Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Sight & Sound
Little White Lies
The Skinny
CineVue
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Utama (2022) |
Letting go can often be the hardest thing to do and although Utama allows itself the odd flourish of magical realism, it is in the underlying truth of these experiences that the film hits home the hardest. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Nov 29, 2022
|
|
|
|
Black Bear (2020) |
The whole doesn't quite equal the sum of its still highly enjoyable parts. - Little White Lies
Read More
| Posted Apr 22, 2021
|
|
|
|
The Cat Returns (2002) |
Miya-san may have said "sayounara" but the films made during his time will continue to inspire and delight. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Dec 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Spring in a Small Town (1948) |
Mu truly has crafted one of Chinese cinema's quietly devastating landmarks... - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Oct 30, 2020
|
|
|
|
Here for Life (2019) |
Zimmerman and Jackson's film challenges us to become 'spectactors' and engage with and interrogate the stories we're told about those people on the periphery of society. - Sight & Sound
Read More
| Posted Dec 27, 2019
|
|
|
|
Aquarela (2018) |
In this vision, water feels like a very old god: a pagan one that is volatile, wrathful, impassive to the perils of man and yet majestic and serene. - Sight & Sound
Read More
| Posted Dec 11, 2019
|
|
|
|
Stones Have Laws (2018) |
Through collective authoring and by blending the telling of traditional stories into more typically observational ethnographic documentary practices, Stones Have Laws feels like a genuine attempt to honour the Maroon way of passing knowledge. - Sight & Sound
Read More
| Posted Aug 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Monsoon (2019) |
Monsoon feels like a precisely considered expression of the untethered experience of migration. - Sight & Sound
Read More
| Posted Jul 20, 2019
|
|
|
|
Diamantino (2018) |
Form, tone, narrative and gender all slide around the backseat as Abrantes and Schmidt career down various winding roads; the result is an absolutely joyous ride brimming with charm and humanity. - The Skinny
Read More
| Posted Jul 12, 2019
|
|
|
|
Multiple Maniacs (1970) |
More than forty-five years after it made its bow on Baltimore's underground scene, this cult classic's trashy profanity retains its spark. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Jun 07, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Propaganda Game (2015) |
This is a snapshot accompanied by counter-claims that lacks any real digging into either. It all means that The Propaganda Game feels strangely inconsequential. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Benefactor (2015) |
At the heart of Andrew Renzi's directorial debut The Benefactor is a kernel of an intriguing character study... Surrounding it is a tangled mass of loose narrative threads, none of which offer any real satisfaction. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
The American Dreamer (1971) |
The American Dreamer may fail as a definitive portrait of icon or movement, but works as a Polaroid snapshot of a fascinating man in a very specific place and time. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Dark Places (2015) |
The possibility of fast-tracking another of Gillian Flynn's intricately plotted thrillers from page to screen must have seemed like a fantastic idea... To call the final product a botch job would be a considerable kindness; it's just plain awful. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Partisan (2015) |
It is an assured and brave debut feature for director and co-writer Ariel Kleiman, who repeatedly resists giving easy answers, or many answers at all, in favour of cultivating a beguiling if ultimately unsatisfying mystery. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Joy (2015) |
It's a banana flambé with extra rum that brazenly throws together folksy storytelling, arch soap opera melodrama and a typically eccentric cast into a golden Hollywood crack at the American Dream. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals (2015) |
The Show of Shows draws important attention to the failings of circuses and their ilk when judged with modern sensibilities, but equally underlines the beautiful joy of being allowed to marvel. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Carol (2015) |
The understanding reached thanks to Haynes and screenwriter Phyllis Nagy is of the exquisite and emotionally devastating variety. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Hallow (2015) |
Though the jeopardy is built to a palpable level, it dissipates as quickly as the action escalates. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Kill Your Friends (2015) |
A rancid cocktail of misogyny, homophobia, and much more besides, that never convinces as scathing satire as much as back-slapping celebration. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Jafar Panahi's Taxi (2015) |
Panahi doesn't need permission to make intelligent, thought-provoking and enormously entertaining new works -- in between fares, of course. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Censored Voices (2015) |
Too often Censored Voices suffers from its subjects modern day silence, regardless of the reasons behind it. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) |
The budget and the actors may have changed, but this is clearly the evolution of the filmmaker's crazed vision, arguably reaching the petrol-soaked Valhalla that he's been striving for since the modest thrills of 1979's Mad Max. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Martian (2015) |
The Martian is ultimately a love letter to the spirit that saw humanity reach for the stars in the first place. When it's channelling that spirit via Damon and witty writing it lifts off, but then can't quite sustain its trajectory. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2019
|
|
|
|
Orion (2015) |
