Elizabeth Weitzman
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Publications: | Film.com, Village Voice, New York Daily News, TheWrap, Culture Trip |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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| 80% | Mid90s (2018) |
Hill envisions these endless days with a kid's-eye abstraction that's both timeless and firmly entrenched in its own era: his skate punks banter like Kevin Smith extras, wander like Richard Linklater dreamers, and misbehave like Larry Clark lost boys.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 18, 2018
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| 89% | The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) |
Though Gyllenhaal is all-in on this complex character study, it's in an admirably subtle way. She never once overplays Lisa's precarious emotional state, choosing instead to portray a rather ordinary woman doing some rather extraordinary things.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 10, 2018
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| 93% | Private Life (2018) |
It's about love, and pain, and marriage, and friendship, and family. And it's also about enduring, about picking yourself up over and over and over, in the eternal hope that something beautiful is waiting around the corner.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2018
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| 33% | Little Women (2018) |
The girls in this contemporary retelling are not messy and complex human beings but Hallmark Channel characters, two-dimensional symbols of virtuous nostalgia.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2018
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| 86% | Colette (2018) |
As a traditional period biopic, it checks all the boxes in fine fashion, but you'd never know it was inspired by a woman whose life was expansive and contradictory and unwieldy in the extreme.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 21, 2018
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| 84% | The Land of Steady Habits (2018) |
No detail ever seems to go unnoticed in Holofcener's world, and viewers could spend the entire running time simply admiring her powers of surveillance. ‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2018
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| 60% | Operation Finale (2018) |
Kingsley isn't an ideal match for the mild-mannered murderer who inspired Hannah Arendt to coin the phrase "the banality of evil." But like the rest of the cast, he holds our attention even when the movie buckles under the burden of earnest intentions.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2018
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| 87% | Madeline's Madeline (2018) |
By pushing to the edges of her own iconoclastic vision, director Josephine Decker touches on universal truths rarely found inside a multiplex.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Aug 10, 2018
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| 87% | The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) |
It's hard to think of a more highly-charged topic than the brainwashing of vulnerable adolescents in the name of God, so it's certainly to Akhavan's credit that she uses such a determinedly understated style.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Aug 2, 2018
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| 57% | Unfriended: Dark Web (2018) |
Where the first film tapped into the Internet's unavoidable underbelly -- cyberbullies, trolls, obsessive FOMO -- the second never settles on a persuasive POV.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jul 18, 2018
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| 100% | Leave No Trace (2018) |
Granik is a strikingly observational director, and she takes great care to avoid leading viewers in any direction.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jun 20, 2018
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| 87% | Love, Gilda (2018) |
Most crucially, D'Apolito allows her subject to guide the story from start to finish. Radner's gentle spirit and wise observations connect each chapter, bringing us into her life with an unusual intimacy.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Apr 30, 2018
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| 88% | All About Nina (2018) |
Though the material isn't quite ready for prime time, Winstead once again proves herself a major player.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Apr 23, 2018
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| 82% | Where Is Kyra? (2018) |
That we watch the ticking moments of Where Is Kyra? with so much concern is a testament to the filmmakers and cast determined to elevate her unnoticed life.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Apr 5, 2018
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| 70% | The Long Dumb Road (2018) |
Mantzoukas and Revolori are ideally cast, bouncing off each other with a salty-sweet chemistry that's as natural as it is entertaining.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Feb 14, 2018
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| 67% | Golden Exits (2018) |
But to what end? Bergman, Cassavetes, and Allen excavated this material decades ago, and there are no new insights uncovered amid the interior lives of these husbands and wives.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Feb 8, 2018
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| 98% | In Between (2018) |
Hamoud deftly mixes both the intimate and the enormous throughout, endowing vibrantly-shot, slice-of-life storytelling with an often wrenching depth.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jan 5, 2018
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| 96% | Foxtrot (2018) |
The combination of straightforward realism, deadpan surrealism, historical horror and domestic tragedy is harrowingly impactful. It's as if Maoz realized that a single, sustained tone couldn't possibly do justice to the vastness of the subject.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Dec 7, 2017
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| 87% | Novitiate (2017) |
When Novitiate retains its focus, it ventures towards some interesting answers.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2017
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| 91% | Human Flow (2017) |
Ai is intent on contrasting the intimate with the intimidating. The sheer mass, the never-ending flow, threatens to overwhelm us. And that, one suspects, is the decisive point.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 13, 2017
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| 48% | My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) |
Like its television predecessor, is all dressed up in bubbles and cupcakes and rainbows. But it's so jam-packed with rousing girl power, it passes the Bechdel Test with (literally) flying colors.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 5, 2017
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| 96% | The Florida Project (2017) |
Sean Baker's beautiful heartbreaker scratches just below the cheery lilac and bubblegum pink to expose the layers of privation festering in this sunshiny state.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2017
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| 78% | Last Flag Flying (2017) |
Every theme is overtly defined, every subject dissected until it dissolves. Conversations turn into speeches; references are hit hard.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 28, 2017
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| 55% | The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) |
While parents may miss the second-level smarts of its predecessors, kids should fall right into the fun.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2017
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| 70% | Dayveon (2017) |
Abbasi has elicited outstanding performances from his entirely-amateur cast, who infuse both authenticity and professionalism into their roles. And it's impossible to remain unmoved by the many contrasts he carefully arranges.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 11, 2017
