>
Josh Bell
Tomatometer-approved critic
Josh Bell has been a film and TV critic for Las Vegas Weekly since 2002.
Heathers, Fight Club, South Park, Clerks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Craft, Scream, The Big Lebowski, Bound, Wild Things, Almost Famous, Batman (Tim Burton-style), Rosemary's Baby, The Birds, Manhattan, Bring It On, Gattaca, Carrie, Pulp Fiction, Terminator 2, Breathless, Lone Star, La Femme Nikita, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Heat
Las Vegas
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Eileen (2023) |
McKenzie and Hathaway deftly handle the fluidity of the relationship, and their smoldering chemistry anchors the movie. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Dec 07, 2023
|
|
|
|
Vengeance: Rise of the Footsoldier (2023) |
The tedious plot drags on for nearly two hours, as a series of similarly one-dimensional blokes stand in the way of Pat's fury. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Dec 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Loop Track (2023) |
Sainsbury keeps the tension high, with enough brief glimpses and strange coincidences to indicate that something isn't quite right. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Dec 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer (2022) |
It's never less than fascinating to listen to Herzog speak, and Radical Dreamer provides solid supplementary material for Herzog admirers. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Dec 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Portrait (2023) |
The plot is thin, but director Simon Ross knows how to conjure up atmospheric dread. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Dec 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Fast Charlie (2023) |
Feels like reheated Elmore Leonard leftovers. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Dec 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Nightmare on 34th Street (2023) |
The only real nightmare is waiting for the movie to finally end. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
Hot Girl Winter (2023) |
Good-natured but dull comedy about Santa's wife cutting loose on vacation. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
A Holiday I Do (2023) |
The sweet but slight romance fights for screen time with multiple underdeveloped subplots. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
Family Ornaments (undefined) |
The CGI ornament monsters look hideous, the plot makes no sense, and the actors fail to convey either the terror or the angst of their characters. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
Elf Me (2023) |
The special effects, especially in a final battle against the villain's army of enchanted toys, are impressive, but the chaotic plot exhausts itself long before then. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
Christmas with Jerks (2023) |
While the romance is predictable, the characters are charmingly crass. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Christmas Classic (2023) |
Maybe someday Akerman and Hansen can find a worthwhile vehicle for their onscreen connection, but this isn't it. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 30, 2023
|
|
|
|
Wish (2023) |
It's easy to watch and often entertaining, but it doesn't leave a lasting impression. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Nov 23, 2023
|
|
|
|
Napoleon (2023) |
Instead of using his artistic license to create a bold new take on a familiar figure, Scott merely offers a series of inert, disconnected tableaus. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Nov 23, 2023
|
|
|
|
Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (2022) |
An effective, entertaining action movie, with some exciting fight scenes and a charismatic lead performance from Xie Miao. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
Due Justice (2023) |
Somehow, the justice that is supposedly due never actually arrives in this incoherent thriller. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
Liberty (2022) |
It's like watching a smug, heavy-handed documentary combined with a plodding, suspense-free thriller. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
5000 Space Aliens (2021) |
Might catch your eye for a few minutes in a gallery, but watching it for 85 minutes straight is a serious endurance test. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
When Time Got Louder (2022) |
The overall effect is emotionally exhausting rather than enlightening. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
Priscilla (2023) |
It's Coppola's best work in years, distilling her familiar themes into an ethereal and immersive character study, a bracing corrective to the string of "great man" biopics Hollywood churns out every awards season. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
|
|
It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) |
With such an obvious slam dunk of a title and set-up, it should be a new Christmas classic rather than just another forgettable yuletide diversion. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Nov 09, 2023
|
|
|
|
Dicks: The Musical (2023) |
The movie clocks in at only 86 minutes -- including end-credit bloopers -- so it only slightly overstays its welcome, and there are enough hilariously bizarre bits to sustain most of that slim running time. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Oct 26, 2023
|
|
|
|
Boudica: Queen of War (2023) |
Kurylenko is mesmerizing as the fearsome fighter, and while the plot is slow to start, the gnarly bloodshed is mostly worth the wait. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 24, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Devil Comes to Kansas City (2023) |
