Matt Kelemen Movie Reviews & Previews

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Matt Kelemen

Agrees with the Tomatometer 78% of the time.

Publications:: AlterNet , AspectRatio.us , Las Vegas CityLife
Critics' Group:: Las Vegas Film Critics Society

Total Reviews:: 233
Total QuickRatings:: 9

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Showing 1 - 50 of 233

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
3	78%	Iron Man 3 (2013)	" Iron Man 3 is passable mindless entertainment, but even if the film grosses $1 billion worldwide the franchise has run its course." — AspectRatio.us Posted May 3, 2013
3.5	77%	42 (2013)	" If life-affirming inspirational stories are a turn-off, 42 is still worth watching. " — AspectRatio.us Posted May 1, 2013
2.5/5	56%	Oblivion (2013)	" Unfortunately, when the story seems like an afterthought and the audience can't follow the plot progression, the movie ultimately fails" — AspectRatio.us Posted May 1, 2013
4	92%	No (2013)	" NO is an important film - especially for people too young or too far removed from Pinochet's "Dirty War" to remember how horrifying the situation was in Argentina during the '70s and '80s. Bernal's screen presence goes a long way in making the movie work" — AspectRatio.us Posted May 1, 2013
2	54%	The Company You Keep (2013)	" Things come together satisfyingly at the end, but by then the urge to jump out of one's theater seat has been in effect for at least 45 minutes. " — AspectRatio.us Posted May 1, 2013
3.5	62%	Evil Dead (2013)	" ... not for people prone to nightmares. It's highly effective as causing involuntary chills and hand movements (as in, up to eyes to block the bloody chaos onscreen). ... a cut above just about any other modern horror/slasher remake" — AspectRatio.us Posted Apr 29, 2013
4	92%	The Gatekeepers (2013)	" In the end, the accumulated stories in The Gatekeepers offer tremendous insight about the Israeli-Palestinian situation. It feels more like it was prepared as a history document for Shin Bet rookies than a documentary." — AspectRatio.us Posted Apr 29, 2013
1/5	65%	The Campaign (2012)	" The problem with situation comedy movies in general - and Will Ferrell vehicles such as The Campaign in particular - is that they usually fizzle out after the first 30 minutes." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
1/5	51%	Savages (2012)	" compelling action scenes with momentum-killing dialogue digressions" — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	97%	Monsieur Lazhar (2012)	" Falardeau had the good fortune to work with a powerfully effective ensemble cast, and Martin Léon's minimalist ambient score helps set the mood for a satisfying story about the healing effect brief encounters can have on emotional scars. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	43%	To Rome with Love (2012)	" Inconsistencies in time and space elements, and a plot that echoes an episode of The Flintstones, join generally underdeveloped attempts at suspending disbelief to mar Allen's attempt to represent the city of Fellini." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
1/5	56%	For a Good Time, Call... (2012)	" the concept was rife with possibilities that could synergize with Graynor's fresh appeal as well as her rising-star status. Neither the possibilities nor the synergy happens, mainly due to an underdeveloped story." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2.5/5	94%	Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2012)	" Although some of the dates and causal events in her life are passed over, the rhythm and style carry the narrative forward until the last 20 minutes, when the film mostly meanders to the finish." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	35%	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)	" Rather than create an innovative style to complement the horror-history hybrid, he employs superhero clichés and hackneyed action scenes that only help distract from the ineffectiveness of the film's scant 3-D effects." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	78%	The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)	" its difficult to sit through the final scenes without thinking of what Madden could have cut to earn Marigold Hotel a five-star rating." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
5/5	99%	Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2012)	" Gelb also provides an education on the different kinds of sushi, the purveyors of premium fish and rice, and overfishing. But it's his lyrical, lovingly photographed scenes of preparation that elevates the documentary to a work of art." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	38%	Dark Shadows (2012)	" Burton really needed to lean his horror-comedy more toward horror. Instead, it's reminiscent at times of Love at First Bite and the feature film remakes of The Addams Family and The Brady Bunch." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	33%	The Lady (2012)	" The dramatic moments are few and far between, and the film seems like it walks in the footsteps of Richard Attenborough's Gandhi at times. Besson definitely tries to present Suu Kyi in a similarly reverent light." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
5/5	75%	Chicken with Plums (2012)	" unfurls in a dazzling set of sequences and montages that demonstrates everything shown to us - like marriage and society itself - may not be as it seems, or what it should have been." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	88%	Neil Young Journeys (2012)	" Demme plants a camera on the mic stand so at one point he can present Young's unshaven scowl in extreme close-up, blocking out the gorgeously lighted stage. It's not a pleasant image" — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
5/5	93%	Amour (2012)	" Haneke has created a gift for both audiences and the two legendary actors cast in the lead roles. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	54%	Brother (Hermano) (2012)	" Hermano is part sports film, part neorealist drama and a fully successful debut feature from Venezuelan director Marcel Rasquín." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	95%	The Imposter (2012)	" Credit director Bart Layton for taking a subject that appears barely capable of propping up hour-long, true-crime cable programming and turning it into compelling, full-length documentary." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	64%	Cosmopolis (2012)	" Cronenberg is not a director to be daunted by a scenario in which the antihero spends most of his time in a stretch limo. Turning it into a film that interests anyone ... is another matter" — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
