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Andrew Wright
Tomatometer-approved critic
http://www.thestranger.com
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Sea to Shining Sea (2017) |
Capitalizing mightily on the chemistry between two old friends, it finds an engagingly wobbly back and forth rhythm early on, and then just keeps on trucking. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 04, 2020
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Overlord (2018) |
Overlord's combination of heavy artillery and horrid creatures should prove to be pretty irresistible. When it comes to B-Movies, nasty, brutish, and short all count as positive traits. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 15, 2018
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Never Goin' Back (2018) |
The smartly dumb Never Goin' Back is a blissfully low-rent comedy that occasionally approaches the rarified, hazy air of the sainted first half of Cheech and Chong's Next Movie. Absolutely no lessons are learned, thankfully. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Sep 07, 2018
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Summer of 84 (2018) |
Summer of '84 proves to be a worthy addition to the movement, with both a knack for the old familiar steps, and the ability to hit some brand new creepy beats. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Aug 17, 2018
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The Equalizer 2 (2018) |
The Equalizer 2 tries hard to re-create that primal red-meat formula, but it takes far too long puttering around to really deliver the exploitation goods. Just get to the equalizing already! - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jul 18, 2018
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Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) |
This astonishing neo-western begins with a sequence that will bring jaded grindhouse patrons to their feet, and then Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts blazes its own trail from there, incorporating some potent feminist themes along the way. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jun 05, 2018
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Nervous Translation (2017) |
Not for all metabolisms, certainly-the narrative could maybe use just a bit more drama, manufactured or otherwise-but the mood it creates and sustains is impressive. Capturing kidhood without being cloying is no easy feat. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted May 24, 2018
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Avengers: Infinity War (2018) |
By the time Infinity War draws to its enigmatic whopper of a close, even viewers feeling burned out by the guys-in-long-underwear genre will find themselves eager for the sequel. Is it next summer yet? - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Apr 26, 2018
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24 Frames (2017) |
Consider it a last playful gift from a master director, who always trusted his audience enough to let them fill in the blanks. Blinking is discouraged. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Apr 20, 2018
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Rogers Park (2017) |
Rogers Park successfully captures a compelling slice of life where there are no clear-cut heroes or villains, just normal everyday folks with some recognizably unlovely facets to their personalities. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Apr 13, 2018
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Back to Burgundy (2017) |
While the end results won't surprise anyone who has seen more than a handful of movies, this sense of timelines happening simultaneously gives an unusual, lingering resonance to the film. If it wins awards, you most likely won't mind. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Mar 26, 2018
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They Remain (2017) |
They Remain, the first filmed take on [Laird Barron's] work, manages to replicate a gratifying amount of that distinctive vibe, infusing the story with large doses of free-form agoraphobic anxiety. It lingers. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Mar 26, 2018
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A Brighter Summer Day (1991) |
A film that somehow manages to exist simultaneously as a painstakingly detailed coming-of-age story, a paean to the eternal awesomeness of rock and roll, and an entrancing tone poem. If this isn't a masterpiece, then what is? - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Mar 15, 2018
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Half Magic (2018) |
Half Magic's final destination may ultimately feel a bit predictable, but the generosity displayed on both sides of the camera throughout makes it easy to look forward to whatever [Heather] Graham does next. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Feb 23, 2018
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Have a Nice Day (2017) |
Ultimately, what Have a Nice Day delivers is the compulsive hook of good crime fiction, with the array of flashbacks and wrong moves setting up a Venal Mobius Strip of bad choices and worse consequences. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Feb 16, 2018
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Hostiles (2017) |
Capable as the entire cast is, however, their collective efforts ultimately sputter out against Hostiles' overwhelming, near-airless aura of Importance. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jan 08, 2018
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Pow Wow (2016) |
Hypnotic viewing, with an eerily majestic use of drone shots. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 27, 2017
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By the Time It Gets Dark (2016) |
Anocha Suwichakornpong's WTF tone poem of a film casts a bewitching spell, even/especially as it periodically reinvents itself. Intriguing and severely beautiful throughout, even during those moments when it seems like logic has taken a flyer. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 27, 2017
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) |
If the previous entry presented a respectably staid melding of old and new, this one wires everything up, cranks the juice, and lets her rip. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 14, 2017
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) |
The Last Jedi delivers the all-too-rare thrill of a huge popcorn movie that respects the intelligence of its audience, while also serving up plenty of moments designed to make them lose their damn minds. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Dec 13, 2017
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The Chinese Girl (1967) |
It's still easy to be wowed by La Chinoise's mastery of ideological back-and-forth as well as the pinwheeling sense of invention that constantly threatens to burst the constrants of the frame - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 01, 2017
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Blade of the Immortal (2017) |
Blade of the Immortal's best element proves to be its main character, whose deadpan, long-suffering demeanor gives the film its final touch of welcome absurdity. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 01, 2017
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The Price (2017) |
Smart, well-paced, and a compelling character study, particularly when everything starts to crumble. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Dec 01, 2017
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Escapes (2016) |
Taken as a whole, this winningly off-kilter film tells the tale of an undeniable Character, who not only lives but occasionally thrives in an uniquely toxic environment. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 27, 2017
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What Lies Upstream (2017) |
