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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Mysterious Skin
Tartan USA
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Brady Corbet,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Elisabeth Shue,
Mary Lynn Rajskub,
Michelle Trachtenberg,
Jeffrey Licon,
Lisa Long,
and
Bill Sage
Based on the acclaimed novel by Scott Heim, Mysterious Skin explores the hearts and minds of two very different boys who come to find the key to their future happiness lies in the exorcism of their collective demons. (Tartan Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Gregg Araki
Scott Heim (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Gregg Araki
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: October 25, 2005
Theatrical: May 6, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Jury Award, 2004 Bergen International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
This thoughtful, troubling drama is leagues above the sensationalistic stuff Araki peddled in earlier films.

90
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
A gorgeous, heartbreaking and utterly convincing work of art.

89
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
The film's content is adult – and for the first time in Araki's career, so is the director.

88
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Not for the squeamish, but it is a beautifully crafted and thoughtful film that genuinely provokes.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
At once the most harrowing and, strangely, the most touching film I have seen about child abuse.

83
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Mysterious Skin dawdles more than it flows, but it comes alive whenever Araki, hovering between tragedy and voyeurism, reveals how sex can tear lives to pieces.

83
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Invigorating, blistering and chilling.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
A startling portrayal of how the cycle of abuse plays itself out in the lives of its victims.

80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
A helter-skelter ride of the soul, an unblinking, white-knuckle crash landing into the mushy mysteries of the subconscious.

80
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
With remarkable directness and composure, it shatters the myth of childhood innocence and the deathless taboo of prepubescent sexuality.

80
Newsweek
David Ansen
Explores both prepubescent and teen sexuality with an honesty that may make some people uncomfortable, which is a sign of its potency, and a badge of honor.

80
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A warped, but beautiful and strangely hopeful, coming-of-age tale.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
It's hard to imagine a more serious or persuasive indictment of the horrors inflicted on children by sexual abuse than Mysterious Skin.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
The film is mentally graphic, not sexually graphic.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
An absorbing story. Even though it takes you to places you may not want to go, the film never loses its human touch--that feel of skin on skin or of the past inescapably invading the present.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Leah McLaren
Unlike Todd Solondz's "Happiness," Mysterious Skin is not an abuse movie that seeks to offend or upset.

75
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The film is actually a major artistic breakthrough for Araki, a onetime bad boy of independent filmmaking. Its psychological intelligence, attention to emotional currents, and humanity are surprises.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A deft, affecting drama about childhood sexual abuse and its lifelong scars.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Mysterious Skin bears all of Araki's hallmarks, from its stylish compositions and lush colors to its willingness to confront difficult subject matter head-on.

70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Mysterious Skin isn't a picture about existential vacancy; it isn't even about anything so simplistic as the horrors of child abuse. It's more of a meditation on the necessity of making your way past, or through, any obstacle that prevents you from being a thinking, feeling person.

70
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The result is flawed but frequently haunting.

70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
It's an ideal collaboration: A stylish director desperately seeking substance transforms the first, somewhat flat novel of a promising young writer into powerful and brutally honest film about a highly controversial subject.

70
Variety
David Rooney
By turns spiky and lyrical, this unsettling drama will be anathema to many audiences, but is bound to be a provocative, talked-about release.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Only half a great movie, because the other half follows a separate but related thread that isn't nearly as compelling.

63
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
A well-conceived story that is very hard to shake.

60
Film Threat
Don R. Lewis
By the end of Mysterious Skin, I felt physically exhausted but I also felt satisfied at the way it all falls into place.

60
Slate
David Edelstein
Araki is trying to work from the inside out; and he captures feelings about sexual exploitation that I've never seen onscreen--not all of them negative.

60
Empire
Damon Wise
Corbet emerges as an actor of sensitivity and depth, but it’s Gordon-Levitt who steals every scene as the damaged, destructive but ultimately sympathetic rent boy.

60
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
Mostly, Mysterious Skin creeps you out, and not in any kind of fun way. There's an artfulness to it, but it's hard to imagine many viewers actually using the term "enjoyed" or "entertained" in conjunction with it.

40
The Hollywood Reporter
Ray Bennett
Dull film about pedophilia that fails to shed any light on the topic.

25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
Had Araki chosen to illuminate, rather than exploit, the traumatic aftermath of child molestation, his wallow in the horrors of Mysterious Skin might have had a purpose. As it stands, his film is just another trashy look at America as the land of imbecilic perverts.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 49 User Votes
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