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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
3/4
Rebuilding (2025) John Wenzel “Rebuilding” is rare in that it resists the pull of grim, prestige-picture drama, which would certainly be justified for the subject matter. Walker-Silverman instead steers toward the wistful and bucolic, depicting beauty and devastation at once.
Posted Dec 11, 2025  Edit critic review
1/4
Predator (1987) Michael Healy ...writers Jim and John Thomas just extract some of the larger cliches from the "War-is-fun" and science-fiction genres and toss them intermittently at the audience. The result is a stale bore.
Posted Oct 30, 2025  Edit critic review
Return to Oz (1985) Michael Healy If there's a theme hidden somewhere in "Return to Oz," I couldn't find it.
Posted Aug 19, 2025  Edit critic review
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Michael Healy "Beyond Thunderdome" is quite a bit smarter and more complex than its predecessor.
Posted Aug 19, 2025  Edit critic review
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) Michael Healy That movie is extremely funny in parts -- so funny that it redeems itself from being an altogether repulsive exploitation film.
Posted Aug 13, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) Michael Healy It is remarkable that Herman can carry a full-length picture all on his own. But he does, and the "Big Adventure" is consistently amusing.
Posted Jul 30, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Almost Famous (2000) Steven Rosen Almost Famous hasn't a single discordant note of vanity. What it has, rather, are all the attributes that have made Crowe's movies enjoyable... You sense what you are watching is life as really lived, not plot contrivances in search of punch lines.
Posted Mar 26, 2024  Edit critic review
2/4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) John Wenzel Simply being better than past failures does not make something good. While Mutant Mayhem does several things right, from its likeable voice cast to its refreshed version of the Turtles’ origin story, it also gets stuck in the same gunk as its forebears.
Posted Aug 02, 2023  Edit critic review
4/4
Past Lives (2023) John Wenzel Past Lives feels so deliciously restrained that it makes even quiet dramas seem histrionic. And yet it’s a wide emotional field that gives its characters room to breathe... if Past Lives isn’t 2023’s best film, we’re in for an incredible year of cinema.
Posted Jun 15, 2023  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Elemental (2023) John Wenzel Kudos to Pixar for telling a smaller story with big aspirations... Elemental has a big, beautiful heart and hyper-relevant message of tolerance and generational churn. It’s too bad that the rest of it often feels so wishy-washy and lukewarm.
Posted Jun 15, 2023  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) John Wenzel It’s not a revolution, and it’s not trying to be. But it is proof that even the most one-dimensional concepts can connect on a deeper level if treated with care.
Posted Jun 07, 2023  Edit critic review
4/4
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) John Wenzel Everything clicks, right up until and including the cliffhanger ending that reminds us that this is just part one of a two-film sequel. It’s going to be a long wait for March 2024.
Posted Jun 01, 2023  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) John Wenzel There's so much to sift through and occasionally like: a visually inspired subatomic set piece, bits of the roiling family tension among actors who are much better than their scripts. But there's nowhere to hide from the MCU's accelerating sprawl.
Posted Feb 15, 2023  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) John Wenzel Everyone in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion, the sequel to his unexpectedly delightful 2019 murder mystery Knives Out, seems to be having a blast -- especially the highly accomplished director.
Posted Dec 22, 2022  Edit critic review
2/4
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) John Wenzel The bald, button-pushing beats are undermined alternately by Cameron’s unapologetic gun fetishization and overlong “wonder” sequences, turning this into a numbing, three-hour slog instead of an easily achievable two-hour experience.
Posted Dec 15, 2022  Edit critic review
3/4
Nope (2022) John Wenzel Peele is well on his way to being among those who have refocused the art form, and Nope will ensure that we keep watching.
Posted Jul 26, 2022  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) John Wenzel It's saturated and loud and beautiful to behold, but its ungainly plot and willingness to slip into every tonal alley leaves it searching for a point.
Posted Jul 08, 2022  Edit critic review
2/4
Lightyear (2022) John Wenzel This should have been a clever short film about the character, but instead it’s stretched out to feature length. And it’s barely even a character.
Posted Jun 17, 2022  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) John Wenzel It’s delicious melodrama at times, cut alternately by straight humor and gravitas. As messy as it looks on paper, it’s never less than visually stunning.
Posted May 04, 2022  Edit critic review
3/4
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) John Wenzel Dismiss it as another cash-in; you wouldn’t be wrong. But it’s pure and unapologetic fun, a thrill ride for kids that manages to fly by for adults, too.
Posted Apr 08, 2022  Edit critic review
2/4
The Matrix Resurrections (2021) John Wenzel The question isn't whether this movie was necessary. It wasn't.
Posted Dec 28, 2021  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) John Wenzel Despite Marvel's usual bloat and a swirling storm of characters, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" earns its joy and sorrow with thematic substance, the breathless action often contrasted with quiet reflection and grief.
Posted Dec 20, 2021  Edit critic review
3/4
Encanto (2021) John Wenzel An epic, family-friendly tale with a surprisingly intimate feel.
Posted Nov 19, 2021  Edit critic review
2/4
Eternals (2021) John Wenzel Gorgeous and vacant, The Eternals is the most numbing entry in Marvel's 13-year-old MCU franchise -- even as it struggles to be its weirdest and most philosophical.
Posted Nov 08, 2021  Edit critic review
3/4
No Time to Die (2021) John Wenzel It's as crisply entertaining as any of the previous Craig movies, but circuitous in its quest to tie them all together.
