Richard Nilsen
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Publications: | Arizona Republic |
| Critics' Group: | Phoenix Film Critics Society |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/5 | 67% | Ha-Sodot (The Secrets) (2007) |
Each of the three primary directions of the movie might make a fascinating film, but tied together, they never cohere, and you find yourself sitting through two long hours wondering why you are doing so.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jan 19, 2017
|
| 2/5 | 42% | The Flowers of War (2011) |
"The Flowers of War" seems like a pretty good film until you begin to think about it.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 29, 2012
|
| 3/5 | 63% | La délicatesse (Delicacy) (2012) |
"Delicacy" is not a very good movie. But it is entertaining enough -- barely enough -- to make it worth seeing.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 22, 2012
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| 4.5/5 | 73% | Norwegian Wood (2012) |
We cover years at a bound, but when we light, we tend to spend long, lingering moments through the camera's loving eye. This is a beautiful film to see.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 15, 2012
|
| 4/5 | 95% | Pina (2011) |
For anyone with an interest in dance, "Pina" is a must-see. For anyone not interested in contemporary dance, "Pina" is a should-see. It could change your mind.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Feb 9, 2012
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| 3/5 | No Score Yet | The Vintner's Luck (2011) |
Renier may remind you of a young Michael York. And the photography is gorgeous, in a conventional sort of way.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Nov 3, 2011
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| 1/5 | 36% | Finding Joe (2011) |
The bottom line for all these speakers is that if you follow the so-called hero's journey, you will find fame and fortune. I think we've heard this tune before.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 20, 2011
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| 3/5 | 35% | Restless (2011) |
Gus Van Sant doesn't make bad movies.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 6, 2011
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| 3/5 | 80% | Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2011) |
It is a peculiar conflation of history -- there really was an Empress Wu -- and pure cinematic fantasy.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 29, 2011
|
| 4/5 | 85% | La tête en friche (My Afternoons with Margueritte) (2011) |
The film is leisurely paced, as many French films are, and not much actually happens, but as a character study, it feels true, and ultimately moving.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 22, 2011
|
| 2.5/5 | 74% | The Whistleblower (2011) |
You come away from watching the film with a moral bellyache.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 25, 2011
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| 3.5/5 | 91% | Crime After Crime (2011) |
It reminds us, once again, that little can be quite so riveting as a well-told story from a compelling talking head.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 18, 2011
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| 4.5/5 | 81% | Mesrine: Killer Instinct (L'instinct de mort) (2010) |
Four hours of French gangsters may not sound like a cinematic joy, but with Euro-star Vincent Cassel in the lead role, the movie is utterly hypnotic.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 12, 2011
|
| 3/5 | 69% | Bride Flight (2011) |
This very pretty melodrama is a rather ordinary entry.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 14, 2011
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| 3/5 | 73% | Octubre (2011) |
There is much observation of local detail and an overpowering sense of the oppressiveness of urban poverty, but the film never quite gets airborne.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 7, 2011
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| 3/5 | 83% | Potiche (2011) |
"Potiche" is a frothy French confection, a sort of île flottante of movies.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jun 2, 2011
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| 4/5 | 89% | Cinco días sin Nora (Nora's Will) (2010) |
This is a very wise film, without any stench of didacticism: Through it all, the abiding power - like the strong force of an atomic bond - is not love exactly, but relationship, the net that wraps us all together and holds us fast.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 24, 2011
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| 3.5/5 | 100% | Strongman (2011) |
One cannot help but think of Fellini's Zampano and Gelsomina.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 18, 2011
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| 3.5/5 | 83% | Four Lions (2010) |
Really, these guys are just knuckleheads. And the movie is full of outrageous laughs.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Dec 10, 2010
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| 3/5 | 39% | The Little Traitor (2009) |
Doesn't attempt much, doesn't accomplish much, doesn't offer much and doesn't leave you with anything memorable to take home with you.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Dec 2, 2010
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| 4/5 | 62% | Howl (2010) |
The film forces us to face what a powerful poem "Howl" remains. That poetry isn't just pretty language, it has the ability to make us think about our lives, even to change our lives.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 21, 2010
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| 4/5 | 56% | Bran Nue Dae (2010) |
Bran Nue Dae is an infectiously joyful Australian Aboriginal musical.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2010
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| 4/5 | 32% | A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop (San qiang pai an jing qi) (A Simple Noodle Story) (The First Gun) (2010) |
It takes real chutzpah to challenge the Coen brothers when it comes to stylization in movies, but Chinese director Zhang Yimou has done just that.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2010
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| 3/5 | No Score Yet | Pete & Cleo (2010) |
We might expect the movie to come down on the side of indigenous wisdom and the old ways, but it never really slips into that cliche -- although it passes many cliches along the way.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2010
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| 3/5 | 55% | Mao's Last Dancer (2010) |
Hollywood has a long history of turning highbrow art into middlebrow mush, and Mao's Last Dancer is just one more kick dancer in that long line.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2010
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| 2.5/5 | 52% | Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2010) |
