Critics » Alistair Harkness
Alistair Harkness

Alistair Harkness

Agrees with the Tomatometer 77% of the time.

Publications:
Edinburgh U Film Society , Film4 , FilmFour.com , Scotsman
Total Reviews:
672

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 672
Previous | Next
Rating T-Meter Title | Year Add Date
2/5 58% Cold Comes The Night () " At this stage in his career, Cranston surely deserves better from cinema than this." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 23, 2013
3/5 96% Sunshine on Leith () " What's surprising about actor-turned-filmmaker Dexter Fletcher's enthusiastic attempt to bring the songs of Craig and Charlie Reid to the screen is how alive it is to the way pop music can lift people out of the ordinariness of the everyday." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 23, 2013
1/5 0% Sir Billi () " Rubbish in ways that seemed hitherto unimaginable." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 16, 2013
2/5 88% Rush (2013) " The end result plays like a Fast & Furious film for BAFTA voters." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 16, 2013
4/5 91% In a World... (2013) " A film that's sweet and smart and funny about so many things in so many quietly surprising ways it feels like it's breaking the mould ..." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 16, 2013
4/5 91% The Great Beauty () " The Il Divo director returns to his native Rome for an exquisite blowout set amidst the ageing dilettantes living in the city's prosperous bohemian enclave." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 9, 2013
2/5 62% About Time (2013) " About Time morphs into a film about fathers and sons, one replete with terminal illness, saccharine discussions about time's preciousness, and a rare ability to render the songs of Nick Cave unlistenable for future generations." — Scotsman
Posted Sep 9, 2013
4/5 84% Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa () " What's surprising about this set-up is not how basic it is, but how fresh it feels in the not particularly illustrious pantheon of British sit-com-to-big-screen transfers." — Scotsman
Posted Aug 12, 2013
4/5 40% Only God Forgives (2013) " It's a film destined to be either loved or despised. Both reactions seem equally valid." — Scotsman
Posted Aug 5, 2013
3/5 81% Like Someone in Love (2013) " [An] infuriating - but also fascinating - effort ..." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 29, 2013
4/5 98% Blackfish (2013) " Cowperthwaite juxtaposes to devastating effect official PR spin with news reports and eye-witness accounts of marine park tragedies." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 29, 2013
4/5 93% Frances Ha (2013) " The sheer joy on Gerwig's face as she leaps and pirouettes across roads and between pedestrians is infectious." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 29, 2013
2/5 69% The Wolverine (2013) " The Wolverine confirms what the prequel already suggested: that when it comes to Logan, less is definitely more." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 29, 2013
3/5 65% The Heat (2013) " It takes a while for The Heat to warm up, but after about 30 minutes of straining-for-effect comedy, this buddy cop vehicle for Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy proves a much funnier proposition than the thinness of its premise suggests." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 29, 2013
1/5 60% Not Another Happy Ending () " A hodge-podge of random-seeming creative flourishes conspire with the film's general lack of believability to make the characters seem not so much off the wall, as completely demented." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
3/5 86% The Great Hip Hop Hoax () " It's an intriguing and slightly tragic tale ..." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
3/5 84% This Is the End (2013) " Befitting its title, it does feel rather like Rogen et al are having one final blowout before moving on to other things." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
2/5 38% Stand Up Guys (2013) " It's depressing to see the likes of Pacino reduced to making erectile dysfunction jokes, more so when the film labours the gag by having him overdose on Viagra." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
4/5 75% The East (2013) " Batmanglij and his cast invest the story with enough nuance and feeling to make the thriller that unfurls feel like it matters." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
4/5 95% Stories We Tell (2013) " What emerges is a fascinating and illuminating story, one that runs the gamut from intense joy to deep sadness and features a couple of surprising twists that take proceedings off in strange and unusual directions." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
3/5 75% Despicable Me 2 (2013) " Despicable Me was a disposable piece of silliness designed to delight the younger end of the animation market, so it's no surprise that this sequel offers more of the same." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
2/5 49% Redemption (2013) " Testing even my love of Jason Statham, Hummingbird is a fairly terrible showcase for the chrome-domed action star's brand of mayhem." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
4/5 77% Leviathan (2013) " [Plunges] us into a microcosm of chaos and disharmony that reflects the frequently uneasy relationship between nature and commerce." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
4/5 93% For Those In Peril () " An experimental, poetic and moving exploration of grief and the toll it can take." — Scotsman
Posted Jul 1, 2013
4/5 69% Days Of Grace (Dias De Gracia) (2011) " This is genre filmmaking taken to its pulpiest extreme, an example of style over substance to be sure, but what style." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 24, 2013
5/5 85% Upstream Color (2013) " A lush, deeply felt, very modern exploration of the need to find genuine connections in a cruel and (very) unusual world." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 24, 2013
2/5 73% Breathe In () " Doremus just can't seem to tease out psychologically interesting performances from talented actors. Too bad." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 24, 2013
