Genevieve Koski

Tomatometer-approved critic

Biography:

The Onion A.V. Club film critic.

Publications: New York Magazine/Vulture, AV Club, The Dissolve, Vox

movie Reviews Only

Movies
TV

	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Review
4/5	100%	Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018)	Offers an uncomplicated, comforting sort of joy that feels even more special today than it did a decade ago. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 8, 2018
4/5	91%	Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)	Meta comedy is the fuel that makes these Teen Titans go. In this respect, the film often plays more like an all-ages version of the recent Deadpool movies. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 26, 2018
3/5	87%	The Incredible Jessica James (2017)	In Williams's hands, Jessica James becomes a diamond-sharp protagonist, and the only defining feature of an otherwise formless movie. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 28, 2017
4.5/5	93%	Baby Driver (2017)	Baby Driver finds Wright directly in his wheelhouse -- reverently and knowingly deploying genre tropes with visual style and musical panache -- and his enthusiasm is apparent in each and every frame. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 27, 2017
3.5/5	44%	Rough Night (2017)	Rough Night manages to surprise again and again, in its go-for-broke comedic approach. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 15, 2017
3.5/5	68%	The Fate of the Furious (2017)	The Fate of the Furious is more of a plateau, albeit a reasonably high one. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 13, 2017
4.5/5	93%	The Red Turtle (La tortue rouge) (2017)	It's a beautiful example of what animation as a medium is capable of, of what it can achieve that live-action storytelling cannot. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Jan 27, 2017
	78%	Bridget Jones's Baby (2016)	Bridget may have gotten older and wiser, but her movies have stayed the same. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 19, 2016
1/5	21%	Jem and the Holograms (2015)	Jon M. Chu's weaksauce adaptation of the 1980s Hasbro toy turned cartoon not only fails resoundingly as a film, it also fails as a nostalgia piece -- which, honestly, might be the greater sin in today's pop cultureverse. - Vox EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 29, 2015
1.5/5	46%	Ted 2 (2015)	Ted 2 is a repetitive, self-congratulatory slog, dragged down by a haphazard plot and the same third-act problems that ultimately sunk the first film. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 1, 2015
4/5	94%	Spy (2015)	The comedic chemistry between Feig and McCarthy is old news, but here, they show they still have something new, and maybe even important, to offer between the laugh-lines. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 4, 2015
2.5/5	63%	The True Cost (2015)	Heavy on talking heads and Morgan's stilted narration, The True Cost is methodical to a fault, plodding purposefully from one damning insight to the next. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted May 26, 2015
2.5/5	65%	Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)	Pitch Perfect 2 is a "heated mess," in spite of a handful of transcendent moments and a lot more just-okay ones. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted May 14, 2015
3.5/5	55%	The Age of Adaline (2015)	Age Of Adaline rewards viewers who buy into its ludicrous premise with a frequently beautiful, occasionally stirring cinematic trinket. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 23, 2015
3.5/5	92%	Disneynature Monkey Kingdom (2015)	Everything Monkey Kingdom lacks in scientific rigor, it makes up for in pure entertainment value-and then some. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 16, 2015
4/5	83%	Dior and I (2015)	For all its grand statements about artistry and identity, it's most effective as a study of the hard work, both physical and emotional, that goes into creating something new. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 8, 2015
4/5	81%	Furious 7 (2015)	James Wan embraces the series' visual hallmarks with what translates to unencumbered glee onscreen. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 2, 2015
3/5	50%	Home (2015)	Home's incongruously humble vibe works well for what's at heart a buddy road movie. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 26, 2015
1/5	28%	Insurgent (2015)	It delves even deeper into the poorly considered mythology, building action beats and moments of tension around a conceit that puts easy allegory ahead of logic or coherence. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 19, 2015
2.5/5	84%	Cinderella (2015)	This new Cinderella tells more or less the same tale with little variation in terms of story (fair enough), tone (problematic), or characterization (very problematic). - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 11, 2015
3/5	72%	The DUFF (2015)	For all its potential pitfalls, The DUFF manages to keep its head above water, thanks to Whitman, Amell, and a willingness to engage with teen-movie clichés in a relatively thoughtful way. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Feb 19, 2015
4/5	No Score Yet	Vessel (2015)	Vessel is much more than a documentary about abortion rights; it's about the conviction, creativity, and sacrifice that goes into creating a movement. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jan 9, 2015
3/5	71%	Into the Woods (2014)	Outside of some delightful performances from bona fide movie stars, there's little in Marshall's Into The Woods to justify the leap to the big screen. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jan 5, 2015
3/5	28%	Annie (2014)	The transition from the familiar 1930s Annie to 2014's Annie isn't always graceful, but it is often fun, in a flashy, chaotic sort of way. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Dec 19, 2014
4/5	68%	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)	It's a well-executed, occasionally daring exploration of war, propaganda, and guilt that's easy to watch, but occasionally difficult to stomach. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 20, 2014