Posted Oct 08, 2021  Edit critic review
3/4
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) John Wenzel It's a refreshing lift for this next phase of Marvel's world domination. You leave genuinely wanting to see more of Shang-Chi, even as we know we'll be meeting him again very soon.
Posted Aug 23, 2021  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Free Guy (2021) John Wenzel It works well as a breezy fable, and one that's genuinely looking ahead to a brighter future.
Posted Aug 06, 2021  Edit critic review
3/4
Black Widow (2021) John Wenzel Its bottom-line spectacle seldom strays from the Marvel path, but still manages to explore some invigorating new ground.
Posted Jun 30, 2021  Edit critic review
3/4
Face (2002) Michael Booth By the end of Face, we've been drawn deep into the battle for both communal support and individual freedom that marks the progress of so many ethnic groups in America.
Posted Mar 13, 2021  Edit critic review
Flesh and Sand (Carne y Arena) (2017) John Wenzel Carne y Arena often brought me close to tears. Difficult to describe, brilliant in execution, and hyper-relevant to contemporary American life, it's easily one of the most intense artistic experiences I've ever had.
Posted Dec 01, 2020  Edit critic review
All the Way (2016) Joanne Ostrow All the Way is a more satisfying movie than it was a play. Intense closeups of the characters, plus news footage from the 1960s civil rights showdown and Barry Goldwater's campaign, make it both more intimate and more epic.
Posted Oct 07, 2020  Edit critic review
The Girl (2012) Joanne Ostrow Sienna Miller is lovely as Hedren, a fresh-faced beauty with a reserve that made her seem sculpted from marble.
Posted Aug 05, 2020  Edit critic review
Temple Grandin (2010) Joanne Ostrow It helps that Danes is phenomenal, going so deep inside the character as to be unrecognizable to fans of her Romeo + Juliet, Me and Orson Welles and My So-Called Life performances.
Posted Jul 29, 2020  Edit critic review
Recount (2008) Joanne Ostrow Given its timeliness, "Recount" is a painful sort of fun, and likely a great argument starter.
Posted Mar 30, 2020  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) John Wenzel The Rise of Skywalker earns much of its affection with cameos, callbacks and other candy that will be best savored upon repeat viewings.
Posted Dec 18, 2019  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Knives Out (2019) John Wenzel Knives Out deserves to be explored as a world of it own, as Johnson balances moral conscience and black humor expertly within the constraints of the murder-mystery genre.
Posted Dec 02, 2019  Edit critic review
3/4
Doctor Sleep (2019) John Wenzel From the opening shots and synth notes to a spectacularly chilling closing scene, Doctor Sleep makes a convincing case for its own greatness.
Posted Nov 08, 2019  Edit critic review
2/4
No Safe Spaces (2019) John Wenzel It argues for common sense and values while railing against dogma. But what is one person's dogma except someone else's common sense and values?
Posted Nov 06, 2019  Edit critic review
Prayers for Bobby (2009) Joanne Ostrow It doesn't mean to feel maniacally manipulative. It just happened that way... Sigourney Weaver is the film's strength; the neat Lifetime tie-a- ribbon ending is its biggest weakness.
Posted Oct 03, 2019  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Joker (2019) John Wenzel Perhaps the bleakest assertion of "Joker" is the one that's hardest to disprove: That the ghastly world Fleck inhabits, and by extension ours, is the one we deserve.
Posted Oct 03, 2019  Edit critic review
High School Musical 2 (2007) Joanne Ostrow Like the original, the sequel is about the tricky social order as established in high school, the renewable energy source that is the musical, and the power of a certain American entertainment empire. Not fabulous, but fun.
Posted Sep 10, 2019  Edit critic review
2/4
It: Chapter Two (2019) John Wenzel Chapter Two goes deeper than its predecessor, and yet never loses a feeling of shallowness.
Posted Sep 06, 2019  Edit critic review
Amy Schumer: Live From the Apollo (2015) Joanne Ostrow By turns coy, insecure, dramatic and challenging, Schumer has the flexibility to make her conversation both intimate and grandstanding.
Posted Jul 31, 2019  Edit critic review
Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive (2013) Denver Post Staff It's an entertaining hour and 20 minutes.
Posted Jul 17, 2019  Edit critic review
2/4
The Lion King (2019) John Wenzel It hangs together better than the horrid, live-action Aladdin remake that came out in May. But that's not saying much. Most viewers will find this Lion King to be either eye-candy or uncanny valley. There's so little in between.
Posted Jul 11, 2019  Edit critic review
1/4
Aladdin (2019) John Wenzel It aims low and consistently misses its targets, wasting a breathtaking amount of money, talent and goodwill along the way.
Posted May 23, 2019  Edit critic review
2/4
Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland (2006) John Wenzel What would we ever do without a touring comedy show from the star of Fred Claus and Swingers? Somehow, I'm sure we would survive.
Posted Apr 24, 2019  Edit critic review
3/4
Avengers: Endgame (2019) John Wenzel The MCU sticks this landing, allowing us to let go of years of baggage and get ready for the next flight.
Posted Apr 24, 2019  Edit critic review
3/4
Captain Marvel (2019) John Wenzel Larson can turn a moment as slight as walking into frame and blowing a strand of hair out of her face into an uproarious, powerful visual beat.
Posted Mar 07, 2019  Edit critic review
The Little Drummer Boy (1968) Michael Booth I thought "Rudolph" was the worst animation I had seen, until seeing Drummer Boy again. Aaron the misanthropic drummer, formerly with Metallica, and his animal friends skitter across the Sinai like cockroaches on Red Bull.
Posted Dec 04, 2018  Edit critic review
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