Ethan Gilsdorf
Ethan Gilsdorf's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when
published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Boston Globe
| Publications: | Boston Globe |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/4 | No Score Yet | Galapagos: Nature's Wonderland (2014) |
Corwin seems just as amused by the oddball flora and fauna as kids will likely be.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Feb 11, 2016
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| 2.5/4 | No Score Yet | Wild Africa (2015) |
Blurry footage of lions caught in a downpour feels curiously melancholic. Perfectly framed, thousands of flamingos filmed in Kenya's Lake Bogoria are reduced to works of abstract graphic design.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 19, 2015
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| 3/4 | 66% | Dark Star: HR Giger's World (2015) |
The film captures both the claustrophobic and melancholic mood of Giger's house, and also, perhaps, his mind.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jul 2, 2015
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| 2/4 | 88% | Buzzard (2015) |
Even as a quiet pathos brews over time, "Buzzard" doesn't quite gel into compelling drama.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 5, 2015
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| 75% | The Boxtrolls (2014) |
Like one of its wondrously designed steampunky contraptions, "The Boxtrolls" is a marvelous thing to behold, and watch spin, even if it doesn't go anywhere terribly interesting.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 25, 2014
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| 64% | The Maze Runner (2014) |
Teens should eat up this fantasy's scenery-chewing angst and doom, and the hopeful tale of survival and empowerment (to be continued in the inevitable sequel or sequels).‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 18, 2014
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| 90% | The Kill Team (2014) |
Krauss's documentary is both solid and scathing, raising more questions that it answers.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 11, 2014
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| 1.5/4 | 50% | That Demon Within (Mo Jing) (2014) |
There's a half-realized, half-haunting Hitchcockian psychodrama buried somewhere within "That Demon Within." What's on the surface plays more like Wong and Lam simply forgot to take their meds.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Apr 17, 2014
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| 3/4 | 89% | Jerusalem (2013) |
This IMAX spectacular largely does what it's supposed to: fascinate, educate, and visually wow the audience, in 45 minutes or less.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 19, 2013
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| 76% | Die Wand (The Wall) (2013) |
Bleak and beautiful, harrowing yet inspiring, "The Wall" ("Die Wand") is a stunning tale of isolation and survival in a wild and silent world.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 18, 2013
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| 2.5/4 | No Score Yet | Great White Shark 3D (2013) |
British codirectors Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas ("Wild Ocean," "The Last Reef") are no newcomers to the nature documentary.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jun 6, 2013
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| 2/4 | 35% | The ABCs of Death (2013) |
Some shorts are four-star material, others incomprehensible and disgusting. The sum total is a cinematic abecedary that barely gets a passing grade.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 7, 2013
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| 2/4 | 16% | The Last Exorcism Part II (2013) |
Once the "what is real, what is fantasy" questions are answered, and exorcism part deux commences, The Last Exorcism Part II abandons its half-intelligent, tender exploration of Nell's vulnerability and desirability.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 6, 2013
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| 1.5/4 | 5% | Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) |
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D quickly devolves into a smorgasbord of sutured faces and blades poking the viewer in the eye.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2012
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| 2/4 | 55% | V/H/S (2012) |
"The Blair Witch Project" meets mumblecore.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2012
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| 1.5/4 | 20% | That's My Boy (2012) |
How did American comedies come to rely on raunch rather than wordplay?‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jun 14, 2012
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| 2/4 | 31% | Intruders (2012) |
Its muddled, overambitious story leaves us unsatisfied - you might even say hollow.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 29, 2012
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| 1/4 | 48% | The FP (2012) |
Neither obliviously dreadful enough to be "so bad it's good,'' nor intentionally tongue-in-cheek enough to be funny.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 15, 2012
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| 2.5/4 | 38% | Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) |
See it in the right sick frame of mind, and "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie'' can be shockingly and terribly hilarious. Or not.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 1, 2012
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| 1/4 | 23% | Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) |
Quote not available.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 24, 2011
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| 3/4 | 82% | Pusher (1999) |
Quote not available.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 24, 2011
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| 2/4 | 49% | Before the Rains (2008) |
Quote not available.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 24, 2011
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| 2/4 | No Score Yet | The Giant Buddhas (2006) |
Quote not available.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 24, 2011
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| 2/4 | 52% | Devil (2010) |
Quote not available.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 24, 2011
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| 2/4 | 52% | Puncture (2011) |