An incoherent disaster that both God and the devil would probably be ashamed to endorse. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 24, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra (2022) |
It's less a creature feature than a meditation on the inexorable passage of time. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 24, 2023
|
|
|
|
Sick Girl (2023) |
The frantic humor clashes with the disingenuous moralizing, and even the prospect of a fatal disease can't make any of these characters endearing. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 24, 2023
|
|
|
|
Butcher's Crossing (2022) |
While Polsky delivers some gorgeous vistas of the Montana shooting locations, he can't translate Williams' story into equally powerful drama. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Oct 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Mill (2023) |
The problem is that The Mill doesn't offer any particularly interesting variations on that familiar set-up, and its storytelling becomes monotonous over the course of 105 minutes. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Oct 12, 2023
|
|
|
|
When Evil Lurks (2023) |
Argentinean writer-director Demián Rugna's powerfully unsettling horror film When Evil Lurks is not for the faint of heart or faint of stomach. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Oct 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Totally Killer (2023) |
It's colorful and upbeat, with an appealing lead performance from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Kiernan Shipka and an amusing high-concept story that's just fast-paced enough to keep from falling apart. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Oct 05, 2023
|
|
|
|
Caddy Hack (2023) |
No one would call Caddyshack subtle, but it's a model of restraint compared to Catanese's grating horror-comedy. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
Creepy Crawly (2022) |
The filmmakers pay more attention to cheesy interpersonal drama than to the gross bugs. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
Mary Had a Little Lamb (2023) |
[The filmmakers] throw some rhymes into a generic slasher movie with a lamb-like killer and an antagonist named Mary. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
Limbo (2021) |
The procedural aspects are basic but effective, and Cheang focuses more on style and characterization than on investigative details. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Plus One (2023) |
Tedious comedy about a bunch of self-centered people grinding through sitcom-level misunderstandings at a fancy Florida resort. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
Appendage (2023) |
As an examination of quarter-life anxiety, Appendage is sometimes insightful, but as a horror movie, it never fully realizes its potential. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Oct 03, 2023
|
|
|
|
Dumb Money (2023) |
Like Gillespie's I, Tonya, it's a funny but empathetic portrayal of people who've been reduced to punchlines in news articles. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Sep 28, 2023
|
|
|
|
No One Will Save You (2023) |
It's an impressive piece of craftsmanship that immediately grabs the audience's attention and doesn't let go for 90 minutes. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Sep 27, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Curse of Willow Song (2020) |
Tian gives Willow an appealingly gritty determination, but it's not enough to hold the movie together. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
Dark Asset (2023) |
The minimal action is unremarkable, Mann and Mattson have no chemistry, and Robert Patrick looks justifiably embarrassed to be there. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
Condition of Return (2023) |
The acting is atrocious, the theology is incoherent, and the harsh lighting makes it all look like a cheap soap opera. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
Barber (2023) |
Director and co-writer Fintan Connolly takes a subdued, matter-of-fact approach to both the criminal investigation and the queer content. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
Io sto bene (2020) |
The title translates to "I Am Fine," and that generic expression of adequacy captures the movie's inoffensive blandness. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 19, 2023
|
|
|
|
Satanic Hispanics (2022) |
As an entertaining showcase for a group of underappreciated Latino horror filmmakers, Satanic Hispanics accomplishes its goal. - CBR
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2023
|
|
|
|
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022) |
The movie based on Benjamin Alire Saenz's popular 2012 young adult novel has its share of dark moments, but overall it's much sweeter and more hopeful. - The Inlander (Spokane, WA)
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2023
|
|
|
|
The Latent Image (2022) |
Birrell overloads the movie with cheap, irritating dream/hallucination fake-outs, which serve only as repetitive padding. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
|
|
Ariel: Back to Buenos Aires (2022) |
Writer-director Alison Murray inelegantly mashes together two tonally divergent stories. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
|
|
American: An Odyssey to 1947 (2022) |
As a documentary about the early career and political activism of Orson Welles, director Danny Wu's film is straightforward and informative, if a bit dry. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
|
|
8 Found Dead (2022) |
The would-be victims are largely annoying, and the movie just marks time until returning to their inevitable killings. - Crooked Marquee
Read More
| Posted Sep 05, 2023
|