Ethan Alter

Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Film Journal International,
Hollywood Reporter,
Premiere Magazine,
Village Voice,
NYC Film Critic,
Show Business Weekly,
Giant Magazine,
Television Without Pity,
TV Guide,
Yahoo! TV
Critics' Group:
New York Film Critics Online
Movie Reviews Only
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87% | The Lobster (2016) |
The English-language debut of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is built on a terrific premise, but some cracks appear in the foundation by the final act. - Film Journal International
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| Posted May 10, 2016
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90% | Captain America: Civil War (2016) |
The Marvel blockbuster machine keeps on trucking with a double-sized new issue of Captain America that packs enough punch to distract from its grinding plot mechanics. - Film Journal International
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| Posted May 3, 2016
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78% | Keanu (2016) |
Keanu is proof positive that Key & Peele are one of the great contemporary comedy duos, even if the feature surrounding them is little more than a shaggy-cat story. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Apr 28, 2016
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75% | Above and Below (2016) |
Errol Morris appears to serve as the inspiration for Nicolas Steiner's documentary, which possesses some of that director's artistry but lacks his inquisitive spirit. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Apr 15, 2016
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90% | Green Room (2016) |
Jeremy Saulnier's wickedly entertaining follow-up to Blue Ruin makes a big impression by staying small. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Apr 11, 2016
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89% | The Invitation (2016) |
Karyn Kusama's quietly chilling direction enlivens a somewhat plodding housebound thriller. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Apr 8, 2016
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51% | Hardcore Henry (2016) |
More like Headache-Inducing Henry. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Apr 7, 2016
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47% | They're Watching (2016) |
A contemporary Blair Witch Project knock-off that feels significantly more dated than the film it's inspired by. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Mar 25, 2016
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28% | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) |
Zack Snyder's wearying superhero opus may be slugged "Dawn of Justice," but it's the twilight of any hope that the filmmaker will find the fun in the DC Universe. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Mar 24, 2016
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11% | The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016) |
Although there's technically one more film to go in the four-part Divergent Series, this third installment reveals a franchise already on its last legs. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Mar 17, 2016
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90% | 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) |
A sequel in third act only, 10 Cloverfield Lane successfully switches out monster-movie mayhem for chamber-room chills. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Mar 10, 2016
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15% | Gods Of Egypt (2016) |
[An] endearingly goofy gloss on the Old World fantasy spectacles of yesteryear. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Feb 25, 2016
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91% | A War (Krigen) (2016) |
While it builds to an intriguing thematic question, the dramatic situation at the heart of Tobias Lindholm's war-themed procedural is a little too open-and-shut. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Feb 11, 2016
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85% | Deadpool (2016) |
Early on, Deadpool teases audiences that it's going to lead a comedy-laced comic-book movie revolution, but it ends up joining the superhero establishment. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Feb 8, 2016
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81% | Southbound (2016) |
With one notable exception, the quality of this horror anthology mostly heads in one direction: south. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Feb 4, 2016
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42% | Moonwalkers (2016) |
Not out there enough to work as gonzo period comedy, and certainly not trenchant enough to succeed as satire, Moonwalkers is an imitation of a real movie. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jan 14, 2016
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10% | The Forest (2016) |
The night is dark and not so full of terrors in "Game of Thrones" star Natalie Dormer's first foray into C-grade J-horror. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jan 8, 2016
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100% | Only Yesterday (1991) |
Isao Takahata's 1991 animated feature belatedly arrives on U.S. screens and thankfully hasn't aged a day. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jan 4, 2016
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31% | Daddy's Home (2015) |
The odd-couple comedy duo of Ferrell & Wahlberg enlivens this mostly tedious comedy, which has hints of a darker, more interesting film lurking underneath. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 23, 2015
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59% | Concussion (2015) |
If [Concussion] serves any purpose at all, it's as a reminder that Will Smith is an A-grade movie star, even in C-grade material. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 22, 2015
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74% | The Hateful Eight (2015) |
Eight too often feels wearying, a film of modest ambition made by a director with unlimited resources. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 21, 2015
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92% | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) |
Strives to unite old and new generations of Star Wars fans and mostly succeeds. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 16, 2015
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96% | Son of Saul (2015) |
Although the style of László Nemes' Holocaust drama at times threatens to overwhelm the substance, the movie has a cumulative power that's difficult to shake. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 15, 2015
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77% | Moomins On The Riviera (Muumit Rivieralla) (2014) |
