Charlie Lyne
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Internet Famous (2016) |
An assured, culturally observant piece of contemporary satire. - Guardian
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| Posted Feb 01, 2020
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XOXO (2016) |
Saturated in neon, gratifyingly loud, and a wonderful showcase for charismatic supporting actor Brett DelBuono, you can certainly imagine XOXO finding an audience with the post-SpongeBob, pre-Orange Is The New Black demographic. - Guardian
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| Posted Sep 19, 2016
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The Selfish Giant (2013) |
Though they share the same title, director Clio Barnard's bewitching follow-up to The Arbor bears little cosmetic similarity to the fluorescent idyll of Oscar Wilde's 19th century children's fable. - Little White Lies
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| Posted Aug 18, 2015
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Serena (2014) |
This is a film full of unremarkable compromises - the kind that result in a bland film rather than a bad one. - New York Magazine/Vulture
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| Posted Oct 13, 2014
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Prince Avalanche (2013) |
Flashes of oddball invention can't quite lift Prince Avalanche out of its own meandering fog. - Film4
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| Posted Oct 18, 2013
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Seduced and Abandoned (2013) |
If Toback and Baldwin set out to prove that nobody is making good movies any more, then this utterly inept piece of filmmaking should prove just the ticket. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Stranger by the Lake (2013) |
An erotic-drama-cum-murder-mystery - where the operative word is unquestionably 'cum'. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Nebraska (2013) |
A tangle of film school clichés, rampant condescension and woe-is-me, middle-aged-white-guy-problems so juvenile it would blot even a first-time filmmaker's copybook. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer (2013) |
Reveals little more than the order of events, which have already been succinctly detailed in forms that take considerably less than 86 minutes to process. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Stories We Tell (2012) |
Perhaps the most organic, transformative meeting of form and function I've seen this year. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Blackfish (2013) |
The film appears to have been spat out of the same auto-outrage documentary generator that gave us The Cove and Bully. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Nine Dead (2010) |
It's a fairly transparent attempt by Hart to shake off her Nickelodeon past, climaxing in a visceral flashback sequence in which she beats a rapist to death with a baseball bat. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Pacific Rim (2013) |
Glorified Power Rangers specials don't need to unfold over 131 endless minutes. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Spring Breakers (2012) |
In appearing to embrace the mainstream, erstwhile enfant terrible Harmony Korine orchestrates one of his most provocative, formally experimental films to date. - Film4
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| Posted Apr 03, 2013
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Robot & Frank (2012) |
An ageing Frank Langella and a disembodied Peter Sarsgaard make for an unexpectedly dynamic double act in this refreshingly unsentimental geriatric drama. Robust and frank. - Film4
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| Posted Mar 04, 2013
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Run for Your Wife (2013) |
It's hard to believe that the play could have warranted a 9-year theatrical run in 1983. I guess the past really is a foreign country. One populated exclusively by toddlers. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Feb 19, 2013
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V/H/S (2012) |
Spectacular hits and forgivable misses make this a surefire candidate for cult status. - Little White Lies
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| Posted Jan 17, 2013
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The Sessions (2012) |
For the most part, an authentically subversion take on fringe sexuality. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jan 07, 2013
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Lincoln (2012) |
Even as a historical figure considerably better known than any he's played before, there's no trace of impersonation in Lewis's performance. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jan 07, 2013
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Les Misérables (2012) |
A good example of a movie that contains a single scene of such unfathomable cinematic perfection that to dwell on its various failings seems cruel and unusual. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jan 07, 2013
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) |
It's the behaviour of the supposedly affable dwarves that makes this particular 'adventure' such a punishing experience. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jan 07, 2013
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The Dictator (2012) |
The film's writers understand that satire is infinitely more powerful when it's accessible - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Dec 26, 2012
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Laurence Anyways (2012) |
Dolan seals the deal. But only just. - Little White Lies
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| Posted Nov 29, 2012
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End of Watch (2012) |
End of Watch's found footage pretensions tend to materialise when it has too few ideas. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Frankenweenie (2012) |
Maintains the legitimately dark tone of the original short while expanding the narrative in a pleasingly Scissorhands-esque direction. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Nov 10, 2012
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After Lucia (2012) |
93 more riling minutes of cinema you will not find. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Argo (2012) |
Functional. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Silver Linings Playbook (2012) |
Makes the life of a film critic that little bit easier by setting 90% of the drama, action and dialogue literally in the middle of the road. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Liberal Arts (2012) |
You'd do well to take the film's advice: read a book instead. - Little White Lies
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| Posted Oct 04, 2012
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The Campaign (2012) |
Emblematic of a US comedy scene that's turning into something of a fraternity. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Sep 28, 2012
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Ted (2012) |
Feel free to tell me to lighten up and get a sense of humour, but it's also worth asking whether it's humour that really drives Ted's nasty streak. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Take This Waltz (2011) |
Williams works her adorable little chipmunk cheeks to the bone in a typically weighty role. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Ruby Sparks (2012) |
One of the most thoughtful, brilliant films about filmmaking in ages. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Lola Versus (2012) |
Greta Gerwig makes something of a success out of this mixed bag of rom-com tropes and indie quirks. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 17, 2012
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Magic Mike (2012) |
A mess of Soderberghian devices so dense that it must surely be considered his definitive work. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 11, 2012
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Dark Shadows (2012) |
Dark Shadows makes almost no attempt to reward cinema audiences. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Woody Allen: A Documentary (2012) |
Appropriately fawning. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Rust and Bone (2012) |
Strangely unaffecting. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) |
An unapologetically fan-only experience that might have found more success as a series of YouTube clips than a fully-fledged 94-minute movie. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Laurence Anyways (2012) |
Dolan still does attractive young people walking in slow-motion to electropop better than anyone else. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) |
Better than its predecessor but worse than most other things. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Antiviral (2012) |
Brandon's cunning plan to step out of his father's shadow is basically to plagiarise every movie he's ever made. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Lawless (2012) |
There's no denying it's a one-note film, but what a lovely note it is. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Amour (2012) |
A two-hour portrait of human existence at its most fucking-hell-when-will-it-end brutal. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Room 237 (2012) |
There's something quite charming about Ascher's refusal to outright dismiss his subjects' hallucinations. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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The Sapphires (2012) |
Its treatment of Big Themes like racism, war and oppression, is shallow to the point of repulsion. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Post Tenebras Lux (2012) |
Boasts some incredible scenes. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Sightseers (2012) |
The film's narrative concerns frequently play second fiddle to the utterly convincing relationship at its centre. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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The Paperboy (2012) |
Extreme inconsistencies of tone and structure are mercifully offset by its moments of perverse (and possibly accidental) genius. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Gimme the Loot (2012) |
Charmingly lackadaisical. - Ultra Culture
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| Posted Jul 06, 2012
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