David Stratton Movie Reviews & Previews

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David Stratton

Agrees with the Tomatometer 74% of the time.

Biography:: David Stratton is a former Director of the Sydney Film Festival, former film critic for the international film industry magazine Variety, and is currently film critic for The Australian. A recipient of the Australian Film Institute ?s Raymond Longford Award, David has also served as a former President of the International Critics Jury for the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, authored two books, and is currently lecturing in Film History as part of the Continuing Education Program at the University of Sydney. David says, ?I had been the film consultant to SBS from its inception and then presenter of both the Movie of the Week and Cinema Classics for over 22 years. Both Margaret and I are grateful for the opportunities that SBS and The Movie Show have given us and have great affection for the network. So our decision to leave SBS is not a step we have taken lightly. But we are excited about the new challenge on ABC TV.?
Publications:: At the Movies (Australia) , The Australian , Variety

Total Reviews:: 653

Location:: Sydney, Australia

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Showing 1 - 50 of 653

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
	92%	Arthur Christmas (2011)	" A witty and beautifully designed animated film." — The Australian Posted Dec 5, 2011
3.5/5	83%	Puss in Boots (2011)	" Mostly this is lots of frenetic fun, and Puss himself is a terrific hero. The animation, seen in 3D in many cinemas, is splendid." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
3.5/5	53%	Albert Nobbs (2012)	" It's an oddly compelling story, handsomely made, and showcasing another fine role for the impressive Mia Wasikowska." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
2.5/5	78%	Melancholia (2011)	" Ambitious but very flawed." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
4/5	75%	The Adventures of Tintin (2011)	" Steven Spielberg's faithful adaptation of the Herge comic books about Tintin, the journalist and boy detective, is the best example yet of the motion capture process." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
4/5	79%	The Skin I Live In (2011)	" Even a second level Almodovar is better than most other people. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
4.5/5	54%	The Iron Lady (2012)	" Meryl Streep gives a quite astonishing impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in this even-handed biopic about Britain's longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th Century." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Dec 1, 2011
4.5/5	71%	Burning Man ()	" A film that will shock you with its honesty and its bravery. I can't wait to see it again." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 10, 2011
4/5	100%	The Tall Man ()	" It tells these complex series of events and the ramifications that follow it -- the inquest, the trials and so forth -- with such clarity that you really get totally involved in this very tragic story." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 10, 2011
4/5	100%	This Is Not A Film (2012)	" A simple, sad, refreshing and intrinsically beautiful film." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 10, 2011
3.5/5	100%	Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard ()	" I did find this really fascinating and rather sad too. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 3, 2011
3.5/5	68%	Our Idiot Brother (2011)	" What I liked about the film is that there is a very good cast. I think all the women in the film are terrific actors." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 3, 2011
3.5/5	47%	Anonymous (2011)	" The film presents an interesting argument, but didn't entirely convince me." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Nov 3, 2011
4/5	93%	Midnight in Paris (2011)	" This combination of whimsy and romance is, for me, much more successful than Allen's previous European city film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 20, 2011
4.5/5	84%	Contagion (2011)	" It's terrific. I was really impressed with this film and I think it's one of the best things he's done actually. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 20, 2011
3/5	31%	The Cup ()	" There's a lot of interesting stuff here but in the end it's a bit disappointing." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 13, 2011
3.5/5	92%	Take Shelter (2011)	" It's compelling in many ways, but ultimately not 100% satisfying." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 12, 2011
3.5/5	36%	The Thing (2011)	" Van Heijningen does a pretty good job with the tried and true material, building up the suspense and claustrophobia very effectively and managing a couple of genuinely startling shock moments. But the last third of the film is a bit of a letdown." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 12, 2011
2/5	58%	Red State (2011)	" It's a really strange film, terribly violent on one level and on another filled with lengthy, long-winded philosophical discourses and blind alleys" — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 12, 2011
2/5	59%	Real Steel (2011)	" This script must have been written by a computer or by a robot. It is really embarrassing, the number of clich�s in this film." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 5, 2011
4/5	80%	The Hunter (2012)	" The real star of this quietly gripping film is Tasmania itself, an extraordinary wilderness landscape gloriously photographed for the wide screen by Robert Humphreys." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 5, 2011
3/5	70%	Footloose (2011)	" The young cast are engaging, especially Miles Teller in the role originally played by Christopher Penn." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Oct 5, 2011
