Justin Lowe
Justin Lowe's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when
published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Hollywood Reporter
| Biography: |
Hollywood Reporter film critic.
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| Publications: | Hollywood Reporter |
| Critics' Group: | Los Angeles Film Critics Association |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | Blood Stripe (2017) |
[Kate] Nowlin's performance, however, is a marvel of inner turmoil and physical exertion, as Sarge struggles to contain her destructive impulses or channel them into more productive pursuits.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Sep 25, 2017
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| 100% | Happy Hunting (2017) |
A nasty little piece of work that surprises with both its topicality and incisiveness, Happy Hunting unfailingly reminds us about the social problems we try to ignore that just won't go away.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Sep 25, 2017
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| 60% | The Lodgers (2017) |
Finely attuned filmmaking.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Sep 10, 2017
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| 75% | Kodachrome (2017) |
Simultaneously a tribute to a seemingly bygone era and an affirmation of the sometimes unexpected resilience of father-son bonds.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2017
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| No Score Yet | 1% (2017) |
Nable's overly dense script spends too much time exploring the bikers' clashing motivations rather than provoking escalation among rival factions.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2017
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| 13% | Temple (2017) |
Temple comes off as more of a half-hearted attempt at exploiting typical J-horror themes than an actual homage to the Japanese genre.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 31, 2017
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| 29% | Ghost House (2017) |
A discordantly derivative attempt at amalgamating divergent horror cliches and unrelated cultural traditions.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 25, 2017
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| 40% | Death Note (2017) |
Rather than relying on amplifying typical genre conventions, Wingard methodically lays the foundation to set up this particular Death Note adaptation for a potential sequel, but the outcome is more deliberate than inspired.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2017
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| 88% | The Last Dalai Lama? (2017) |
A poignant tribute to an extraordinary figure.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 13, 2017
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| 55% | The Battleship Island (2017) |
Technically accomplished, narratively impoverished.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 8, 2017
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| 63% | Savage Dog (2017) |
Consistently delivers the goods.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 8, 2017
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| 36% | Kidnap (2017) |
Berry delivers in an entertaining actioner.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Aug 3, 2017
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| 89% | Man Underground (2017) |
Scrupulously avoiding scenes that would require expensive special effects or elaborate sets, the filmmakers employ a straightforward dramatic style, concentrating their efforts on creating believable characters instead.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jul 25, 2017
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| 20% | Austin Found (2017) |
Will Raee's feature wrings a few laughs from a strained premise, but remains far better suited to short-attention span formats than theatrical play.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jul 8, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town (2017) |
[A] dizzying mashup of frenetic visual styles and clashing narrative techniques.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jul 3, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Story of a Girl (2017) |
To the degree that Story of a Girl challenges conventional expectations rather than reinforcing them, this restraint admirably serves the purpose of foregrounding the characters rather than sensationalizing the central premise.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 29, 2017
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| 67% | Footnotes (Sur quel pied danser) (2017) |
Relatably whimsical coming-of-age tale about a young woman's search for her place in the world.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 22, 2017
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| No Score Yet | And Then I Go (2017) |
A disturbing drama of teen disaffection, Vincent Grashaw's feature provides an essential and insightful perspective that will resonate with audiences attuned to the challenges of adolescence.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 22, 2017
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| 68% | Annabelle: Creation (2017) |
Sandberg demonstrates a deft affinity for the elaboration of horror conventions, as well as the expansion of the Conjuring universe.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 20, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Cassidy Red (2017) |
Features a female protagonist and plenty of talented women behind the scenes, but comes up short delivering on the expected character conflicts and action sequences.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 19, 2017
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| 39% | The Hunter's Prayer (2017) |
Too dimwitted to be disappointing.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jun 9, 2017
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| 90% | Dearest Sister: Nong Hak (2016) |
The film also relies on a degree of cultural specificity that sets it apart from other examples of regionally produced horror and identifies Do, who grew up in Southern California before relocating to Laos, as a notable emerging talent.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted May 19, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Grey Lady (2017) |
Shea assembles many of the requisite elements of a contemporary crime drama, but orchestrates them so chaotically that audiences may be put off by the film's unwelcome onslaught of stale genre techniques.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted May 1, 2017
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| 44% | Phoenix Forgotten (2017) |
Another disappointingly derivative imitation of The Blair Witch Project, this time mashed up with The X-Files franchise.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Apr 23, 2017
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| 60% | Fabricated City (2017) |
Although the film's rapid-fire plotting sometimes seems rather ungainly, Park still delivers plenty of creatively conceived high-tech surveillance sequences, intricately staged car chases and unexpectedly visceral fight scenes.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Apr 19, 2017
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| 83% | Disneynature Born In China (2017) |