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| 84% | The Final Year (2018) |
Under the current circumstances, Barker has given us a film with much broader appeal, one that's not only absorbing but also essential in its depiction of humane, responsible leadership.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Sep 8, 2017
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| 83% | Patti Cake$ (2017) |
The description makes Patti Cake$ sound like a pretty typical Sundance crowd pleaser. Which, technically, it is. But what sets it apart from other overpraised festival indies is its tremendously gifted lead.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Aug 16, 2017
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| 40% | Chronically Metropolitan (2017) |
The best way to watch is to think of it as a parody of a particularly pretentious brand of indie romance. Unfortunately, director Xavier Manrique and writer Nicholas Schutt play it so solemnly straight that it seems unlikely they're aiming for satire.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Aug 2, 2017
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| 80% | An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power (2017) |
It's all fascinating and terrifying and inspiring and essential. And at each stop, we're left wanting to know more.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2017
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| 90% | Girls Trip (2017) |
We're in it for the ride, the company, and the pure pleasure of watching these women, and the actresses playing them, embrace an independence Hollywood doles out too grudgingly.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jul 12, 2017
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| 45% | Rough Night (2017) |
Yes, it'll remind you of countless other movies, from Weekend at Bernie's and Very Bad Things to Bachelorette and Bridesmaids. But if you take it on its own merits, you may wind up glad you saw it.‐ Culture Trip
Read More | Posted Jun 22, 2017
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| 91% | Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (2017) |
Its intentions are ultimately stronger than its execution, but you're likely to pay a lot more attention to White House press briefings after watching it.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jun 19, 2017
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| 37% | Snatched (2017) |
The Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn dream team deserved a better Mother's Day outing than Snatched.‐ Culture Trip
Read More | Posted Jun 5, 2017
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| 93% | Wonder Woman (2017) |
Jenkins and screenwriter Allan Heinberg have created an unassailable icon, one who fits into the pantheon with ease, and stands out like no other.‐ Culture Trip
Read More | Posted Jun 5, 2017
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| 75% | The Incomparable Rose Hartman (2017) |
Mass makes good use of Hartman's archival images, keeping things flowing with a steady stream of glittery nostalgia. But what's especially interesting is the striking ambivalence of her peers. ‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted Jun 2, 2017
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| 85% | Megan Leavey (2017) |
The filmmakers use the same restrained patience to build a touching connection between Megan and Rex. Soon, it seems perfectly reasonable that an emotionally isolated soldier would consider a German shepherd to be her one true soul mate.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted May 30, 2017
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| 55% | Lowriders (2017) |
Mexican-American culture isn't merely draped over the story as an added element but woven throughout with a casual practicality that respects both the primary characters and their shot-on-location East L.A. setting.‐ TheWrap
Read More | Posted May 11, 2017
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| 3/4 | 70% | The Housemaid (2011) |
Im Sang-soo can't improve on Kim Ki-young's 1960 original, a jaIm Sang-soo can't improve on Kim Ki-young's 1960 original, a jarring and operatic cult favorite. Still, he does tweak the themes in intriguing fashion.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2016
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| 2/4 | 68% | Mumbai Diaries (2011) |
Nearly every element of Rao's debut is uneven. But her passionate vision of so much useless prejudice leaves a lingering impact.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2016
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| 3/5 | 63% | All The Wilderness (2015) |
First-time writer/director Michael Johnson falls back on coming-of-age clichés. But overall, his sensitive, moody camerawork and the cast's strong performances go a long way toward making the familiar feel fresh.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 19, 2015
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| 3/5 | 78% | Queen and Country (2015) |
It works, but not entirely.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 18, 2015
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| 3/5 | 71% | The DUFF (2015) |
Most of the credit goes to Whitman, who stands in, and stands up, for the DUFF in all of us.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 18, 2015
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| 2/5 | 66% | The Rewrite (2015) |
The title of this Hugh Grant romantic dramedy feels like a challenge, so we'll bite: The performances are strong, but a rewrite - or two - was definitely in order.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 12, 2015
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| 2/5 | 74% | Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) |
The violence flies repellently over the top, and the finale features an extended joke so insanely sexist it sends us out on a seriously sour note.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 11, 2015
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| 3/5 | 59% | The Last 5 Years (2015) |
Stars Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan are earnest and often appealing in "The Last Five Years," even if the musical romance never completely finds its footing.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 11, 2015
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| 3/5 | 25% | Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) |
Johnson is a true find: She's so committed, she makes Ana's every discovery - in or out of the bedroom - convincing.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 10, 2015
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| 4/5 | 80% | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) |
The spirit of the series remains true: cheerfully random jokes, blink-and-you'll-miss-them references and, above all, a silly, stubbornly sentimental streak that only the crabbiest cynic could dismiss.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 5, 2015
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| 2/5 | 5% | Outcast (2015) |
Given the state of Nicolas Cage's résumé, it's faint praise to say this samurai tale is slightly better than most of his recent movies.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 4, 2015
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| 1/5 | 36% | Lovesick (2014) |
Matt LeBlanc is so great on Showtime's "Episodes" that it's both baffling and depressing to imagine that this soulless rom-com was the best big-screen project available to him.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 4, 2015
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| 2/5 | 86% | Ballet 422 (2015) |
For dance fans, any glimpse of the New York City Ballet's inner workings is welcome. Ultimately, though, this observational documentary from Jody Lee Lipes feels too much like an exercise in form over function.‐ New York Daily News
Read More | Posted Feb 4, 2015
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