4/5 56% Man of Steel (2013) " It's good to have Superman back." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 17, 2013
2/5 52% Thérèse (2013) " [It] takes a long time to get to the meat of the story and, as a result, Tautou's performance ends up being too aloof when it should be enigmatic." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 10, 2013
2/5 67% The Iceman (2013) " Mistaking leaden atmosphere for gravitas, Vromen turns what could have been a vibrant period drama (it runs from the 1950s through to Kuklinski's arrest in 1986) into a sludgy ordeal ..." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 10, 2013
1/5 16% The Last Exorcism Part II (2013) " It all builds towards another sequel-ready ending, so expect this nonsensically titled series to run and run." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 10, 2013
2/5 71% The Stone Roses: Made of Stone () " It would be hard to deliver a more worthless documentary about The Stone Roses than the one Shane Meadows serves up here." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 10, 2013
1/5 11% After Earth (2013) " Clearly a vanity project, Smith perhaps imagines this plot device will signify to the world that he's ready to pass the action hero mantle on to his son, but it takes more than nepotism to make a movie star." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 10, 2013
2/5 61% Byzantium (2013) " Another artfully dull take on vampire lore, one that rather self-consciously tries to outclass Twilight and its ilk, yet still completely fails to be in any way seductive." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 3, 2013
3/5 75% Populaire (2013) " Populaire ultimately feels too desperate to be a crowd pleaser to really satisfy as one." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 3, 2013
2/5 51% Blood (2013) " It's clunky stuff, full of dreary dialogue that Bettany, Graham and Mark Strong ... do their best to transcend, but without much success." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 3, 2013
3/5 32% Everybody Has a Plan (2013) " Piterbarg works hard to mute the plot's more fanciful elements. If fact, she ends up going too far in the wrong direction, turning this into an underpowered thriller instead." — Scotsman
Posted Jun 3, 2013
3/5 55% Fuck For Forest () " It's unintentionally funny in places, but when the group heads for the Amazon and is confronted with the realities of practical activism, the film fails to interrogate their failings in any meaningful way." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
2/5 28% 21 And Over (2013) " Despite the veneer of vomit-stained raucousness, it's fairly mild stuff ..." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
3/5 54% All Stars () " It's hard not to go along with the film ..." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
3/5 74% Chimpanzee (2012) " As a primate primer for the younger end of the family market, Chimpanzee does a good job of inspiring awe in our closest cousins and doesn't stint on harsh "circle of life" lessons ..." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
2/5 38% Dead Man Down (2013) " Needless to say, the whole thing builds towards a big shoot-out, but none of the action is executed with any verve or style." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
4/5 47% I'm So Excited! (2013) " It's broad, bawdy stuff, and more than a little retro too, to the point where the luggage isn't the only thing that feels Carry On ..." — Scotsman
Posted May 5, 2013
5/5 79% Iron Man 3 (2013) " This is comic book filmmaking with the emphasis very much on the "comic" -- and further proof that it's possible to tell a meaty story full of high stakes action without getting weighed down by fanboy-courting descents into darkness." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 24, 2013
3/5 54% Oblivion (2013) " There's no "whoa" moment, no "spinning top" head-scratchers. Instead Oblivion feels a little too content to get by on spectacle and star-power alone." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 15, 2013
2/5 33% The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) " A slice of retro whimsy, it's rooted to nothing in particular and is inoffensive in every way except its overwhelming blandness." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 8, 2013
2/5 29% All Things To All Men () " The latest attempt to make a British Michael Mann-style crime epic based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what Michael Mann actually does as a filmmaker." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 8, 2013
4/5 100% Michael H. Profession: Director () " [A] fascinating documentary on the Austrian auteur." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 8, 2013
2/5 78% A Late Quartet (2012) " One might expect a film set in the high culture world of classical music to come up with a more sophisticated metaphor for the insecurities of a violinist than having him worry about always playing second fiddle in life." — Scotsman
Posted Apr 8, 2013
Showing 1 - 50 of 672
Previous | Next
  • Sort by Rating:

    Sort results by this critic's rating. This option is only available for critics with a rating system (4 star, letter grade, 1-10, etc.)

  • Sort by T-meter:

    Sort results by the Tomatometer (percentage of critics recommending a certain movie)

Best to Worst Sampling

Best Reviewed

More...

Worst Reviewed

More...

Fresh Links

Halloween Movies For Wimps
Halloween Movies For Wimps External Link
 Scary movies too scary for you? Here are some alternatives for October 31st.
10 Best Superhero TV Shows
10 Best Superhero TV Shows External Link
 HitFix combs through TV history to compile a superpowered list.
Ridiculous Movie Mistakes
Ridiculous Movie Mistakes External Link
 RollingStone proves even the best movies miss a details here and there.
Deadly Movie Kids
Deadly Movie Kids External Link
 Moviefone lists 11 Movie Kids Who Could Kick Our Asses.
50 States, 50 Movies
50 States, 50 Movies External Link
 For July 4th, TimeOut has compiled 50 state-specific movie choices.
Follow RT on Twitter!
Follow RT on Twitter! External Link
 Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | Press | API | Licensing | Mobile
Copyright © Flixster, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices