Matt Brunson Movie Reviews & Previews

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Matt Brunson

Agrees with the Tomatometer 81% of the time.

Publications:: Creative Loafing
Critics' Group:: Southeastern Film Critics Association

Total Reviews:: 1531
Total QuickRatings:: 88

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
2/4	53%	Safe House (2012)	" Why do scripters even try to hide the identity of the villain until the end? Given the obviousness in these films, they might as well include a character named Professor Plum, usually found brandishing a lead pipe in the conservatory, and be done with it." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 11, 2012
3.5/4	96%	Pariah (2011)	" This is a movie that will doubtless speak to those who have endured similar hardships in their youth, and Rees' message seems to be that, as Dan Savage would say, it gets better." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 10, 2012
3.5/4	95%	Pina (2011)	" The 3-D is so subtle, unobtrusive and low-key that at times I felt like I was watching the movie through a View-Master rather than the requisite plastic glasses. That's not meant as a knock." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 10, 2012
2.5/4	85%	Chronicle (2012)	" This isn't a family-friendly superhero flick like Sky High nor is it a costume-clad wish-fulfillment fantasy like Kick-Ass. Instead, it grounds its science fiction in high school fact while taking uncomfortable detours into Columbine territory." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 10, 2012
2/4	64%	The Woman in Black (2012)	" The best ghost stories are the ones that rely on careful exposition and a pervasive sense of mounting dread to unsettle audiences (e.g. The Others, The Orphanage), but director James Watkins and scripter Jane Goldman abandon that approach shockingly fast." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 4, 2012
2/4	77%	The Grey (2012)	" Even Twilight haters might join Team Jacob rather than watch this shaggy undertaking." — Creative Loafing Posted Feb 3, 2012
2.5/4	32%	Man on a Ledge (2012)	" It's all fast-paced nonsense, easy to take but not quite engaging enough to warrant a night out at the movies. Yeah, best to wait for that DVD." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 28, 2012
2.5/4	53%	Albert Nobbs (2012)	" Even accepting that Close looks a bit like a fey, mummified Stan Laurel, viewers have to assume that everybody in Ireland suffers from poor eyesight to fall for THIS ruse." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 28, 2012
2.5/4	78%	A Dangerous Method (2011)	" For all its strengths, A Dangerous Method never becomes much more than a pleasant watch, with its studied formalism preventing viewers from ever truly connecting to these characters' situations." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 28, 2012
2.5/4	80%	Haywire (2012)	" The limitations of the film aren't Carano's fault: Admittedly, her emoting borders on the wooden side, but she does have charisma and a natural screen presence, neither of which should ever be underestimated." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 27, 2012
4/4	88%	Spellbound (1945)	" A commercial and critical hit in its day, this Best Picture Oscar nominee has seen its standing slip in the ensuing decades, as it's never mentioned on any list of Alfred Hitchcock's best works. That's a shame." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 25, 2012
4/4	100%	Rebecca (1940)	" The real show-stopper remains Judith Anderson's formidable turn as Mrs. Danvers." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 25, 2012
4/4	94%	Notorious (1946)	" Second only to Psycho as my favorite Hitchcock movie." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 25, 2012
4/4	94%	To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)	" One of those rare instances when a movie perfectly captures the essence of its source material without compromising it in any way." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 23, 2012
2/4	45%	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012)	" The Guys, 25th Hour and United 93 paid tribute to the heroes of that fateful day; this picture mainly pays tribute to its ability to pat itself on the back." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 21, 2012
3/4	80%	Shame (2011)	" Fassbender was compelling as Rochester in Jane Eyre, as Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method and especially as Magneto in X-Men: First Class, but it was his role in Shame that allowed him to most fully expose himself, in more ways than one." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 20, 2012
1.5/4	48%	Contraband (2012)	" Its foreign antecedent bore the moniker Reykjavik-Rotterdam, but perhaps mindful that many Americans would mistake these two major European cities for brands of beer, the action has been switched to New Orleans-Panama. " — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 20, 2012
1/4	11%	Atlas Shrugged Part I (2011)	" To quote: 'The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often [leads] to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 16, 2012
1/4	3%	Passion Play (2011)	" This often risible mood piece stars Megan Fox as a circus sideshow attraction who has actual angel wings growing out of her back. Rather than doing the sensible thing and joining the X-Men, she instead decides to make out with Mickey Rourke. Go figure." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 16, 2012
1/4	13%	I Melt with You (2011)	" Former porn star Sasha Grey turns up in a small role, and I daresay that the blunt, single-syllable scripts employed in her erotic films were Oscar-worthy compared to this drivel." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 16, 2012
3.5/4	98%	Project Nim (2011)	" One of the 10 best films of 2011." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 16, 2012
3/4	71%	Carnage (2011)	" Polanski masterfully orchestrates all the mind-game mayhem, although he above all filmmakers constantly reminds us how important it is to separate the artist's personal life from his public offerings." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 14, 2012
1.5/4	54%	The Iron Lady (2012)	" Forget for a minute the movie's soft-pedaling of its central character. ... With so much history and personality to draw upon, it's infuriating that so much of the running time is wasted on mere speculation involving an elderly person's flights of fancy." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 14, 2012
3/4	84%	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)	" Bret Easton Ellis Tweeted about the awfulness of this movie. Le Carre vs. Ellis -- considering that's the mental and literary equivalent of a brawl between Godzilla and Jar Jar Binks, I'd say it's safe for discerning viewers to give this a shot." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 6, 2012
