leave it. You, Me and Dupree, then, suffers a slow start and trades too frequently in broad, garish strokes before rallying with some late atypical turns.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
D-
Cavite (2005) Brent Simon Arbitrarily arranged and awfully acted... proof positive that well-meaning creative wishes and savvy, low-fi merging of production means and narrative concept doesn't automatically produce heady results.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
A-
A Scanner Darkly (2006) Brent Simon A thing of unique beauty and free-floating menace, A Scanner Darkly is also about the transmutation of good into evil and back into good, and the willful surrender of freedom in the name of propagandistic safety and betterment.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
D+
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Brent Simon An empty vessel... bloated beyond all recognition, and [evidencing] absolutely no flow or consistency -- there's nary a human heartbeat here in its two-and-a-half-hour-plus running time.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
A
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) Brent Simon Piercingly demonstrates how technological advancement occurs only when it aligns with monied interests, and argues persuasively for the idea that we all deserve better.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
Idlewild (2006) Brent Simon An imaginatively rendered and ultimately touching expression of the collision of creativity and responsibility, and the former bursting through the constraints of a small town outlook of diminished expectation.
Posted Sep 17, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Snakes on a Plane (2006) Cindy White Snakes on a Plane delivers exactly what it promises. Nothing more, nothing less.
Posted Aug 18, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
Clerks II (2006) Arnold T. Blumberg There are some gags that work pretty well, especially if you're in the fanboy mode to which Smith speaks so well...
Posted Jul 17, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
Superman Returns (2006) Scott Collura IMAX 3D review: The 3D scenes were disappointing at times, but at other times one could garner an idea of what the technology can offer.
Posted Jun 28, 2006  Edit critic review
C+
Nacho Libre (2006) Marcus Handley The problem facing Nacho Libre is the same one that plagued Dynamite - the sum of its parts is not equal to the whole.
Posted Jun 27, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Superman Returns (2006) Brent Simon Measured against the relatively high bars of other recent superhero fare, it feels uncomfortably familiar. For those looking for a slice of high-flying entertainment, however, it certainly suffices.
Posted Jun 27, 2006  Edit critic review
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Arnold T. Blumberg Friggin' fantastic...
Posted Jun 12, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Brent Simon It's ripcord filmmaking, with paint-by-numbers emotionalism. While [Ratner's] preoccupation with surface thrill still makes for a generally pleasing comic book movie, it shortchanges the depth we've come to expect from the X-Men franchise.
Posted May 25, 2006  Edit critic review
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Scott Collura It's a mutant smorgasbord, and most of the characters suffer as a result. 'We need more mutants in leather,' I can hear a studio exec yelling. 'And give them tattoos too! That way we know they're bad guys!'
Posted May 23, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Tamara (2005) Brent Simon Those looking for a update on Carrie could do worse than this.
Posted Feb 19, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Freedomland (2006) Brent Simon As with Spike Lee's New York-set Clockers ... Freedomland is suffused with a similar, musky mix of race, class, crime and local political considerations.
Posted Feb 19, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
Final Destination 3 (2006) Brent Simon Robustly embodies the cathartic pleasures of shared scared silliness.
Posted Feb 09, 2006  Edit critic review
B
The Pink Panther (2006) Brent Simon Martin, at least, gives it a Herculean effort.
Posted Feb 09, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
Firewall (2006) Brent Simon The film is precise, square and in many regards beat-perfect - in other words, the perfect movie to skip in theaters and enjoy somewhere down the road as a rainy-weekend rental or background-noise friend while paying some bills.
Posted Feb 09, 2006  Edit critic review
C+
Through the Fire (2005) Brent Simon Short on authorial insightfulness but long on subject-matter fascination.
Posted Feb 09, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Darwin's Nightmare (2004) Brent Simon Deeply felt but considerably less well-reasoned...
Posted Feb 09, 2006  Edit critic review
C-
When a Stranger Calls (2006) Brent Simon There's little of originality or novel invention here, and certainly nothing of essentiality.
Posted Feb 03, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Something New (2006) Brent Simon Breezily uncomplicated enough to enjoy relatively wide commercial appeal...
Posted Feb 02, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Manderlay (2005) Brent Simon The movie's considerably enveloping success lies in the disarming fashion in which it mixes stark artificiality and naturalism, as well as, eventually, in its marked lack of a hero or heroine.
Posted Feb 02, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
Bubble (2005) Brent Simon Bubble may be a bit of a stunt or a lark, but its rewards are quite real.
Posted Jan 27, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Fateless (2005) Brent Simon Fateless locates compassion in the worst sort of circumstances, and thus stokes the fire of hope in humanity, which is never a bad thing.
Posted Jan 27, 2006  Edit critic review
B
Annapolis (2006) Brent Simon [Franco's] flinty eyes speak volumes in Annapolis, a punchy drama that connects.
Posted Jan 27, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
Glory Road (2006) Eric Moro Succeeds at bringing an important part of sports -- and American -- history into the minds of today's audiences.
Posted Jan 13, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Tristan & Isolde (2006) Eric Moro Suffers from a contemporary take on a very period piece.
Posted Jan 13, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
Match Point (2005) Brent Simon The ... wild praise you hear is of the Hollywood echo chamber, where an artistic change-up is sometimes mistaken for a fastball.
Posted Jan 06, 2006  Edit critic review
D
The Ringer (2005) Brent Simon It wants to be outwardly bawdy, but is the furthest thing from it.
Posted Dec 23, 2005  Edit critic review
C+
The Matador (2005) Brent Simon Where an actor's comfort zone and preconception of audience expectation intersect, Richard Shepard's The Matador exists.
Posted Dec 23, 2005  Edit critic review
B+
Fun With Dick and Jane (2005) Brent Simon We're just having a bit of breezy Fun With Dick and Jane, yes, but the film works in a few subtle jabs too.
Posted Dec 21, 2005  Edit critic review
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) Chris Wyatt Miyazaki's latest epic (and that's just what it was... epic) lived up to every expectation.
Posted Dec 20, 2005  Edit critic review
Munich (2005) Brent Simon Vivid in detail and wrenchingly well acted...
Posted Dec 19, 2005  Edit critic review
C-
The Family Stone (2005) Brent Simon The movie's stock base: pat revelations and cheap manipulations.
Posted Dec 19, 2005  Edit critic review
B-
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) Brent Simon Has a type of quiet grace that's out of step and perhaps out of style with modern Hollywood convention.
Posted Dec 16, 2005  Edit critic review
B
Happy Here and Now (2002) Brent Simon Casts an undeniable and lingering spell for those who enjoy their cinema spiked with adventure and philosophy.
Posted Dec 16, 2005  Edit critic review
A
King Kong (2005) Brent Simon Alongside the adrenalized rushes, Jackson and his colleagues locate the humor, affection and heartbreak in its big story.
Posted Dec 07, 2005  Edit critic review
B
Syriana (2005) Brent Simon In the end it doesn't move you to action, and for activist cinema, that lack of energizing fervor is a bit of a problem, the longest yard between something good and something great.
Posted Nov 23, 2005  Edit critic review
C-
The Ice Harvest (2005) Brent Simon Cusack on autopilot still means a few moments of winky charm, but they're few and far between in this cold-to-the-touch affair.
Posted Nov 23, 2005  Edit critic review
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