J Hurtado

J Hurtado
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications: ScreenAnarchy

Movie Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year
76% Archenemy (2020) [O]ne of the most original films of the year and a thrilling cosmic adventure with plenty of violence and a big heart. Definitely one to look out for. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 18, 2020
89% The Stylist (2020) A stellar debut from Gevargizian and her team, and a sign that she's a name to watch in the coming years - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 20, 2020
87% Survival Skills (2020) A slick indictment of the chasm between what should be happening and what does happen when a rookie cop tries his best to do what's right. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 20, 2020
90% The Queen of Black Magic (Ratu ilmu hitam) (2019) Stamboel's confident direction and a stable of genre film vets make this one of the better horror films out of the region recently - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 20, 2020
27% Jiu Jitsu (2020) [A]n Adderall addled mess of a film that attempts to scratch a gonzo action itch that would be better served by hitting up a playlist of stunt demo reels on YouTube. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 20, 2020
91% Bloody Hell (2020) [S]tarts off at about a nine, and just continues ratcheting up the insanity with every new plot turn - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 20, 2020
98% Anything for Jackson (2020) It's a film that tries to address the emotional weight of grief and what we do to cope - or avoid coping - with those feelings. With ghosts. And monsters. I dug it. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 17, 2020
94% Dinner in America (2020) It takes anarchic spirit of The Bunny Game and focuses it into a genuinely warm film with characters who feel like they could exist at opposite ends of each other's worlds. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 23, 2020
76% Phenomena (Creepers) (1985) Phenomena is a lot of fun, and every turn the plot takes gets more and more interesting. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 13, 2020
100% Av: The Hunt (2020) [A] chilling indictment of archaic Turkish patriarchal violence in the form of a blisteringly paced survival thriller. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
85% Detention (2019) [A] slick, well-executed, topical horror film along the lines of films like Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth or Issa López's Tigers Are Not Afraid. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
94% Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business (2020) [A]n uplifting document of a hard road traveled, and a victory earned and an intimate look into a business that is infinitely complex, but whose rewards can be incredibly sweet. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
96% Feels Good Man (2020) [A] story of a man fighting the good fight, trying to maintain one's own integrity in a world gone crazy, even if it just means gaining back control over a simple cartoon frog - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
96% The Block Island Sound (2020) If you're expecting a monster movie, you might be disappointed at the lack of blood and guts, but if you'll open your mind, The Block Island Sound. just might scare the hell out of you. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
63% Get the Hell Out (Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan) (2020) Undoubtedly the bloodiest, most hyperactive film at TIFF 2020, Get the Hell Out is a rousing good time with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
87% Violation (2021) Violation is a tremendous film, an absolute stunner that is as horrifically gruesome as it is necessary - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
99% Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois) (2020) An impressively audacious testament to the fluidity of the medium, Night of the Kings is a peerless work that will be difficult to beat this year or any other. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
77% Shadow in the Cloud (2021) Shadow in the Cloud is a boisterous adventure bound to delight audiences, as long as they don't think too hard. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2020
93% Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway is everything the adventurous film fan is looking for. It is complex, original, fun, funny, and unlike anything you've ever seen before. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 9, 2020
78% Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) Like doing a line of spiked Pixy Stix dust off of a rainbow unicorn's horn, and I am into it. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 6, 2020
95% Impetigore (Perempuan Tanah Jahanam) (2020) Impetigore is a film that will certainly resonate with genre fest audiences, and hopefully the success of Satan's Slaves and Impetigore will bring new converts to worship at the altar of Anwar. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2020
83% Ad Astra (2019) [T]he best way to experience Ad Astra, is to let it wash over you, allow its masterful use of light and sound to enhance an already incredible piece of writing and a tremendous performance from Pitt. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
No Score Yet His Master's Voice (Az ur hangja) (2018) In spite of arresting imagery and Pálfi's very visible fingerprints in what seems like it should be a match made in sci-fi heaven, His Master's Voice ends up as a mostly mixed bag. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
No Score Yet Ghost of the Golden Groves (Shonajhurir Bhoot) (2018) Ghost of the Golden Groves deserves an audience willing to engage with its mysteries, and I hope it finds one. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
56% Saand Ki Aankh (2019) [A] solidly entertaining piece of "girl power" masala that I found roundly engaging and worth a watch. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
