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M.E. Russell

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Staff writer for The Oregonian.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Jennifer's Body (2009) 47% C+ EDIT “While "Jennifer's Body" doesn't always connect -- particularly when it tries to build horror-movie tension -- it's still an obvious labor of movie-geek love.” – Oregonian Mar 28, 2019 Full Review Rango (2011) 88% B+ EDIT “The funny and powerfully weird Rango is probably the closest I've seen a big-budget, computer-animated feature get to the comic vibe of my favorite Chuck Jones cartoons.” – Oregonian Mar 4, 2011 Full Review Hood to Coast (2011) 58% EDIT “What makes Hood to Coast special is the way it sort of perversely captures the entire human comedy -- it's pain and pleasure tied up in sleep-deprived logistics, and the punchline is that the suffering is completely voluntary.” – Oregonian Jan 6, 2011 Full Review The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) 28% C+ EDIT “Yes, this is a very relative and qualified compliment, and yes, the snarksters will still find plenty to pick at, but this time around, even a complete demographic outsider like myself could at least vaguely comprehend the series' basic appeal.” – Oregonian Nov 19, 2009 Full Review Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 83% A- EDIT “Six films in, it almost feels like it's booting up a new-and-improved, darker, earthier, more grown-up and visually sophisticated trilogy.” – Oregonian Jul 14, 2009 Full Review Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 19% EDIT “Revenge of the Fallen almost feels like it's signaling an end-game for blockbuster movies: all sensation, no content, catastrophic expense.” – Oregonian Jun 24, 2009 Full Review The Brothers Bloom (2008) 68% B+ EDIT “Johnson doesn't just make it work: His confident direction takes what could have been self-consciously precious and makes it hugely entertaining and a little moving.” – Oregonian May 22, 2009 Full Review Friday the 13th (2009) 26% C- EDIT “Go rent the one where Jason takes Manhattan, or something.” – Oregonian Feb 13, 2009 Full Review Last Chance Harvey (2008) 71% B- EDIT “Hoffman just kills whenever Harvey owns up to his mediocrity and tiny failures. He and Thompson give this underwhelming story a genuinely human core.” – Oregonian Jan 16, 2009 Full Review Valkyrie (2008) 62% B+ EDIT “The film is a minor Christmas miracle: It succeeds on its own terms, despite the gossip hounds' best blood-sniffing efforts, and dares to be an entertainment rather than a statement.” – Oregonian Dec 24, 2008 Full Review Seven Pounds (2008) 26% C EDIT “The movie gets just enough right that the things it doesn't get right (beyond its overdependence on a not-so-surprising story puzzle) smack you cold in the face.” – Oregonian Dec 19, 2008 Full Review Dark Streets (2008) 19% C- EDIT “The script is just all kinds of terrible.” – Oregonian Dec 12, 2008 Full Review JCVD (2008) 82% B+ EDIT “Giving the performance of his life, largely in French, Van Damme delivers a soulful self-analysis.” – Oregonian Dec 5, 2008 Full Review Bolt (2008) 90% B- EDIT “While Bolt isn't as funny, memorable or inspired as the animation classic from which it pilfers, it's still beautifully animated, cleanly told, professionally voiced and makes you smile without insulting your intelligence.” – Oregonian Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Morning Light (2008) 29% C EDIT “The camera can only film the on-deck action from so many angles before it gets repetitive. The musical score is pabulum. Race technology and tactics are barely explored, and you never get a sense of the larger field of competitors.” – Oregonian Oct 17, 2008 Full Review The Secret Life of Bees (2008) 60% C- EDIT “Ultimately, if you think about it too hard, Bees is a movie in which a bunch of powerful African American women get their lives upended and in some cases destroyed so a little white girl can feel better about herself.” – Oregonian Oct 17, 2008 Full Review The Express (2008) 63% C+ EDIT “Maybe the real Ernie Davis really was this perfect, but the movie plays as if the filmmakers didn't want to offend his family.” – Oregonian Oct 10, 2008 Full Review Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) 85% B EDIT “What makes Wanted and Desired riveting is that Zenovich balances this immorality play by interviewing nearly everyone involved and mixes it with perfectly culled archival footage.” – Oregonian Sep 12, 2008 Full Review The Women (2008) 13% D EDIT “English seems to confuse empowerment with narcissism.” – Oregonian Sep 12, 2008 Full Review Traitor (2008) 64% C+ EDIT “Unfortunately, the movie stumbles a fair bit.” – Oregonian Aug 27, 2008 Full Review American Teen (2008) 69% C EDIT “Its subjects blandly keep your attention in almost the exact same way that reality-show contestants keep your attention.” – Oregonian Aug 8, 2008 Full Review Hancock (2008) 42% B- EDIT “Part of Smith and Berg's subvert-your-expectations game plan involves a major midfilm shocker, one that takes the movie to larger mythological places unrelated to Hancock's self-improvement quest.” – Oregonian Jul 1, 2008 Full Review Gunnin' for That No. 1 Spot (2008) 72% B EDIT “Gunnin' for That #1 Spot is a basketball documentary where the climactic game looks like a Hong Kong wire-fu epic.” – Oregonian Jun 27, 2008 Full Review Mongol (2007) 86% B EDIT “Bodrov has simply created an overwhelmingly awesome Khan who could believably conquer the overwhelmingly awesome landscape over the course of two more films.” – Oregonian Jun 20, 2008 Full Review The Love Guru (2008) 13% C+ EDIT “The comedian really climbs out on this particular limb -- a limb so far from the tree, it might have given Peter Sellers pause.” – Oregonian Jun 20, 2008 Full Review
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