MercatorNet | Quick Picks

Films & DVDs - Ratings - R

This list contains 15 entries

Beyond the Gates

R | 2007 | Hugh Dancy, John Hurt | Critics: 7-6-7-8-5

In 1994, a Catholic priest and an idealistic English teacher become unwittingly embroiled in the Rwandan genocide. Thousands of Tutsis are about to be massacred, and the English teacher and the priest must decide if they should stay and help the ethnic minority or run for their lives. Based on a true story. A.k.a. Shooting Dogs and In Every Human Heart.

Dead Silence

R | 2007 | Ryan Kwaxten, Donnie Wahlberg | Critics: 5-3

Soon after receving an anonymous gift of a dummy, a young man finds himself suspected of murder and returns to his hometown to try to clear his name by uncovering the truth behind a local legend about a homicidal ventriloquist.

Once

R | 2007 | Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová | Critics: 10-10-9-10-8

A heartbroken musician sparks a new romance with a young immigrant, as they write, rehearse, and record songs that follow their love story.

Zodiac

R | 2007 | Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo | Critics: 9-10-9-8-6

This based-on-true-facts story follows the cops and journalists who became obsessed with catching the Zodiac Killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the 1970s.

Brick

R | 2006 | Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner | Critics: 8-10-8-7

A teenager searches for a vanished girlfriend and enters a world of crime. In English (sort of) but definitely to be watched with the help of subtitles.

United 93

R | 2006 | Ben Sliney, David Alan Basche | Critics: 9-10-9-7-8

A moving re-enactment of the last hours of the only high-jacked plane which did not reach its target on 9/11.

Great Raid, The

R | 2005 | Joseph Fiennes, James Franco | Critics: 7-8-7-5-6

500 American POWs have been entrapped in a Japanese prison camp for three years. Beginning to give up hope they will ever be rescued, they are saved by a group of Rangers in a daring rescue mission.

Kung Fu Hustle

R | 2005 | Stephen Chow, Yuen Qiu | Critics: 9-8-9-7

Set in China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join a notorious street gang. At the same time, an obnoxious landlady and her apparently frail husband exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf. A matter of taste.

Syriana

R | 2005 | George Clooney, Jeffrey Wright | Critics: 10-9-7-7

After 21 years with the CIA, an agent finds that funding is being cut, politics is winning out over reason, and, where terrorist activity is concerned, serious warning signs are being ignored.

Tsotsi

R | 2005 | Presley Chewneyagae, Mothusy Magano | Critics: 8-10-7-7

Six days in the violent life of a young gang leader in Johannesburg who ends up caring for an infant whose mother he shot. Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Winter Solstice

R | 2005 | Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford | Critics: 8-5-7-5

A landscape architect and his two sons try to cope with grief after wife and mother dies. When Jim meets his new neighbour, Molly, things begin to look up (or at least look different).

Arlington Road

R | 1999 | Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins

After his FBI agent wife is murdered by right-wing terrorists, a college professor becomes obsessed with discovering what his seemingly friendly neighbors are hiding.

Amistad

R | 1997 | Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins

Based on the true story of a slave revolt aboard a ship at sea in 1839. When the mutineers are put on trial, former President of the U.S. John Quincy Adams comes to their defense.

Alive

R | 1993 | Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano

Film relates the true story of a rugby team whose plane crashed in a remote part of the snowy Andes mountains; team members are forced into cannibalism to survive.

Bat 21

R | 1988 | Gene Hackman, Danny Glover

Gripping, true-life Vietnam drama about attempted rescue of colonel trapped in enemy territory. This much-loved sleeper is most satisfying for fans of strong acting, highly personal drama, and suspense.

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A tick on the bottom right corner indicates a superior work -- although this is obviously a matter of taste. To give another quality benchmark for films, we have surveyed some leading critics and recorded their views, on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (outstanding).