Two narcissists do not a couple make, and without any actual relationship, there really isn't a movie.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 23, 2010
|
| 4.5/5 | 95% | Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010) |
The plain fact is that, on some level, it doesn't matter whether the film is true or not. Either way, it's fascinating. Either way, we learn a lot. Either way, it's a great film.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jun 24, 2010
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| 4/5 | 72% | Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan) (2010) |
It seduces us with imagery and metaphor.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted May 27, 2010
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| 3.5/5 | 87% | La Danse -- Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris (2009) |
It is an insider's look at the ballet, but one that only an insider will get the most out of.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jan 29, 2010
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| 4/5 | 89% | Séraphine (2009) |
What makes this slow, intense film so compelling is its persuasive creation of complex characters: You scarcely believe Moreau is an actor and that the film isn't, on some level, archival footage of the real painter.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jan 29, 2010
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| 3/5 | 88% | Amreeka (2009) |
A good-hearted film about the resilience of the human spirit.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 14, 2009
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| 4/5 | 85% | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex) (2008) |
The Baader-Meinhof Complex is not an easy film to watch; its violence is ugly and brutish. And there's a lot of it.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 1, 2009
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| 3/5 | 59% | The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) |
Although The Stoning is efficiently made, it is ultimately a cheat.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 16, 2009
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| 3/5 | 86% | Disneynature Earth (2009) |
It's such a joy to see this footage on the big screen -- even better than hi-definition TV -- that you may want to suffer the slings and arrow of an outrageous soundtrack just for the opportunity to see what's on the screen.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Apr 22, 2009
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| 3.5/5 | 88% | I.O.U.S.A. (2008) |
You will not likely forget the Jeremiad it presents about how the United States has been living on borrowed money -- and borrowed time -- for decades and now is presenting the bill for our extravagance to our grandchildren.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Oct 30, 2008
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| 4.5/5 | 79% | I Served the King of England (2008) |
This episodic, picaresque film is one delightful surprise after another, a complete joy to watch.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Sep 11, 2008
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| 4/5 | 94% | Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One) (2006) |
Tell No One is a French action thriller and murder mystery that doesn't cheat.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 28, 2008
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| 2.5/5 | 76% | OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d'Espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) (2008) |
A lame comedy with a few decent laughs and several yawn-spawning set pieces that don't really go anywhere.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 21, 2008
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| 2/5 | 81% | Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) |
It all begins to feel veddy, veddy pretentious and a very, very long way from the Brooklyn or Manhattan that he actually understands.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Aug 14, 2008
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| 3/5 | 55% | Elsa & Fred (2008) |
For some, the movie will be an emotional paean to love at the twilight of life; to others, though, it's a contrived, manipulative film calculatedly sentimental and -- except for poor Alfredo -- totally false to life.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 24, 2008
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| 4/5 | 96% | Up the Yangtze (2007) |
The movie never editorializes; it simply presents. It is tragedy, not statistics.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jul 10, 2008
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| 4/5 | 88% | Reprise (2006) |
If you are young, male and dream of making a name for yourself in the arts, Reprise is about the joys and sufferings of that quest: It is a Jules and Jim for the punk-rock generation.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jun 12, 2008
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| 4/5 | 87% | Meduzot (Jellyfish) (2008) |
Most of the first hour passes without much more forward motion than its namesake. But in the corners and niches of that slow development, we get to know a handful of people, crisply drawn in fast sketches.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jun 5, 2008
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| 4/5 | 88% | Roman de gare (2007) |
Don't go to the theater expecting too much and you can't help but leave with a smile on your face.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted May 22, 2008
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| 3.5/5 | 68% | Fugitive Pieces (2008) |
Bit by fragmented bit, it all adds up to a one-note portrait of its protagonist. Granted, that one note is a powerful one.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted May 8, 2008
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| 3.5/5 | 81% | Priceless (2006) |
Priceless is a Hollywood remake waiting to happen. It's almost guaranteed.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Apr 24, 2008
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| 3.5/5 | 83% | The Rape of Europa (2007) |
It's long for a documentary, almost two hours, but it has a big story to tell.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Mar 6, 2008
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| 4/5 | 88% | Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (2004) |
Imaginary Witness is powerful and complex, and few will manage to make it through to the end without gasping, weeping or covering their eyes.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2008
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| 5/5 | 100% | Man on Wire (2008) |
It is one of the most suspenseful, white-knuckled films of the year.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2008
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| 94% | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) |
May well be the best movie of the year.‐ Arizona Republic
Read More | Posted Dec 26, 2007
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