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Flavorwire is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Alison Herman, Alissa Wilkinson, Jason Bailey, Judy Berman, Lara Zarum, LaToya Ferguson, Pilot Viruet.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Bombshell (2019) Jason Bailey An absolute toilet fire of a movie, a sub-HBO-movie effort comprised of winking storytelling tricks, 'SNL'-level celebrity impersonation, and kiddie pool-deep interrogation of the figures at its center.
Posted Dec 26, 2019  Edit critic review
Knives Out (2019) Jason Bailey It's pure pleasure.
Posted Nov 30, 2019  Edit critic review
Doctor Sleep (2019) Jason Bailey Flanagan attempts to make both a faithful adaptation of King's new book and a direct descendant of Kubrick's film. But the two works are fundamentally incompatible, and in trying to accomplish both feats, 'Doctor Sleep' does neither one successfully.
Posted Nov 07, 2019  Edit critic review
Gemini Man (2019) Jason Bailey Perhaps what's most impressive about 'Gemini Man' is how it performs the magic trick of taking $138 million and turning it into a low-budget made-for-Cinemax thriller.
Posted Oct 14, 2019  Edit critic review
The Irishman (2019) Jason Bailey As with many of his earlier works, it's a film fascinated by the mechanics of organized crime. But there's a pervading sense that, with this picture, Scorsese wants nothing less than to put the gangster movie into its grave - quite literally.
Posted Sep 30, 2019  Edit critic review
Ad Astra (2019) Jason Bailey 'Ad Astra' plays like a critique of its blockbuster brethren - films that marshal the limitless budgets and resources of the studio system, all at the service of filmmakers with nothing whatsoever to say, or feel.
Posted Sep 19, 2019  Edit critic review
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019) Jason Bailey Basically a miscalculation from end to end, full of bizarre narrative turns and inexplicable craft decisions. Yet there's never any question that Linklater is fully committed, and it's hard to consider a movie "bad" that's made with this much care.
Posted Sep 15, 2019  Edit critic review
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) Jason Bailey Parents who take their kids to see it will enjoy the in-jokes and little nudges, and will have a far better time than at the likes of, say, your average skull-crushing Illumination Entertainment nightmare.
Posted Aug 10, 2019  Edit critic review
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019) Jason Bailey Tarantino has become such a pro at telling these big-canvas stories, you barely notice he's picked up the pace until it's fully cranking.
Posted Aug 05, 2019  Edit critic review
(undefined) Moze Halperin [Margaret] Cho's comedy seems to have become dictated by her activism to such an extent that it can seem like she's now writing 80-minute humanitarian sound collages as opposed to standup routines.
Posted Aug 02, 2019  Edit critic review
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted (2015) Alison Herman Simply surviving what Notaro has is inspirational in and of itself, of course. But Boyish Girl Interrupted puts the machinery required to translate those experiences into great comedy on full display. It's almost awe-inspiring. But mostly, it's funny.
Posted Aug 02, 2019  Edit critic review
Knock Knock, It's Tig Notaro (2015) Pilot Viruet It's fun, it's weird, and it's a must-watch.
Posted Aug 01, 2019  Edit critic review
Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado (2016) Alison Herman Comedy Camisado is a reminder that underneath it all, Buress is one of the best stand-ups working today, with a relaxed, beta-male vibe that belies his near-total unflappability.
Posted Jul 09, 2019  Edit critic review
Shaft (2019) Jason Bailey The blaxploitation hero's new reboot/revamp/retcon is the most depressing movie of the year.
Posted Jun 30, 2019  Edit critic review
Booksmart (2019) Jason Bailey They're colorful and funny, and believably written and played (these characters are types for a reason). Most importantly, the writers complicate the types, giving them unexpected complexities and sympathetic elements.
Posted May 27, 2019  Edit critic review
The Apollo (2019) Jason Bailey Williams eventually pulls his strands together, with an effective and moving juxtaposition of words, images, and history in the closing moments.
Posted May 09, 2019  Edit critic review
Pet Sematary (2019) Jason Bailey King's simple and elegant premise has been transformed into secondhand claptrap.
Posted May 09, 2019  Edit critic review
It Started as a Joke (2019) Jason Bailey It's a warm and inviting bio-doc of Mirman, one of the funniest and most delightful people in comedy
Posted Apr 29, 2019  Edit critic review
Us (2019) Jason Bailey In scene after scene he creates a mood of offhand, everyday spookiness, and then turns the screw with genuinely disturbing imagery.
Posted Mar 10, 2019  Edit critic review
Late Night (2019) Jason Bailey It may be a longer and more sincere '30 Rock,' but there's heady stuff about "diversity hires" and workplace inequality ; Kaling knows how to address these issues without turning the movie into a polemic.
Posted Feb 08, 2019  Edit critic review
Roma (2018) Jason Bailey What's become abundantly clear, over the course of this extraordinary run of searing films, is the degree to which Cuarón roots dramatic power in empathy and humanity.
Posted Dec 03, 2018  Edit critic review
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) Jason Bailey The anthology format gives the Coens room to tinker with new tones and forms, while delivering their unique blend of comedy and dread.
Posted Dec 03, 2018  Edit critic review
Bathtubs Over Broadway (2018) Jason Bailey It's about how these peculiar interests can become our obsessions, and the way that ironic detachment can develop, surprisingly enough, into genuine affection. What a delightful movie this is.
