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Adam Lippe
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Merry Gentleman (2009) |
It is a slow film, which could work, if it eventually became intriguing, but all we get is a showcase for annoying people who would have nothing in their lives, if they weren't already in a movie. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jan 31, 2013
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Ultraviolet (2006) |
The repetition of the action scenes play like an avant-garde joke about the indistinguishable nature of Hollywood fight scenes. Think Warhol's soup cans, only with actors posing with swords. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Dec 31, 2012
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Escape 2000 (1983) |
Castellari is a very accomplished action director. There are several hundred people killed in Escape from the Bronx, but it's never boring, as there's a lot of variety in the way people die and the camerawork is excellent for such low-budget film. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Nov 12, 2012
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The Lift (1983) |
Maas gives us a whole bunch of family strife and then doesn't resolve it. The elevator is far more important to him so when that business is done, so is the movie. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Oct 04, 2012
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The Master (2012) |
There seems to be a large gap in the third act of either material deleted to shorten the film or Anderson simply never worked it out. But don't get me wrong, I'd certainly be interested in seeing The Master 2: Ghost Protocol or Look Who's Master Now. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Sep 20, 2012
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Montenegro (1981) |
The first half of Montenegro seems to be a parody of Ingmar Bergman films, where characters wallow instead of doing anything about their problems. It's no accident that director Dusan Makajevev cast Bergman-regular Erland Josephson as the miserly husband. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Sep 08, 2012
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Swimming to Cambodia (1987) |
Gray is never too far from reminding you of your own self-indulgence, and that he also knows how he sounds. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 29, 2012
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(undefined) |
Tavernier slips in subtle touches that seem meaningless and would normally have a big circle around it and an arrow pointing at it and saying "look at me, I'm important," but instead reinforce the droning, impersonal nature of this particular society. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 27, 2012
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Death Watch (1980) |
Tavernier slips in subtle touches that seem meaningless and would normally have a big circle around it and an arrow pointing at it and saying "look at me, I'm important," but instead reinforce the droning, impersonal nature of this particular society. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 27, 2012
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The Music of Chance (1993) |
Haas' literal-minded adaptation, something he also did effectively with the more visually opulent Angels and Insects, is helpful in directly laying out our own moral debate, where our sense of social obligation bumps up against our moralistic outrage. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 27, 2012
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Dream Lover (1994) |
Eschewing his standard performance of smugness and distance, using intense, blank stares, Spader actually emotes with his lips too, suggesting that there's more going on than just a slimy scoundrel who we should pity because his livelihood is threatened. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jul 15, 2012
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Rad (1986) |
Rad fits so snugly into Needham's oeuvre that it's unclear whether the movie is an excuse for the 8 minute BMX montage that opens Rad or he's just lazy about setting up the slobs vs. snobs beats in his 30 year-old-teenagers in high school magnum opus. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 25, 2012
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City of Hope (1991) |
Sayles' strategy is unique and sneaky without being self-serving... An epic-scale examination of how the bad guy never knows he's the bad guy. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 21, 2012
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Lookin' to Get Out (1982) |
Ashby's instincts are so off throughout Lookin' To Get Out that he only accentuates his major weaknesses as a filmmaker - plot twists, slapstick, chase sequences and lots of screaming that eschews any character development or scenes of insight. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 13, 2012
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Comfort and Joy (1984) |
Like most Forsyth films, Comfort and Joy is warm and gentle without being cloying or maudlin. And it somehow avoids off-putting levels of cynicism. Like its main character, Alan, it's just the right amount of not important. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 27, 2012
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Virus (1999) |
The conclusion is so rushed it almost functions as parody. But the biggest impression the movie leaves is that William "Kangaroo Head" Baldwin makes lots of unintentionally goofy faces. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 25, 2012
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This World, Then the Fireworks (1997) |
