Chris Bumbray
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Publications: | rec.arts.movies.reviews, JoBlo's Movie Emporium, DVD Clinic |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16% | Submergence (2018) |
SUBMERGENCE is strictly for art-house audiences, specifically fans of Wenders, but even they'll likely be bored by what's easily a lesser-effort‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Apr 13, 2018
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| 51% | Rampage (2018) |
Popcorn munching fun delivered with a wink and a smile. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2018
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| 82% | Blockers (2018) |
Well-written and well-acted. Done just right, with depth, some genuine feeling, and a whole lot of belly laughs‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Apr 6, 2018
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| 95% | A Quiet Place (2018) |
A lean and mean creature flick with a killer hook. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Apr 5, 2018
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| 74% | Ready Player One (2018) |
While I'm not sure READY PLAYER ONE stands on its own as a distinct work, it can't be denied that it is what it is and is the best possible version of Cline's novel that could have been realistically done.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 27, 2018
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| 9% | Game Over, Man! (2018) |
A small step-up from Netflix's Adam Sandler offerings, but that's faint praise. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 23, 2018
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| 43% | Pacific Rim Uprising (2018) |
Lacks the soul Guillermo del Toro brought to the first. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 22, 2018
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| 79% | Unsane (2018) |
Feels like a bit of a lark, but still entertaining and useful in that it pushes low-budget technology further and further. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 20, 2018
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| 22% | 7 Days in Entebbe (2018) |
Straight-forward but entertaining fact-based drama with some good performances and an arresting climax.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 17, 2018
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| 49% | Tomb Raider (2018) |
Easily the best big-screen version of the Tomb Raider franchise to date. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 15, 2018
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| 92% | Journey's End (2018) |
A somber, well-acted WWI drama. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 14, 2018
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| 92% | Love, Simon (2018) |
A surefire sleeper hit. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 13, 2018
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| 7/10 | 45% | The Hurricane Heist (2018) |
If the words "hurricane" and "heist" translate into the words "must" and "see", this is the movie for you.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 9, 2018
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| 6/10 | 20% | The Outsider (2018) |
Generic but not uninteresting, with a good performance from Leto. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 8, 2018
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| 5/10 | 39% | A Wrinkle in Time (2018) |
Well-intentioned, well-acted, but a bit of a mess. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 8, 2018
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| 15% | Dear Dictator (2018) |
Worth watching for Michael Caine's performance. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 5, 2018
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| 4/10 | 17% | Death Wish (2018) |
Bruce Willis sleepwalks through this simple remake that lacks the ambiguity that made the original so interesting. More like one of the cheap sequels.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Mar 2, 2018
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| 15% | Mute (2018) |
Tedious but occasionally interesting. Paul Rudd is excellent.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 28, 2018
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| 7/10 | 47% | Red Sparrow (2018) |
It's another unconventional choice by an actress who refuses to be pigeonholed, and she's cast to perfection in this solid thriller.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 27, 2018
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| 84% | Mohawk (2018) |
The three leads really do exceptional work, with Kaniehtiio Horn, who's actually Mohawk, making a strong protagonist, as a First Nations woman fully liberated and ready to fight for what's hers.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 26, 2018
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| 87% | Annihilation (2018) |
Intelligent sci-fi done right.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 22, 2018
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| 17% | Looking Glass (2018) |
Bargain basement. If it was made in the nineties would have been a routine skin-e-max programmer.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 13, 2018
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| 96% | Black Panther (2018) |
Brilliantly cast and impeccably directed - the most exciting MCU entry in years.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 12, 2018
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| 25% | The 15:17 to Paris (2018) |
Well-intentioned but a bore. Would have been much better as a documentary.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 9, 2018
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| 6/10 | 14% | Winchester (2018) |
Despite not screening for critics, this is a perfectly serviceable Gothic thriller. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Feb 2, 2018
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| 7/10 | 50% | Burden (2018) |
