Shaun Munro Movie Reviews & Previews

Critics » Shaun Munro

Official Websites:
http://whatculture.com/film

Shaun Munro

Agrees with the Tomatometer 84% of the time.

Biography:: Shaun was born in South-East England in 1988, and began pursuing a career in film journalism after completing a degree in Film and Literature at the University of Essex in 2009. Freelancing as a film critic, he is an unapologetic fan of genre cinema, but also enjoys high-minded "art house" films just as enthusiastically. Favourite genres are sci-fi, drama, action and (dark) comedy. Shaun has been the chief critic for What Culture since late 2010.
Twitter: @ShaunMunroFilm
Favorites:: Terminator 2, Requiem for a Dream, Pulp Fiction, Toy Story, Fight Club, The Matrix, Goodfellas, Back to the Future, The Thing, Groundhog Day, Network, Happiness
Publications:: Film School Rejects , What Culture

Total Reviews:: 490

Location:: London, UK

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 490

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
C	57%	Blood Ties ()	" The busload-full of skilled actors Canet has brought with him damn-near ensures a compelling sit, even if the film's ponderous pacing and resulting length do detract somewhat from its finer qualities." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
B-	44%	Wara no tate (Shield of Straw) ()	" An absurd yet entertaining thriller that dispenses with the preciousness of the Cannes Film Festival's In Competition banner." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
D	——	Monsoon Shootout ()	" It amounts to little more than a fecklessly bloodless gimmick thriller." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
D	——	Bends ()	" This slight, deliberate tale of strained families keeps the audience at a distance, making it a curiously uninvolving sit that rarely engages on even the most basic level." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
D-	——	Bite The Dust ()	" The movie equivalent of a noisy, hyperactive child screaming in your face." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
B+	——	Borgman ()	" Damn-near destined to endure as a cult classic and high-point of contemporary Dutch cinema." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
B+	100%	Seduced And Abandoned ()	" A rousing documentary that will affirm your love for both cinema and life." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
B-	——	Grand Central ()	" Grand Central wipes away the cobwebs of trite Hollywood romance to deliver something truly difficult to shake." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
C	67%	Jimmy P. ()	" A shakily uneven return for the director, entrenched in the more laborious, bone-dry methodology of its famous case study rather than probing the complex emotional state of the titular character." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
D	——	Stop The Pounding Heart ()	" Though his latest film plunges deep into the heart of southern American parochialism, Minervini has crucially forgotten to engage us on an emotional level." — Film School Rejects Posted May 21, 2013
B+	100%	Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi Ni Naru) (2013)	" Hirokazu directs a difficult scenario with sensitivity, but also plenty of mirth, emotional warmth and dramatic aplomb." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
D-	71%	Tian zhu ding (A Touch of Sin) ()	" A dispiriting uphill climb destined to disappear into obscurity once its day at the Croisette is done." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
B-	90%	Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)	" While it might be their most slight and unfocused effort in almost ten years, given their corpus of work therein, it's difficult to feel too short-changed about that." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
B	100%	Le passé (The Past) (2013)	" Farhadi ably aquits himself with a somewhat overlong but largely absorbing depiction of family turmoil." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
C	——	L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake) ()	" Hitchcockian in the most lurid sense of the word." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
B+	89%	Fruitvale Station (2013)	" An exceptional dramatic feature propelled by strong performances across the board." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
B	89%	Young & Beautiful (Jeune Et Jolie) (2013)	" Fans of the director craving another toothed, bracing effort will find themselves very much at home here." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
A-	——	Miele ()	" A virtuoso masterpiece from a director who has instantly made herself one to watch." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
D+	53%	The Bling Ring (2013)	" The problem with The Bling Ring is that it is very nearly as vapid as the people that it depicts." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
B-	83%	Heli ()	" Heli is a combination of neo-realism and visceral brutality, absolutely unforgiving in the depths it dares audiences to plunge." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
D	50%	The Great Gatsby (2013)	" This is another Baz Luhrmann film that fails to engage either the heart or the mind." — Film School Rejects Posted May 19, 2013
3.5/5	75%	Fast & Furious 6 (2013)	" This just might be the only instance in cinema franchise history where the heavy implication of a sixth sequel actually seems appealing." — What Culture Posted May 13, 2013