Sheryl Lee, as the cop who Billy Zane is scamming and sleeping with gives such a terrible performance that is simultaneously absolutely perfect. She's the most accurate representative of the movie as a whole. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 16, 2012
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Parade (2009) |
Director Isao Yukisada does avoid clichs as best as he can, including a fascinating bit where it appears that the roommates are happier to accept Satoru, the male hustler, if he's gay, and that being straight would threaten his image. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 14, 2012
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Trespass (2011) |
It's so routine that it's as if Joel Schumacher showed his final cut to producer Avi Lerner and said, "Avi, look, I put together a thing!" "You mean you finished the movie?" "No, it's not a movie, it's a thing. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 06, 2012
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) |
"The prophecy says the ritual will take place ..." tells you that this movie was entirely dictated by location. The ritual could take place in the middle of Times Square and it would still end up looking like it was shot in an anonymous Romanian nightclub. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 06, 2012
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Justice (2011) |
The movie opens with an embarrassingly obvious scene of exposition and ends in an abandoned mall with a laborious explanation by a talking killer and further villainous actions cleared up by a trusting local detective who can sweep things under the rug. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Apr 06, 2012
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A Man in Love (1987) |
The title may refer to Coyote's obsession with his own wonders, but it's clear that in her way, Kurys has really made it about her love for the artificiality of cinema. But mostly her love of mediocrity. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Mar 13, 2012
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Burn! (1969) |
If there's a better filmic explanation for how people can justify exploitation and colonialism, I don't know what it is. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Mar 05, 2012
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Paperhouse (1988) |
The scenes of Anna running around mountains in a moment of escape or toward an enormous lighthouse don't have the feel of something whitewashed like The Sound of Music but rather the dark undercurrent of the delusions of the girls in Heavenly Creatures. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Feb 28, 2012
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Manhattan (1979) |
Manhattan is Allen's most fully realized film, especially in the way perspectives are developed. It's the rare movie that can be watched from a number of different points-of-view, without feeling cheated. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Feb 13, 2012
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Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) |
Goodbar features flash forwards and flashbacks, hallucinations so hammy they would fit right into a Naked Gun movie and religious and sexual subtext so heavy-handed you'd think if a studio couldn't get Oliver Stone, Brooks would be next on the speed dial. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Feb 11, 2012
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The Reflecting Skin (1990) |
When you name a character Dolphin Blue, saddle her with a dead husband she didn't know, which causes her to lose her mind, and suggest that she might be a 200 year-old vampire, you should probably suggest that she's more of a representational figure. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Dec 27, 2011
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A Bittersweet Life (2005) |
It's all artifice. No matter how good the acting, how stylish the visuals, or efficient the screenplay, A Bittersweet Life never convinces us that it's not a movie. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Dec 17, 2011
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(undefined) |
Rodriguez said that he cast Arquette for the "good sleaze factor." Arquette's constant sneer throughout the film proves that Rodriguez was absolutely right. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Nov 22, 2011
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Roadracers (1994) |
Rodriguez said that he cast Arquette for the "good sleaze factor." Arquette's constant sneer throughout the film proves that Rodriguez was absolutely right. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Nov 22, 2011
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The Brain (1988) |
In the history of fantastic bad ideas, none may seem as foolhardy as the fact that director Ed Hunt originally intended for the titular character, an alien from outer space encased in gelatinous goo who uses TV to brainwash humans, the ability to speak. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Nov 06, 2011
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Tatie Danielle (1990) |
Tatie Danielle is like a treatise on how to defang passive aggression, which would clearly benefit us all. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Nov 04, 2011
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Surf II (1984) |
Surf II makes the surfers look like condescending elitists (the slobs are actually the snobs), opportunistic heels who will cheat on their loyal girlfriends whenever possible. On the other hand, the zombified punks come off as goofy but harmless dopes. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Oct 28, 2011
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Farewell, My Lovely (1975) |
Like the noir bible says, the only time Marlowe gets actual rest is when he's knocked out by some unseen party, always waking up surrounded by a corpse or two. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Oct 09, 2011
