Shawn Hazelett
Shawn Hazelett's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when
published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Under the Radar
| Publications: | Under the Radar |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5/10 | 82% | Molly's Game (2018) |
A script so overwrought and self-important that it might actually trick a few people into thinking it's good.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| 6.5/10 | 84% | The Square (2017) |
To be clear, the film is definitely more good than bad, but [Ruben] Östlund has set a high bar for himself, and this could have been a lot more by being a lot less.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Nov 6, 2017
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| 5/10 | 86% | The Lost City of Z (2017) |
What we have here are essentially two different films, and I'm not fully convinced much of the first is required to reap the benefits of a far more rich and ambitious second ... a missed opportunity.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted May 20, 2017
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| 5/10 | 91% | La La Land (2016) |
[Emma Stone] is so captivating as an actor that we are somehow attentive and interested through lousy songwriting and cliches.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 16, 2016
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| 7/10 | 87% | Jackie (2016) |
Jackie proves that grace and composure are qualities that matter in our leaders in a year when many Americans want to deny it.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 16, 2016
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| 8/10 | 85% | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) |
Rogue One is worthy of standing alongside the original trilogy. Not only in terms of quality, but in creativity, imagination, and inspiration.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 13, 2016
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| 3.5/10 | 60% | The Light Between Oceans (2016) |
Too much of the opening hour is spent establishing Tom and Isabel's happiness with unnecessarily extended scenes of the two frolicking about in nature.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Sep 29, 2016
|
| 4/10 | 70% | Café Society (2016) |
A mess of a story that haphazardly jumps around though settings, tones, and plotlines with little overarching point or direction.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 1, 2016
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| 5.5/10 | 84% | The Meddler (2016) |
The Meddler starts off almost too quirky and inoffensive before dramatically reversing course with the arrival of the always-welcome J.K. Simmons.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted May 3, 2016
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| 4.5/10 | 86% | Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) |
Unfortunately, [Blake] Jenner's screentime mostly consists of a lack of spatial awareness and poor, unemotive line readings.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Apr 3, 2016
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| 5.5/10 | 45% | Knight of Cups (2016) |
[Knight of Cups'] inherently episodic plot is at odds with [Malick's] traditionally long, meandering visuals, which do an admirable job conveying mood, tone, and his stark version of LA.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Mar 7, 2016
|
| 3.5/10 | 78% | Where to Invade Next (2016) |
A filmmaker who's made a career on presenting his take on an issue's origins and deeper meanings here only presents solutions.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jan 3, 2016
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| 8/10 | 88% | The Big Short (2015) |
The Big Short is far from perfect ... but its audacity, ingenuity, and humor more than outweigh its flaws.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 11, 2015
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| 3.5/10 | 38% | The Wannabe (2015) |
The Wannabe is too derivative for any insight, offering little more than tired tropes and bad accents.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 9, 2015
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| 8/10 | 95% | Carol (2015) |
Carol uses satire as a mask which, once cast aside, leads to ... unspoken discussions on station, gender, sexuality, and identity.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 9, 2015
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| 8/10 | 94% | Room (2015) |
Room is a tender observation of a mother/son relationship masquerading as a suspense film.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2015
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| 5/10 | 73% | Suffragette (2015) |
Too often the film retreats from the complexity of its debates in favor of comprehension.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2015
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| 4.5/10 | 91% | Bridge of Spies (2015) |
[The Coen Brothers'] token irreverence might be misplaced with Spielberg who veers into a Capraesque sanctimony that stops just short of jingoism.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Oct 20, 2015
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| 6.5/10 | 98% | Welcome To Leith (2015) |
Filmmakers Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher Walker's neutral observation ... provides a chilling blueprint of what someone even marginally less extreme might accomplish.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2015
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| 4/10 | 59% | Southpaw (2015) |
An interesting premise and strong work by Gyllenhaal can't support a screenplay that repeatedly falls on its face through sports clichés and [vanishing] subplots.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jul 22, 2015
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| 6.5/10 | 46% | Irrational Man (2015) |
A film replete with nihilism and dark, immoral actions is fleshed out with a vibrant color palette and a screenplay with razor sharp irony.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jul 17, 2015
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| 4.5/10 | 76% | Jimmy's Hall (2015) |
The grand parallels and themes Loach attempts to extol are drowned in sanctimony and self-importance.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jul 8, 2015
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| 6/10 | 98% | Iris (2015) |
Maysles' comprehensive account of a multifaceted, loving human being.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted May 8, 2015
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| 7/10 | 84% | While We're Young (2015) |
Comes together in a way that's surprising and fulfilling.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Mar 28, 2015
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| 2.5/10 | 8% | The Lovers (2015) |