3.5/5	87%	Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)	" A perfectly functional sequel that nevertheless falls rather short of 2009′s water-tight reboot." — What Culture Posted May 5, 2013
1.5/5	27%	21 And Over (2013)	" Boozed-up students might enjoy it, but it's just going to make anyone over the age of 21 feel really old." — What Culture Posted May 2, 2013
3/5	67%	A.C.O.D. ()	" Disappointingly opts for broad humour over genuine drama in its second half, but anyone who has been through a similar situation will find it undeniably resonant." — What Culture Posted May 1, 2013
4/5	85%	Sleepwalk With Me (2012)	" A riotous breakthrough for Mike Birbiglia, whose humanist comedy says a lot about modern relationships that many of us won't be prepared to admit." — What Culture Posted May 1, 2013
1.5/5	40%	Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes ()	" The irony is that in playing its silly premise dead straight, the film becomes a goldmine of unintentional hilarity." — What Culture Posted Apr 30, 2013
2/5	62%	I'm So Excited! (2013)	" It ultimately amounts to little more than a 90-minute-long gay joke that loses its charm after just a few." — What Culture Posted Apr 29, 2013
3.5/5	71%	The Look of Love ()	" Steve Coogan delivers a knock-out performance that renders the central figure in all of his complexity - at once admirable, deplorable and pitiable." — What Culture Posted Apr 25, 2013
4/5	71%	In a World... (2013)	" Serves as an uproarious coming out party for writer-director-lead Lake Bell, and you'll never watch a movie trailer the same way again." — What Culture Posted Apr 25, 2013
3.5/5	——	History Of The Eagles: Part 1 ()	" An efficient talking heads doc that celebrates the band without deigning to hagiography." — What Culture Posted Apr 25, 2013
4/5	100%	Metro Manila ()	" This immaculately composed heist flick-cum-morality play just might bring Hollywood knocking on Sean Ellis' door." — What Culture Posted Apr 24, 2013
2/5	33%	Running From Crazy ()	" Though undeniably well-intentioned, Barbara Kopple's documentary doesn't seem particularly concerned with asking - or trying to answer - the big questions surrounding familial suicide trends." — What Culture Posted Apr 24, 2013
4/5	——	Blood Brother ()	" Uncompromising and enormously life-affirming, this is sure to be one of the year's must-see documentaries. " — What Culture Posted Apr 24, 2013
3.5/5	——	Muscle Shoals ()	" A sumptuously assembled, exhaustively comprehensive film about music that changed lives." — What Culture Posted Apr 23, 2013
3/5	78%	Iron Man 3 (2013)	" Go for the thrilling action and hilarious Shane Black one-liners. As for a compelling story and entertaining villains? Not so much." — What Culture Posted Apr 23, 2013
1.5/5	38%	Touchy Feely (2013)	" Save for a star turn from veteran character actor Josh Pais, Lynn Shelton's latest is pretty much dead on arrival." — What Culture Posted Apr 23, 2013
4/5	——	God Loves Uganda ()	" The most infuriating and sinister documentary in recent memory. " — What Culture Posted Apr 23, 2013
3.5/5	100%	The Kings of Summer (2013)	" This tonally buoyant coming-of-age film works as both an off-kilter comedy and a potent drama." — What Culture Posted Apr 22, 2013
2.5/5	67%	The Moo Man ()	" Though not without its stirring moments, this documentary takes far too long to make what is admittedly a pretty important point about British agricultrure." — What Culture Posted Apr 22, 2013
3.5/5	88%	Upstream Color (2013)	" Shane Carruth continues to grow as a filmmaker even as he remains keen to puzzle and perhaps frustrate. Upstream Color is, above all else, an unforgettable experience." — What Culture Posted Apr 22, 2013
2/5	55%	Oblivion (2013)	" Oblivion is one of the best-looking bad films ever made." — What Culture Posted Apr 10, 2013
4.5/5	82%	The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)	" Go in knowing as little as possible and prepare to be blown away by Derek Cianfrance's American crime drama masterpiece." — What Culture Posted Apr 9, 2013
1.5/5	34%	Dark Skies (2013)	" By parading out every tired trope from the sci-fi and horror genres, Dark Skies is unintentional self-parody, and quite dreadful indeed." — What Culture Posted Apr 3, 2013
3/5	28%	G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)	" Benefiting hugely from rock-bottom expectations, G.I. Joe: Retaliation sets a low bar that it clears effortlessly thanks to Johnson's charismatic performance and a humourous script that demonstrates surprising political awareness." — What Culture Posted Mar 27, 2013
2.5/5	68%	Trance (2013)	" How much you'll bite down on Boyle's shtick will probably depend on your own suggestibility." — What Culture Posted Mar 25, 2013
4/5	75%	Simon Killer (2013)	" A sexy, seductive portrayal of one young man's downward spiral into existential Hell on the chilly Parisian streets." — What Culture Posted Mar 24, 2013
1.5/5	13%	Stolen (2012)	" Though this isn't quite rock-bottom for Nicolas Cage, that's hardly saying much these days." — What Culture Posted Mar 19, 2013
2.5/5	69%	The Croods (2013)	" DreamWorks' latest is a lusciously mounted but simple-minded adventure that won't long linger in your memory." — What Culture Posted Mar 19, 2013

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