Hope Madden
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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One Fine Morning (2022) |
She robs the tale of melodrama, of obvious beats, and replaces those trappings with slice-of-life poetry. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 23, 2023
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Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) |
The result is a perfectly entertaining, thoroughly good natured opportunity to see Helen Mirren beat the tar out of some kids. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 16, 2023
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Leave (2022) |
Herron’s atmosphere makes the safe look seedy and the dangerous appear benign, but there is more depth to the tale than that. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 15, 2023
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I Got a Monster (2023) |
There is no counterpoint, but it would be a stronger film if we at least heard how the task force defended itself. Still, it's troubling but important stuff. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Unicorn Wars (2022) |
Horror animation is a rare thing, and when it's done well you need to embrace it. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Therapy Dogs (2022) |
It's almost alarming to know how universal and timeless this image of male adolescence is. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Punch (2022) |
Can be a bit of a mess but it tells a good story from a perspective we rarely get in film. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Champions (2023) |
In terms of casting, the film makes great strides. But the comedy is still often tone deaf and cringy. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Scream VI (2023) |
It's a step back from the last one, but it's fun and clever and bloody. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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65 (2023) |
It's short, it gets up and boogies, and Adam Driver is always great. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Unwelcome (2022) |
It’s not without its charm. Meaney and his crew turn in excellent performances and generate some honest laughs. But the film itself is a mess. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 08, 2023
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Unseen (2023) |
The film takes aim at casual racism, gaslighting and toxic white privilege but never lets anger overshadow the central relationship. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 06, 2023
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Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (2023) |
Everything feels more like a brainstorming session than a finished film. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Mar 01, 2023
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The First Fallen (2021) |
It's next to impossible for those who weren't around for it to truly understand the early days of the AIDS epidemic. The filmmaker's military metaphor is apt and his tale is beautifully, tenderly realized. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Three Day Millionaire (2022) |
It's Guy Ritchie lite but thoroughly enjoyable. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Jesus Revolution (2023) |
Five years ago they were preaching to the choir, which was essentially a captive audience. Jesus Revolution uses smoke and mirrors to appeal to those outside the flock. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Juniper (2021) |
There's never any doubt where it's headed, but the great Charlotte Rampling and an entirely capable ensemble elevate every step. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Close (2022) |
A beautiful, tender, gentle film about friendship and loss of innocence. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Cocaine Bear (2023) |
For a very dark comedy, Cocaine Bear is light entertainment. It’s hard to imagine expecting anything more. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Nocebo (2022) |
Nocebo doesn’t pack the punch it intends to, the point-of-view sleight of hand limiting the impact. It’s not the body horror promised by the catalyst, either. Instead, it’s a muddled if well-performed tale that leans heavily on an idea that needs to die. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Emily (2022) |
O’Connor breathes life with all its chaos, misery and joy into the Brontës’ 19th century. Emily feels less like the vision of a newcomer than the product of a passionate kindred spirit. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 22, 2023
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Boy From Nowhere (2023) |
Explores a side of the area's child soldier crises you did not expect. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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The Other Fellow (2022) |
Offering more than an interesting look at the trials and tribulations of sharing that particular name, The Other Fellow is an examination of identity. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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Cat Daddies (2021) |
An adorable, often touching look at men and their cats. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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Project Wolf Hunting (2022) |
Has everything you could want from an action film or a horror film. So viscous! - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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Sharper (2023) |
You'll sniff out the final con, but it's a stellar cast and con movies are fun. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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Calvaire (2004) |
Writer/director Fabrice Du Welz’s script scares up the darkest imaginable humor. If David Lynch had directed Deliverance French, the concoction might have resembled Calvaire. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 20, 2023
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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) |
Whatever the film’s many – almost countless – flaws, Frake-Waterfield deserves tremendous credit for seeing an opportunity and seizing it. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 16, 2023
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Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022) |
Her maternal nightmare is bright and decisive, pulling in common genre tropes only long enough to grant entrance to the territory of a central metaphor. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 15, 2023
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
There are some big ideas here, and the attempts at world-building are ambitiously borrowed, but much the same as its unlikely Avenger, Quantumania comes up small. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 14, 2023
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Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin (2022) |
They build a picture of a humble, kind man driven to exercise his imagination. And, as the film rightly points out, there are times when that imagination delivered amazing product. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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The Civil Dead (2023) |
Tatum’s misanthropic loser is charming, but Thomas really shines, giving a pretty subtle performance as he cycles between submissive affability, existential despair, fear and rage. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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Esme, My Love (2022) |
Esme, My Love possesses a brooding, nightmarish quality that, along with the two performances, keeps you guessing and interested. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Consecration (2023) |
The scenery is gorgeous and there is an interesting time/space twist that’s a bit of good fun. But it’s not quite enough to salvage a tired idea told with pretty images and little enthusiasm. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 09, 2023
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Attachment (2022) |
Attachment delivers slow-burn horror that repays close attention but never falls to gimmickry. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 07, 2023
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Poor Agnes (2017) |
It's an alarmingly natural, more alarmingly believable portrait of a psychopath. It's probably reason enough to see the film. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 06, 2023
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Remember This (2022) |
Hutchens’s camera is subtle but its fluidity in orchestration with lighting, Roc Lee’s sound design, and Strathairn’s movement keep the film from ever feeling stagnant or stage bound. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Feb 01, 2023
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Blood (2022) |
Had that moral ambiguity felt intentional the film would have been at least provocative. The fact that it does not is alarming, but not in a way that makes the film more enjoyable. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 31, 2023
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Living (2022) |
Shows what a treasure Nighy really is. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Jan 28, 2023
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You People (2023) |
Like Meet the Parents but exponentially more uncomfortable. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Jan 28, 2023
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Infinity Pool (2023) |
Writer/director Cronenberg takes us on a strange journey through privilege, debauchery, entitlement, boredom, narcissism, psychotropic drugs and more in his trippy new flick, Infinity Pool. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 26, 2023
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Maybe I Do (2023) |
Maybe I Do is unabashedly romantic, deeply traditional, well-meaning and tired. So tired. But at least you get to see four tremendous actors riff off each other for 90 minutes. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 26, 2023
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Alice, Darling (2022) |
Anna Kendrick in a career-best performance. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Missing (2023) |
Stays consistently one step ahead of the viewer. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Jan 20, 2023
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The Son (2022) |
Its insights are stale, its twists manipulative. The film delivers a classy melodrama, but nothing more. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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There's Something Wrong with the Children (2023) |
The most intriguing thing about this film is its stance on motherhood. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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Legions (2022) |
At its core, Legions is a fantasy about regaining the respect of your adult children, and because of that, it’s both relatable and touching. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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EO (2022) |
It’s an emotionally exhausting journey, equal parts wonder and pessimism, and it is absolutely unlike any other movie with a dachshund or donkey. It’s unlike any other movie, period. - MaddWolf
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| Posted Jan 12, 2023
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The Pale Blue Eye (2022) |
It's interesting, almost a Poe origin story. - Fox 28 Columbus
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| Posted Jan 07, 2023
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M3GAN (2022) |
It's the dark humor that makes this film so enjoyable. - The Screening Room Podcast
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| Posted Jan 07, 2023
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