Kenneth R. Morefield
Tomatometer-approved critic
Kenneth is an Associate Professor of English at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. He is the editor of and a contributor to Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema (2008, Cambridge Scholars Publishing). Other works of note include contributions to the anthologies Perceptions of Religious Faith in the Work of Graham Greene (2001, Peter Lang) and The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on Television's Shocking Cartoon Series (2009, McFarland). Morefield also maintains a collection of other film related writing at 1More Film Blog, and is married to the artist, Cynthia L. Morefield.
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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It Is In Us All (2022) |
The story never quite coalesces into a coherent enough narrative to land hard, but it does provide Cosmo Jarvis with a welcome showcase for his considerable talent. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted May 22, 2023
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) |
Yes, there are space battles, but the impetus for them is personal rather than universal survival, and that makes us more invested in the outcome. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted May 02, 2023
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Queen of Glory (2021) |
A modest but effective portrayal of reverse culture shock. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted May 01, 2023
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The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) |
I wasn’t expecting Pixar, but the heroes end where they started, not having been transformed by their experiences or learning anything from them. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Apr 08, 2023
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Space Oddity (2022) |
Is it more loving to indulge someone’s fantasy than to confront it for what you think it is? - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Mar 28, 2023
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Last Sentinel (2023) |
It’s a melancholy, meditative work more interested in its situation’s ability to extract philosophical dialogue from its characters than its ability to force them into dramatically meaningful decisions. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Mar 27, 2023
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) |
Sufficient for the day are the pleasures of the day. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Mar 27, 2023
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
A return to what Marvel does best ... teasing the next movie. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Shadowplay (2022) |
More enthralled by its ideas than capable of enthralling others with them. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Feb 04, 2023
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Kitchen Brigade (2022) |
They say that one of the hardest culinary challenges that distinguish top-tier chefs from those closer to average is making a seemingly plain consommé. Louis-Julien Petit has nailed the cinematic equivalent... - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 15, 2023
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Voodoo Macbeth (2021) |
Welles comes across here as a bit of a naifish knave, a slightly less affable version of Shakespeare in Love‘s lovable idiot genius. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 06, 2023
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Borrowed (2023) |
It doesn’t help that there have been other, better movies that have more coherently explored the territory between grooming and loving. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Dec 27, 2022
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A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story (2022) |
It is a film that conspicuously, but fairly addresses historical racism in Hollywood and, subsequently, America. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Dec 14, 2022
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The Sound of Violet (2022) |
"The characters are so one-dimensional that the film appears to flounder when asked to provide any secondary features of them beyond the single adjective identifiers that would fit on a pitch card: autistic, prostitute, grandmother, pimp, boss..." - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Nov 17, 2022
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Stay the Night (2022) |
"A tamer version of Before Sunrise.' - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 30, 2022
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All Sorts (2021) |
Office Space meets Beetlejuice...and it works. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 19, 2022
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Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (2022) |
An uplifting documentary that argues that people from different backgrounds can fuse and harmonize. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 19, 2022
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Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (2022) |
Comedy, in other words, is the land of embarrassment, but Honk For Jesus is a detailed map of the land of shame and guilt — the least funny emotions there are. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Sep 01, 2022
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Luck (2022) |
If you are looking for an animated film with the emotional gravitas of a Pixar heart-plucker and just a touch of old-school Looney Tunes zaniness, you are in Luck. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Aug 05, 2022
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Both Sides of the Blade (2021) |
Both Sides has the trademark Denis opacity, but the scenario should be more familiar (than that of Beau Travail) to those watching - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jun 30, 2022
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The Forgiven (2021) |
If the worst thing I can say about The Forgiven is that it is not as good as Calvary, the best thing I can say is that it is nevertheless a serious film about conflicted characters wrestling with moral questions. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jun 29, 2022
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Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022) |
A surprisingly nuanced examination of work, capitalism, and what gives our lives meaning.... - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jun 16, 2022
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Days of Daisy (2022) |
If a film’s story is engaging, production elements are rarely a detriment to one’s enjoyment or appreciation of it - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jun 09, 2022
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Jurassic World Dominion (2022) |
Ellie looks at a captive Whateverasaurus and gushes that the wonder of seeing dinosaurs “never gets old.” - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jun 08, 2022
