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Critics list

J. R. Jones

J. R. Jones's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
State Fair (1933) 100% EDIT “[State Fair] spoke eloquently to a small-town America feeling the pull of urban life.” – Chicago Reader Nov 9, 2023 Full Review 9 to 5 (1980) 70% EDIT “An entertaining 1980 revenge comedy, a zeitgeist hit upon its release.” – Chicago Reader Mar 2, 2023 Full Review Compensation (1999) 93% EDIT “The storytelling is pointedly visual, modeled after the silent cinema, and the resulting purity of emotion elevates even the modern-day love story.” – Chicago Reader Feb 27, 2023 Full Review The Mark of Zorro (1920) 91% EDIT “Fairbanks cuts a jolly and dashing figure as Zorro...” – Chicago Reader Aug 11, 2022 Full Review Countdown to Zero (2010) 80% EDIT “This documentary from producer Lawrence Bender (An Inconvenient Truth) attempts to shake up the equation, portraying a future attack as probable yet making the gradual elimination of weapons-grade material seem achievable.” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Charlie St. Cloud (2010) 27% EDIT “This is supposed to be an inspirational drama about overcoming grief, but with High School Musical dreamboat Zac Efron in the title role, it keeps turning into a Tiger Beat photo spread.” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review The Sicilian Girl (2009) 52% EDIT “The movie so often lapses into cliche—shutters closing as neighbors look away from a crime, a jump cut to scattering birds as a fatal shot is fired—that the drama begins to feel canned.” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Experiment Perilous (1944) 100% EDIT “The densely layered plot doesn’t always add up, but in the end that enhances the sense of mystery, which Tourneur sees not as some narrative puzzle to be solved but as an irreducible aspect of human experience.” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Machete (2010) 70% EDIT “Rodriguez retreats into gruesome violence and flaccid comedy, grasping feebly for topical relevance...” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Valhalla Rising (2009) 70% EDIT “Refn tries to turn his protagonist into a Christ figure at the climax, which might have worked better if the rest of the film weren’t an endless slog of mud, blood, and graphic disembowelment.” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review John Rabe (2009) 75% EDIT “...rather stodgy but still affecting historical drama...” – Chicago Reader Aug 10, 2022 Full Review God Is Great, I'm Not (2001) 28% EDIT “The narrative is punctuated with title cards from the heroine’s diary, a pointless conceit...but the script makes some interesting observations about how people’s religious feelings are influenced by their relationships with their families...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review The Navigator (1924) 100% EDIT “Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedy masterpiece...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Gacaca, Living Together Again in Rwanda? (2002) EDIT “Despite the many horrific tales (one woman remembers the machete-wielding troops calmly chopping people down like banana trees), the video is moving mainly for its portrait of a people trying to meet subhuman cruelty with superhuman forgiveness.” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review The Event (2003) 44% EDIT “Intelligent, moving, but annoyingly self-satisfied...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Divan (2003) 95% EDIT “As a story line it’s a bit overconceived, but the journey doesn’t turn out quite as planned, and it’s punctuated by a series of scintillating observations from other young people like her...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Twinkletoes (1926) EDIT “Moore is a luminous presence throughout—Norma Desmond was right, they did have faces then—but the movie is pitched to the cheap seats.” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Roar: Lions of the Kalahari (2003) 90% EDIT “This may be a long haul for the less anthropologically inclined, but it offers a persistent and compelling critique of our romantic notions of the third world.” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review American Wedding (2003) 53% EDIT “...his characters have grown up, but his gags are still trying to graduate from high school...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Lucía, Lucía (2003) EDIT “Unfortunately the complicated thriller plot—with the regulation suitcase full of illicit cash—hinders the characters’ emotional interactions without ever becoming credible on its own terms. ” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review The Heart of Me (2002) 50% EDIT “A devastating performance by Olivia Williams anchors this emotionally complex British drama...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) 25% EDIT “The tag here is more silly than haunting, but this is still a pretty wild ride, with a fine, knife-wielding score by Bennett Salvay.” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review The Sandmen (2000) EDIT “Nothing fires up a noir like having the most appealing actor play the most repugnant character, and this gritty 2000 French feature by Pierre Salvadori offers a fine performance by Patrick Lizana...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review The Medallion (2003) 17% EDIT “This is a complete mess, making up its story logic as it goes along...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review Koi ... Mil Gaya (2003) 80% EDIT “Consistently entertaining but truly bizarre...” – Chicago Reader Aug 2, 2022 Full Review
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