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Backtrack (1989) |
Foster's scenes where she is utterly surprised by Hopper's lack of knowledge of the world, are so inviting without being condescending, eerily reminiscent of how she responded to De Niro in Taxi Driver. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Sep 30, 2011
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Megaforce (1981) |
One can only speculate where the money went (up their nose?) because it certainly isn't in the shoddy miniatures, or the fantastically abysmal blue-screen work. Maybe all the money went to a wrangler for Barry Bostwick's headband? - Examiner.com
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| Posted Sep 24, 2011
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F for Fake (1973) |
Welles' assurance that you will be enthralled by his every word and oversized gesture is so arrogant, so refreshingly contemptuous, that you'd give him a round of applause, if you weren't sure he was doing that for himself every time he called, "cut." - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 20, 2011
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The Circus (1928) |
It is the political subtext and discussion of capitalism vs. communism that is the saving grace of The Circus, since the surface material, comprised of frantic slapstick mixed with maudlin and melodrama, is very standard for Chaplin. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 17, 2011
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Camille (1936) |
Garbo seems to be dying of an unspecified movie disease where star power is more apparent than actual illness. Issues of plausibility do not, however, get in the way of the snappy dialogue, which is a big surprise for such a standard melodrama. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 17, 2011
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La Grande Bouffe (1973) |
There's a disconnect since the four main characters aren't likable people and they don't act reasonably towards themselves or anyone else, but we aren't give any real POV. They aren't comic slobs to laugh at nor do they have any aristocratic dignity. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Aug 15, 2011
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Gravehopping (2005) |
Cvitkovic has a sneaky approach... The actors have such a unique look, often with sad, oval-shaped faces, which might suggest a slowness or simplicity, exacerbated by what appears to be a mostly farm and fishing culture. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2011
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Vigil (1984) |
Alun Bollinger's absolutely stunning photography brings all this grimness to life in a unique way; never before have I been so aware of the effectiveness of a 16mm blow-up to 35mm. The earthiness of the grain is so essential to what works in Vigil. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jul 30, 2011
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In a Glass Cage (1987) |
It's actually worse that Villaronga is such a terrific filmmaker, as he's able to hold our throats that much tighter, not allowing us to even sip from our inner iron lungs. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jul 01, 2011
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The Big Fix (1978) |
The wonderful irony is that Dreyfuss is able to blackmail all his former revolutionary friends by threatening to tell everyone all the good things they were a part of. No one needs to know that they might actually be decent, upstanding people. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 30, 2011
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Bullet in the Head (1990) |
Eschewing the glamorous contract killers of Woo's previous films, Bullet has its carefree and idealistic characters repeatedly in untenable situations, bound to corrupt them. Shooting their way out is a temporary solution which only digs them in deeper. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 17, 2011
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Submarine (2010) |
Refreshingly, it appears that Oliver and Jordana are one of the few couples in a high school movie who have sex too soon in their relationship, but don't totally regret it later, as if it all has to fit in some sort of relationship utopia. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 16, 2011
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Super 8 (2011) |
The kids have no effect on the story, not the military's interference in the accident clean up, not the finale, etc. Even the Super 8 reel doesn't change their behavior, so it's almost as if the entire movie is a MacGuffin. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 10, 2011
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Lisztomania (1975) |
There's no reason to suggest that Russell was just earning a paycheck on Lisztomania; clearly his full attention was on the giant penis, or the giant penis marble columns, or the giant heavenly penis pedestal. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 04, 2011
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The Tree of Life (2011) |
Scenes build up seemingly without meaning, until it becomes clear who Jack's father has become, and you find yourself sympathizing with both sides. It's oddly profound for a movie that is so nakedly sloppy and self-important. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 03, 2011
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X-Men: First Class (2011) |
The last 1/2 hour of First Class, after 100 minutes of hyperventilating cross-cutting and "meanwhile back at..." scenes, is where the film excels. - Examiner.com
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| Posted Jun 03, 2011
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