4/5	83%	Beyond the Lights (2014)	It might be easy to wave off this film as little more than cinematic candy, but if all candy were this nutritious and filling, the much-maligned genre of the big-screen romance might be in a healthier state. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 14, 2014
4/5	89%	Big Hero 6 (2014)	The thrill of Big Hero 6 doesn't lie in guessing what comes next, it comes from being in the moment with great characters in a cool setting full of surprising details. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 10, 2014
3/5	63%	Rudderless (2014)	It's easy to get swept up in Rudderless' heady ascent while waiting for the inevitable fall. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 15, 2014
4.5/5	88%	Gone Girl (2014)	It's a wild ride, made no less thrilling by the knowledge that it ends in a horrific crash, from which no one walks away unscathed. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 1, 2014
2.5/5.0	44%	Life After Beth (2014)	The misused cast is just one of many examples of the unrealized potential of Life After Beth, a film that has good bones, but not enough meat, guts, or...brains. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 14, 2014
4.5/5	97%	Life Itself (2014)	Ebert was an advocate of context in criticism, and it would probably please him as both a critic and a fan of irony to know that his death is what enlivens Life Itself. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 3, 2014
3/5	70%	They Came Together (2014)	It's reliably silly fun worthy of the people involved, but it never reaches the level of "inspired." - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 26, 2014
4/5	90%	Obvious Child (2014)	A well-realized, straight-ahead rom-com, one with the potential to reinvigorate a genre that's been flagging for decades. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 5, 2014
4/5	92%	The Case Against 8 (2014)	The Case Against 8 effectively, memorably connects the dots between national and personal history, and between individual action and large-scale change - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 5, 2014
3.5/5	72%	Neighbors (2014)	Neighbors does its duty in out-debauching its predecessors, but does so through a framework that undercuts the nobility of youthful hedonism. It's one of the most adult college comedies ever[...] - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted May 6, 2014
3.0/5	91%	Disneynature Bears (2014)	True to its Disney lineage, Bears is a theme-park version of reality, but one built on sincere understanding of and affection for the natural world and all its creatures-especially the really cute ones. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 17, 2014
2.5/5	42%	Divergent (2014)	Unfortunately, [the story's] source material proves to be the film's undoing, as Divergent is built on a shaky premise that collapses when blown up to big-screen proportions. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 20, 2014
3.5/5	23%	Need For Speed (2014)	Given [Aaron] Paul's established knack for comedy, it's a little odd that he's consigned to the role of humorless brooder [...] but given Need For Speed's oft-shaky grasp of comedy, he's probably better off in grip-it-and-rip-it mode. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 14, 2014
2.0/5	13%	Winter's Tale (2014)	[Winter's Tale] looks nice and goes down easy-and with a few hearty laughs for more cynical viewers-but has little narrative substance or emotional sustenance. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Feb 20, 2014
1.5/5	22%	That Awkward Moment (2014)	Like its main character, That Awkward Moment can't commit to anything, and thinks it's much smarter than it is - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Jan 30, 2014
3/5	79%	Saving Mr. Banks (2013)	It would all seem horribly manipulative and distasteful if Saving Mr. Banks weren't buoyed by a strong sense of nostalgia and, yes, a good bit of Disney Magic(TM). - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Dec 11, 2013
2/5	40%	Delivery Man (2013)	Delivery Man has sentiment and affability embedded in its DNA, but Scott and Vaughn don't do enough to nurture the film to its full potential. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 21, 2013
4/5	89%	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)	It's a quintessential middle film, lacking both substantive setup and a satisfying conclusion-and it's all the better for it, thriving in the tumultuous, incendiary stages of a brewing revolution. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 19, 2013
3.5/5	68%	About Time (2013)	Those willing-or eager-to indulge About Time's schmaltziest moments are rewarded with hits of pure, uncut joy and sorrow. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 30, 2013
2/5	52%	A.C.O.D. (2013)	It's neither consistently funny nor poignant enough to make the most of its impressive cast. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 2, 2013
3.5/5	79%	Don Jon (2013)	[Although] Gordon-Levitt says a little bit about a lot of things,...Don Jon is a continuously entertaining and fitfully provocative first-time effort. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 26, 2013
2/5	50%	Mademoiselle C (2013)	Mademoiselle C succeeds in showcasing the rarified entity that is Carine Roitfeld...but it's ultimately more of a fawning love letter than a nuanced profile of a woman who surely must be more fascinating than she comes off here. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 11, 2013
2/5	64%	One Direction: This Is Us (2013)	This Is Us lays the One Direction guys out as slabs of meat on the altar of teen-pop fandom, giving them little more dimension than the cardboard cutouts and posters that decorate the bedrooms of their adoring fans. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 29, 2013
2/5	14%	The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)	There's a germ of something interesting and different within the film's narrative tangle, but it's unfortunately been subsumed by Hollywood's dedication to replicating previous successes. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 21, 2013
2.5/5	48%	We're The Millers (2013)	The film's humor ... tends toward the mean-spirited and cynical throughout-which ultimately makes [the] inevitable happy ending ring all the more false. - The Dissolve EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 6, 2013