Stephen Kelly
Stephen Kelly's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when
published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Guardian,
PopMatters,
Total Film,
SFX Magazine
| Publications: | Guardian, PopMatters, Total Film, SFX Magazine |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/5 | 89% | The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2018) |
The farce is infectiously fun and visually joyous.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2017
|
| 3/5 | 89% | Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast (2017) |
Affectionate yet meandering, it lingers too long on minutiae. Still, Skinner is a funny, fascinating man, explored here with fervency.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2017
|
| 5/5 | 97% | In This Corner of the World (Kono sekai no katasumi ni) (2017) |
An exquisite portrait of Hiroshima before the bomb that conjures a powerful sense of what - and who - was lost.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jun 26, 2017
|
| 4/5 | 96% | The Salesman (Forushande) (2017) |
Sparse and intricate, it's a study of judgement, of 'honour', of Emad's own fragile masculinity; one paralleled cleverly by his role in a production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Mar 16, 2017
|
| 1/5 | 0% | Precious Cargo (2016) |
[A] contender for blandest heist movie ever made.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2017
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| 3/5 | 70% | The Killing$ of Tony Blair (2016) |
It's slick and spirited but reveals nothing sensational, and is inevitably hindered by Galloway's ego -- his anecdotes and clunky one-liners only serve to weaken the polemic.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2017
|
| 5/5 | 100% | Ivan's Childhood (Ivanovo detstvo) (1962) |
No one paints a stark landscape like Tarkovsky, but we're not just talking surface beauty; the director shows a rare understanding of the consequences of combat.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2017
|
| 1/5 | 9% | Exposed (2016) |
A story which makes little to no sense, with huge sub-plots (all involving black or Latino characters) either abandoned or stitched awkwardly together.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2017
|
| 2/5 | 70% | Central Intelligence (2016) |
The leads have chemistry, but there's only so far they can elevate such obvious material.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 2, 2017
|
| 3/5 | 78% | Traders (2015) |
Takes a while to click, and there's a clunky voiceover, but this is an eye-catching debut.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 1, 2017
|
| 4/5 | 95% | Johnny Guitar (1954) |
Not too many westerns culminate in a six-gun showdown between two women -- but then Nicholas Ray wasn't your average filmmaker.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 1, 2017
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| 2/5 | 16% | The Wild Life (2016) |
If you're old enough to read this then you're probably too old for this bright and child-friendly animation.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jan 1, 2017
|
| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Streetdance Family (2016) |
Cinemas are practically popping with hip-hop dance dramas, but this low-budget doc is the real thing.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 30, 2016
|
| 4/5 | 100% | A Beautiful Planet (2016) |
This is a short but overwhelming experience: a doc exploring not just Earth's magnificence, but how we take it for granted.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 30, 2016
|
| 2/5 | 53% | Risen (2016) |
It's a novel take on a Biblical classic, but CSI: Judea only lasts for about 30 minutes before Clavius discovers "Yeshua" (Cliff Curtis) alive and grinning.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 28, 2016
|
| 3/5 | 71% | Reset (Relève: Histoire d'une création) (2017) |
For dance fans this is a fascinating study of the time, effort and logistics that go into a big production.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 27, 2016
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| 2/5 | 33% | Operation Chromite (2016) |
Entertaining in its own way, though probably not in the way intended.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 27, 2016
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| 3/5 | 88% | The Coming War On China (2016) |
Interesting, but hardly subtle.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 5, 2016
|
| 2/5 | No Score Yet | The Heritage of Love (Geroy) (2016) |
Soaring strings and dramatic glances tell you they are in love, but director Yuriy Vasilev never really shows it.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 1, 2016
|
| 3/5 | No Score Yet | The Search For Simon (2014) |
There's a scrappy, amateurish charm to this sci-fi comedy, a story about a man (director Martin Gooch) who's convinced that his long-lost brother has been abducted by aliens.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 1, 2016
|
| 3/5 | 89% | Bill (2016) |
A Horrible Histories film by any other name, Bill sees the cast of the popular CBBC show unite for a daft, affectionate take on the rise-to-fame years of William Shakespeare.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 31, 2016
|
| 3/5 | 82% | Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) |
Scares are still rudimentary, but rooted in a sharper script.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 19, 2016
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| 3/5 | 82% | Kate Plays Christine (2016) |
A surreal, layered look at the nature of truth.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 13, 2016
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| 3/5 | 90% | A Good American (2017) |
A sensational claim, but it lacks hard evidence or opposing perspectives.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2016
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| 3/5 | 64% | K-Shop (2016) |
It may not be the most subtle take on 'binge Britain', but first-time writer/director Dan Pringle has a gift for the gruesome.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jul 27, 2016
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| 3/5 | 43% | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) |
For the most part a surprisingly fun, bloody take on Jane Austen's classic - but it does turn stale as the final reckoning approaches.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Feb 8, 2016