Posted Dec 02, 2018  Edit critic review
Suspiria (2018) Jason Bailey Suspiria is a movie you can't take you eyes off of, even when it doesn't make a damn lick of sense.
Posted Oct 31, 2018  Edit critic review
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) Jason Bailey It's a wicked, witty treat, with Melissa McCarthy playing Israel as an unapologetically unlikable protagonist, and batting around some truly delicious dialogue with Richard E. Grant, as pretty much her only friend.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
The Front Runner (2018) Jason Bailey The Front Runner, Jason Reitman's dramatization of the three-week rise and fall of Gary Hart's 1988 presidential campaign, works best in its first half, as fleet-footed, wisecracking campaign/newsroom comedy/drama.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Boy Erased (2018) Jason Bailey Edgerton's central visual metaphor is a middlebrow clunker, and the look of his movie too often confuses darkness with depth. But he's got a good eye for details -and a sure hand with actors.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Colette (2018) Jason Bailey It's a frisky piece of work, asking challenging questions about monogamy and art, while reveling in the considerable charm of stars Keira Knightley and Dominic West.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Everybody Knows (2018) Jason Bailey I was held rapt through its entirety.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Rafiki (2018) Jason Bailey Wanuri Kahiu's Rafiki, based on the short story "Jambula Tree" by Monica Arac de Nyeko, is a vibrant, pulsing piece of work, keying off the joy of young love and unexpected discovery.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
A Star Is Born (2018) Jason Bailey "All you gotta do is trust me," he tells her, and when he brings her out on stage, and then brings her up to the front microphone, it raises the same kind of gooseflesh as the "When Your Mind's Made Up" scene in Once.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Teen Spirit (2018) Jason Bailey Fanning is engaging - I'm low-key annoyed that on top of everything else, she can also sing - but the scene stealer here is Zlatko Buric, as the drunken fan who becomes her (surprisingly effective) manager.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Destroyer (2018) Jason Bailey Kusama moves her star, and her camera, through these silky L.A. nightscapes in a style reminiscent of Michael Mann. If that doesn't sell you, I don't know what will.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
American Dharma (2018) Jason Bailey [Morris] occasionally pushes back against Bannon, in a way he didn't in the earlier films, and sort of has to - if Dharma suffers in comparison, it's because it's telling a story that's still in progress.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
Meeting Gorbachev (2018) Jason Bailey It's a compelling piece of portraiture, clearly done from a place of admiration and respect.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
The Sisters Brothers (2018) Jason Bailey Darkly funny and often deeply disorienting, with a marvel of an ending.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
The Old Man & the Gun (2018) Jason Bailey It's a gentle, funny crowd-pleaser with a melancholy streak.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
First Man (2018) Jason Bailey It's all about perspective... less concerned with history of that mission's impact than with what it was like to be him... Ryan Gosling leans into that squareness, daring us to peer in to his up-tight close-ups and find the guy inside.
Posted Sep 14, 2018  Edit critic review
A Prayer Before Dawn (2017) Jason Bailey Cole is astonishingly good as Moore, in a primarily non-verbal performance; he's a convincing brawler, and even more persuasive as a self-destructive addict.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Minding the Gap (2018) Jason Bailey Powerful and sensitive, and, at its best, utterly heart-wrenching.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Crime + Punishment (2018) Jason Bailey Shines a much-needed light on the kind of policing that could actually make a difference in these communities.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Support the Girls (2018) Jason Bailey It's so energetically acted and casually funny, you might not even notice that it never quite comes together.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Skate Kitchen (2018) Jason Bailey [Director Crystal Moselle] hangs out with, and eavesdrops on, her protagonists with a documentarian's eye for detail... Her intimate style deftly captures the end-of-the-world intensity of teenage relationships
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Madeline's Madeline (2018) Jason Bailey It's a visceral experience... Some viewers may find it too nerve-jangling, and it's hard to blame them. But it's a must-see for risk-takers.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) Jason Bailey Akhavan's movie is so many things at once - wise, witty, moving, sexy - that its occasional fumbles in tone and characterization barely register.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
BlacKkKlansman (2018) Jason Bailey Lee's wild tonal shifts made his work seem scattershot and unfocused, and it's not that he tamps that down here. But now, the itchiness, gallows humor, and howls of rage just feel like everyday life. Reality has finally become a Spike Lee joint.
Posted Aug 10, 2018  Edit critic review
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) Jason Bailey The sixth film in the surprisingly venerable series is a bit more deliberate, but delivers the expected jolts and thrills.
Posted Aug 02, 2018  Edit critic review
Gotti (2018) Jason Bailey A comically terrible imitation of a biopic, directed by Kevin Connolly with all the flair and nuance of a movie-within-a-movie on 'Entourage.'
Posted Jul 03, 2018  Edit critic review
Ocean's 8 (2018) Jason Bailey The cast shines, but they can only do so much with their weak script and listless direction.
Posted Jun 19, 2018  Edit critic review
I Feel Pretty (2018) Jason Bailey Is this stuff supposed to be funny? These scenes are cut and shot like they're jam-packed with laughs, but our audience was so quiet and uncomfortable, you'd think we were at a rep screening of 'Shoah.'
Posted May 07, 2018  Edit critic review
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