97% Why Don't You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni) (2020) Why Don't You Just Die! is a smartly constructed and blisteringly paced bit of chaos that is impressive to watch, even for those susceptible to queasiness at the sight of blood. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
77% Bad Boys for Life (2020) Bad Boys For Life felt like a flatly retold version of the original film, lacking in the kind of out of control ego that drove Bay's previous entries to become the icons of excessive action violence in their respective decades. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 17, 2020
81% VHYes (2020) [L]ike watching someone else's half-remembered dreams morphing into a wild cavalcade of lo-fi imagery that makes no sense, but still somehow makes perfect sense. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 14, 2020
47% Underwater (2020) Underwater is a well-paced retelling of alien terror at the bottom of the sea, with Eubank and Stewart confidently steering the ship. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2020
No Score Yet Surfer (2018) Objectively, Surfer: Teen Confronts Fear is terrible, but in the same way that Ivan the Terrible was. It is tremendous, immense, indefatigable, and unique. You may never truly understand it... but you have no choice but to respect it. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 17, 2019
71% Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) Jumanji: The Next Level is one hell of a fun ride in which every member of this ensemble puts in the work to keep its audience laughing. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 12, 2019
70% Butt Boy (2020) Butt Boy is a surprisingly effective slow burn that warms the audience up, like a frog in a pot of boiling water, before taking a hard left to full-on bizarro land as the end draws near. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 8, 2019
80% Jojo Rabbit (2019) Jojo Rabbit appeals to the best in all of us, and gives me hope that we can overcome our own struggles and just find a way to be good to one another. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2019
54% The Golden Glove (Der goldene handschuh) (2019) The Golden Glove is a tremendous piece of work, an empathetic look at a pathetic wretch of a man and the trail of pain and chaos he left behind. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
74% The Death of Dick Long (2019) The Death of Dick Long is a black-as-pitch comedy with a surprisingly big heart that has instantly entered my list of favorites of the year. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
96% Jallikattu (2019) Jallikattu is one of the year's biggest discoveries. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
62% It Chapter Two (2019) [F]or those committed to the story and the characters, it does deliver one hell of a massive climax, I just wish it didn't take so long to get there. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2019
77% Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Scary Stories delivers a genuine sense of dread, numerous solid scares, and a ton of very creepy atmosphere in a way that could easily make one forget that this is a ostensibly a movie for kids. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 8, 2019
90% Chiwawa (Chiwawa-chan) (2019) Chiwawa warms up an old formula with mediocre results - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
88% Mystery Of The Night (2019) It's very easy to recommend Mystery of the Night as an example of something exciting happening on the other side of the world that deserves attention. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
100% Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (2019) Gregory's Blood & Flesh is one of those documentaries manages to engage the audience by giving an little known but extraordinary story its due. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
60% DreadOut: Tower of Hell (2019) DreadOut is a solid outing from all of the cast and crew, and it manages to transcend its source material in a way that won't alienate those who've never heard of the game. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
87% 1BR (2020) There is no more difficult review to write than that of an okay film. There's nothing stellar about 1BR, and there is just as little that is offensively bad. It's fine. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
No Score Yet It Comes (2019) It Comes is a brilliantly told, complex, and surprising journey that is the cinematic equivalent of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
89% Zombie for Sale (2019) I've seen a million zombie films, and The Odd Family still managed to surprise me several times, and that's no easy feat. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
79% The Incredible Shrinking Wknd (El increíble finde menguante) (2019) [A] micro level investigation of a love affair gone south that will find an empathetic audience absolutely riveted by its profound simplicity. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
67% Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) There is nothing subtle about Hobbs & Shaw. It's a huge movie filled with huge action, huge laughs, huge leaps of logic, and in the end, huge feelings. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 5, 2019
94% The Deeper You Dig (2019) While I don't think it's going to take the world by storm, it's definitely a calling card for future projects by this little family band of filmmaking fanatics. I enjoyed The Deeper You Dig very much... - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 29, 2019
44% Critters Attack! (2019) It's bloody, it's silly, and it's a gory good time. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 20, 2019
42% Stuber (2019) Stuber is a really fun ride and a great way to pass ninety minutes with plenty of action and gags to keep the audience in stitches throughout. - ScreenAnarchy EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 12, 2019