John Berra
John Berra's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Screen International
Electric Sheep
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Full River Red (2023) |
Its blend of styles and sensibilities may be occasionally confounding, but Full River Red is certainly never less than entertaining in its richly inventive mining of history. - Screen International
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| Posted Jan 24, 2023
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The Wandering Earth II (2023) |
There is certainly much to admire about this ambitious homegrown sci-fi saga, even if it feels rather protracted with the running time clocking in 45 minutes longer than its predecessor. - Screen International
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| Posted Jan 22, 2023
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The Matchmaker (2022) |
The Matchmaker raises pertinent questions and maintains an unwavering focus, even if painstaking efforts to extract detail bump up against broad claims of “brainwashing”. - Screen International
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Alienoid (2022) |
Hamstrung by lumbering plotting and variable special effects... an unimaginative hodgepodge which leaves its well-assembled cast stranded across time and space. - Screen International
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| Posted Aug 22, 2022
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Return to Dust (2022) |
This poetic tale of an arranged marriage which blossoms into a true partnership is Li’s most affecting and accessible work to date. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 13, 2022
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Snipers (2022) |
Relatively contained and short on visual flourishes, it wears its patriotic heart on its blood-splattered sleeve while delivering bursts of action with brisk proficiency. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 05, 2022
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Hot Soup (2020) |
The cryptic manner in which Zhang and his co-writers raise timely questions about the future of China's goal-oriented society ensures that Hot Soup is an especially tasty conversation starter. - Screen International
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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Railway Heroes (2021) |
Given the sizeable cast, painstaking period recreation and large-scale set pieces, this is an ambitious project for a directorial debut, but Yang Feng mostly pulls it off. - Screen International
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| Posted Nov 21, 2021
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Third Time Lucky (2021) |
Minor tonal issues aside, acute writing and deft performances ensure that Third Time Lucky is a highly promising debut feature. - Screen International
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| Posted Nov 05, 2021
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Terrorizers (2021) |
This intersection of isolated souls maintains interest throughout while emphasising some difficult truths about the human condition. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 30, 2021
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24 (2021) |
Filmed over the course of three years in Singapore and Thailand, this is a spellbinding meditation on life and mortality which incorporates Tan's trademark absurdist humour within a beguiling framework. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 12, 2021
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Pedro (2021) |
In addition to his haunting use of landscape, the self-taught Hegde coaxes credibly naturalistic performances from non-professionals, some of whom are family members. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 09, 2021
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Spiritwalker (2020) |
Spiritwalker is intermittently clever yet ultimately rather disposable despite its overall technical proficiency. - Screen International
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| Posted Aug 05, 2021
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Streetwise (2021) |
Streetwise is too familiar in terms of plot beats to completely stand out from the crowd but its unerring sense of place will nonetheless make Na a director to watch. - Screen International
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| Posted Jul 17, 2021
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Ripples of Life (2021) |
A dexterous rumination on the pursuit of authenticity. - Screen International
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| Posted Jul 17, 2021
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Moneyboys (2021) |
[An] elegantly framed and affectingly played drama... - Screen International
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| Posted Jul 14, 2021
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Are You Lonesome Tonight? (2021) |
First-time director Wen Shipei demonstrates a certain flair for heightened atmospherics and off-kilter details. - Screen International
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| Posted Jul 14, 2021
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Cliff Walkers (2021) |
The venerable Fifth Generation director proves just as adept when it comes to the espionage thriller, somehow marshaling almost every conceivable stock element into a reassuringly familiar whole. - Screen International
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| Posted Apr 30, 2021
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Sister (2021) |
The ongoing conflict between traditional values and the pursuit of individual goals lies at the heart of Yin Ruoxin's affectingly sincere drama Sister. - Screen International
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| Posted Apr 12, 2021
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Detective Chinatown 3 (2020) |
Even when it is more dedicated to brand extension than the art of deduction, Detective Chinatown 3 exudes a heightened zaniness which is most welcome in today's largely homogenised franchise landscape. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 16, 2021
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A Writer's Odyssey (2021) |
The result often verges on sensory overload but is nonetheless largely coherent and frequently inventive while evincing a determinedly dark sensibility. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 12, 2021
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One Second (2020) |
An emotionally satisfying celebration of how cinema is experienced both individually and collectively. - Screen International
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| Posted Dec 01, 2020
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Vanguard (2020) |
A CGI-laden imitation of blockbuster spectacle. - Screen International
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| Posted Nov 17, 2020
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Beyond You (2020) |
Park deserves praise for making conceptually layered films with limited resources, but should perhaps give linear storytelling a try next time around. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 26, 2020
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Three (2020) |
Three not only operates within a durable genre wheelhouse but evinces a decidedly off-kilter sensibility which should prompt word-of-mouth recommendation. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 22, 2020
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Jiang Ziya (2019) |
Impressively for a piece of foundation-stage universe building, Jiang Ziya manages to hint at a world beyond the frame without mitigating its individual pleasures. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 07, 2020
