Nell Minow Movie Reviews & Previews

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Nell Minow

Agrees with the Tomatometer 75% of the time.

Biography:: Nell Minow writes about movies, television, the Internet, and parenting as The Movie Mom for Beliefnet and other publications. Her articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Family Fun, Child, Daughters, Parents, Slate, and three editions of The Practical Guide to Practically Everything. Her book, The Movie Mom's Guide to Family Movies was published by Avon in 1999, with a second edition in 2004. She reviews movies every week on radio stations across the US and in Canada. Her reviews appear on Beliefnet at http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom and you can see her Movie Mom page on Facebook or follow her on twitter. Nell is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
Favorites:: 500 of my favorite movies are reviewed in my book, but as of this writing my top 10 would have to include "The Philadelphia Story," "To Have and Have Not," "His Girl Friday," "Ball of Fire," and "Duck Soup." Ask me tomorrow and you might get a different list!
Publications:: Beliefnet , Chicago Sun-Times , Common Sense Media , Denver Post , DVDJournal.com , Kansas City Star , Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
Critics' Group:: Online Film Critics Society, Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association

Total Reviews:: 4151
Total QuickRatings:: 937

Location:: Just outside of Washington DC

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 4151

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
B+	78%	Iron Man 3 (2013)	" What matters is Downey's total commitment to playing Stark as a flawed, complex, but greatly gifted character." — Beliefnet Posted May 2, 2013
B-	46%	Pain & Gain (2013)	" Ed Harris steals the film as a former cop-turned detective." — Beliefnet Posted Apr 25, 2013
B+	88%	Hava Nagila: The Movie (2013)	" It is annoying, frustrating, embarrassing, and irresistible, which makes it a perfect Rorschach test and intriguing metaphor for contemporary Jewish identity. " — Beliefnet Posted Apr 25, 2013
B	68%	Disconnect (2013)	" Sensitive performances from the entire cast are absorbing, especially Jason Bateman in his first full-on dramatic role." — Beliefnet Posted Apr 19, 2013
B	54%	The Company You Keep (2013)	" As much about our relationship as long-term fans of these actors as it is about the characters who come to grips with their failures and betrayals." — Beliefnet Posted Apr 11, 2013
B-	42%	To The Wonder (2013)	" If you thought Tree of Life was too linear and accessible try this pointillist tribute to sun flares, often lovely, sometimes provocative, always obscure. " — Beliefnet Posted Apr 11, 2013
B+	77%	42 (2013)	" Packs a lot of power, thanks to an evocative sense of its period and star-making performances by Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Nichole Beharie as his wife." — Beliefnet Posted Apr 11, 2013
B-	81%	From Up On Poppy Hill (2013)	" It's strange to see so much focus on the details of the backgrounds, which are exquisitely rendered, when there is so little attention to the expressiveness of the characters." — Beliefnet Posted Apr 5, 2013
4/4	92%	Jurassic Park: An IMAX 3D Experience (2013)	" Spielberg has gone on to weightier and more prestigious projects, but this thrill ride is one of his best and a masterpiece of the genre." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Apr 4, 2013
C-	9%	The Host (2013)	" Melanie had two voices in her head. I only had one, but it was clearly telling me that this movie is a mess." — Beliefnet Posted Mar 28, 2013
B	28%	G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)	" As big, dumb, action and explosions and "hell, yeah, ooyah" movies based on toys go, this one is a lot of fun." — Beliefnet Posted Mar 28, 2013
3/4	93%	The Sapphires (2013)	" A very conventional story of a '60s Australian girl group gains extra power from its context and setting in this fact-based story set to the beat of Motown soul." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 28, 2013
B-	43%	Admission (2013)	" The commercials make it look like a standard romantic comedy but the plot line about reuniting with a child put up for adoption feels awkward, cluttered, and intrusive. " — Beliefnet Posted Mar 21, 2013
3/4	69%	The Croods (2013)	" Despite a few too many mother-in-law jokes, "The Croods" nicely makes it clear that even before they had fire, families understood how important it was to cherish and protect each other." — Chicago Sun-Times Posted Mar 21, 2013
B+	29%	Upside Down (2013)	" A work of bracingly singular imagination that is sheer visual pleasure, with some mind-bending ideas and a deeply romantic sensibility." — Beliefnet Posted Mar 14, 2013
B-	38%	The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)	" What this movie is missing is - magic. " — Beliefnet Posted Mar 14, 2013
B+	71%	Greedy Lying Bastards (2013)	" It's no longer an inconvenient truth. It is a question of our survival being put at risk by a few wealthy people who are determined to get even wealthier." — Beliefnet Posted Mar 7, 2013
