Bill Clark
Tomatometer-approved critic
I have been involved with DVD and film review for eight years, since the age of sixteen. I was the founder and operator of The DVD Line, one of the very first online DVD review sites. When it closed down in the summer of 2000, I did DVD reviews part time for DVD Angle. In 2003 I founded FromTheBalcony.com, which is an ever-growing site of reviews and editorials. I am a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA), and the Internet Entertainment Writers Association (IEWA).
Columbus, OH
http://www.fromthebalcony.com
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Commuter (2018) |
Like many recent entries to Neeson's canon, The Commuter is fairly involving until it comes time to explain what's going on. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jan 11, 2018
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Downsizing (2017) |
Downsizing thinks it's playing with fire but is really just rubbing two twigs together and hoping for the best. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 22, 2017
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The Disaster Artist (2017) |
The Disaster Artist is an enormously entertaining look at film making dreams and the legacy that comes with making a truly terrible one. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 08, 2017
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The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) |
While certainly not a new classic, The Man Who Invented Christmas is an enjoyable experience that succeeds in rousing the Christmas spirit. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 21, 2017
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Lady Bird (2017) |
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person. Lady Bird does just that. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 17, 2017
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) |
No one will ever call this series high art, but it does aim to please and built-in fans will find a lot to like in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Sep 22, 2017
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Good Time (2017) |
Good Time is thematically spare, but the savvy, energetic direction of the Safdie brothers and Pattinson's wide-eyed, intense performance keep it afloat. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Aug 25, 2017
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Dunkirk (2017) |
Given little context and even less character arc, Dunkirk emerges as an emotionally hollow exercise in wartime spectacle. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jul 20, 2017
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47 Meters Down (2017) |
47 Meters Down is an impressive picture from a technical perspective. It's a shame the dialogue isn't given the same consideration. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jun 16, 2017
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It Comes at Night (2017) |
It Comes at Night is a relentlessly bleak exercise in paranoia and distrust that taps into some of the deepest fears within the human condition. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jun 09, 2017
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Jackie (2016) |
The opening frames of Jackie lead one to believe they're about to see a horror film. One wouldn't be far off. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 30, 2016
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Bad Santa 2 (2016) |
Fans of the original know what to expect here. If you can't get enough of Bad Santa's mean streak, you'll find plenty to enjoy in Bad Santa 2. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 22, 2016
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The Girl on the Train (2016) |
It's hardly high art, but director Taylor and screenwriter Wilson make The Girl on the Train work just well enough to warrant a look. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Oct 09, 2016
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Deepwater Horizon (2016) |
While not nearly as unforgettable as the events on which it's based, Deepwater Horizon works well enough as a spectacle and tribute to the fallen. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Sep 30, 2016
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The Magnificent Seven (2016) |
Overlong and often struggling to balance action and comedy, The Magnificent Seven is an uneven effort with some sensational action. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Sep 22, 2016
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Blair Witch (2016) |
Padded by too many lame jump scares to count, Blair Witch becomes a near-literal remake of its predecessor once the group enters the fateful woods. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Sep 15, 2016
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Free State of Jones (2016) |
Free State of Jones features a handful of moderately powerful moments that don't add up to a powerful overall experience. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jun 24, 2016
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Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) |
Like most contemporary comedy sequels, Neighbors 2 is essentially the same film as Neighbors, minus the freshness and purpose of existence. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted May 20, 2016
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How to Be Single (2016) |
How To Be Single is unfocused, horrifically shot and edited, and not nearly as raunchy as it thinks it is. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Deadpool (2016) |
Profane, hyper-violent, and never hesitant to take things a step or two beyond overkill, Deadpool is just the swift kick to the junk the genre needs. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 07, 2016
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Hail, Caesar! (2016) |
With Hail, Caesar!, it's baffling to see the Coens deliver something with next to nothing at stake and zero involvement from a character perspective. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 05, 2016
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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) |
13 Hours is a visceral, pounding experience that works as a vintage Bay action film even as it skirts the bigger overall picture. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Jan 15, 2016
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Anomalisa (2015) |
Anomalisa embodies what we've come to expect from Kaufman: a venture into the strange while somehow staying grounded in reality. Just like life. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 30, 2015
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Joy (2015) |
Joy doesn't resonate as a hard-hitting, memorable biography, but as a lightweight, ultimately charming slice of entrepreneurial spirit, it works. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 23, 2015
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45 Years (2015) |