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The Bad Guys (2022) |
The insistence that good and bad are merely masks we put on and take off is pretty much the antithesis of the message of most great art... - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Apr 21, 2022
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How They Got Over (2021) |
It mixes some talking heads with archival performances, the better to understand the contributions of gospel to the development of rock and roll. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Apr 15, 2022
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Mama Bears (2022) |
"I was a hateful reflection of a loving God." - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Apr 09, 2022
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Ambulance (2022) |
Ambulance is an amoral film about amoral people that made me angry. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Apr 07, 2022
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Belle Vie (2022) |
Belle Vie is the name of a Los Angeles Bistro owned and operated by Vincent Samarco. (It is also an ironic comment on the restaurant business and how difficult it is.) - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Mar 29, 2022
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The Yellow Wallpaper (2021) |
What the film does right -- making the psychosis rather than the patriarchy the antagonist -- comes with challenges. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Mar 29, 2022
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The Unmaking of a College (2022) |
Marginal fresh rating because it does speak to a disenchanted and discouraged population and tell the people in it that organization and dissent can still be effective political tools. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Feb 10, 2022
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Air Doll (2009) |
Permeated with the auteurs touch of melancholy, but it also hints that there is light and love in the world around us, - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Feb 03, 2022
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The 355 (2022) |
A year from now, you may see the DVD in Redbox and ask your spouse, 'Did we see that?' She (or he) will most likely shrug uncertainly. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 06, 2022
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The Green Knight (2021) |
I have wondered when we were going to collectively wake up and realize how good Dev Patel really is. The casting here is perfect, as Patel's persona practically radiates aspirational nobility. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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Passing (2021) |
In an efficient 98 minutes, the film keeps upping the ante, adding variations to the same theme in order to show that we all pretend at times to be what we are not... - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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A Hero (2021) |
Farhadi gives us a portrait of people living close to the abyss, trying not to fall, and increasingly afraid to offer a hand to another less the least knew burden becomes a final weight that causes them to buckle. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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The Worst Person in the World (2021) |
Stories that feature potentially unlikeable leads with whom you are meant to empathize require confident, fearless performances, and Renate Reinsve delivers here in a big way. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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House of Gucci (2021) |
Nobody comes out looking good in this movie, and that's usually a deal-breaker for me. But there is catharsis here in every sense of the word. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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Attica (2021) |
I don't think Attica glorifies the prisoners, but it does humanize them. That is, it presents them as human beings. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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Encanto (2021) |
The story is thin, but the musical contributions from Lin Manuel Miranda are genuinely emotional. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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Don't Look Up (2021) |
That film tried so tirelessly and relentlessly to scold us for not listening to it that it forgot to forge a powerful work of art for those who were attending. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Jan 05, 2022
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American Underdog (2021) |
I have been writing the same review of Erwin films for nearly a decade, so here it is: better than it has to be but not as good as it could be; likely to please the target audience and bore (rather than inflame) those outside Christian circles... - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Dec 21, 2021
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The Jesus Music (2021) |
"Rebel" and "pioneer" are free-floating signifiers that are used to praise without really explaining why they are, or should be, praiseworthy. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Dec 17, 2021
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Paper & Glue (2021) |
By choosing less permanent media for his portraits, JR manages to convey the beauty of fragility and the necessity of living in the present moment. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Nov 09, 2021
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Eternals (2021) |
Marvel films go down easy for me, but none of them -- none of them -- wear well on repeated viewing. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Huda's Salon (2021) |
It resists dividing the world into neat piles of good and evil - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 23, 2021
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King Richard (2021) |
Venus's ascendancy is a fait accompli, so none of the risks that she or Richard takes provide any dramatic tension. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 21, 2021
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The Last Duel (2021) |
I wish more of the ambivalence of the film's ending had worked its way into the film proper - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Oct 16, 2021
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Dear Evan Hansen (2021) |
I am apparently an outlier because I thought this was gloriously messy rather than just messy. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Sep 24, 2021
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The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) |
Again and again, the film beats us over the head with its insistence that Tammy Faye is sincere, but one can be sincere and wrong or sincere and misguided. - 1More Film Blog
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| Posted Sep 23, 2021
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