Beth Accomando
Tomatometer-approved critic
I've been a film critic for more than 20 years, in addition to reviews I freelance for NPR and Public Radio International, and I edited the sequels to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I am a past president of the San Diego Film Critics Society and I help program 2 film festivals in San Diego.
Recent favorites: Shaun of the Dead, Mysterious Skin, Irreversible, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Millennium Mambo, In the Mood for Love... Old faves: Anything with Monty Python or the Marx Brothers, The Godfather, Hard-Boiled, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Raging Bull, Trust, Police Story, Full Contact, Adam's Rib...oh there's too many.
San Diego CA
http://www.kpbs.org
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) |
I was surprised by how sad, emotional, and dark this third film was. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 12, 2023
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Stone (1974) |
Stone was a hit in Australian drive-ins in the 1970s with its sensational mix of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and unbridled horsepower. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Apr 19, 2023
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Smoking Causes Coughing (2022) |
Dupieux is just so delightfully quirky and sweetly affable, that I always look forward to what he does, and I urge you to give his films a try. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Apr 19, 2023
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Enys Men (2022) |
The film's backdrop allows much time for contemplation... But time is fluid here. You are never sure what is past, present or future. They all exist on a strange plane that sometimes feels real, sometimes nightmarish, sometimes poetic. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Apr 14, 2023
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John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) |
Stahelski and his very game star Reeves have raised the bar on the action genre and set a new gold standard. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 23, 2023
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Infinity Pool (2023) |
Infinity Pool is many things -- it’s sci-fi, horror, thriller, skewer the rich satire, and disturbing psychological study. But most of all it’s audacious, exhilarating filmmaking from a unique cinematic voice. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) |
Avatar: The Way of Water is pretty to look at and the 3D technology is impressive. And that’s about the only nice thing I have to say about James Cameron’s film. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Dec 16, 2022
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Bones and All (2022) |
Bones and All does for cannibals what Twilight did for vampires... and that's not a compliment. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Dec 02, 2022
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The Fabelmans (2022) |
I know this is an Oscar favorite with the kind of sentimentality audiences enjoy, but it feels bland and pedantic. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Dec 02, 2022
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The Menu (2022) |
Maybe the film wants to challenge that us versus them binary dynamic and suggest it is useless. But much of the film is built on that notion and when it's taken down it does not offer anything in its place. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Nov 18, 2022
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Coogler tries to deliver a parallel character dynamic with Shuri and Namor, and for a brief moment he succeeds... But sadly the formula of an MCU film demands something epic for the third act and that's where the film flounders on multiple levels. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Nov 11, 2022
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Grand Jeté (2022) |
Grand Jeté is definitely worth a watch if only for the commitment Stever and Grether make to the art they are creating. - AWFJ.org
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| Posted Nov 07, 2022
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Tár (2022) |
Blanchett is riveting as Tár. It’s the kind of complex role that women only rarely get. She digs into with ferocious appetite, and refuses to soften any of the edges just to make it easier for the audience. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Oct 21, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling (2022) |
Don't Worry Darling confirms Wilde's talent as a director but perhaps she needs to be more discerning about the scripts she takes on. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Oct 03, 2022
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RRR (2022) |
RRR is just so relentlessly and joyously over the top that you can't help but get sucked in. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Sep 02, 2022
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Alienoid (2022) |
You can either complain about all its inconsistencies and unevenness or you can choose to surrender to its lunacy and just enjoy. When a film is made with this much gusto and unpretentious energy, I just surrender. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Sep 01, 2022
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Breaking (2022) |
John Boyega gives an intense and heartbreaking performance as a former Marine fed up with the VA's failure to provide the support they promised. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Sep 01, 2022
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Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) |
Three Thousand Years of Longing is a glorious valentine to the power stories have to teach us about empathy and the human condition. See it in a cinema where Miller’s bold vision has the expanse needed for such an epic yet intimate tale. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Sep 01, 2022
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Spin Me Round (2022) |
I know an innocuous rom-com should not stir such ire in me, but Spin Me Round represents so much of what I hate in movies. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Free Puppies! (2022) |
There’s nothing groundbreaking in terms of filmmaking here, nor is the film a deep dive of investigative journalism, but it is a heartfelt work that’s trying to make a difference. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021) |
Akl succeeds best in depicting the intimate family dynamics. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) |
Love and Thunder flies off in multiple plot directions, never quite making any one of them feel complete. The end result is enjoyable to watch because the characters are such good company, but the story’s a mess. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jul 14, 2022
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The Black Phone (2021) |
The Black Phone is not a great horror film, but it is a well crafted one that does not insult your intelligence. It does not aim high, but it hits its mark to deliver a compelling and disturbing tale. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jun 30, 2022
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Elvis (2022) |
The first half of the film burns with a visual intensity that’s as irresistible as Elvis was. But then we have to suffer through the second half. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jun 30, 2022
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Emergency (2022) |
