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Mike Vanderbilt

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Mike Vanderbilt is a writer, bartender, and Malort enthusiast based in Chicago. He has appeared in the Chicago Reader, the A.V. Club, Fandor, and Fangoria. He is currently the assistant editor at Daily Grindhouse, a website dedicated to genre film essays and criticism.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
C- EDIT “The left and the right have deep issues within each movement that deserve to get taken to task, but Shitstorm opts to go for low hanging fruit, attacking it with obvious, sophomoric humor.” – Consequence Sep 2, 2020 Full Review Spenser Confidential (2020) 35% C+ EDIT “While Spenser Confidential lacks originality, it saunters by on well-meaning charm, anchored by Peter Berg's direction and a cast that's here for a good time.” – Consequence Mar 6, 2020 Full Review Bad Boys for Life (2020) 76% B EDIT “Bad Boys for Life thrives from stellar action filmmaking and could be an affecting closer to an action film trilogy.” – Consequence Jan 15, 2020 Full Review Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) 51% EDIT “...sloppy and overstuffed, but when it focuses on smaller moments between the characters, SKYWALKER comes out on top, overall providing a thrilling if not a completely satisfying conclusion...” – Daily Grindhouse Dec 18, 2019 Full Review Daniel Isn't Real (2019) 84% B EDIT “Daniel Isn't Real is exploitation that eschews the trashier elements of the genre. As a director, Mortimer frames a great shot and pulls gangbusters performances out of Robbins and Schwarzenegger. It's minded, but also massively entertaining genre cinema.” – Consequence Dec 2, 2019 Full Review VFW (2019) 85% B+ EDIT “An action-packed, gory siege picture, VFW is the USA Up All Night second feature you always hoped Rhonda Shear would serve up on Friday or Gilbert Gottfried on Saturday.” – Consequence Oct 3, 2019 Full Review Phantom of Winnipeg (2019) EDIT “...elevates itself above other fan docs in that it's not simply about the love of an oddball slice of pop culture, but the story of the town--arguably the ONLY town-where this was destined to happen.” – Daily Grindhouse Jul 26, 2019 Full Review Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019) 86% EDIT “...as outrageous, hyper-violent, silly, funny, terrifying, and cathartic as an audience could ever want from a Tarantino picture.” – Daily Grindhouse Jul 25, 2019 Full Review Alien Encounters (1979) EDIT “...hearing Jack Palance scream "ALIEN!" during the final confrontation worth the being make this movie worth a look.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2018) 78% EDIT “...a truly impressive feature debut for writer/director, Henry Dunham.There is a sense of authenticity that these characters.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review The Amityville Murders (2018) 0% EDIT “There are some groovy '70s costumes on display and features cool garage rock... THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS winds up another lackluster entry in the franchise.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Fighting the Sky (2018) EDIT “Director Conrad Faraj brings a light touch to FIGHTING THE SKY that elevates it from its low-budget, sci-fi brethren.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) 97% EDIT “...a powerful, emotional portrait of the most genuine man to ever grace this Earth.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Upgrade (2018) 88% EDIT “...a wickedly funny, unassumingly smart, and ultra gory slice of cyberpunk.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Top Knot Detective (2017) 100% EDIT “. The filmmakers are so slick, playing the concept straight as an arrow, that the audience may even believe it to be real if only for a moment.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Let the Corpses Tan (2017) 74% EDIT “A gangbusters soundtrack & healthy leather fetish propel this greasy, grimy neo-spaghetti western.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Summer of 84 (2018) 71% EDIT “...meanders for most of its run time and by the time the film goes somewhere interesting, it's already too late” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review The Night Comes for Us (2018) 92% EDIT “...an assault on the senses...NIGHT essentially never bores us and always gets to the chorus.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review It Comes at Night (2017) 88% EDIT “The film never offers easy answers; perhaps we're only seeking a few moments of pleasure, because nobody gets out alive.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Buffalo Boys (2018) 82% EDIT “...a super fun and romantic action tale. Gleefully over the top with ultra cool tough guy dialogue and romance, it's undeniably entertaining...” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 69% EDIT “Ron Howard outdid himself on this one, recapturing that intangible ≤i≥STAR WARS≤i≥ spirit with a film that's beautifully grimy and an absolute blast from start to finish” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Baby Driver (2017) 92% EDIT “...a half-baked, juvenile script doesn't bring any pathos to the flashy film...it's ultimately a hollow experience.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) 91% EDIT “THE LAST JEDI sits somewhere in the middle as a very good entry in the STAR WARS series. Johnson takes some risks with the story-maybe not enough of them to truly make THE LAST JEDI a classic” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 21, 2019 Full Review Bliss (2019) 86% EDIT “A sleazy, rock 'n' roll, vampire fable, BLISS may find Begos at is darkest and introspective, but there is a sick sense of humor and a sense of rock 'n' roll fun that drives this tale of addiction, ambition and vampirism.” – Daily Grindhouse Jun 15, 2019 Full Review Shaft (2019) 34% C- EDIT “Shaft is a missed opportunity, particularly at the chance to comment on how being a "complicated man" has evolved since 1971, and how the world has never simply been black and white.” – Consequence Jun 14, 2019 Full Review
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