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The Eight Hundred (2020) |
A towering technical achievement which commands attention from start to finish. - Screen International
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| Posted Sep 19, 2020
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The Best Is Yet To Come (2020) |
Wang has delivered a thoroughly invigorating blend of character study and investigative thriller. - Screen International
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| Posted Sep 09, 2020
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Love After Love (2020) |
A sumptuously detailed evocation of a rarefied world defined as much by a unique set of rules as its abundant material comforts. - Screen International
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| Posted Sep 08, 2020
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The Paper Tigers (2020) |
Its affectionate use of genre tropes and amiable performances make it a pleasing diversion for any mature martial arts movie fan. - Screen International
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| Posted Aug 31, 2020
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Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019) |
Although the premise is undoubtedly far-fetched, Malaysian director Sam Quah succeeds in constructing the kind of tightly wound suspense piece for which disbelief can be suspended. - Screen International
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| Posted Aug 20, 2020
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Victim(s) (2020) |
Ji crafts a scathing social critique without tipping the film into irreversibly grave polemic. - Screen International
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| Posted Jul 01, 2020
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I WeirDO (2020) |
An eye-catching and empathic debut which succeeds in making its ostensibly peculiar scenario all too relatable. - Screen International
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| Posted Jun 30, 2020
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Ashfall (2019) |
Patently ludicrous but no less enjoyable for it, Ashfall is a rock-solid disaster spectacle bolstered by the savvy star pairing of Lee Byung-hun and Ha Jung-woo as unlikely allies tasked with a borderline impossible mission. - Screen International
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| Posted Jun 26, 2020
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Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019) |
Playing typically fast and loose with history, regular director Wilson Yip again balances a respectful representation of Ip Man's teachings with breathlessly kinetic fight scenes that will surely satisfy the series' legion of fans. - Screen International
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| Posted Dec 18, 2019
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Only Cloud Knows (2019) |
What could have been rather mournful instead becomes a poignant celebration of life thanks to Feng's deft handling of patently sincere material. - Screen International
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| Posted Dec 18, 2019
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The Whistleblower (2019) |
When it refrains from heavy handed lecturing, The Whistleblower just about passes muster as a slick time-waster, with Andy Canny's taut editing keeping the increasingly improbable developments moving at a decent pace. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Dec 10, 2019
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Better Days (2019) |
Better Days may slide into somewhat hollow artfulness, but it's hard not to be moved by its genuine concerns. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 29, 2019
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Radius (2019) |
Trijya conveys urban malaise in a quietly perplexing manner that bodes well for Indikar's future development. - Screen International
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| Posted Jun 25, 2019
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Vortex (2019) |
It may be packed with the requisite moral dilemmas, botched exchanges and double-crosses, but director Gan Jianyu handles these stock elements in such a rote manner that interest rapidly dwindles as the situation escalates. - Screen International
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| Posted Jun 24, 2019
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Leftover Women (2019) |
An emotionally complex piece of personal portraiture that intimately reveals the extent to which traditional attitudes still dominate Chinese society regardless of its globalised surface. - Screen International
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| Posted Apr 28, 2019
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(undefined) |
It's a relatively tame cinematic affair with an hour or so of tepid soul-searching bookended by touristic shots of the Eiffel Tower. - Screen International
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| Posted Apr 25, 2019
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(undefined) |
The director's renewed effort to traverse cultural dichotomies is waylaid by narrative contrivances and ultimately drowns in overbearing sentiment. - Screen International
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| Posted Apr 15, 2019
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Triple Threat (2019) |
A must-see for genre enthusiasts. - Screen International
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| Posted Mar 15, 2019
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Crazy Alien (1970) |
Ning's unerring knack for illustrating the absurdity of contemporary China through popular genre iconography somewhat compensates for a repetitive second half. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 06, 2019
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The Wandering Earth (2019) |
Even before it concludes in a bombastic manner that is more Michael Bay than Christopher Nolan, it's apparent that The Wandering Earth has made a giant leap for China's science fiction cinema but not for the genre itself. - Screen International
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| Posted Feb 06, 2019
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One Child Nation (2019) |
If it stops short of making an explicit political statement, a series of powerful testimonies leaves a harrowing micro-level impression. - Screen International
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| Posted Jan 27, 2019
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A Cool Fish (2018) |
Aiming for a mix of postmodern caper and grassroots social commentary, it's a hectically plotted misfire that comes up short on both fronts. - Screen International
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| Posted Nov 19, 2018
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Last Letter (2018) |
Playing a character who can't quite let go of past romantic disappointment despite her apparent present day happiness, Zhou credibly grounds a scenario so lightweight that it often seems about to float away. - Screen International
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| Posted Nov 12, 2018
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The Rib (2018) |
Despite its sincerity, The Rib is undermined by Zhang's tendency to foreground related issues with character development secondary to instigating debate. - Screen International
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| Posted Oct 08, 2018
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