The same themes could have been addressed with a less convoluted plot and with less oddly placed humor. But the message is still a potent one and the point of view the film provides is one that more people need to see and more importantly understand. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 26, 2022
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Vortex (2021) |
I highly recommend the film but can’t really call it entertainment. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 26, 2022
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¡Viva Maestro! (2022) |
The film highlights Dudamel’s passion for music and its power to transform. It is an inspiring and insightful look at what music means to Dudamel and how he tries to convey that to both an audience and his musicians. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 19, 2022
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) |
Sadly, this multiverse ultimately just feels like a mess. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 11, 2022
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Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) |
Everything Everywhere All At Once will leave you breathless, confused, entertained, amazed, touched and maybe even a bit enlightened. But one thing is clear: Michelle Yeoh is a force to be reckoned with. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Apr 14, 2022
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X (2022) |
West's film is meta but not in the painful wink-wink, nudge-nudge jokiness of the Scream franchise. Instead, it's a more subtle way of referencing the horror genre through just the visual look of the location or the costumes or the framing. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 24, 2022
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The Long Walk (2019) |
The Long Walk both challenges and rewards viewers, and that is a rare thing. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 07, 2022
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West Side Story (2021) |
Spielberg gives the film occasional moments but nothing to convince me that he knows much about musicals or New York City. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 05, 2022
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Cyrano (2021) |
Director Joe Wright has a nice romantic visual flair, especially in designing the musical numbers, but there is just too little of the play and the character that I grew up loving that make it into the film. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 05, 2022
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Studio 666 (2022) |
All in all, I enjoyed the film, and the music was strong, - KPBS.org
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| Posted Mar 05, 2022
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Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2021) |
Robinson's tone throughout is calm and reasoned, even when speaking with a white Southerner holding a Confederate flag and insisting the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Feb 07, 2022
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Scream (2022) |
If it really wanted to be clever it would actually break its rules and defy horror tropes to come up with something original to either terrify or entertain us. As it stands, it did neither for me. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jan 20, 2022
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The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) |
Stylistically Coen's film is full of contradictions. It's breathtakingly cinematic with wonderful use of light, shadow, and fog. Yet much of the action is shot on sets that feel distinctly theatrical in terms of being confined interior spaces. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Dec 29, 2021
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Detention (2019) |
The film mixes elements of monsters and haunted house scares with a political thriller to engage audiences. There are some odd narrative shifts and tonal changes but if you stick through to the end it all makes sense and is actually quite clever. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Dec 17, 2021
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No Time to Die (2021) |
All in all, No Time To Die delivered a satisfying resolution to the Craig Bond films. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Oct 08, 2021
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Candyman (2021) |
Not every horror film offers a lot to unpack but Nia DaCosta's new Candyman has so many layers that it is almost too much to process in 90 minutes. And that's not a bad thing. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Sep 02, 2021
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The Suicide Squad (2021) |
If you enjoy cartoonish excess even when it extends to violence then this hard R, DC Comics super anti-hero action film is exactly what you need. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Aug 13, 2021
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Old (2021) |
Old refers not just to the fate of the characters but it describes the creaky, tired feel of the film. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jul 29, 2021
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Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021) |
Take a trip back in time and immerse yourself in this glorious film. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jul 09, 2021
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Black Widow (2021) |
Black Widow serves up an uneven but fun ride with the action keeping the pace mostly breathless. Florence Pugh, however, steals the show. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jul 09, 2021
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F9 The Fast Saga (2021) |
I can't say F9 is a good film but it certainly is an entertaining spectacle of extreme stunts that could put the pandemic in the rearview mirror for at least 145 minutes. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jun 25, 2021
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In the Heights (2021) |
Despite some shortcomings, In the Heights proves appealing and brings the play to the screen with vibrancy and great joy, plus it gives voice to characters that too rarely get center stage. - KPBS.org
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| Posted Jun 11, 2021
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Profile (2018) |
Profile hooks you with its fast-paced narrative that doesn't leave you any time to think but even at its fast pace, you still feel like there's a lot of stupid stuff going down... - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 24, 2021
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Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) |
See this if you are a Saw fan or Rock fan. Otherwise, there's nothing of interest. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 24, 2021
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Wrath of Man (2021) |
...just glum. It's a revenge tale, but we're not that engaged in the outcome because it feels so diluted. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 24, 2021
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Army Of The Dead (2021) |
Please, refrain from giving these films your money, or filmmakers will be encouraged to keep making lame and ultimately boringly bland movies. - KPBS.org
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| Posted May 24, 2021
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