Joffe seems well aware that this is a story not worth telling ... the filmmaking is so hopelessly uninspired that Hartnett's Scottish accent is somehow not its most glaring flaw.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Mar 28, 2015
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| 6.5/10 | 87% | Still Alice (2015) |
While [Still Alice] is bleak and incredibly serious, it mostly avoids cheap sentimentality, managing to educate without becoming an after-school special.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2015
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| 4.5/10 | 89% | A Most Violent Year (2015) |
[Chandor's] storytelling feels muted, presenting characters that are shockingly dull and didactic. ‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2015
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| 6/10 | 89% | Happy Valley (2014) |
Happy Valley ... is less interested in assigning blame than using the scandal as a template to explore mob mentality and the perils of idol worship.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 16, 2014
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| 8/10 | 89% | Wild (2014) |
Reese Witherspoon effectively balances flashbacks that recall her rom-com star-making roles with dark, sordid material. ‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Dec 5, 2014
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| 4.5/10 | 76% | Rosewater (2014) |
[Rosewater] feels painfully objective and loyal to the source material, resulting in a narrative that's bland and too afraid to step on any toes.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Nov 14, 2014
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| 7.5/10 | 93% | Force Majeure (2014) |
Force Majeure is both an insightful probe into gender roles and family dynamics and a clever lampoon of fragile bourgeoisie masculinity. ‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Oct 29, 2014
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| 6.5/10 | 83% | Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (Død snø 2) (2014) |
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead could have been a lazy movie, but writer/director Tommy Wirkola is too keen let his imagination run wild.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Oct 15, 2014
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| 4.5/10 | 77% | St. Vincent (2014) |
[McCarthy and Murray] feel oddly stilted, their performances restricted by material that can't decide whether or not it's a comedy.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Oct 9, 2014
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| 2/10 | 43% | Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) |
Little more than cartoon rapt with overwritten voiceover ... if the ten-year gap provided anything, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For can be easily separated from the original.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2014
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| 8/10 | 91% | Child's Pose (2014) |
Details are beautifully observed in lengthy, theatrical scenes, which may not have been sustainable without a captivating performance from Luminita Gheorghiu.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 20, 2014
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| 5/10 | 40% | Oldboy (2013) |
Lee takes his time crafting fiery characters and an impenetrable, who-and-why mystery only to rush through a series of arbitrary clues and explanations.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 20, 2014
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| 3.5/10 | 17% | Twice Born (2013) |
Twice Born wants so desperately to be taken seriously that it creates an unnecessarily complex narrative, void of any chemistry-building moments for its romantic leads.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 20, 2014
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| 9/10 | 91% | Nebraska (2013) |
It's a surprising performance from Forte, tasked with much of the heavy lifting opposite a tight-lipped Dern.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 20, 2014
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| 9/10 | 95% | 12 Years a Slave (2013) |
Screenwriter John Ridley takes a story that's episodic in nature and crafts a narrative that manages to build in intensity and emotion for over two hours.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 18, 2014
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| 6.5/10 | 76% | Zero Charisma (2013) |
A very enjoyable, surprisingly accessible movie about nerd culture that offers a little warmth with a lot of humor.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 18, 2014
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| 4.5/10 | 50% | Five Dances (2013) |
At times the plot seems to exist merely to string together all these dance scenes ... Unfortunately, Five Dances feels more interested in the art than the artist.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 18, 2014
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| 6/10 | 86% | The Trip To Italy (2014) |
The Trip to Italy ... presents less a narrative than a series of dinnertime conversations between fictionalized versions of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 6.5/10 | 59% | Draft Day (2014) |
Draft Day is a perfectly enjoyable movie with a solid understanding of football and football minds, but tends to lag when focusing on subplots not related to football.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 4/10 | 66% | The Railway Man (2014) |
The Railway Man is an ambitious, well-intentioned film plagued by flat, predictable storytelling‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 7/10 | 73% | The German Doctor (2014) |
[Àlex Brendemühl's] Mengele is a departure from the mustache-twirling villains of Marathon Man and The Boys from Brazil.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 5.5/10 | 50% | NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage (2014) |
Less a film than a brochure, offering lush, alluring scenery alongside a collection of ultimately shallow teasers.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 9/10 | 96% | Ida (2014) |
Ida is less about the Holocaust than its residual effects, focusing on its overlooked social repercussions.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 15, 2014
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| 6.5/10 | 97% | Life Itself (2014) |
For fans of the late critic, Life Itself will succeed as a warm reminder. ‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 4, 2014
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| 5.5/10 | 61% | L'écume des jours (Mood Indigo) (2014) |
Mood Indigo showcases the visual extraordinaire's most inventive and enchanting filmmaking in a decade.‐ Under the Radar
Read More | Posted Aug 1, 2014
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