Neil Pond

Neil Pond

Agrees with the Tomatometer 80% of the time.

Publications:
American Profile
Total Reviews:
215

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 215
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Rating T-Meter Title | Year Add Date
3.5/5 88% Rush (2013) " Ron Howard adds another winner to his resume with this hip, cool-running crowd pleaser that's also a terrifically made movie all-around." — American Profile
Posted Oct 2, 2013
2.5/5 80% Prisoners (2013) " Raises many questions, in its brutally direct way, as it plows through a minefield of raw nerves, shattered emotions, shifting moral boundaries and unnerving religious overtones." — American Profile
Posted Sep 26, 2013
2/5 33% The Family (2013) " A strange mash-up of a vicious mob yarn squeezed into a foul-mouthed, movie-length sitcom." — American Profile
Posted Sep 20, 2013
3/5 60% Riddick (2013) " It isn't a string of polished sci-fi pearls, but it does deliver pretty much what fans expect: action, creatures, effects, dry humor, and a grown-up mix of skin, blood and language. " — American Profile
Posted Sep 13, 2013
1/5 3% Getaway (2013) " A big clotted clog of fumes and dust and grit, inane dialogue, ridiculous plotting, and bent, twisted metal. " — American Profile
Posted Sep 9, 2013
3.5/5 91% The Spectacular Now (2013) " Teller and Woodley make lasting impressions in this bittersweet, unassuming little summer gem, a movie that's "spectacular" in own simple way." — American Profile
Posted Sep 4, 2013
3.5/5 73% Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) " The dramatized arc of one man's long, arduous but finally glorious and transformative journey across time reminds us of just how far America has come. " — American Profile
Posted Sep 4, 2013
3/5 68% Elysium (2013) " A ripping, gripping fable about two worlds in a dreary future that doesn't seem as far out of synch with today, or as far away, as we might like to think. " — American Profile
Posted Aug 22, 2013
2/5 27% Planes (2013) " Disney's new yarn about a little underdog airplane with big dreams feels like the studio just strapped some wings on another movie---'Cars.' " — American Profile
Posted Aug 19, 2013
2.5/5 63% 2 Guns (2013) " It might hit just the right tone of summer escapism for some, but it left me feeling like I needed to escape, indeed. And I'm still kinda upset about those chickens. " — American Profile
Posted Aug 7, 2013
4/5 86% The Conjuring (2013) " Stirs up some seriously scary, supremely creep-ifying mojo. There's something about this movie that you'll swear is following you home. " — American Profile
Posted Aug 1, 2013
2.5/5 42% Red 2 (2013) " Did the filmmakers believe that simply seeing John Malkovich in boots, a stupid hat and shorts could swipe your short-term memory clean of things you'd just seen minutes ago? " — American Profile
Posted Jul 25, 2013
3.5/5 75% Despicable Me 2 (2013) " A comical mash of cartoonish imagination and surreal detail that's just right for the mix of hyperkinetic humor and sentimental charm. " — American Profile
Posted Jul 19, 2013
67% World War Z (2013) " Has some effective, genuinely scari-fying moments, but too often comes across as a bloated, overwrought affair too big and messy for any one movie to contain. " — American Profile
Posted Jun 26, 2013
3.5/5 84% This Is the End (2013) " Adults-only, stoner comedy at its most hilarious extremes, straining hard to make sure every icky, grody, envelope-pushing "ewww" of its R rating is covered. " — American Profile
Posted Jun 19, 2013
3.5/5 56% Man of Steel (2013) " A renewal of all-around, long overdue Man of Steel movie mojo, expertly pitched to modern times and modern movie tastes. " — American Profile
Posted Jun 12, 2013
3/5 50% Now You See Me (2013) " A slick little cat-and-mouse caper wrapped around a novel idea, and the likeable cast runs with the fun. " — American Profile
Posted Jun 6, 2013
3.5/5 87% Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) " You don't have to be totally immersed in Trekkie lore to follow "Into Darkness," but a bit of basic Trek 101 would at least shed a little guiding light." — American Profile
Posted May 21, 2013
3/5 49% The Great Gatsby (2013) " It may not be pure F. Scott, but this lavish, flamboyant version is quite the show...old sport! " — American Profile
Posted May 15, 2013
3.5/5 79% Iron Man 3 (2013) " Here, it's not the suit that makes the man; it's the man that makes the suit. And Downey is still the star that keeps it-and this multi-million-dollar movie franchise-roaring and soaring. " — American Profile
Posted May 8, 2013
3.5/5 98% Mud (2013) " A modern-day Huck Finn adventure pulled along in the mesmerizing current of a crime yarn and anchored to a teenager's heartbreaking quest for emotional moorings. " — American Profile
Posted May 2, 2013
2.5/5 54% Oblivion (2013) " The jam-packed storyline piles on themes and sci-fi clichés, pompously wraps them around an obscure Victorian era poem, then throws in an Andrew Wyeth painting for good cultural measure. " — American Profile
Posted Apr 26, 2013
3/5 62% Evil Dead (2013) " A big, spewing slab of gory, red meat entertainment, carved out with all the delicacy of a sputtering chainsaw, for fans a horror movie classic that just refuses to die. " — American Profile
Posted Apr 11, 2013
3.5/5 38% Admission (2013) " A running theme of parenthood, by nature or nurture, extends "Admission" beyond its broader comedy of mismatched-or missing-romantic partners, sight gags and punch lines. " — American Profile
Posted Apr 3, 2013
