Ben Sachs
Ben Sachs's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Chicago Reader
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Moi, un Noir (1958) |
With this innovative working method, Rouch raises a question implicit in all nonfiction filmmaking: Who’s the genuine auteur, the director or the subjects? And yet the results don’t feel at all cerebral. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Sep 13, 2022
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Out of the Blue (1980) |
A haunting portrait of juvenile delinquency that ranks among the most powerful in American cinema. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Nov 07, 2021
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Blue Collar (1978) |
The movie is affecting as a social portrait as well as a psychological drama. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Aug 21, 2021
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The Flying Ace (1926) |
This is pleasant on its own terms, with an amiable vibe and several moments of clever comic invention. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Jan 15, 2021
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Handsworth Songs (1986) |
The mosaic-like structure... successfully conveys the unorganized resistance of minority groups against the overwhelming bigotry of the time. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Jun 05, 2020
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Essential Killing (2010) |
It's great screen acting, as [Vincent] Gallo expressively uses his body to make it part of the film's overall design. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted May 05, 2020
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Seven Days in Utopia (2011) |
If the combination of Christian bromides and golf tips strikes you as a recipe for boredom, stay away. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted May 01, 2020
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(undefined) |
Satellite feel less like a feature than an extended short film... Still, the movie conveys a distinctive sensibility, making one wonder what this directorial duo will come up with next. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 21, 2020
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Journey's End (2017) |
Director Saul Dibb doesn't quite succeed in making the drama feel fresh, but this is a sensitive and handsomely performed adaptation. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 20, 2020
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(undefined) |
Generates good cheer through sympathetic characterizations and relatable workaday detail. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 17, 2020
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No Date, No Signature (2017) |
This Iranian drama is ultimately sunk by a flat visual style and an overly contrived plot. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 17, 2020
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Pendular (2017) |
Murat's inventive visual compositions keep this watchable, as do the explicit sex scenes, which build upon the characterization in addition to generating erotic fascination. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 17, 2020
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Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017) |
The results are one of a kind and certainly not for everyone, but if you can get on its wavelength, you'll find much to appreciate. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 17, 2020
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The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2017) |
This is ideal viewing for young children, though animation fans of all ages should find much to admire. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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Summer in the Forest (2017) |
Well-intentioned but cloying. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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Directions (2017) |
No one actor appears onscreen for very long, but each performs with such intensity that the movie feels like one long, continuous scream. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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Buster's Mal Heart (2016) |
This peculiar indie drama scores points for originality and impressive performances, though it's elusive in its design and feels unsatisfying on the whole. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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The Upside (2017) |
Director Neil Burger, for his part, moves the story along fairly briskly, refusing to let the film's schmaltziness weigh it down. This is nothing remarkable, but it could have been a lot worse. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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The Day After (2017) |
A prodigious director of actors, [Hong Sang-soo] maintains a sense of spontaneity that renders the characters' behavior natural and relatable. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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The Guilty (2018) |
This Danish potboiler is organized around a few nimbly executed plot twists, and like many similarly designed thrillers, it leaves the audience with little to think about once all the surprises have been revealed. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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Pop Aye (2017) |
The film's good cheer goes a long way. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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Casting (2017) |
The auditions are presented in thorough, painstaking detail, with lots of inside-baseball talk about the nature of acting; if you're into that sort of thing, I recommend Chantal Akerman's Les Années 80 (1983). - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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Dede (2017) |
Director Mariam Khatchvani, who demonstrates a sure hand with actors and a taste for natural beauty. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 13, 2020
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The Best Thing! (2017) |
The amateurish acting can be distracting. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 10, 2020
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(undefined) |
The stage origins show in all the worst ways... Still, the movie is fitfully insightful in depicting relationships between parents and children. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 10, 2020
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Tom of Finland (2017) |
