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Critics list

Cole Smithey

Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Favorites:

1900, Ace in the Hole, Come and See

Critics' Group:
Location:

Manhattan

Official Website:

http://www.colesmithey.com/home/

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
The Piano Teacher (2001) 75% FIVE STARS EDIT “Although he is retired, Michael Haneke's films remain a beacon of hope in Cinema. Here is a true filmic poet with wisdom and insights that become crystal clear through his provocative and controversial films. ” – ColeSmithey.com Jul 5, 2025 Full Review Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue (2024) 100% THREE STARS EDIT “Jule Campbell's female gaze had a humanitarian purity about it. This doc has more than a few lessons of editorial wisdom to impart to its audience. Establishing trust is always the first step toward any form of fruitful communication. ” – ColeSmithey.com Jun 29, 2025 Full Review Friendship (2024) 88% TWO STARS EDIT “The movie's overriding theme could well be that spectrum narcissists are the new real-life villains making the world hell for the rest of us. Don't go mushroom hunting with them, or anyone else for that matter really.” – ColeSmithey.com Jun 8, 2025 Full Review The Surfer (2024) 84% FOUR STARS EDIT “"The Surfer" is a gnarly social satire that gives food for thought about any man's quest for peace and civility.” – ColeSmithey.com May 15, 2025 Full Review The Penguin Lessons (2024) 78% FIVE STARS EDIT “Director Peter Cattaneo ("The Full Monty") captures every microscopic nuance of comedy, tragedy, satire, romance, and mystery in this wonderful movie. Impressive.” – ColeSmithey.com Mar 30, 2025 Full Review Black Bag (2025) 96% ONE STAR EDIT “If ever there was a movie seemingly written by A.I. "Black Bag" is it.” – ColeSmithey.com Mar 9, 2025 Full Review Nosferatu (2024) 85% TWO STARS EDIT “I suppose this film's tag line, "Succumb to the Darkness" is an apt sentiment in the age of global warming and yet another Trump era. This vampire movie is perfectly watchable; you may feel inclined to nap during it. Don't worry, you won't miss much.” – ColeSmithey.com Jan 19, 2025 Full Review Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024) 100% FIVE STARS EDIT “Director/co-writer Nick Park and his brilliant team of animators deliver the most delightful children's comedy you could ever imagine. What joy springs from this delightful movie. I'd watch it again right now! Love it to pieces. ” – ColeSmithey.com Jan 13, 2025 Full Review The Brutalist (2024) 93% ZERO STARS EDIT “"The Brutalist" is an exploitation movie in love with its own misery. No amount of editing or color-correcting can save this film from itself. Victim-hood is its own reward. Save the back-slapping for Sean Baker's "Anora." ” – ColeSmithey.com Jan 11, 2025 Full Review The Substance (2024) 89% FIVE STARS EDIT “Here is a whole lot of movie with some very poignant ideas about culture. "The Substance" explodes with wit, heart, soul, and a whole lot of blood and guts. What fun!” – ColeSmithey.com Jan 6, 2025 Full Review Juror #2 (2024) 93% TWO STARS EDIT “Clint Eastwood's promising courtroom drama loses to a last scene misstep that costs the picture everything.” – ColeSmithey.com Jan 4, 2025 Full Review Hard Truths (2024) 95% FIVE STARS EDIT “Audience tears flow freely during this cathartic reflection on mental illness and the effects it has on others. I dare say "Hard Truths" carries the potential power to alter the relationship behavior of its audience. You will feel the feeling.” – ColeSmithey.com Dec 15, 2024 Full Review Queer (2024) 77% ZERO STARS EDIT “"Queer" searches for a story, but never finds one.” – ColeSmithey.com Dec 15, 2024 Full Review The Magician (1958) 100% FIVE STARS EDIT “This lush film is a stone-cold classic by any measure. "The Magician" is a really fun movie to return to time and time again. There's just so much cinematic magic to savor.” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 24, 2024 Full Review Anora (2024) 93% FIVE STARS EDIT “You can easily tell in its first 15 minutes why "Anora" won the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes. "Anora" is a winner, and an instant classic of American Independent Cinema.” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 14, 2024 Full Review I Married a Witch (1942) 95% FIVE STARS EDIT “"I Married A Witch" is a high concept movie, especially for 1942. The picture carries a Frenchness in its lighthearted attitudes regarding relations between men and the women who enchant them.” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 12, 2024 Full Review Malevolent (2018) 54% TWO STARS EDIT “"Malevolent" is based on the novel "Hush" by Konstantopoulos, although you'd never guess that this lightweight ghost story/slasher pic was based on novelistic source material.” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 5, 2024 Full Review Apartment 7A (2024) 45% FIVE STARS EDIT “Co-writer/director Natalie Erika James ("Relic") delivers a fierce pro-abortion horror prequel to "Rosemary's Baby" that twists a cinematic knife into the MAGA conspirators that overturned Roe v. Wade.” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 3, 2024 Full Review House on Haunted Hill (1959) 80% FOUR STARS EDIT “William Castle's 1959 B-Movie horror classic retains its goofy charm with a litany of gimmicky sight gags that, however tame by today's standards, keep their childish appeal. ” – ColeSmithey.com Oct 2, 2024 Full Review Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (2023) 66% ZERO STARS EDIT “Thomas Neogovan makes a punk move by attempting to usurp the original version for his own stupid ego. Foolio. Here is sexploitation in reverse. Don't waste your time on this wrongheaded exercise in entropy.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 29, 2024 Full Review Midsommar (2019) 83% FOUR STARS EDIT “All you need to know going into this transgressive (if surrealistic) film is that it covers: animal abuse, cannibalism, incest, suicide, matricide, homicide, and some serious fucking. My work here is done. Get thee thinking cap on.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 28, 2024 Full Review Rated X (2000) 33% FOUR STARS EDIT “Tasteful, dramatic, and fascinating, "Rated X" is a damned good movie that is sorely overlooked. This is one wild ride of a biopic.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 26, 2024 Full Review The Bikeriders (2023) 79% FIVE STARS EDIT “Primary to Jeff Nichols's brilliant five-act film is the female perspective of its protagonist Kathy. Jodie Comer gives an Oscar-worthy performance that defies all expectation.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 21, 2024 Full Review In Praise of Love (2001) 54% FIVE STARS EDIT “Jean-Luc Godard takes a steely knife to Stephen Spielberg, who he detests with an obvious fury. Love isn't all that Godard is praising.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 11, 2024 Full Review The Fall Guy (2024) 82% FIVE STARS EDIT “Fast, sexy, hilarious, and endlessly entertaining, "The Fall Guy" is a true masterpiece regardless of whether its the short or long version that you see.” – ColeSmithey.com Sep 9, 2024 Full Review
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