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Modern Fabulousity

Modern Fabulousity is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Gabriel Shanks.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
C-
What Doesn't Kill You (2008) Gabriel Shanks Little more than a middling variation on gangster thematics, better explored in The Sopranos and elsewhere.
Posted Dec 10, 2008  Edit critic review
B
Frost/Nixon (2008) Gabriel Shanks An indisputably superb entertainment with a dubious claim to veritas.
Posted Dec 09, 2008  Edit critic review
B+
The Reader (2008) Gabriel Shanks One of the most eloquent documents of personal awakening ever to be committed to celluloid.
Posted Dec 08, 2008  Edit critic review
C+
Doubt (2008) Gabriel Shanks Judging it against the play may be unfair; taken on its own merits as a pop entertainment, Doubt, the movie, is far from a complete waste of time.
Posted Dec 04, 2008  Edit critic review
B-
Defiance (2008) Gabriel Shanks Undercuts its own dramatic concerns by alternating heavy-handed moralism with the style of contemporary action franchises, dulling and smoothing out the horrifying edges of murder.
Posted Dec 03, 2008  Edit critic review
B+
The Wrestler (2008) Gabriel Shanks The slow-burning engine at the heart of the film is Rourke, whose tender, subtle turn is a revelation.
Posted Dec 02, 2008  Edit critic review
B
Revolutionary Road (2008) Gabriel Shanks An actors' showcase for its iconic duo...and both have grown impressively since they last swooned shipside.
Posted Dec 02, 2008  Edit critic review
B+
Australia (2008) Gabriel Shanks A wildly enjoyable experience, reconstituting some of the great traditions of the art form in engaging, unexpected ways.
Posted Dec 01, 2008  Edit critic review
B+
Milk (2008) Gabriel Shanks In Van Sant's hands, it's both a story for the ages, and a story for our age.
Posted Nov 27, 2008  Edit critic review
B-
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Gabriel Shanks The most important word in the title of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is "curious."
Posted Nov 26, 2008  Edit critic review
B
I've Loved You So Long (2008) Gabriel Shanks Watching this sublime actress, utilizing a minimum of text and a slow-burn intensity, is one of the more exhilarating experiences to be had in a cinema
Posted Nov 17, 2008  Edit critic review
A-
Tell No One (2006) Gabriel Shanks Easily one of the best films of the year.
Posted Nov 17, 2008  Edit critic review
B+
Quantum of Solace (2008) Gabriel Shanks Owes more of a karmic debt, in stylistic terms, to Paul Greengrass' Bourne Supremacy than to the amused elegance of Sean Connery.
Posted Nov 17, 2008  Edit critic review
C
The Kite Runner (2007) Gabriel Shanks Fights a losing battle to reconcile authenticity with performances that vary widely in quality.
Posted Dec 02, 2007  Edit critic review
A-
The Savages (2007) Gabriel Shanks Eloquently makes the case that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are the most dextrous actors of their generation.
Posted Dec 02, 2007  Edit critic review
B-
Juno (2007) Gabriel Shanks A quirky comic indie with a too-too-clever screenplay, dialogue that seems tailored to the club-kid generation, and a sentimental streak a mile wide.
Posted Dec 02, 2007  Edit critic review
C-
Southland Tales (2006) Gabriel Shanks If Mulholland Drive had a prettier, younger, and developmentally-challenged sister, it would be Southland Tales.
Posted Dec 02, 2007  Edit critic review
B+
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) Gabriel Shanks The real kudos should go to screenwriter Kelly Masterson, who provocatively mixed a crime drama premise into a film exploring the legacy of damage family members impose upon one another.
Posted Dec 02, 2007  Edit critic review
A
No Country for Old Men (2007) Gabriel Shanks Like The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction and other films that shift paradigms in mid-stream, there's more happening than meets the eye....Stark and spare, it's often a gasp-inducing, armrest-clutching experience.
Posted Oct 25, 2007  Edit critic review
B+
Michael Clayton (2007) Gabriel Shanks In some scenes, Clayton is the kick in the pants the whodunit genre desperately needs
Posted Oct 16, 2007  Edit critic review
C
Into the Wild (2007) Gabriel Shanks Contrary to the lessons we learned in Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, large bears will not always eat irritating hippie man-children. Damn shame.
Posted Oct 07, 2007  Edit critic review
C-
Across the Universe (2007) Gabriel Shanks The thin narrative wobbles like an alcoholic after last call.
Posted Sep 16, 2007  Edit critic review
B+
Hairspray (2007) Gabriel Shanks A film that nearly screams its desire to please in every frame; in its very design, it demands your attention, has you tapping your toes before the opening montage is through, and frames its soft messages of tolerance so broadly that only Hitler could be
Posted Jul 20, 2007  Edit critic review
B
Live Free or Die Hard (2007) Gabriel Shanks In this fourth film, John McClane becomes a retrofitted icon; unadorned and simple, brutally back-to-basic, he's an action hero for an America uncomfortable with the rapid changes of the new millennium.
Posted Jun 26, 2007  Edit critic review
A-
Once (2007) Gabriel Shanks Astonishing...it cleaves through the conventions of the musical form, leaving the raw emotion but junking the showy glitz.
Posted Jun 21, 2007  Edit critic review
A-
Boy Culture (2006) Gabriel Shanks Brocka leaps into the small circle of leading queer filmmakers of our time, sculpting an unpredictable romance that is complex, sophisticated and thoughtful.
Posted Apr 12, 2007  Edit critic review
A-
The Lookout (2007) Gabriel Shanks This unlikely heist movie is really another showcase for rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Posted Apr 08, 2007  Edit critic review
D
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Gabriel Shanks Too adult for children and too simplistic for most adults, it ultimately leaves us with some of the prettiest cinematic pictures of the year. And nothing more.
Posted Dec 13, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
The Painted Veil (2006) Gabriel Shanks [The] finest moments are the small, barely perceptible pinpricks of human cruelty...especially those induced by race, gender, and class.
Posted Dec 10, 2006  Edit critic review
A
Dreamgirls (2006) Gabriel Shanks A triumph of execution, of a marvelous narrative and iconic characters, of a dazzling score and a winning production design.
Posted Dec 07, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
The Fountain (2006) Gabriel Shanks You have to look back to Malick or Kubrick to find an American filmmaker offering up such a challenging vision to a mainstream audience without apology.
Posted Nov 27, 2006  Edit critic review
B-
Children of Men (2006) Gabriel Shanks Whatever else may or may not work, Children of Men at least has this: a great idea. It is too bad, then, that the movie surrounding the idea is not equally great.
Posted Nov 14, 2006  Edit critic review
C+
The History Boys (2006) Gabriel Shanks The move to celluloid has defanged the piece, leaving a shaggy, smartassed and sentimental dramedy in its place.
Posted Nov 06, 2006  Edit critic review
C-
For Your Consideration (2006) Gabriel Shanks For Your Consideration feels under-cooked, with easy potshots at an indulgent Hollywood studio system and a pervasively dull atmosphere.
Posted Nov 05, 2006  Edit critic review
A-
The Last King of Scotland (2006) Gabriel Shanks Whitaker and McAvoy inhabit their roles so fully that the film around them transforms into a major document of 1970's cultural myopia.
Posted Oct 23, 2006  Edit critic review
C+
The Science of Sleep (2006) Gabriel Shanks Even though the visual fireworks of Gondry's mind keep you attentive, his clumsy stutterings about love and honesty are painfully underdeveloped.
Posted Sep 11, 2006  Edit critic review
B+
The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Gabriel Shanks If fashion is indeed a special brand of terrorism, then Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), editrix of the fictional magazine Runway, is the Osama bin Laden of Fifth Avenue.
Posted Jun 21, 2006  Edit critic review
A
United 93 (2006) Gabriel Shanks It has more to say about our collective failure, our rage, our sadness, our faith, our courage, our mistakes, and our regret than a million reviews (including this one).
Posted May 01, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Kinky Boots (2005) Gabriel Shanks Far too insubstantial to make any interesting use of its social agenda, and the easy answers it finds about prejudice and bigotry strain credibility.
Posted Apr 08, 2006  Edit critic review
C
Unknown White Male (2005) Gabriel Shanks Suffers under a cloud of nostalgia and emotionality that turns the film's investigation into a fuzzy meditation on existence and memory.
Posted Feb 13, 2006  Edit critic review
C-
The New World (2005) Gabriel Shanks In Malick's hands, Pocahontas' story becomes a metaphoric seduction straight out of Nabokov.
Posted Dec 11, 2005  Edit critic review
C-
The Producers (2005) Gabriel Shanks Carries its lumpy theatrical bulk like a rucksack instead of as the dazzling firecracker it is.
Posted Dec 08, 2005  Edit critic review
B
Match Point (2005) Gabriel Shanks A surprising return to form for the venerated director, recalling (if not matching) his best work from the 80's.
Posted Dec 01, 2005  Edit critic review
C
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Gabriel Shanks Instead of revealing the inner sanctum of Japan's traditionalist heart, Geisha wades clumsily through a series of beautiful sets, hackneyed plots and stunning costumes.
Posted Nov 25, 2005  Edit critic review
A
Rent (2005) Gabriel Shanks Heart is the core and foundation of Rent, and it is what powers the film past its flaws into a truly transformative experience.
Posted Nov 13, 2005  Edit critic review
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