While the technique is fairly conventional, Finlay manages to evoke the mania of celebrity and its stranglehold on Jimmy. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
Buttercup Bill (2014) |
It's a tantalizing piece of slow-burn Southern Gothic that threatens to never get going, but even in its listless moments never relinquished a pervading sense of threat. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
Manglehorn (2014) |
While it is far from perfect, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn rights the ship, somewhat -- not least in the form of Pacino's own understated and fragile lead performance as a lonely and melancholic locksmith. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Confessions of Thomas Quick (2015) |
Adopting a glossy aesthetic that treads an appropriate line somewhere between fantasy and reality, this is a creepy and compelling account that never quite follows through on its threats. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
Tyke Elephant Outlaw (2015) |
Tyke Elephant Outlaw never quite manages to expand its horizons... Still, it remains impossible not to be moved by Tyke's fate, however mechanical its presentation. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
52 Tuesdays (2013) |
This is precisely the kind of filmmaking that should be encouraged and while 52 Tuesdays is not entirely successful, it is compelling and exciting debut on several counts. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Eden (2014) |
[Although] de Givry's performance is quietly moving, one may have just hoped that Eden would get under its subject's skin a little bit more. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
13 Minutes (2014) |
The problem with Oliver Hirschbiegel's 13 Minutes is ultimately the weight of history... It hamstrings the drama. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson (2015) |
This is a moving portrait of a remarkable man, which is at its most effective when it just lets him speak. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Comet (2014) |
It's an ambitious debut from Sam Esmail, but its exploration of a flawed relationship buckles beneath the weight of its own wry self-awareness. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Pavang rak (Concrete Clouds) (2014) |
While Concrete Clouds is an interesting attempt to explore the economic collapse and bring attention to past mistakes -- both personal and social -- it is a desultory experience that is difficult to pin down. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Listen Up Philip (2014) |
With pitch perfect performances, and a script that seems to never miss a beat, it is a scabrous satire of writerly narcissism in a vintage 16mm world dominated by dislikable characters who are never less than compelling. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Second Coming (2014) |
An underlying tension persists, but Second Coming has much more to offer from quiet drama to moments of grace, not least in the stunning quality of light and engrossing performances. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Dead Lands (2014) |
The bruises and path may be familiar, but The Dead Lands does enough to seem fresh and grips throughout. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Spring (2014) |
Taylor Pucci and Hilker do a commendable job of selling these two souls, adrift in very different seas. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
A Fuller Life (2013) |
Whilst the surrounding film is a little rough-and-ready, the core dialogue between auteur and audience encapsulates the kind of penetration and energy inherent to [Samuel Fuller's] oeuvre. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Still (2015) |
While the intimate portrayal of Tom's grief seeks to explore the contradictions of his psychology, the social commentary feels disproportionately simplistic. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Born of War (2013) |
Conceptually, Born of War sounds like a winner, but in reality more resembles the ravaged ruins of its war-torn setting. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Samba (2014) |
That Sy and Gainsbourg's love story never quite inflames the heart ultimately means that Samba remains a pleasant, rather than an enduring watch. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
Elsa & Fred (2014) |
It stars Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer as a pair of neighbouring oldies, struggling to breathe life into a staid scenario with rote characters, but the duo's undeniable quality manages to warm things up. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 05, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Invisible Life (2013) |
It's all fustian, amounting to little more than its muted brown hues, some strikingly elegant compositions and vague discussions of things too remote for them to ever drift into clear focus. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
Turist (2014) |
Force Majeure is a gripping and deftly observed drama that adds caustic condemnation through its embracing of humour. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
John Wick (2014) |
John Wick is a lean, mean revenger to go with its ice-cold protagonist. It's not perfect, but you'll be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable action movie this year. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
I Used to Live Here (2014) |
Despite utilising willing but mostly non-professional actors from Tallaght in West Dublin, writer/director Frank Berry has managed to shape a subtle and moving drama about the ripple effect of a young man's suicide on his peers. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Signal (2014) |
There are some truly memorable images... But a leaden narrative labyrinth leads its screenplay down one too many dead end paths. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
Altman (2014) |
All is covered with Altman's own winning sense of humour and perspective which is what transforms what might otherwise have been a banal biographic doc into something a little more compelling. - CineVue
Read More
| Posted Apr 04, 2019
|