Director Dome Karukoski brings an oddly tasteful approach... But once Laaksonen achieves success and finds domestic happiness with a ballet dancer, the filmmakers don't have much to say about their subject. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 10, 2020
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The Circle (2017) |
Director James Ponsoldt (who adapted the book with Eggers) barely develops any character besides Watson's, piling on narrative complications instead. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 09, 2020
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Liyana (2017) |
Like Abbas Kiarostami's documentary ABC Africa (2001), the result is an unexpectedly joyous film about heavy subjects. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 09, 2020
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Zahradnictví: Nápadník (2017) |
As usual [director Jan Hřebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovský] are sly and knowing in their dramatization of a generation's views of love and sex. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 09, 2020
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Keep Talking (2017) |
The emotional heart of the movie, though, lies in interviews with an adolescent Native American girl who finds empowerment in discovering the language and traditions of her ancestors. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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Everything, Everything (2017) |
Tepid melodrama. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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Weather House (2017) |
Directors Frauke Havemann and Eric Schefter create a visual style befitting Mark Johnson's minimalist script... The atmosphere feels grave even when the onscreen behavior looks silly, which is much of the time. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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(undefined) |
As the sites accumulate, one becomes overwhelmed by how much of U.S. history is rooted in violence-this is ultimately more complex than it lets on. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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The Blood Is at the Doorstep (2017) |
[Director Erik] Ljung explores [Dontre Hamilton's] case history in moving detail. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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How They Got Over (2021) |
[A] lively, no-frills documentary. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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The Summit (2017) |
The rhetoric is less compelling and the characters are less interesting. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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Don't Come Back From the Moon (2017) |
The results feel like a cross between a bad student film and an overlong Levi's commercial. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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(undefined) |
The second film of director Jan Hřebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovský's Garden Store trilogy (2017) is, to my mind, the best thing they've done in years. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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Blueprint (2017) |
It never overreaches... because director Daryl Wein (Lola Versus) and cowriter-star Jerod Haynes ground their social concerns in a precise character study. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 08, 2020
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Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait (2017) |
A work of pure hype that feels like watching an overeager puppy lick the face of its owner. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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The Charmer (2017) |
Alami's directorial style is line with the subtle yet suspenseful realism reminiscent of such contemporary Iranian filmmakers as Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman) and Majid Barzegar (Parviz, A Very Ordinary Citizen). - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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Cielo (2017) |
Even at just 78 minutes, it feels somewhat redundant and overlong. Still there are plenty of beautiful passages. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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A Ciambra (2017) |
This is a vibrant if familiar art-house drama, with rough-and-tumble camerawork, highly physical performances, and fly-on-the-wall observations that recall the films of Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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Maria by Callas: In Her Own Words (2017) |
The relative absence of gossip is refreshing in light of so many salacious documentaries about celebrities. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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Let the Corpses Tan (2017) |
A clever stylistic exercise, this French-Belgian coproduction will definitely hold your interest as it unfolds, but whether you'll remember it afterwards is another story. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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Good Luck (2017) |
The film feels less like a documentary than like a work of abstract expressionism, yet much beauty can be found in [director Ben] Russell's approach. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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The Red Soul (2017) |
[Director Jessica] Gorter suggests that Putin's strong grip on the public mind has a lot to do with Stalin's surge in popularity in the 21st century, though she makes this point with commendable subtlety. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 06, 2020
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Tower. A Bright Day. (Wieza. Jasny dzien) (2017) |
A critics' darling in Poland, this debut feature by writer-director Jagoda Szelc displays an ambitious, elusive sensibility, though its most striking attributes feel recycled from other movies. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 06, 2020
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The Wandering Soap Opera (2017) |
The film hits on all of the director's favorite themes - paranoia, narrative intricacy, fleeting but meaningful friendships - and the surrealist humor is often riotous. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Apr 03, 2020
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Flesh and Blood (2017) |
A touching depiction of people trying their best despite overwhelming social odds. - Chicago Reader
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| Posted Mar 26, 2020
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