Led by two first-rate performances, 45 Years is an intimate, introspective work that ranks among 2015's best. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 22, 2015
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The Big Short (2015) |
The Big Short is a crackling, live entertainment that elicits as many laughs as jaws agape that this could happen. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 21, 2015
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Sisters (2015) |
Though light on plot and in need of a runtime haircut, Sisters is as rapid fire, energetic, and raunchy as any comedy this year. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 18, 2015
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Concussion (2015) |
Though overly melodramatic at times and absent the full details of the toll CTE really takes, Concussion is at its best when operating as an underdog story. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 17, 2015
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99 Homes (2014) |
99 Homes is a timely topical drama that packs real punch the deeper it goes into the rabbit hole of lawless capitalization on destroyed lives. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 14, 2015
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Where to Invade Next (2015) |
Though still worth a look, Where to Invade Next falls in the bottom half of the Moore canon, neither as organized or potent as previous offerings. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 08, 2015
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Room (2015) |
Watching Room is essentially the act of barely breathing and nearly crying for two hours. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 07, 2015
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The Revenant (2015) |
The Revenant is another sweeping accomplishment for Iñárritu and one of 2015's best films. Just make sure you know what you're in for. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 04, 2015
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Amy (2015) |
Amy is a celebration of all she accomplished as well as a cautionary tale about the grave price to be paid for not getting an addict the help they need. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Dec 01, 2015
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Spotlight (2015) |
Spotlight is one of the great journalism films; compelling, flawlessly acted, and successful in its invitation to join in the hunt for the truth. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 30, 2015
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Brooklyn (2015) |
Brooklyn is a fine serving of comfort food, innocent and successfully operating at a deeper level when exploring the difficulties of leaving home. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 25, 2015
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Secret in Their Eyes (2015) |
Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the 2009 Oscar-winning Argentinian film of the same name, is an old-school, taut, and endlessly involving thriller. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 20, 2015
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Love the Coopers (2015) |
Love the Coopers is as much a comedy as a Christmas movie, in that it's neither and more a drama taking place around Christmas that eeks out a few laughs. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 13, 2015
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Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon (2015) |
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead serves as the perfect time capsule of National Lampoon's run and the influence it has on comedy to this day. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 11, 2015
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The Wolfpack (2015) |
While plenty of questions permeate the air as the end credits roll, The Wolfpack is a compulsively watchable, borderline hypnotic experience. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 09, 2015
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Spectre (2015) |
Spectre, despite its lush locales and trademark superb action set pieces, is a mostly downtrodden, robotic exercise in wild goose chase plotting. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Nov 06, 2015
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San Andreas (2015) |
San Andreas is lightweight, crowd-pleasing summer entertainment that knows its place and delivers the goods. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted May 29, 2015
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Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) |
What the films have going for them are fun characters and clever writing, both of which keep Pitch Perfect 2 from being a lazy rehash of the original movie. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted May 15, 2015
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Hot Pursuit (2015) |
There's "paying the bills," then there's something this lazy, uninspired, and hackneyed. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted May 08, 2015
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) |
The law of diminishing returns strikes big-time in Avengers: Age of Ultron, an overstuffed mess of one-note characters, gaudy CGI, and bad one-liners. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted May 01, 2015
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The Age of Adaline (2015) |
For all its melodramatic mopey-ness, The Age of Adaline mostly treads water to its anti-climactic conclusion. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Apr 24, 2015
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Unfriended (2014) |
Unfriended is a by-the-numbers, scare-free slasher package that will likely test your patience for watching people yell at each other on Skype. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Apr 17, 2015
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McFarland, USA (2015) |
McFarland USA won't win any awards for originality, but it's a prime example of a proven formula done right. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 20, 2015
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Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) |
Fifty Shades of Grey may be the first film in history made specifically for the purposes of hate-watching. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 13, 2015
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Still Alice (2014) |
As films about people with devastating diseases go, Still Alice is understated, thought-provoking, and written and directed with a steady hand. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 12, 2015
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Jupiter Ascending (2015) |
Jupiter Ascending sure looks nice, but beyond that it's an incomprehensible mess of a story and certainly the last big-budget gasp for the Wachowskis. - FromTheBalcony
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| Posted Feb 06, 2015
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