If all of the over-emoting can be ignored, Born in China delivers gorgeous visuals in its close-up perspective on some of the world's rarest wildlife species, as well as the imposing habitats they call home.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Apr 10, 2017
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| 80% | Dig Two Graves (2017) |
As much a coming-of-age tale as it is a cautionary one, Adams' feature does a credible job building suspense, but never really delivers on the horror scares that early scenes telegraph.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Mar 27, 2017
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| 44% | Saban's Power Rangers (2017) |
Israelite ... orchestrates a vastly more complex array of characters, action set pieces and technical resources for a combined effect that maintains dramatic tension even while teetering on the brink of excess.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Mar 20, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Maineland (2017) |
Wang's verite approach attempts to strike a tone somewhere between revealing and contemplative, but her principal subjects are too young and inexperienced with the world to have much of import to say.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Mar 12, 2017
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| 100% | Let There Be Light (2017) |
A futuristic energy source that could indefinitely supply the world's power requirements provides the backdrop for this absorbing documentary.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Mar 12, 2017
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| 45% | The Good Catholic (2017) |
A man of the cloth facing a crisis of faith, particularly one provoked by an attractive woman, covers some well-trod dramatic territory and the director doesn't do much to update this borderline biblical scenario.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Feb 28, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Kati Kati (2016) |
Masya, a former advertising art director and conceptual video artist, selects an appropriate scale for his indie drama, concentrating his cast at a single location that has sufficient variety to avoid too much visual repetition.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Feb 27, 2017
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| 90% | John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) |
Once again, Reeves does not disappoint, fully inhabiting Wick by channeling his rage over life's injustices into an intensely focused performance.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Feb 6, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Confidential Assignment (2017) |
Essentially tacking on a drawn-out fourth act after the 90-minute point, the film feels needlessly overblown by the time it hits the two-hour mark.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 27, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Suck It Up (2016) |
A buddy-comedy wrapped in a British Columbia road trip, Suck It Up figures out how to find the humor in emotionally distressing situations that might elude any less determined characters than the film's two protagonists.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 27, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Half Ticket (2016) |
The young actors excel at replicating mischievous behavior, marginally sacrificing credibility in more dramatic scenes, but overall carrying the movie remarkably well for their age.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 25, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Kate Can't Swim (2016) |
It's somewhat difficult to assess Helman's screenwriting expertise, but he demonstrates a fine rapport with the cast as he competently juggles acting and directorial duties.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 23, 2017
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| 91% | RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017) |
The influence of Native Americans on nearly a century of popular music is eloquently demonstrated in this engaging documentary.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 23, 2017
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| 77% | Dave Made a Maze (2017) |
A likeably goofy creative achievement.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Who Is Arthur Chu? (2017) |
Drucker's eponymous documentary relies primarily on Chu's lower profile, post-Jeopardy! period for material, which comes off as rather uneventful ...‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2017
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| 78% | The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) |
The Nile Hilton Incident represents the type of penetrating filmmaking that only a writer-director intimately familiar with Egyptian culture but possessing an outsider's perspective could convincingly accomplish.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2017
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| 100% | Motherland (Bayang ina mo) (2017) |
Motherland not only provides an expressively etched account of specialized medical care, but also a telling perspective on dominant social trends and healthcare policy issues in the Philippines.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 21, 2017
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| 86% | Tokyo Idols (2017) |
A lively inquiry that reveals more contradictions than consensus.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 21, 2017
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| 24% | The Bye Bye Man (2017) |
Often involving, although not quite entirely satisfying.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 12, 2017
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| 66% | Tommy's Honour (2017) |
An engrossing and accessible celebration of the game's modern origins, enhanced by striking locations and a standout cast, led by Scottish actors Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Jan 12, 2017
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| 100% | The Bad Kids (2016) |
An insightful, affecting film that casts sympathetic light on a neglected educational sector.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Dec 20, 2016
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| No Score Yet | Virtual Revolution (2016) |
Although the intent is clearly to create a somewhat disorienting visual experience, it's the consistently derivative plotline that's really at issue.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Dec 17, 2016
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| 85% | I Am Bolt (2016) |
Almost as engaging as the man himself.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Nov 21, 2016
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| 36% | Live Cargo (2017) |
Nicely observed, but misses the mark.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Nov 21, 2016
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| 23% | Bad Santa 2 (2016) |
For those who've endured the long gap between Bad Santa movies like kids eagerly anticipating Christmas, this sequel brings it on like Saint Nick's overstuffed bag of goodies, with plenty to entertain (and offend) everyone.‐ Hollywood Reporter
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2016
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