Gentle to a fault, this quiet adaptation of the Finnish comic strip will likely only delight the Moomin faithful. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Dec 3, 2015
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69% | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) |
The reigning YA franchise champ laces up for one final round, and (mostly) manages to go out on top. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 18, 2015
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100% | Song Of Lahore (2015) |
A warm-hearted, if somewhat superficial, exploration of how great music crosses borders, composed in the key of Buena Vista Social Club. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 12, 2015
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68% | The Visit (2015) |
M. Night Shyamalan's first foray into found-footage territory conjures up a few scares, but otherwise operates on autopilot. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 10, 2015
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8% | Hitman: Agent 47 (2015) |
[A] slick, efficient and utterly banal piece of global cinema product. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 10, 2015
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No Score Yet | Hot Sugar's Cold World (2015) |
More a doodle than a fully formed documentary, this chronicle of a modern-day musical maestro nevertheless dances to an intriguing tune. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 5, 2015
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96% | In Jackson Heights (2015) |
One of the most invigorating portraits of democracy in action to come along in recent memory. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Nov 3, 2015
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58% | Extraordinary Tales (2015) |
Despite working from extraordinary subject matter-Edgar Allan Poe's various tales of the macabre-too many entries in this animated anthology are disappointingly ordinary. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 22, 2015
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79% | Tales of Halloween (2015) |
A sweet, well-meaning confection that doesn't provide a lot of genre nourishment. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 16, 2015
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72% | Crimson Peak (2015) |
While there may be some slight stiffness in the storytelling joints, Guillermo del Toro's Gothic love story is a visually ravishing delight. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 15, 2015
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92% | Beasts of No Nation (2015) |
War is (a beautiful) hell in Cary Joji Fukunaga's disconcertingly picturesque combat film. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 14, 2015
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38% | Reversion (2015) |
Oh, what short form sci-fi master Ray Bradbury would have made of this overlong short story! - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 8, 2015
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96% | The Forbidden Room (2015) |
Within the guise of a rarefied ode to silent movies, Maddin may have made his most commercial film. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Oct 6, 2015
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55% | Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) |
A diverting animated sequel that, believe it or not, boasts one of Adam Sandler's most affecting performances. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Sep 25, 2015
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60% | The Intern (2015) |
Robert De Niro soars in Nancy Meyers' latest-too bad the movie itself only intermittently achieves liftoff. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Sep 23, 2015
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45% | Cooties (2015) |
Cooties struggles to fill 90 minutes with a premise that could support, at most, five minutes of great content. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Sep 17, 2015
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33% | Being Canadian (2015) |
Like our good neighbor to the north, this first-person documentary is genial, amusing and a little bit dull. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Sep 16, 2015
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93% | Queen of Earth (2015) |
A standout star turn from Elisabeth Moss enlivens and deepens Alex Ross Perry's extended Roman Polanski homage. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 26, 2015
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16% | Sinister 2 (2015) |
A sequel that has no reason to exist is also a movie that has no reason to be seen. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 19, 2015
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64% | Digging For Fire (2015) |
A perceptive, if sometimes heavy-handed, drama about love and marriage. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 19, 2015
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17% | Air (2015) |
[Christian Cantamessa has] the eye of a promising director-now he just needs a better script. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 14, 2015
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89% | Straight Outta Compton (2015) |
A smorgasbord of a musical biopic in which the strength of the individual parts compensates for the flaws of the whole. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 13, 2015
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95% | The Diary Of A Teenage Girl (2015) |
May tread familiar territory, but at least it does so with great empathy and thoughtfulness. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Aug 5, 2015
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71% | I Am Chris Farley (2015) |
Understandably if disappointingly leery of asking too many difficult questions about [Farley's] life and death. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jul 30, 2015
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55% | A LEGO Brickumentary (2015) |
[The directors] don't feel the compulsion to [...] expand on any of the information that was likely handed directly to them by the company's public-relations team. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jul 30, 2015
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18% | Extinction (2015) |
[After an interesting first half, Extinction] consumes its own brains and becomes another mindless creature feature. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jul 29, 2015
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58% | Paper Towns (2015) |
Despite likeable performances by the young cast and some resonant moments, this gauzy teen drama is, sadly, paper-thin. - Film Journal International
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| Posted Jul 23, 2015
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