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Alison de Souza
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) |
There is a Spidey for everyone in this visual extravaganza, a feast of characters and animation styles that will delight some fans and exhaust others. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted May 31, 2023
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The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) |
The Super Mario Bros Movie’s trite and forgettable storyline could have used a power-up or three.
- The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) |
Nowhere near as good as the first Knives Out, but a decent watch if you are hankering for a mystery and some mindless, wheel-spinning fun. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Dec 21, 2022
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Onward (2020) |
Like all Pixar animated movies, the new film Onward, seems precision-engineered to spark tears and nostalgia. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Mar 04, 2020
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Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (2020) |
As a music documentary, Miss Americana is straightforward, celebrating Swift as a ferociously gifted writer and lyricist, and reminding viewers of just how industry-dominating she is. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Feb 28, 2020
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The Cave (2019) |
Isolated from their families, they sometimes break down and director Feras Fayyad (Last Men In Aleppo, 2017) knows just how to linger on those moments. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jan 30, 2020
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The Great Hack (2019) |
All of which is sobering, and you would hope it makes viewers think twice about not insisting on better data protections and rights. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Sep 04, 2019
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Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019) |
There is plenty of crowd-pleasing stuff - bits about trying to explain racism in America to his white Danish girlfriend as well as topics he has addressed before, like the unfair burden of contraception placed on women. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jul 25, 2019
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Jo Koy: Live From Seattle (2017) |
Koy does not go quite as deep, but is no less funny, albeit in a more physical, scatological way. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jul 16, 2019
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Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (2017) |
The centrepiece for Minhaj is a truly astonishing and bittersweet tale about his prom that is alone worth the price of admission. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jul 16, 2019
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Brexit (2019) |
Brexit: The Uncivil War , feels like a postmortem performed while the patient is still alive, and is just as painful. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jan 09, 2019
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Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018) |
Some of the humour is occasionally too gentle, though - their personae's deliberately lame wordplay can get old and some songs and gags go on for a bit too long. But the whole thing makes for a nice change of pace. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Oct 04, 2018
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Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018) |
What follows is a tour de force of comedy as in-your-face truth-telling. And it moves well beyond the unwritten rules of the laugh-a-minute, observational and adolescent-inflected stand-up that has long dominated the form. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Sep 24, 2018
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Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018) |
You do not have to like her work or activism to relate to this or rejoice with her as she takes control of her own narrative. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Sep 21, 2018
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) |
No prizes for guessing who she ends up falling in love with, but as predictable as it is, the story is told with flair, both narrative and visual. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Aug 27, 2018
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The Tale (2018) |
The television movie The Tale, is a far more nuanced, troubling and thought-provoking look at personal trauma. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Aug 09, 2018
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Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife (2018) |
But Wong's signature delivery - irascible, arms akimbo and with that comical snarl - redeems those bits, as does her frank admission that parenthood is not somehow magically transformative... - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted May 22, 2018
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Paterno (2018) |
Where this movie may really lose you, though, is when it asks you to care about what and when Paterno knew of the abuse, or even to feel sorry for him. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Apr 09, 2018
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The 15:17 to Paris (2018) |
Eastwood masterfully re-creates the blood-curdling fear and panic on the train, contrasting that with the men's astonishing courage as the rest of the passengers do what most people would: Freeze and cower. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Feb 08, 2018
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Ferdinand (2017) |
The visual and verbal humour is cartoonish rather than clever and it recycles gags seen in far too many animated films, such as animals in a high-speed car chase. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Dec 20, 2017
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Spielberg (2017) |
It is a surprisingly profound portrait of an artist, and all the more affecting for the connections made to the emotion and humanism of his work. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Oct 04, 2017
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Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017) |
Fans of the man, who arguably invented post-modern observational comedy "about nothing" (and yet about everything), will be delighted by the set-up. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Oct 04, 2017
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Tour De Pharmacy (2017) |
None of it is especially effective as satire, either - apart from a throwaway reference to how boring some of the race can be. But Tour De Pharmacy is good for a giggle or three. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jul 18, 2017
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Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016) |
The film may not be revelatory as an expose of two Hollywood icons, but as a celebration of love and resilience as captured in the smallest moments of their lives, it is remarkable. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Jan 11, 2017
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Before the Flood (2016) |
Fatally, the film cannot make up its mind who its target audience is. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Nov 02, 2016
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Nightingale (2014) |
As much as the claustrophobia of watching him alone spinning his wheels reinforces the idea of a man trapped, the story soon runs out of momentum. - The Straits Times (Singapore)
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| Posted Sep 26, 2016
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