B+	60%	Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)	" The real star of the story is the enchanting, rapturously imagined setting. " — Beliefnet Posted Mar 7, 2013
B+	52%	Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)	" A grand bedtime story, 21st century-style. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 28, 2013
C	26%	21 And Over (2013)	" The story wants to be deliciously outrageous and transgressive. It is just tawdry and juvenile. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 28, 2013
C	25%	Phantom (2013)	" Writer/director Todd Robinson clearly cares passionately about the material but he loses track of the narrative. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 28, 2013
C	58%	Snitch (2013)	" We never feel the sense of peril that would create some tension, and we miss the expected sense of satisfaction when no cans of whup-ass are opened. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 21, 2013
B+	57%	Shanghai Calling (2013)	" Henney's lanky appeal as he tries to cope with an avalanche of language and cultural challenges is a pleasure to watch." — Beliefnet Posted Feb 20, 2013
C-	27%	Escape From Planet Earth 3D (2013)	" It almost works as an amiable, if derivative, time-waster for kids with a few jokes for the grown-ups, but too much is unsettlingly off-base. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 15, 2013
C	13%	Safe Haven (2013)	" Sparks' core formula: damaged hearts, pretty people, a body of water, the a small town community, a sad death, and a letter, plus a twist that feels desperate." — Beliefnet Posted Feb 13, 2013
B	45%	Beautiful Creatures (2013)	" The various transformations, expanding powers, and sense of alienation seem like a tangible reflection (and only mild exaggeration) of the experience of adolescence. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 13, 2013
B	15%	A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)	" Chases. Explosions. Guns. Crashes. Wisecracks. Punches." — Beliefnet Posted Feb 13, 2013
B+	85%	Side Effects (2013)	" A nicely nasty thriller -- and the less you know before seeing it, the more you'll enjoy it." — Beliefnet Posted Feb 7, 2013
C-	20%	Identity Thief (2013)	" A sloppy script from Craig Mazin shows no sense of character, and dragged-out direction from Seth Gordon shows no understanding of comic momentum. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 7, 2013
B+	80%	Warm Bodies (2013)	" R's concerns about how he appears to Julie are only a slightly amplified version of what we all go through when we meet someone who inspires to be on our best behavior. " — Beliefnet Posted Feb 3, 2013
B	37%	Stand Up Guys (2013)	" Pacino, Walken, and Arkin show their vitality and know-how in the face of their mortality and the pure joy of performing in the knowledge that they are better than ever. " — Beliefnet Posted Jan 31, 2013
B-	14%	Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)	" Cheeky anachronisms, some rocking fight scenes, and a brief running time so that it's over before you get tired of it." — Beliefnet Posted Jan 24, 2013
B	79%	Quartet (2013)	" There is something splendid about seeing fine actors at the top of their game, still nailing it - in a movie about older performers, still nailing it. " — Beliefnet Posted Jan 24, 2013
B-	32%	Won't Back Down (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
B+	42%	Step Up 4: Miami Heat (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
C	65%	The Campaign (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
C	32%	Fanboys (2008)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
B	72%	Fracture (2007)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
A-	98%	Brooklyn Castle (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
C	30%	Broken City (2013)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
B+	92%	Silver Linings Playbook (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
B	51%	Trouble with the Curve (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
C-	52%	This is 40 (2012)	— Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies Posted Jan 22, 2013
C	59%	The Last Stand (2013)	" Just like the escaped prisoner episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" where the state police think that the local law enforcement are a bunch of rubes, but with lots of guns." — Beliefnet Posted Jan 17, 2013
C	30%	Broken City (2013)	" It's too bad to see top talent slumming in an underwritten, under-thought, under-whelming piece of multiplex fodder." — Beliefnet Posted Jan 17, 2013
B-	51%	Promised Land (2013)	" Smart, sincere, and timely, with thoughtful, intelligent performances by everyone, until it goes completely off the rails at the end." — Beliefnet Posted Jan 3, 2013
D	18%	Parental Guidance (2012)	" Shtick-y and utterly synthetic" — Beliefnet Posted Dec 27, 2012
B-	88%	Django Unchained (2012)	" Pure cinematic testosterone and filled with saucy variations on dozens of other films." — Beliefnet Posted Dec 27, 2012
B	70%	Les Misérables (2012)	" having the actors sing their parts while they were filming...gives the music a welcome organic quality and immediacy." — Beliefnet Posted Dec 27, 2012

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