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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

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Waltz with Bashir
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Slumdog Millionaire
84
Christmas Tale, A
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
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Silent Light
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Let the Right One In
81
Wrestler, The
80
Wendy and Lucy
80
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
80
Frost/Nixon
79
I've Loved You So Long
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
77
Secret of the Grain, The
76
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Pool, The
74
Moscow, Belgium
73
Gran Torino
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
72
I Served the King of England
71
What Doesn't Kill You
70
Black Balloon, The
70
Hunger
70
Doubt
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
68
Theater of War
67
Synecdoche, New York
66
Che
65
Timecrimes
64
JCVD
64
Nothing But the Truth
64
Appaloosa
64
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
63
Changeling
63
Eden
62
Duchess, The
61
Where God Left His Shoes
59
Last Chance Harvey
59
We Are Wizards
58
Adam Resurrected
58
Reader, The
57
Special
57
Defiance
56
Religulous
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
51
Breakfast with Scot
49
How About You
46
Dukes, The
43
Tru Loved
43
Gardens of the Night
40
While She Was Out
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
38
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36
My Name Is Bruce
36
Good
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
31
Let Them Chirp Awhile
30
Guitar, The
29
Lake City
28
Nobel Son
28
Fireproof
26
House of the Sleeping Beauties
26
Filth and Wisdom
xx
Just Another Love Story
xx
Dostana
xx
Cargo 200
xx
Local Color
xx
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
xx
Not Easily Broken
xx
Yonkers Joe
xx
Extreme Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
IFC Films
 |
|
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Scoot McNairy,
Sara Simmonds,
Brian Matthew McGuire,
Katy Luong,
Bret Roberts,
and
Twink Caplan
In Search of a Midnight Kiss is a funny and bittersweet look at love, sex, and modern romance. With an unsold script, no concrete plans, and a love life reduced to getting caught in compromising positions, a twenty-nine-year aspiring writer, Wilson just had the worst year of his life. That is until his best friend, Jacob, browbeats him into posting a personal ad for New Year's Eve on Craig's List. When Vivian, a sexy, sarcastic, and seemingly blind-date-from-hell responds, the two strangers embark on an unexpected, chaotic, and hilariously awkward journey through the black-and-white streets of Los Angeles hoping to meet the right one before the stroke of midnight. (IFC Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Alex Holdridge
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Alex Holdridge
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: August 1, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
90 minutes, B/W |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

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...
88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Wonderfully romantic and romantically bittersweet. It's not about forever; it's about now.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
We increasingly admire the quality of the acting: Both actors take their characters through a difficult series of changes, without ever seeming to try, or be aware of it.

80
Empire
Patrick Peters
Lovingly photographed in a monochrome that recalls Woody Allen’s Manhattan, this is a slickly scripted rom-com.

80
Film Threat
Eric Campos
The film also doesn't try to wrap things up nice and neat. That's not how life is and that's not how this film goes. But for those who can handle the truth, they should be prepared for a very moving experience. And Freddy Krueger references.

80
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Smart dialogue, an impeccably crafted story, and eye-catching LA locations make this low-budget feature by Alex Holdridge the most worthwhile date movie I've seen in some time.

78
Austin Chronicle
Josh Rosenblatt
Holdridge is clever enough to keep his characters from slipping into outright narcissism, or when they do, he's familiar enough with the art of mainstream moviemaking to balance the exhausted with the ecstatic.

75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
The rude naturalism of the opening scenes between Wilson and Jacob recalls the spirited vulgarity of "Clerks," with dialogue that would be hopelessly offensive were it not so funny and true to life.

75
New York Post
Kyle Smith
Takes a bit of "Swingers" and a bit of "Manhattan" to create a slacktacular vision of uncertain youth in today's L.A.

75
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
A romantic comedy with film noir shadows.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
With a moody overlay of songs supplied by Okkervil River and Shearwater, In Search of a Midnight Kiss also serves as a millennial's answer to Woody Allen's "Manhattan."

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter Addiego
It's a handsome and entertaining small-scale picture with nice acting, some crisp (and some crude) dialogue and effective direction.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Sura Wood
An amusing ensemble piece about the troubles of dislocated twentysomethings attempting to find their way through life and love.

70
Variety
Dennis Harvey
Performances are aptly quirky and ingratiating, Holdridge's seriocomic balance nicely judged. But the most outstanding element in an accomplished low-budget package is Robert Murphy's lensing, which recalls "Manhattan" in its B&W celebration of a cityscape.

70
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Profane, hilarious and ultimately heartbreaking, Alex Holdridge's black-and-white feature In Search of a Midnight Kiss has a gutter purity that makes you root for it all the way and forgive its patches of ultra-indie awkwardness.

70
Washington Post
Mike Mayo
Despite some scenes that have the feel of an acting or writing workshop, these are believable, complex characters. Their story has a full measure of Judd Apatow raunch, with a dash of "Swingers" emotional sweetness.

67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
Even when Midnight Kiss is sputtering, viewers can tune the dialogue out and just watch the scenery in one of the most "there"-y L.A. movies ever made.

67
Portland Oregonian
Stan Hall
Very much a time-and-place film, by 2030 it will be useful fodder for historians.

60
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
In Search of a Midnight Kiss has its derivative moments along with awkward patches -- the inelegantly shaped climax tries to force uninteresting parallels between the two central couples -- it manages the difficult task of creating a sustained, plausible and inviting world.

60
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
By the end, Holdridge has captured the bittersweet complexities of romance with a wisdom that proves surprisingly seductive.

50
TV Guide
Staff (Not credited)
Painfully undermined by its central characters.

50
Village Voice
Scott Foundas
Holdridge's film oscillates wildly between low-key romantic comedy and antic slapstick and doesn't always hit the mark, but it has charm to burn.

50
Premiere
Jenni Miller
The arc of the story mirrors "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," but the writing isn't nearly as strong, nor the characters as believable -- or likable.

50
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
In Holdridge's movie there is as much to repel as there is to allure, and I cannot imagine leaving a screening of it in anything less than two minds.

50
Los Angeles Times
Mark Olsen
If it were a parody of relationship-youth pictures, In Search of a Midnight Kiss would maybe be tolerable, but writer-director Alex Holdridge seems to be playing it with a straight face.

38
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
It wanders and putters and follows its main characters around.


The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
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