Rob Vaux

Rob Vaux

"“You know what a cautious fellow I am.” — Harrison Ford, Raiders of the Lost Ark “You rotten man. Here, let me take your rotten bloody picture… for the rotten bloody newspapers.” — Arthur Kennedy, Lawrence of Arabia “I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House…” — Nicholas Cage, Raising Arizona “Are you gonna let it go or are we gonna drive around pissed all night?” — Edward Norton, The Score “Okay: I'm going home. Keep your money.” — Kurt Russell, Big Trouble in Little China"

Agrees with the Tomatometer 81% of the time.

Biography:
A native Californian, Rob Vaux grew up in the greater Los Angeles area before attending college in Minnesota and graduate school in Syracuse, NY. He moved back to So Cal after earning his M.A. and currently works as a writer and editor, as well as serving as a film critic for Mania.com and The Sci-Fi Movie Page. He's also a faithful fan of the Anaheim Angels, though he considers the Rally Monkey a dubious asset at best. He lives in the suburbs, has three black cats, and probably liked The Phantom Menace more than you.
Favorites:
Brazil, The Third Man, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Throne of Blood, West Side Story, Wings of Desire, Miller's Crossing, John Carpenter's The Thing, and too many others to count. The Lord of the Rings is moving up with a bullet.
Publications:
Filmcritic.com , Flipside Movie Emporium , Mania.com , Sci-Fi Movie Page
Critics' Group:
Online Film Critics Society
Total Reviews:
1829
Total QuickRatings:
865
Location:
The greater Los Angeles area.

