Lael Loewenstein
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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A Radiant Girl (2021) |
It has a very odd sense of not being of its time or place... There wasn't much about it that was specific to its moment. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Mar 02, 2023
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Boy From Nowhere (2023) |
A very sweet, lovely film. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Mar 02, 2023
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Return to Seoul (2022) |
A very good film. It is tremendously well-thought out and beautifully mounted. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Mar 02, 2023
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The Other Fellow (2022) |
A pretty good documentary and a pretty clever idea. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
[Jonathan Majors] elevated the material and was in a realm altogether... [But the movie] was too drunk on its own mythology. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Bezos: The Beginning (2022) |
There is nothing particularly inspired here. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 11, 2023
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Chess Story (2021) |
It's extremely well-directed and one of the best uses of sound design I've heard in a while. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 11, 2023
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The Super 8 Years (2022) |
A really different kind of way to examine our memories, and a beautiful film in many ways. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 11, 2023
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Missing (2023) |
A really interesting experiment in style. The way that it's done is constantly gripping and holds your attention. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 11, 2023
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When You Finish Saving the World (2022) |
It could have been a sharper film, but I give it props... A nice little starter project [for Jesse Eisenberg]. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 11, 2023
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I Am D.B. Cooper (2022) |
The filmmaker undercuts the film's persuasiveness with tons of reenactments. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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2nd Chance (2022) |
[The subject] compels you and repulses you, sometimes at the same time. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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One Fine Morning (2022) |
A very moving, emotionally honest film. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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The Whale (2022) |
Fraser was by a mile the best part of this film. He brings gravitas and a great deal of thoughtfulness to it... The problem I had with the film was everything else. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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Emancipation (2022) |
It's a horrifying story, a true chapter of American history, and nothing is really spared... An excellent film. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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Empire of Light (2022) |
This could have been so much better, but on the other hand I love Olivia Colman and I could listen to her read the phonebook. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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The Estate (2022) |
"Ghastly" would be too kind a word. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Peaceful (2021) |
A mixed bag... But good for the performance of Gabriel Sara. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me (2022) |
A very intimate look at a star who grew up in the spotlight... A pretty good documentary. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche (2021) |
What struck me about this film was how extremely well-made it was. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Good Night Oppy (2022) |
A remarkable documentary and one of the best films of the week. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) |
It exists somewhere between brilliance and utter tedium... A mixed bag. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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Enola Holmes 2 (2022) |
Millie Bobby Brown is terrific... I just found it a little long and not quite as brisk as the first Enola Holmes. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022) |
It's sort of meandering and well-meaning, but the tone never quite settled on what it's supposed to be. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022) |
Given the Stephen King pedigree, I had hoped for more. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) |
There's lots of mayhem, silliness, and wonderful comic bits. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Nothing Compares (2022) |
An excellent documentary... The sense that I got is that she was an artist and activist very much ahead of her time. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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God's Creatures (2022) |
The payoff is potent in this film, but it is a long, slow build. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Bros (2022) |
It feels fairly authentic to gay life and pretty enjoyable. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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The Class (2022) |
It felt very superficial in comparison to The Breakfast Club. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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Loving Highsmith (2022) |
A fairly elucidating documentary about lesbian culture in the 1950s. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 (2022) |
It's a pretty well done documentary in spite of the fact that it uses a great deal of reenactments, which I don't usually care for. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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The Story of Film: A New Generation (2022) |
Absent any context, these clips lose their meaning and their power... But certainly I admired his chutzpah in putting this all together. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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House of Darkness (2022) |
There's a lot of crackling chemistry and tension, which is something LaBute does well... I'm mixed on this, but it's a worthy addition to his canon. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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Clerks III (2022) |
It feels a little tired this time... It doesn't feel like it grows the franchise or my cinematic experience with it. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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Pinocchio (2022) |
A lovely and welcome antidote to the heat. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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The Youth Governor (2022) |
There are moments when it is very interesting, and certainly the filmmakers had up close and personal access, which was revealing in many cases. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Me Time (2022) |
This really felt like everyone was just phoning it in. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Keane (2004) |
It is excruciatingly tense and so well-acted... An extraordinary film. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Explorer (2022) |
It's certainly a fascinating story, I just wish it could have been more visually arresting. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Funny Pages (2022) |
This is a very weird film -- and I say that with affection. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Breaking (2022) |
A stirring and heartbreaking portrait of what's going on with our veterans. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) |
For a film that is supposed to be about the power of storytelling, it felt oddly cold, remote, and it didn't engage emotionally. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Aug 26, 2022
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My Name Is Sara (2019) |
It's a compelling story, but I just wish it had been given a better telling. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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Alone Together (2022) |
It's a very small film with a tiny cast. It's tender and pleasant. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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Queen of Glory (2021) |
[Nana Mensah] is so full of immense energy, and she brings that to every frame of this film. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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My Donkey, My Lover & I (2020) |
There's lots of warmth throughout the film and some surprising details. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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How to Please a Woman (2022) |
Very entertaining, very sweet, and one absolutely hilarious scene. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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Nope (2022) |
When this film works, it is absolutely thrilling... [But] it feels like the script should have been tightened. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 22, 2022
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Hot Seat (2022) |
It felt like it had so many elements from so many films we've seen before... There was not much that felt new or fresh to me. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jul 06, 2022
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