Cary Darling
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) |
It makes for a dizzying experience that offers a wonderful sense of surprise because you're never certain what's coming up next. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 01, 2023
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Fast X (2023) |
"Transporter" director Louis Leterrier... puts his pedal to the metal, keeping things moving so quickly — bodies and vehicles are perpetually in motion, drivin', fightin', explodin' or dyin' — that there's little time to worry about how far-fetched it is. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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Polite Society (2023) |
"Polite Society" is a winsome blend of family drama, coming-of-age anxiety, comedic kung-fu action, female empowerment and fantasy elements that is lightweight but never less than entertaining. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 24, 2023
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Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023) |
Directed by Ritchie with breathless, propulsive momentum, "The Covenant" is really about two wars. There's the one in the battlefield and the other one at home when some soldiers went to great lengths to bring their abandoned interpreters to the U.S.
- Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 19, 2023
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Renfield (2023) |
If not for (Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult's) chemistry and screen presence, "Renfield" wouldn't have much to sink its teeth into. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 13, 2023
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Air (2023) |
An engaging and entertaining trip down memory lane and behind-the-scenes story that turns a seemingly minor moment in sports history — the development of a shoe that became a pop-cultural touchstone — into something often funny and occasionally moving. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 03, 2023
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Spinning Gold (2023) |
A laborious, 137-minute biopic that manages to be both overstuffed and underfed...If you want to celebrate (Neil) Bogart's raucous career, you're better off staying home and cranking "Kiss Alive." - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 31, 2023
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John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) |
The "John Wick" franchise...has always valued action over plot, visual pop over cerebral reflection...But "Chapter 4" takes it all to such cartoonish extremes that it makes the previous films look like PBS documentaries. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 20, 2023
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Creed III (2023) |
"Creed III" is an intensely enjoyable continuation of the Creed story, one that doesn't pack a lot of surprises in its punch but nonetheless goes the distance. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 27, 2023
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Cocaine Bear (2023) |
Simultaneously gruesome and amusing...The film never devolves into "Bearnado." On the other hand, it's no "Jaws" either. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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Hidden Blade (2023) |
"Hidden Blade," a stylish, nonlinear exercise in Chinese film noir, is one of those movies where, at first, you're not exactly sure where it's going or what anyone's doing. But, boy, do they look great doing it. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 17, 2023
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Of an Age (2022) |
Indie Australian director/writer Goran Stolevski's remarkable and moving chronicle of a love encumbered by time, place and circumstance..."Of An Age" is one of the best films of this young year so far. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 14, 2023
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80 for Brady (2023) |
The comedy is predictable and not overwhelmingly funny while the drama is predictable and not particularly engaging...(But) as it clocks in at a swift 98 minutes, "80 For Brady" never goes into overtime. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Knock at the Cabin (2023) |
There has been a streak of entertaining horror-thrillers over the past few months, including "Barbarian," "The Menu" and "M3GAN." It's nice to have you back in such good company, Mr. Shyamalan. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 01, 2023
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Babylon (2022) |
But why opt for subtlety and insight when you can have upchuck and defecation? - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 19, 2022
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Empire of Light (2022) |
There are films in which the performances are so strong and persuasive that they compensate for the story's contrivances and weaknesses. Such is the case with "Empire of Light." - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 07, 2022
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The Menu (2022) |
The next time you're hungry, it just might have you opting for the drive-thru. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 19, 2022
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Certainly, the film has its high points but, ultimately, it pales in comparison to its predecessor, one of the best entries in the field of superhero cinema, and feels largely like a placeholder for the next movie. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 08, 2022
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Armageddon Time (2022) |
This is a story of adolescence that doesn't bask in the glow of nostalgia but asks tough questions of its characters and its audience. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 01, 2022
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All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) |
Because even though this version of "Quiet" predictably ends as its predecessors did, the last scene still comes as a gut punch, one that reverberates with even more significance in 2022 as war once again darkens the skies over Europe. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 24, 2022
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Triangle of Sadness (2022) |
This take on "Titanic" by way of "Das Kapital" and "Gilligan's Island," which admittedly does have its pleasures, has about as much subtlety as a falling coconut. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 18, 2022
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The Woman King (2022) |
Davis -- fierce and formidable, bruised and battle-scarred -- is a revelation...She proves that you don't have to look like Scarlett Johansson to be a female action hero. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 13, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling (2022) |
Featuring...a knockout performance from Florence Pugh who steals the show like a repo man at 5 a.m., "Don't Worry Darling" works up a substantial amount of goodwill. But the resolution is predictable. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 07, 2022
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Beast (2022) |
"Beast" is a crisp, to-the-point 90-minute action-thriller that makes no pretenses to be more than it is. It's as if (director) Kormakur said, "You want to see a Idris Elba pop a realistically rendered digital lion in the face? I got you." - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 18, 2022
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Day Shift (2022) |
Nothing is surprising about where "Day Shift" goes but how it gets there is key. Foxx and Franco work extremely well together…Thanks Netflix, this almost makes up for "The Gray Man" and "6 Underground." - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 17, 2022
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Vengeance (2022) |
The film ends up being more compellingly complicated and emotionally dark than what would have been anticipated for the first movie from a guy who used to be on a hit network comedy. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 28, 2022
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The Gray Man (2022) |
"The Gray Man" is the kind of needless action movie that usually gets released in late August... But along with its many other flaws, "The Gray Man" didn't even have the decency to wait a few weeks. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 14, 2022
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Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (2022) |
“Jazz Fest” doesn’t just chronicle the growth of an annual series of concerts. It’s also the story of a city...an image refracted through the lives of Africans, Cajuns, Native Americans and others who make up Louisiana’s cultural gumbo. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 08, 2022
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Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) |
Ultimately, “Thor: Love and Thunder” isn’t a bad movie, just a frustratingly disappointing one. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 07, 2022
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Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) |
That the story doesn’t go where expected and has a third act that’s as satisfying as comfort food says a lot about Raiff’s gifts as a writer and director. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 14, 2022
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Jurassic World Dominion (2022) |
But it’s when the dinosaurs aren’t snarling and snapping, and the equally impressive great clouds of giant locusts have disappeared over the horizon, that we’re left with the humans in “JWD” and they are not nearly as compelling.
- Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 09, 2022
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Emergency (2022) |
Kunle, Sean and Carlos’ nightlong predicament becomes increasingly anxiety inducing and only slightly less horrifying than what happened to the Black guy in the original “Night of the Living Dead.” - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted May 18, 2022
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Firebird (2021) |
Even though this beautifully shot and generally well-acted British-Estonian co-production is based on a memoir, it feels too PBS polite, as if the edges have been rubbed away from the real story to appeal to as wide an audience as possible - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 29, 2022
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Ambulance (2022) |
Theres nothing nuanced about Ambulance...But, unlike Bays last effort, the tedious 6 Underground," his over-the-top shamelessness actually works to this films advantage. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Apr 07, 2022
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The Lost City (2022) |
Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock have an amiable, infectious chemistry that helps paper over the movie’s predictability. Viewers may know where “The Lost City” is going at every turn but half the fun is getting there. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 23, 2022
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Cyrano (2021) |
A lush, moving and emotionally rich story of longing, love and acceptance featuring a standout performance from Peter Dinklage who -- as he did in “The Station Agent” way back in 2003 -- proves that he is leading-man material. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 07, 2022
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The Batman (2022) |
(Matt Reeves) transcends the clichés with a masterful, often tense and noir-as-night twist on the mythology that ranks with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight as the best of all the Batman movies. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 07, 2022
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Uncharted (2022) |
Tom Holland does his best to bring his charismatic spark to Uncharted, the long-in-the-making movie version of the popular video game, but its not enough to power this occasionally amiable but lethargic action-adventure. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 16, 2022
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I Want You Back (2022) |
There are some fun moments in I Want You Back, with Day bringing some of that same nervous, nebbishy energy he displays in Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and theres a genuine chemistry among the four leads. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 10, 2022
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The 355 (2022) |
While "The 355" isn't a bad film, it's just a disappointing and mediocre one considering all the talent on screen. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jan 07, 2022
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Swan Song (2021) |
It's Ali's understated performance, as both Cameron and the clone, that makes "Swan Song" work, despite all the nagging questions raised by the premise. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 21, 2021
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Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) |
A deft, funny and surprisingly emotional superhero adventure that manages to provide both fan service for the Marvel faithful and breezy entertainment for those who wouldn't know Peter Parker from Peter Jackson. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 15, 2021
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Being the Ricardos (2021) |
The film may be a disappointment for anyone looking for a definitive Lucille Ball biopic, but for those who want to take a peek at two pioneering figures at a particular moment in entertainment history..."Being the Ricardos" is a fascinating time machine. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 07, 2021
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Encounter (2021) |
A drama that walks the fine line between science-fiction alien-invasion terror, a portrait in war-induced paranoia and a story of a broken family, "Encounter" is a prime showcase for (Riz) Ahmed's wiry electricity. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 06, 2021
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India Sweets and Spices (2021) |
Ali is absolutely charming as Alia, possessing some of the same awkward likability that Issa Rae displays in "Insecure." - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 16, 2021
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Belfast (2021) |
What's known as the "troubles" in Northern Ireland began to heat up...in the summer of 1969...That is the dramatic backdrop for Kenneth Branagh's sublimely semiautobiographical and elegiac "Belfast," a love letter to growing up in tumultuous times. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 10, 2021
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Eternals (2021) |
"Eternals" makes history as the most diverse superhero movie in terms of race, gender, orientation, age and abilities...and that's remarkable...But that doesn't change the fact that they're stuck in a story that's dull and predictable. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 02, 2021
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Last Night in Soho (2021) |
A couple of jump scares aside, it isn't particularly frightening. But, like the miniskirt, the Nehru jacket and the Jaguar XK-E, it is distinctive. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 27, 2021
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Dune (2021) |
"Dune" is an impressive feat, a plunge into a richly designed world that feels at once ancient and futuristic and wholly, fully formed. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 19, 2021
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The Harder They Fall (2021) |
A swirl of fact and fiction, history and humor, Italian spaghetti western and Jamaican reggae that is as far from historically accurate as Yuma is from New York but remains wildly entertaining. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 19, 2021
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