"Puncture'' is based on an actual court case. But is this a story best served by focusing on the legal battle or the arc of Mike's flawed hero?‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Oct 24, 2011
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| 1/4 | No Score Yet | The Road to Freedom (2011) |
Unfortunately, beyond orchestrating crane shots sweeping over lush jungles and rice paddies, newcomer Brendan Moriarty is fairly clueless as a director.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2011
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| 1/4 | 11% | Creature (2011) |
Deep in the swampy hearts and minds of some filmmakers, embarrassing stereotypes still fester, gathering moss and slime.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 10, 2011
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| 2/4 | 62% | Griff the Invisible (2011) |
The touches of magical realism begin to feel gimmicky. By the final frame, this romance never feels real enough.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Aug 25, 2011
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| 3/4 | 75% | Stake Land (2011) |
Other undead movies needlessly foreground the action. "Stake Land'' has its fight scenes, but here they're secondary.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jun 16, 2011
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| 2/4 | 47% | Yellowbrickroad (2011) |
Despite us tagging along the trail for days, we feel closer to the landscape than to the characters.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jun 10, 2011
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| 2/4 | 73% | POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) |
Much like reality TV, nothing much of consequence happens.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Apr 21, 2011
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| 1.5/4 | 66% | Insidious (2011) |
The final shocker succeeds in shocking, and does so sans gore. But first we have to wade through a red door and a red hallway, pleas to "follow my voice,'' and an infinity of fog about as scary as dry ice vapor spilling onto a dance floor.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 31, 2011
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| 2.5/4 | No Score Yet | Tornado Alley (2011) |
"Tornado Alley'' is awe-inspiring, doom-slinging fun, fluffy as the 10-mile-high clouds towering on the screen.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 17, 2011
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| 2/4 | 75% | Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2011) |
Like a surly teen pilot, you, too, might find yourself bored and muttering, "Honestly, maybe the fate of humanity and the world isn't important to me, either.''‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 3, 2011
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| 3/4 | 86% | Bhutto (2010) |
At one point, Bhutto says she wants to avenge her father's death. "Bhutto'' proves she did.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Dec 16, 2010
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| 3/4 | No Score Yet | Do It Again (2010) |
The filmmakers inject Do It Again with a likable and genuine guerrilla rawness.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Dec 10, 2010
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| 1.5/4 | 22% | Case 39 (2010) |
It's a bummer when the audience is smarter than the protagonist.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Oct 7, 2010
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| 2/4 | 50% | South of the Border (2010) |
Stone has a crucial, overlooked viewpoint to impart, but as a documentary filmmaker, his content and technique are not terribly engaging.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Sep 30, 2010
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| 2/4 | 33% | The New Daughter (2009) |
Does tread with clunky boots upon well-worn horror movie territory. Every ominous sign is preceded by full moons, slithering fog, and thunderclaps.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Dec 22, 2009
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| 2/4 | 40% | X Games 3D: The Movie (2009) |
With its self-promoting tone and overwrought voice-over, the movie can seem more an ad for the X Games (and ESPN Films) than a real sports documentary.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Aug 20, 2009
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| 2/4 | 86% | Mystic India (2003) |
This is an ultra-romanticized vision of a crowded, complicated nation.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted May 21, 2009
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| 1.5/4 | 48% | Battle For Terra (2009) |
If you find the plot predictable, as a distraction we present an arsenal of 3-D visuals.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Apr 30, 2009
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| 1.5/4 | 63% | Faubourg 36 (Paris 36) (2009) |
In the clumsy hands of Barratier, whose last film, The Chorus, irked many as maudlin, Paris 36 becomes a mostly pointless exercise in nostalgia.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Apr 9, 2009
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| 1.5/4 | 57% | My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) |
My Bloody Valentine may not be horribly acted, but in a post-Scream and post-Scary Movie era, it's difficult to squeeze any more blood from this low-brow/high-camp turnip.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jan 20, 2009
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| 3/4 | 70% | Roving Mars (2006) |
Despite audiences knowing the happy ending from the get-go, [director] Butler manages to inject considerable drama.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Jan 16, 2009
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| 1.5/4 | 13% | College Road Trip (2008) |
It's a dark day indeed when a movie's funniest moments involve Donny Osmond.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Mar 7, 2008
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| 2/4 | 67% | Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007) |
While Ta Ra Rum Pum doesn't deliver pure joy, it's worth a pit stop , if for no other reason than for its amusing, back-seat view of an India in flux and seduced by Western pop culture.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted May 1, 2007
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| 3/4 | No Score Yet |
Refn's raw vision may be hard to watch, but Bodnia, Mikkelsen, and Buric's measured and vulnerable performances make this trilogy worth the discomfort.‐ Boston Globe
Read More | Posted Nov 3, 2006
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