|
| 3/5 | 46% | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) |
Rather than Maze Runner 2: We're Gonna Need A Bigger Maze, Scorch Trials ambitiously opens up its world with mixed results: gripping action, so-so script.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2015
|
| 3/5 | 88% | Straight Outta Compton (2015) |
It's fun for fans of west coast hip-hop but suffocates any hope of depth; what, for example, about the group's lyrical misogyny and homophobia?‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Aug 24, 2015
|
| 2/5 | 78% | Watermark (2014) |
With no narration or context, its subject matter comes across as dry, while the enviro-message is undermined by a yawn-inducing lack of urgency.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 1, 2014
|
| 4/5 | 73% | The Congress (2014) |
Featuring a career-best performance from Robin Wright and some tremendously twisted animation, The Congress is a weird and wonderful sci-fi satire that maybe shoehorns more ideas than it knows what to do with.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Aug 11, 2014
|
| 1/5 | 7% | Paranoia (2013) |
It's a premise that stands or falls on the tense fate of a charismatic lead and dialogue that does not clang right off the screen; a woeful lack of both ensures Paranoia more than falls -- it collapses.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jul 23, 2014
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| 2/5 | 0% | The Anomaly (2015) |
It's a nifty idea - especially in terms of structure - but that's about it, with Clarke's direction proving as flat as his performance.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jul 11, 2014
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| 7% | Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie (2014) |
Will leave even the most fervent of fans disappointed by its abattoir of wit.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jul 3, 2014
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|
| 4/5 | 83% | The Double (2014) |
It's the boldly uncompromising approach that makes The Double such enjoyably smart satire. ‐ SFX Magazine
Read More | Posted Apr 17, 2014
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| 3/5 | 51% | Stalingrad (2014) |
A solid enough war flick, but Spielberg doesn't have too much to worry about yet.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Feb 17, 2014
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| 4/5 | 100% | Moon Man (2013) |
Light and subtly satirical, it's a refreshing reminder that sometimes less can be more.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 23, 2013
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| 1/5 | 21% | The Christmas Candle (2013) |
A festive faith-based film with two distinct target audiences: Christians and fans of the hilariously hammy.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Dec 9, 2013
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| 2/5 | 19% | The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013) |
Obtuse characters, flimsy narrative and an over-reliance on horror clichés.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 29, 2013
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| 4/5 | 83% | Drinking Buddies (2013) |
After Smashed and The World's End, the run of drinking movies stays for one more round - a romcom that refreshes the parts others don't reach, with Olivia Wilde on stellar form.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 29, 2013
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| 3/5 | 43% | Closed Circuit (2013) |
It's a slow-burning, well-acted thriller that's only really let down in its third act: an unsatisfyingly limp denouement that fails to convey what's at stake with any sort of suspense.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Oct 24, 2013
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| 2/5 | 8% | Runner Runner (2013) |
Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck give their best poker faces but ultimately fail to convince you to gamble your cash away on this limp, unoriginal story of a man out of his depth.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 24, 2013
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| 3/5 | 50% | Jadoo (2013) |
Let down by some erratic, repetitive plotting.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Sep 2, 2013
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| 4/5 | 75% | Borrowed Time (2012) |
First time out, the writer/director looks a very exciting prospect.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Aug 12, 2013
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| 1/5 | 23% | 009 Re: Cyborg (2013) |
Ambitious, perhaps, but hardly entertaining.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Jun 3, 2013
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| 86% | Hasta la Vista (Come as You Are) (2013) |
Director Geoffrey Enthoven treats his characters as people, with a three-dimensional sense of empathy and good-natured humour. ‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted May 31, 2013
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|
| 3/5 | 85% | Snabba cash (Easy Money) (2012) |
The premise is hardly original and suffers from a story that, by its third act, feels padded out; nonetheless, this is a slick, tense and brutal portrait of a man out of his depth.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted May 14, 2013
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| 1/5 | 0% | 12 in a Box (2009) |
[An] abysmally made, catastrophically clunky attempt at comedy ...‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Mar 19, 2013
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| 2/5 | 29% | Reincarnated (2013) |
First-time director Andy Capper observes the star without judgement as he desperately tries to court Jamaican acceptance as a modern-day Marley.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Mar 15, 2013
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| 4/5 | 96% | Gangs of Wasseypur (2014) |
Give it a chance and you'll never look at Bollywood the same way again.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Feb 17, 2013
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| 3/5 | 70% | Jianyu (Reign of Assassins) (2010) |
This is fun and well-paced with fight sequences that, while not exactly screaming "Woo", still manage to dance off the screen.‐ Total Film
Read More | Posted Feb 4, 2013
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