Harvey S. Karten
After teaching high school for quite a while, I took an M.A. in Film and Theater from Hunter College in New York and a Ph.D. in Theater from the City University Graduate Center, also in the Big Apple. Having sat through one innocuous Broadway show after another and a great deal of talky off-Broadway productions as a so-called second-night critic, I realized that you don't always get what you pay for. Broadway shows may be $75 a ticket and movies just $9.50 (in New York), but you're more likely to have fun AND take away something of substance from the big screen. The switch from reviewing theater to reviewing movies was an easy one to make.When my application for membership in the New York Film Critics Circle was circular-filed (print media only, sorry), I founded the Online Film Critics Society in January 1997 and three years later, NYFCO (New York Film Critics Online).
Favorite films: Amadeus, Schindler's List, Lassie Come HomeBest of 2006: Thank You for Smoking
Brooklyn, New York
Movies reviews only
Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Shtetlers (2020) |
This colorful but tragic look at Jewish settlements brings to mind "Fiddler on the Roof." - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jan 23, 2023
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Kompromat (2022) |
Stunning performance from Gilles Lellouch shows the French standing up to the Russians. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jan 23, 2023
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Filmmakers for the Prosecution (2022) |
Newly released films of Nazi war crimes are covered. The archival films should have received more attention even at the expense of the talking heads. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jan 21, 2023
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White Noise (2022) |
The movie captures the absurdities in the novel. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jan 04, 2023
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The Menu (2022) |
From amuse bouch to dessert, this thriller earns its stripes in satirizing pretensions. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Dec 07, 2022
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Living (2022) |
This year you are not likely to find a movie about repression that is as finely honed as this one. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Dec 04, 2022
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Wildcat (2022) |
Lush jungle photography captures the emotional connection between an English war veteran and the ocelots he prepares for life in the wilds of Peru. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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Tantura (2022) |
Not a movie that will please an Israeli audience. That's a compliment. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Nov 27, 2022
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EO (2022) |
Travel broadens as we meet people who are different from us. EO, a donkey, discovers through travel that people are different from him; that even those who are called asses are not like him. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Nov 19, 2022
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No Bears (2022) |
Panahi's subdued filmmaking will appeal to an audience that enjoys the director's modus operandi. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 12, 2022
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Nothing Lasts Forever (2022) |
Enlightens us to what we all knew: that the price of diamonds is high not because the stone is rare but because the industry tells us that your boyfriend cherishes you only when he gives you an engagement ring that he can't afford. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 10, 2022
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Sam & Kate (2022) |
The director of The Matrix Reloaded deals this time with superstars instead of superheroes. Low key movie. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 10, 2022
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Soft & Quiet (2022) |
The message is that once you hate, there is no telling what you may do. Mission accomplished. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 09, 2022
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My Policeman (2022) |
A class act with political dimensions: an endearing picture which may find enlightened viewers reaching for Kleenex. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 07, 2022
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Resistance: 1942 (2021) |
Germans and French speak English. That should warn viewers of the amateurish of the production. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Nov 06, 2022
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Utama (2022) |
You may not want to live there, but the movie is a cinematic wonder. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 30, 2022
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Call Jane (2022) |
A lesson to today's anti-abortion extremists. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 23, 2022
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Holy Spider (2022) |
Potent drama about a serial killer in Iran who intends to kill 200 streetwalkers and who has the support of crowds of the country's residents. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 23, 2022
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Eternal Spring (2022) |
Live action complements stunning 3D animation centering on how the Chinese Communist government has arrested, imprisoned and tortured vocal members of the Falun Gong society. The documentary ignores a dark side of the group. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Oct 11, 2022
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Conception (2022) |
Can any movie about fertility problems be more banal? Inconceivable. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Oct 09, 2022
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A Piece of Sky (2022) |
Filled with long takes, this look at Alpine village life against a stunning mountain background, shows us what happens to a family when a husband and father is diagnosed with a brain tumor. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 04, 2022
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Some Like It Rare (2021) |
It's not Sweeney Todd or Delicatessan but it could stimulate your appetite. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 02, 2022
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Hinterland (2021) |
This could be the year's most expressionistic film. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Oct 02, 2022
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Blonde (2022) |
A well-acted slog. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Sep 29, 2022
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Bandit (2022) |
The title character makes robbing banks as easy as go-to-Canada. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Sep 20, 2022
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Young Plato (2021) |
Inspiration tale of elementary school kids majoring in philosophy. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Sep 18, 2022
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Carmen (2022) |
Cute tale of a woman who becomes an amateur priest, with a Maltese Pigeon serving as symbol. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Sep 18, 2022
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Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021) |
Snail-paced drama of a family that movies from Beirut to the Lebanese sticks. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 11, 2022
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Simchas and Sorrows (2022) |
Bittersweet tale of an atheism who is converting to Judaism without great fanfare. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 11, 2022
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I Am Like You (2022) |
A dog story (good) but unfocused with unnecessary shifting of time (bad). - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 11, 2022
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Unidentified (2020) |
Intense performance in a police story like few others. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 11, 2022
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Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII (2020) |
Demolishes the idea that Jews did not fight back against the Nazis. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 11, 2022
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House of Darkness (2022) |
A cheap endings mars an otherwise engrossing chamber piece. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 04, 2022
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Hold Me Tight (2021) |
Cerebral, unemotional, enigmatic. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Sep 04, 2022
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After the Wedding (2019) |
Takes aim at the rich one percent though the movie is not as entertaining as the Danish version. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Aug 31, 2022
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The Good Boss (2021) |
Demonstrates how a good boss can be the one that stabs you in the back. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Aug 22, 2022
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Breaking (2022) |
Though the movie proceeds at a snail's pace, it serves as a bold indictment of the Veterans Administration. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Aug 21, 2022
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Rogue Agent (2022) |
Features enough scams to sustain several episodes on any streaming service. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Aug 07, 2022
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Emily the Criminal (2022) |
Aubrey Plaza in a stunning performance as a woman drowning in student debt who accepts an offer she can't refuse. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Aug 07, 2022
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Free Puppies! (2022) |
Nice southern ladies are the Harriet Tubmans of the canine fraternity, rescuing dogs from the South and sending them North to freedom. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Aug 04, 2022
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Image of Victory (2021) |
This view of a little-known conflict between Israeli kibbutzniks and Egyptians may be looked upon by awards groups for its vivid ensemble acting. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jul 14, 2022
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Murina (2021) |
A stunning debut features a rebellious teen in a remote Croatian area overlooking the Adriatic. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jul 06, 2022
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The Road to Galena (2022) |
Entertaining enough but could find a spot as a daytime TV episode as well. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jul 03, 2022
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The Forgiven (2021) |
If this is what the rich do with their money, I do not envy them. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jun 28, 2022
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Accepted (2021) |
Sometimes charter schools are not what they're cracked up to be. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Apples (2020) |
Overly deadpan. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jun 19, 2022
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The Courtroom (2022) |
A stunning, theatrical example of government overreach. - Big Apple Reviews
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| Posted Jun 13, 2022
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A Man of Integrity (2017) |
Effectively shows an Iran riddled with corruption. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jun 12, 2022
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Miracle (2021) |
The Romanians know how to make a policier. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jun 05, 2022
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Hustle (2022) |
As predictable as it is inspirational. - Shockya.com
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| Posted Jun 03, 2022
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