5/5	87%	Robot & Frank (2012)	" Christopher D. Ford's seamless screenplay provides a light-comedy vehicle that Langella rides to a satisfyingly original, epiphanic finale. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
1/5	75%	Damsels in Distress (2012)	" Why he would once again focus his imagination on another ensemble of shallow, self-absorbed characters that are all directed to speak like they were born in the same upper-class Connecticut suburb indicates a one-track mind, at the least." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	63%	Delicacy (2012)	" Foenkinos brothers' balance of light comedy and moody desperation is conveyed with a breezy cinematic style " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
5/5	94%	Coriolanus (2011)	" Fiennes' blend of action and homage is top-notch, as is direction.... Fiennes created his own modern world for which it's easy to suspend disbelief." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	90%	Footnote (2012)	" Cedar remains in stylistic second gear for the rest of the film, and interest fizzles out long before the finish line. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	79%	The Deep Blue Sea (2012)	" By the time she learns love is less about ideal romance than "wiping someone's ass" when they grow old, it's difficult to care about a problem she created for herself." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	84%	The Raid: Redemption (2012)	" Gareth Huw Evans doesn't swipe plot points as much as organically build a taut, expertly choreographed heir to urban mayhem fantasies " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	89%	In Darkness (2012)	" The Academy Award-nominated film does not disappoint in terms of performances or presentation, except for its length. A good percentage of its 145 minutes is spent in subterranean near-darkness." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	46%	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012)	" Oskar expounds to excess, a problem that becomes worse as time drags on and is particularly excruciating during the one-way verbal dialogues with Von Sydow " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	78%	Jeff Who Lives at Home (2012)	" Jeff, Who Lives at Home offers escapism of a different kind, an entertaining reminder that good people sometimes prevail, and that living by your own Yoda logic in your own universe may not be such a bad thing." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	99%	A Separation (2011)	" Ambiguous endings can work for some films, but it doesn't here. Still, the powerful performances and near seamless screenplay leave little else to be desired. A Separation deserves its Oscar." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	56%	Albert Nobbs (2012)	" There's no contrived moralizing bridge to modern relevance, no overt nod to contemporary gender politics and no real reason why Close shouldn't get some respect this awards season." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	80%	Shame (2011)	" Shame has the problems that accompany most films in which the director sticks his neck out. It's not incoherent, but will seem underdeveloped for viewers who want plots and characters spelled out for them. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
2/5	52%	The Iron Lady (2012)	" The narrative is not well structured, and Streep's performance suffers as a result.... The scenes with Broadbent are the best. They just aren't worth sitting through a history lesson that isn't taught well." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4/5	74%	Prometheus (2012)	" WPrometheus offers hypotheses about the origin of life on our planet that are so well constructed, they make real-life theories about extraterrestrials seem highly feasible." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	67%	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012)	" ... just because something seems absurd doesn't mean it can't happen. And just because a film seems to lack surprises doesn't mean it won't take an entirely satisfying turn at the end." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
4	87%	Bully (2012)	" There's no arguing with Hirsch's message, but in order for his film to make the necessary impact, it must be mandatory viewing in every school -- for faculty and administration as well as for students." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
3/5	72%	Carnage (2011)	" This is an actors' movie, although it's not always pleasant. Waltz has the most fun, and is the most enjoyable to watch. He also exchanges dialogue with Winslet that best sums up the story's absurdist nature: "Why are we still in this house?" " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 21, 2013
	82%	Seven Psychopaths (2012)	" Seven Psychopaths is refreshingly unorthodox on the level of The Big Lebowski, mixing clever film-about-film elements with dialogue that McDonagh crafted with care." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Oct 11, 2012
	62%	Kill the Irishman (2011)	" A minor mob-cinema classic." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Apr 11, 2011
	11%	Red Riding Hood (2011)	" Grandma's house exudes the fairy-tale atmosphere Hardwicke strived for, but it's too little too late. By then it's clear that Seyfried's leading men are bland, the pacing plods, and the story needed more development. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Mar 11, 2011
	85%	Cedar Rapids (2011)	" The Hangover cast member can't quite carry a feature on his own. This one is not all that funny anyway, and its comic elements eventually become redundant" — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Mar 11, 2011
	67%	Brüno (2009)	" if mixed martial arts fans who view the film are forever after afraid of fighters getting aroused during a ground-and-pound session on the mat, then Baron Cohen did the job right." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Feb 1, 2011
	68%	Public Enemies (2009)	" ... meanders and never delivers the pay-off it promises. " — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Feb 1, 2011
	68%	Funny People (2009)	" Apatow draws on his own experience to explore behavioral nuances of people that make us laugh, and it's no secret that being funny is not the same as being happy." — Las Vegas CityLife Posted Feb 1, 2011

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