t's an intriguing tale that's fairly well-told, and the performances more than pick up the slack whenever it veers a little too sharply into corny territory.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| 96% | Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) |
A lovely tribute to a man who was a surrogate father to pretty much anyone born in the second half of the 20th century.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| 92% | Tully (2018) |
Uneven, but Charlize Theron is undeniably excellent. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| 75% | Braven (2018) |
A solid VOD actioner, with good action and solid performances from Jason Momoa & Stephen Lang. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| 87% | You Were Never Really Here (2018) |
Arguably among the finest films of the decade, with career-best work from Phoenix and masterful direction by Ramsay. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 30, 2018
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| 100% | Hearts Beat Loud (2018) |
A hip, pleasant indie comedy with lovely performances from Offerman and Clemons. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 30, 2018
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| 100% | Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018) |
A heartbreaking look at Williams's life and art. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 30, 2018
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| 77% | Assassination Nation (2018) |
A timely, button-pushing satire. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 30, 2018
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| 9/10 | 100% | Hereditary (2018) |
Tries to be ROSEMARY'S BABY for the 21st century and, incredibly, more-or-less succeeds! ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 30, 2018
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| 6/10 | 81% | I Think We're Alone Now (2018) |
While inconsistent, this is still a good sci-fi, end of the world tale with a different flavor from most.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 29, 2018
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| 92% | Sorry to Bother You (2018) |
A provocative, gonzo debut for director Boots Riley. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 25, 2018
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| 78% | Beirut (2018) |
A smart, entertaining adult thriller - a throwback to a pre-superhero era in blockbuster filmmaking. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 25, 2018
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| 64% | Summer of '84 (2018) |
A strong, confident follow-up to TURBO KID with a killer climax. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 100% | Wildlife (2018) |
Impeccably made, although the clinical approach is cold and off-putting. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 23, 2018
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| 95% | Bodied (2017) |
A vital and provocative work that should get people talking. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 23, 2018
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| 8/10 | 79% | American Animals (2018) |
It's interesting that AMERICAN ANIMALS is one of the few movies in recent memory where I didn't feel the leads had to be likable.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2018
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| 6/10 | 50% | The Catcher Was A Spy (2018) |
The Catcher Was a Spy is a good vehicle for Rudd, and an entertaining watch, although it's maybe a little old-fashioned to really catch-on in a theatrical way (it feels like a made-for-cable movie).‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2018
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| 8/10 | 100% | Mandy (2018) |
The last forty minutes of MANDY ranks as maybe Cage's most hardcore trip into the dark side yet. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2018
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| 7/10 | 74% | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) |
A shaggy, but solid return to form by Gus Van Sant. Jonah Hill steals the show. ‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 21, 2018
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| 7/10 | 92% | Blindspotting (2018) |
The mix of comedy and drama occasionally falls a little flat, with the drama often working better than the comedy, as do the occasional doses of surrealism via director Carlos Lopez Estrada.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 19, 2018
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| 7/10 | 94% | Private Life (2018) |
This is a good one that marks a strong comeback for [director Tamara] Jenkins, and gives Hahn a breakout part playing someone more down-to-earth than she's usually allowed to.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 19, 2018
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| 4/10 | 41% | Den of Thieves (2018) |
A trashy, Tap-Out remake of HEAT, or at least as close as they can get without getting sued.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 18, 2018
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| 6/10 | 57% | The Commuter (2018) |
Disposable but better-than-average Neeson actioner.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Jan 12, 2018
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| 4/10 | 19% | Father Figures (2017) |
Long and draggy, with a punishingly slow pace in the first act.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Dec 22, 2017
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| 7/10 | 78% | All the Money in the World (2017) |
While the real-life resolution of the case was far more interesting than the Hollywood version depicted, this is a good thriller with an excellent performance by Plummer made all the more impressive considering the circumstances that surround it.‐ JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2017
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