4/5	98%	Project Nim (2011)	" Funny at times, but also deeply sad, it's a truly fascinating and well made documentary." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 29, 2011
4/5	78%	Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)	" It's several cuts above the average romantic comedy that we've been getting lately and I've been sort of railing against those, because they're not romantic and they're not funny but this is both romantic and funny." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 29, 2011
3/5	20%	The Sorcerer and the White Snake ()	" There's hardly any love affair left really because the CGI has taken over with a vengeance. I got a bit bored by this, because it's just special effects, just CGI all the way through and the story is just shunted aside." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 29, 2011
2/5	73%	The Whistleblower (2011)	" Instead of capitalising on a really fine performance from Rachel Weisz in the leading role, Kondracki makes a real mess of it." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 29, 2011
4/5	96%	Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011)	" Herzog has used the 3D process with tremendous creativity to make this very beautiful film." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 21, 2011
4/5	91%	Tabloid (2011)	" A lot of fun; Morris himself is clearly unconvinced about Joyce -- and no wonder -- but she's a funny woman and hers is a ripping yarn if ever there was one." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 21, 2011
4/5	68%	The Eye of the Storm (2012)	" The characters are very brittle and very difficult to sympathise with in many ways and so it presents the actors with tremendous challenges. But I think that they've overcome those challenges really very well indeed and there is some marvellous acting." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 8, 2011
4/5	87%	Submarine (2011)	" There have been any number of movies about the problems faced by teenagers when they fall in and out of love, but the team behind Submarine seem to have got it all just right." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 7, 2011
2/5	25%	The Change-Up (2011)	" Almost all the potential for genuine comedy is missed in this crass affair." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Sep 7, 2011
1.5/5	17%	Priest (2011)	" Some scenes on the train have a certain chill, but overall this is likely to short-change genre lovers." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 25, 2011
4/5	95%	The Guard (2011)	" Augmenting a smart, witty screenplay is magnificent Scope camerawork by Larry Smith, using beautiful locations around the west coast of Ireland." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 25, 2011
4/5	95%	Pina (2011)	" There's no doubting the skill with which Wenders has brought them to the screen, and his use of 3D is ravishing. Interviews with the dancers are well shot, too, and beautifully integrated into an outstanding film about the art of the dance." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 17, 2011
3.5/5	94%	Win Win (2011)	" Beautifully observed, this serio-comic film is the stuff of life and, despite the plot contrivances, very engaging in its quiet way." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 17, 2011
—	——	Bariwali (The Lady of the House) ()	— Variety Posted Aug 13, 2011
3/5	27%	Green Lantern (2011)	" Things improve as the plot kicks in, thanks to enjoyable performances from Peter Sarsgaard, as the more-or-less human villain, and Blake Lively as the feisty heroine." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 11, 2011
4/5	92%	Senna (2011)	" I'm not an aficionado of motor racing, not at all, and yet I found this absolutely compelling and I think that's the mark of a good documentary." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 11, 2011
4.5/5	81%	Red Dog ()	" The dog itself, played by a woofer named Koko, is a great central character, and the humans are good value, too. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Aug 3, 2011
2.5/5	0%	Big Mamma's Boy ()	" If the script is thin and the direction routine, at least many of the performances are engaging, even though there's nothing very subtle in what they're called upon to do. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 27, 2011
3.5/5	100%	Precious Life (2011)	" The issues in this particular conflict are immensely difficult ones, but, despite the film's flaws, this is quite an inspirational story among all the bad news from that part of the world." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 19, 2011
3.5/5	34%	5 Days Of War (2011)	" This tribute to news journalists manages to pack in a few cliches, but director Renny Harlin has always been good with action, and the action scenes here are scarily effective. " — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 19, 2011
2.5/5	38%	Beautiful Lies (Full Treatment)(De vrais mensonges) (2011)	" It's actually not the first French comedy I've seen recently that just seemed not so much funny as just a bit off somehow and I really didn't enjoy this very much." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 19, 2011
	96%	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)	" The final episode overwhelms with its CGI effects, yet somehow manages to be surprisingly moving in the way the epic Harry Potter story is brought to a satisfactory conclusion." — The Australian Posted Jul 12, 2011
4/5	73%	Mozart's Sister (2011)	" It's a sad little story of talent suppressed, but it's beautifully done, with some interiors actually filmed in Versailles, and the music, of course, is sublime." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 7, 2011
4.5/5	39%	Cars 2 (2011)	" A sequel that improves on the original, Cars 2 is sheer delight." — At the Movies (Australia) Posted Jul 5, 2011
—	——	The Innocents (2000)	— Variety Posted Jun 29, 2011
—	——	The Flood (Navodneniye) (1994)	— Variety Posted Jun 29, 2011
—	——	After the Rain (1999)	— Variety Posted Jun 29, 2011

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