Robert Newton

Robert Newton
Robert Newton's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s): Christian Science Monitor
Publications: Christian Science Monitor, EDGE Boston, Worcester Movies, North Shore Movies

Movie Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year
3/5 75% Earthwork (2011) Ordal and company do a very good job in matter-of-factly demystifying Herd's own drive - and, by proxy, the creative process in general - transforming a grand old riddle into one tender vittle. - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 2, 2011
4/5 81% Super 8 (2011) ...a wickedly satisfying E-Ticket thrill ride in the old-school Spielbergian sense of the word. - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 9, 2011
2.5/5 62% The Beaver (2011) While Gibson - in full-tilt Martin Riggs (from "Lethal Weapon") crazy-pants mode here - makes the part look easy (and ultimately treats mental illness with the seriousness it deserves), the film cannot quite contain him. - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted May 16, 2011
2.5/5 77% Thor (2011) Kenneth Branagh's mother must have needed an operation. Why else would the esteemed actor-turned-director go mercenary for a by-the-numbers comic book adaptation like "Thor"? - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted May 6, 2011
2/5 60% Scream 4 (2011) The standard, snarky, celebrity-studded opening is repetitive, and the whole movie is loaded with plenty of cheap boo! scares and red herring time-padding. - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 15, 2011
3/5 No Score Yet Falco---Verdammt, Wir Leben Noch (2008) Anyone keen to dismiss Falco, who is sometimes referred to as 'the first white rapper,' as a clownish footnote should give this standard yet passionate docudrama a try. - Worcester Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 8, 2011
2/5 37% Mars Needs Moms (2011) Certainly, the very minor Mars Needs Moms is not a grotesque, high-profile creep-out akin to The Polar Express, but with its bowed legs, severe overbite and burlap swaddling clothes, it's not going to be the next Gerber baby, either. - North Shore Movies EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 8, 2011
100% Sidekick (2005) The performances are solid, with Mucci and Ingram forming a great didactic duo. - EDGE Boston EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2008
B- 87% Kung Fu Panda (2008) Wisely, directors Mark Osborne, DreamWorks vet John Stephenson and their quartet of scribes avoid all the pop culture anachronisms that might quickly date the movie (and really, was a "Matrix" spoof ever really funny?). - EDGE Boston EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 5, 2008
B 98% Surfwise (2007) HDNet's portrait of a boarding family catches that wave and rides it all the way to shore (and yes, we used a surfing metaphor in a shameless attempt to become more blurbworthy). - EDGE Boston EDIT
Read More | Posted May 23, 2008
B 66% The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) Here, though, all the silly talking creatures are endearing, and mee-sa no want-sa roast-an any of them on a spit like I did that asinine, decerebrated Stepin Fetchit, Jar-Jar Binks. - EDGE Boston EDIT
Read More | Posted May 22, 2008
C 48% Why Did I Get Married? (2007) Critic-proof, many-hatted Tyler Perry has done it again: delivered an overreaching and overexpositional melodrama that opened at No. 1. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 18, 2007
C 25% The Final Season (2007) Sports more baseball clichés than Scarface had swearwords. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 11, 2007
C- 14% The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007) Walden Media's success at making the worlds of Narnia and Terabithia feel real on screen does not translate into the same magic in adapting Susan Cooper's series of young-adult fantasy novels. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2007
A- 82% The Rape of Europa (2007) Hitler's methodical plan to plunder and destroy Europe's great works of art gets lush treatment in this comprehensive documentary. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 4, 2007
C 5% Good Luck Chuck (2007) Tony-winner Dan Fogler, as Cook's childhood friend, is embarrassingly foul, and even criminally cute Jessica Alba is wasted, playing Cook's painfully clumsy gal pal/penguin nut in this alternately warm and ugly ball of whacks. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2007
D+ 30% Dragon Wars (2007) The concept here is fun -- good and evil dragons of ancient Korean legend do battle in modern-day Los Angeles -- but a lazy and amateurish script and embarrassingly hollow acting hobble it right out of the gate. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2007
C 14% Mr. Woodcock (2007) Maybe the writers dwelled on some trite self-help mantra to delude themselves into thinking that the giggles that the title inspires would carry for 90 minutes. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 14, 2007
C+ 67% Shoot 'Em Up (2007) There is not yet an expression to describe how over-the-top this hyperkinetic action comedy is, from its John Woo/Rube Goldberg inspired set pieces to its painful self-awareness of its own darned cleverness. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 6, 2007
D 16% The Brothers Solomon (2007) At best, it's a five-minute late-night sketch; at worst, a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 6, 2007
C- 20% Death Sentence (2007) With the subtlety of a bulldozer comes this dubiously pedigreed revenge thriller. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 30, 2007
C+ 15% The Last Legion (2007) This take on the Arthurian legend is flawed but watchable. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 23, 2007
B 43% Night at the Museum (2006) The script by "Reno 911!" creators Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon gives hyperkinetic life to both a fantastic set and comedy legends Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2006
B 86% Slither (2006) Gunn, who started off with schlockmeisters Troma Films, calls on that no-budget sensibility and lets the writing do the talking, with us doing the shrieking and most memorably, the laughing. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 30, 2006
B- 43% She's the Man (2006) It leaves viewers wanting more -- if not more Bard, then at least more of its hyperkinetic, unabashed young star. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 16, 2006
C+ 26% The Shaggy Dog (2006) At least it is not a beast as dull as Doogal or as piddling as The Pink Panther. - Christian Science Monitor EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 9, 2006