Director Cullen Hoback may follow the standard Michael Moore playbook a little too closely-remember when documentary filmmakers mainly stayed behind the camera?-but the levels of malfeasance that he uncovers are genuinely impressive. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 20, 2017
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Wonderstruck (2017) |
Wonderstruck's finale finds [Todd] Haynes in top form, depicting loss, memories, and hope in a way I don't think I've ever seen before. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 01, 2017
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Breathe (2017) |
While this story is definitely one worth telling, what really lingers are the times when the tearful speeches fade out, and a looser, woolier film peeks through. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 23, 2017
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Human Flow (2017) |
While the constant stream of jaw-dropping imagery can sometimes feel like a case of Too Much Information, the sheer macro power of the visuals packs a wallop. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 19, 2017
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Walking Out (2017) |
... boasts moments of eerie loveliness, a pair of solid central performances, and enough confidence in the primitive engine of its story to know when to leave things unsaid. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 13, 2017
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Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017) |
Even for non-bibliophiles, [Frederick] Wiseman's latest is an absorbing, ultimately optimistic work. Long may he continue to poke around. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 11, 2017
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The Ghoul (2016) |
The British import The Ghoul is a clever, deceptively chilly example of narrative unreliability, presenting an increasingly askew perspective in a way that's somehow both off-putting and absorbing. It lingers. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Aug 18, 2017
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Wind River (2017) |
Provides all the virtues of a good, grim story well told, while also trusting the audience to fill in the intentional emotional blanks. In Sheridan's growing body of work, nobody gets off easy. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Aug 10, 2017
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The Dark Tower (2017) |
Yes, it's unlikely a 95-minute movie could ever capture the gargantuan scope of the source material. But, jeez, couldn't it at least try? - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Aug 03, 2017
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13 Minutes (2014) |
Although its depiction of courage under titanic pressure is both harrowing and heroic, it never really pinpoints the central character's defining moment. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Aug 02, 2017
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Soul on a String (2016) |
Zhang Yang's follow-up to last year's amazing SIFF entry Paths of the Soul is a thoroughly gorgeous, intriguingly metaphysical take on the western. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jul 26, 2017
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Last Men in Aleppo (2017) |
Provides an unforgettable look at people forced into their best, defined by constant moments of terrible clarity. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jun 15, 2017
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The Void (2016) |
While it handles the close-up grody tentacled stuff with aplomb, its best trick is in creating and sustaining the mounting feeling that something Great and Cosmically Terrible is lurking just outside the frame. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Apr 06, 2017
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Rings (2017) |
Even if there are few surprises for fans of the series, the first half of Rings does locate enough of that uneasy nexus between technology and the supernatural to warrant a matinee. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Feb 03, 2017
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Emily (2017) |
Without showy declarations of intent or roof-raising histrionics, it captures how people can be perfect together, until they aren't. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Feb 02, 2017
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Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015) |
Serves as a fascinating primer on one of the movies' undisputable Icons, as well as taking care of a viewer's to-watch list for months. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Jan 06, 2017
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Elle (2016) |
A breathtakingly twisted piece of work ... that bridges some markedly taboo fault lines concerning power and sexuality. And somehow the damned thing is also funny, usually at the least opportune moments. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Dec 21, 2016
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Ixcanul (2015) |
Bustamante never lets the story mechanics overwhelm the basic minute-to-minute reality of his subjects, resulting in a film that's earthy and unsentimental and riveting throughout. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 16, 2016
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The Alchemist Cookbook (2016) |
Potrykus's film beats the recent Blair Witch revamp in making the woods a place where a Terrible Thing could be lurking behind every twig, especially-and most impressively-during the daylight. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Nov 05, 2016
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Tower (2016) |
The film's combination of archival footage and Waking Life-ish rotoscoped animation ... may actually be the best way to capture the horrid unreality of the situation. You are there. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 27, 2016
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Demon (2015) |
Ultimately, what lingers most strongly in Wrona's impressive film is less the actual aberration, and more the examination of how people as a group react to it being in their midst. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Oct 26, 2016
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The Greasy Strangler (2016) |
To steal a line from Mystery Science Theater 3000, every frame looks like someone's Last Known Photo. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2016
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American Honey (2016) |
While the film's essential shagginess may be an understandable turn-off to some, the way that Arnold captures these dead-end kids without a hint of a Larry Clark leer is strangely lovely and absorbing to behold. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Oct 07, 2016
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Klown Forever (2015) |
The gags that land are still breathtakingly awkward and irredeemably foul. But, you know, in a good way. - The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
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| Posted Sep 01, 2016
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Morgan (2016) |
If you're a sucker for movies where scientists tamper in God's domain, this should give you plenty to chew on. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Sep 01, 2016
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Don't Breathe (2016) |
[Stephen Lang] delivers a Pantheon boogeyman here, conveying with every thought and gesture that this is absolutely not a man with whom to screw. This movie should be played loud. - Portland Mercury
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| Posted Aug 25, 2016
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