3.5/4	97%	The Artist (2011)	" Although it sometimes runs short on invention, it makes up for it in style, execution and a cheery disposition that's positively infectious." — Creative Loafing Posted Jan 6, 2012
3.5/4	76%	War Horse (2011)	" Don't be fooled into thinking the PG-13 War Horse takes a softer approach to the subject at hand -- with one specific scene, Spielberg establishes that his World War I epic, like some of the platoons marching through it, won't take any prisoners." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 24, 2011
1.5/4	63%	We Bought a Zoo (2011)	" Clearly, Crowe doesn't trust the audience to make it from Point A to Point B without stumbling or getting lost." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 24, 2011
3/4	75%	The Adventures of Tintin (2011)	" While the motion-capture process still isn't as pleasing to the eye as either old-school Disney or new-school Pixar, its employment in The Adventures of Tintin still qualifies as leaps and bounds ahead of its use in the unwieldy antecedents in this field." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 24, 2011
3.5/4	87%	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)	" The 2009 Swedish version is a fine film, but this one is nevertheless an improvement, right from the dazzling opening credits (perhaps the best I've seen this year) to an epilogue that's unexpectedly poignant." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 24, 2011
3.5/4	84%	Beginners (2011)	" In any other movie, the key character of Arthur, a soulful Jack Russell terrier, would draw all the attention away from the two-legged protagonists, but the performances by the three leads are so superb that everyone is able to share in the glory." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 21, 2011
3/4	82%	Young Adult (2011)	" Theron is excellent in the central role, yet the real ace here might be Oswalt." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 17, 2011
3/4	93%	Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)	" For action buffs desperate for a hit to jump-start their hearts, here's a Mission impossible to refuse." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 17, 2011
2/4	60%	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)	" More Rambo than Miss Marple ... Audiences will flock to see a dizzying swirl of furious fisticuffs, blazing gunfights, and theater-rocking explosions. Me, I'll be home watching my Columbo box sets." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 17, 2011
1.5/4	8%	New Year's Eve (2011)	" Forget counting down from 10 as the ball drops in Times Square; here instead is a countdown of the 10 key points in New Year's Eve, which proves to be even tougher to take than director Garry Marshall's previous all-star holiday romp, Valentine's Day." — Creative Loafing Posted Dec 10, 2011
3.5/4	96%	The Muppets (2011)	" Here's a cruel suggestion: Leave the kids at home. After all, what grownup weaned on a steady diet of Muppets wants to interrupt a jaunt down memory lane by having to escort weak bladders to the bathroom or hungry mouths to the concession stand?" — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 25, 2011
3.5/4	94%	Hugo (2011)	" Hugo is a work steeped in cinema lore, drunk on the fumes of a bygone era yet canny enough to channel its nostalgia through modern innovations." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 25, 2011
3/4	92%	Arthur Christmas (2011)	" The idea of a Santa with a non-American accent will probably irk the same stateside folks who bristle at the thought of a non-Caucasian Jesus, but the mostly British cast has been carefully selected." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 25, 2011
3.5/4	90%	The Descendants (2011)	" Marked by stellar performances and an incisive screenplay, The Descendants packs a real Hawaiian punch." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 25, 2011
3/4	79%	The Skin I Live In (2011)	" It's the journey itself that provides the unexpected, often queasy twists and turns. Let's just say that the recent Shrek spinoff isn't the only Antonio Banderas film that could have been released with the title Puss in Boots." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 19, 2011
1.5/4	74%	Like Crazy (2011)	" Three-quarters twee and one-quarter Glee, Like Crazy won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance ... proof positive that even the film festivals can be as misguided in their selections as the notorious Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 19, 2011
2.5/4	25%	Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)	" Critiques really have no weight when it comes to films like this. The haters are gonna hate, the fans are gonna love, and everyone else will check the movie listings and their own wallets before deciding if this is the best option for a night on the town." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 19, 2011
3/4	90%	Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)	" The ending will be loved by many, loathed by an equal amount; I feel there were better ways to conclude the story, but I understand that it comes with the art-house territory." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 12, 2011
2.5/4	44%	J. Edgar (2011)	" The focus, for better or worse, renders this less a comprehensive biopic, more a Brokeback Bureau." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 12, 2011
1/4	3%	Jack and Jill (2011)	" A clear sign that Sandler and director Dennis Dugan aren't even trying anymore, safe in the knowledge that fans will emulate Divine in John Waters' Pink Flamingos and chow down on whatever dog **** is presented to them." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 12, 2011
3/4	31%	Big Business (1988)	" Underrated farce ... Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin are terrific." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 9, 2011
3/4	68%	Tower Heist (2011)	" The characters are far more interesting than the actual heist that eats up the final portion of the film, so it's a good thing we're allowed to spend plenty of time getting to know them during the first hour." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 6, 2011
2.5/4	47%	Anonymous (2011)	" Call it the anti-Shakespeare in Love. Call it the more cultured cousin to Inglourious Basterds. Just don't call Anonymous a fact-based story." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 6, 2011
3/4	92%	Take Shelter (2011)	" Rod Serling would have been proud." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 6, 2011
3.5/4	72%	Bellflower (2011)	" The beauty of this picture is that it's impossible to predict where it's going to lead from scene to scene." — Creative Loafing Posted Nov 5, 2011

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