2.5/5 47% Olympus Has Fallen (2013) " A big, boomy, flag-waving bash of lug-headed escapism." — American Profile
Posted Mar 28, 2013
2/5 44% The Call (2013) " A rather unsavory experience overall made even less pleasant by its ultimate pandering to the basest of its audience's entertainment tastes. " — American Profile
Posted Mar 19, 2013
3/5 59% Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) " This fun-filled, fantastically rendered yellow-brick romp, a back-story companion piece, is festooned with its own characters and once-upon-a-time charms. " — American Profile
Posted Mar 14, 2013
3.5/5 84% Side Effects (2013) " A real pill of a movie that packs a serious one-two punch as a detective drama coupled with a cautionary tale about the dangers of trying to pharma-cate our troubles away. " — American Profile
Posted Mar 11, 2013
3/5 55% Snitch (2013) " Has a sobering message underneath its action-movie surface-and behind the marquee power of its muscle-bound leading man. " — American Profile
Posted Feb 27, 2013
2/5 13% Safe Haven (2013) " Moves along at the pace of a leisurely paddled canoe, until the big, explosive, action-y roll-call finale of everything and everyone, in one place, at one time, plus fireworks. " — American Profile
Posted Feb 21, 2013
2.5/5 20% Identity Thief (2013) " It's not perfect, but it is a wild 'n' crazy road trip on the lighter side of a topic that, as a lot of folks have discovered, is no laughing matter. " — American Profile
Posted Feb 14, 2013
2/5 12% Alex Cross (2012) " Never quite rises above a run-of-the-mill, cop-chases-killer-thriller flick, or much expands beyond would happen if an hour-long TV drama was given an extra half-hour to stretch." — American Profile
Posted Feb 5, 2013
3.5/5 70% Not Fade Away (2012) " An exhilarating rush of keenly observant, sometimes barbed, occasionally funny and often poignant detail, and all of it feels right. " — American Profile
Posted Feb 4, 2013
3/5 75% Killing Them Softly (2012) " A top-notch, viscerally powerfully mobster movie with a view of free-market enterprise as practiced at its most harrowingly basic, last-man-standing level. " — American Profile
Posted Feb 4, 2013
2.5/5 29% Broken City (2013) " Feels, looks and sounds like it's pouting that it can't be a smoldering 1940s pulp detective drama instead of a modern-day crime thriller that needs to lure audiences into multiplexes alongside screens offering far more bang for the buck. " — American Profile
Posted Jan 30, 2013
3.5/5 66% Mama (2013) " This skin-crawling creep-out of a custody battle won't win any major awards, but it does liven things up with more than a few good, old-fashioned scares. " — American Profile
Posted Jan 24, 2013
4/5 93% Zero Dark Thirty (2013) " It asks its audience: When does the risk of doing something outweigh the risk not doing anything? What are the costs of revenge? Where will the "war on terror" take us next? " — American Profile
Posted Jan 16, 2013
2.5/5 61% Jack Reacher (2012) " An often outlandish, overly talky crime-procedural drama that seems like a vanity project its marquee star must have wanted to do with his director buddy while waiting for their next "Mission Impossible" collaboration. " — American Profile
Posted Jan 9, 2013
1.5/5 18% Parental Guidance (2012) " A yappy pile-up of grandparents-know-best shtick, gross-out bathroom humor and sentimental claptrap. " — American Profile
Posted Jan 2, 2013
3.5/5 70% Les Misérables (2012) " The "misery" is there, all right. But so is the uplift. " — American Profile
Posted Dec 27, 2012
3/5 88% Django Unchained (2012) " Few movies have ever dared to stir such highly charged, combustible subject matter into such a cocky cocktail. " — American Profile
Posted Dec 19, 2012
1.5/5 4% Playing for Keeps (2012) " A father-son heart-tugger wrapped around a mushy reconciliation rom-com sprinkled with tinsel of shiny Hollywood supporting stars acting like they're in another movie entirely. " — American Profile
Posted Dec 14, 2012
3.5/5 87% Life of Pi (2012) " It's about the circle of coexistence, but in the end, it circles around to leave you wondering what, exactly, you're supposed to think about what you've just seen. " — American Profile
Posted Dec 6, 2012
3.5/5 74% Rise of the Guardians (2012) " Will touch the hearts of anyone-of any age-who can reconnect with the magical childlike power of believing. " — American Profile
Posted Nov 30, 2012
1.5/5 12% Red Dawn (2012) " The '84 original wasn't Shakespeare by any stretch, but it's practically a nostalgic masterpiece compared to this misguided remake. " — American Profile
Posted Nov 20, 2012
4/5 92% Skyfall (2012) " Sweeping action, solid characters, spectacular scenery, a bountiful sense of cleverness, and a pitch-perfect tone of self-reference to the long line of Bond pop-culture mythology. " — American Profile
Posted Nov 16, 2012
3.5/5 78% Flight (2012) " Plenty to ponder: God & faith, fate & choices, broken families & broken people, cover-ups & coming clean, & the grey area between the culture of drugs & the devastation of addiction. " — American Profile
Posted Nov 8, 2012
4/5 96% Argo (2012) " Given today's headline news from the Middle East, it seems not only frighteningly, jarringly real, but like it could easily have happened last week. " — American Profile
Posted Nov 1, 2012
4/5 87% Frankenweenie (2012) " An extremely touching tale of a boy and his dog makes "Frankenweenie" much more than just a dazzling exercise in pop-culture cleverness. " — American Profile
Posted Oct 18, 2012
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