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 1829
Previous | Next
Rating T-Meter Title | Year Add Date
D 21% The Hangover Part III (2013) " he tail end of a good idea that was stretched well beyond its breaking point. " — Mania.com
Posted May 24, 2013
B 63% Epic (2013) " It doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but its attention to detail produces a reliably entertaining family adventure." — Mania.com
Posted May 24, 2013
B 73% Fast & Furious 6 (2013) " What used to be unintentional goofiness now fully embraces its camp side, along with some impressive action sequences and a few welcome new cast members to keep us hopping. " — Mania.com
Posted May 24, 2013
D 17% Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) " The producers in their infinite wisdom decided to release it five days before the single most anticipated science fiction epic of all time. " — Mania.com
Posted May 22, 2013
A 79% Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) " The Force was always with it, and time, though not entirely kind, still affirms that most important truth." — Mania.com
Posted May 22, 2013
A- 87% Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) " The day may come when they stumble as their predecessors did. That day is not today." — Mania.com
Posted May 16, 2013
C 42% The Beastmaster (1982) " A kid-friendly version of Arnold Schwarzenegger's grown-up guilty pleasure... which really sort of misses the point." — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
B+ 70% TRON (1982) " Story isn't the point here, nor are complex characters, potent themes or arch conversations. The film exists as spectacle in its purest form. " — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
B 44% The Hunger (1983) " Vampire movies were always cool, but it took The Hunger to make them modern. " — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
B 58% Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) " Along with The Watcher in the Woods, it may be Disney's only honest-to-God effort to tell us a horror story. " — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
C- 40% Doctor Detroit (1983) " I'll be honest: it plays a lot better when you're twelve." — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
B 84% Blue Thunder (1983) " The battle in Blue Thunder is less between Scheider's edgy police pilot Frank Murphy and his ultimate nemesis (Malcom McDowell), as it is between Murphy and the high-tech beast he's asked to pilot." — Mania.com
Posted May 14, 2013
C+ 50% The Great Gatsby (2013) " The Great Gatsby tells us what it should be showing, even as that show unfurls in grand, inimitable style. " — Mania.com
Posted May 10, 2013
3/4 100% Superman Unbound () " It ultimately takes a high place in the ranks of DC's direct-to-video line, exemplifying the kind of stories tailor made for this format." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted May 8, 2013
B- 68% The Iceman (2013) " Imperfect perhaps, but ultimately undeniable. " — Mania.com
Posted May 3, 2013
B+ 78% Iron Man 3 (2013) " Whether it marks an ending, a beginning or something in between, it really doesn't matter. Iron Man 3 starts the summer off right." — Mania.com
Posted May 2, 2013
C+ 46% Pain & Gain (2013) " You won't forget it easily; it just needs to find a better way to make its surprisingly pertinent points." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 26, 2013
D 47% The Lords of Salem (2013) " The Lords of Salem suffers far too much for its shortcomings; sadly, the audience suffers even more." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 19, 2013
B+ 55% Oblivion (2013) " The film stands on the shoulders of giants, but the view from there is still pretty damn good." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 19, 2013
A+ 98% The Evil Dead (1981) " One of the shining lights of the horror genre." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 15, 2013
A 92% Jurassic Park: An IMAX 3D Experience (2013) " While it's not the most profound of Spielberg's works or the most entertaining from a popcorn perspective, it's one of the most technically flawless movies he's ever produced." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 5, 2013
B+ 62% Evil Dead (2013) " Congratulations guys: you get to keep the name." — Mania.com
Posted Apr 5, 2013
B 94% Room 237 (2013) " A strange and enduring testament to Kubrick's cinematic legacy, as well as a fun way to look at a horror classic in a whole new way. " — Mania.com
Posted Mar 29, 2013
D 9% The Host (2013) " Populated by one-note characters and the kind of moral subtext that usually precedes cult suicides." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 29, 2013
C 28% G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) " We may hate ourselves for liking it, but at least we don't hate ourselves for being there." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 29, 2013
C 69% The Croods (2013) " It's product, pure and simple: dependable, disposable and forgotten as soon as it serves its purpose." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 22, 2013
C 47% Olympus Has Fallen (2013) " The film's grit and realism throw sand in the bigger picture, which ultimately derails the whole thing." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 22, 2013
4/4 88% Life of Pi (2012) " A wondrous tale of survival and faith that challenges our notions of the possible." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Mar 20, 2013
3/4 48% Willow (1988) " There's a sunny feeling here that's impossible to deny: a warm, inviting tone unseen in more recent fare." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Mar 20, 2013
D 29% Upside Down (2013) " Upside Down falls into that old trap of overwhelming us with spectacle before we spot the emptiness beneath." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 15, 2013
C+ 37% The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) " Its sweetness does it credit, but ultimately blunts its badly needed bite." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 15, 2013
F 39% The ABCs of Death (2013) " The possibilities are delicious. The reality is absolutely vile." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 8, 2013
B 59% Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) " Leave your preconceptions at the door and enjoy it for what it is. In this case, the man behind the curtain knows what he's doing." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 8, 2013
A 67% Stoker (2013) " The best film of 2013 so far." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 1, 2013
C 52% Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) " Fee. Fi. Fo. Meh." — Mania.com
Posted Mar 1, 2013
B- 58% Snitch (2013) " Snitch isn't anyone's idea of a great film, but it aspires to be a good one. " — Mania.com
Posted Feb 22, 2013
1.5/4 34% Dark Skies (2013) " Dark Skies shows us glimpses of the movie it could have been before squandering it all on silly misfires and a lack of overall thrust." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Feb 22, 2013
C 46% Beautiful Creatures (2013) " It coasts to a stop too often for comfort, searching in vain for a reason to keep moving forward. " — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Feb 14, 2013
B 15% A Good Day To Die Hard (2013) " It ain't perfect, but it sure finds a way to get the job done." — Mania.com
Posted Feb 14, 2013
C- 27% The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2013) " We've seen this movie before, in better clothes and with a much higher IQ." — Mania.com
Posted Feb 8, 2013
B 55% Top Gun (1986) " An undeniably cheesy yet strangely appealing time capsule, with a little something for everyone provided we understand that it's all bubblegum. " — Mania.com
Posted Feb 8, 2013
B 47% Bullet to the Head (2013) " Bullet to the Head definitely qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but if you can't enjoy the guilty ones, you've missed the whole point of Stallone's career." — Mania.com
Posted Feb 1, 2013
4/4 —— The Dark Knight Returns: Part Two (2013) " It sets a standard that few can beat." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Jan 28, 2013
2/4 40% Death Race 3: Inferno (Unrated) (2013) " Ask it no questions and it will tell you no lies: a fair bargain that too many other films on this level resolutely refuse to grant." — Sci-Fi Movie Page
Posted Jan 26, 2013
C 4% Movie 43 (2013) " Movie 43 deserves at least some of the bad press it's getting, but don't be surprised if it sticks around a little longer than its detractors believe." — Mania.com
Posted Jan 26, 2013
D 14% Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) " Even the 3D feels listless and dead." — Mania.com
Posted Jan 26, 2013
B 60% John Dies at the End (2013) " [It] threatens to go completely off the rails at every turn. If you're the intended audience for this film, you'll realize that that's one of the selling points." — Mania.com
Posted Jan 25, 2013
B 66% Mama (2013) " Muschietti definitely has a future in this genre if he chooses to pursue it." — Mania.com
Posted Jan 18, 2013
B- 59% The Last Stand (2013) " The movie passes muster as a nuts-and-bolts action film, though just barely sometimes and with no expectation of being anything more." — Mania.com
Posted Jan 18, 2013
Showing 1 - 50 of 1829
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