Michael Frank
Tomatometer-approved critic
Michael Frank is a freelance film critic and journalist based in Brooklyn. He's a contributor to The Film Stage, The Spool, and Paste Magazine, and has bylines in RogerEbert, Polygon, The Playlist, and AwardsWatch. Twitter: @peachfuzzcritic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023) |
[Elba] smolders his way through 129 minutes, remaining the series’ greatest asset. - The Spool
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| Posted Mar 08, 2023
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Jamojaya (2023) |
As Jamojaya progresses, messaging gets lost. The luster of the photography, the weight of images, loses power. It starts feeling like an empty exercise: a story with no sticking power, a waste of talented dual leads. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Rye Lane (2023) |
Allen-Miller's inventiveness pops off the screen, a decision to show this couple with constant invention. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Knock at the Cabin (2023) |
The emotional connection fades as terror grows, a fun time at the movies not being able to overcome a severe lack of attachment to characters who must die in order for everyone else to survive. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Drift (2023) |
Chen hopes to craft a meditative drama. Instead he has made a shallow film, a catch-all of refugee stories that’s supposed to contain resonance. It’s a lump sum of experiences, sans uniqueness. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 31, 2023
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Shortcomings (2023) |
Park’s debut comedy leans on its cast and a smart screenplay to offer up a social commentary both bitter enough to make a point and agreeable enough to make people laugh, even leave with a smile on their faces. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Against the Tide (2023) |
Kaur’s film looks at a relationship strained by tradition and the throwing away of it, a brotherhood that simply will not end regardless of contradiction. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Fremont (2023) |
Nodding to Kaurismäki and Jarmusch’s spare but beautiful and dryly witty tales of isolation, Fremont asks for patience. Without it, the film won’t make any sort of impact. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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The Starling Girl (2023) |
A strong showing from an up-and-coming director with two terrific, mostly quiet lead performances. Both perspectives elevate the film above standard fare depicting the dangers of fundamentalism. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Run Rabbit Run (2023) |
The origins of all this unstable melodrama eventually unfold, but outside of its primary performances, this dark fable provides little meat to chew on. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023) |
Brewster and Stephenson struggle to penetrate the armor of this famous poet, focusing instead on her career, her health, and the way that others look at her. Most often they do so with deep admiration, a longing to be fixed by Giovanni. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Fairyland (2023) |
In such moments McNairy gives his finest acting in a long, mostly supportive career. His eyes carry unlimited warmth and sensitivity. He’s sensational as this father just needing to hear he did his best, reflecting on a life lived. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Bad Behaviour (2023) |
Outside of a hilarious Connelly using her star power and experience to create a memorable lead character, Bad Behaviour is transitory, destined to not be remembered beyond a few quippy quotes. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Divinity (2023) |
Whatever its narrative limitations, Divinity is praise-worthy, with the possibility of cashing in on its strangeness with niche audiences for decades to come. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Other People's Children (2022) |
Zlotowski’s fifth feature excels thanks to a compelling lead performance from Efira, giving insight into one woman’s relationship to motherhood. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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A Man Called Otto (2022) |
For a film focused on the size of one man’s heart, A Man Called Otto lacks what its protagonist has in spades. It feels produced from a factory with its half-complete characters and surging score designed to tell people precisely when to feel something. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jan 12, 2023
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January 6th (2022) |
The unfurling of this memorable day in American history casts a long, dark shadow on far-right extremists, election deniers, and ex-President Donald Trump. - The Spool
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| Posted Jan 08, 2023
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Devotion (2022) |
[Majors'] fame skyrocketed off the heels of his introduction into the Marvel universe, though he’s a much bigger hero in Devotion: he brings a groundedness, an emotional intensity, and a theatrical cadence in the midst of a sometimes shoot-em-up story. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Nov 24, 2022
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There There (2022) |
It’s disconnected, largely lacking emotional impact, and wasteful of a talented cast. Yet it slides by on the charm of these performers and the occasional wit of its script. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Nov 21, 2022
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Armageddon Time (2022) |
Gray’s film, as personal as he’s made, blurs the line between memory and fiction. - The Spool
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| Posted Oct 28, 2022
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The Super 8 Years (2022) |
Ernaux’s story is her own, though many audiences will find it looks quite similar, regardless of one’s position as parent or child. The film plays as one extended memory—sometimes more bitter, sometimes more sweet, always a combination of both. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Oct 24, 2022
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Personality Crisis: One Night Only (2022) |
Johansen is a force despite this film’s flaws, undeniable in both charms and quirks. His talent remains emphatic, and his stage presence is enough for the camera to sit back and appreciate him. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Oct 19, 2022
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"Sr." (2022) |
“Sr.” is sweet and tender, never playing as a dolled-up version of this relationship; it instead depicts a trueness in this bond, a warmth that has existed all of their lives. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Oct 17, 2022
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Till (2022) |
She’s an indelible force playing an indelible figure—a role and a person that Deadwyler doesn’t imitate, but rather embodies. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Oct 14, 2022
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God's Country (2022) |
Newton is tremendous as Guidry, a character that allows her to offer a sustained, steady acting triumph. - The Spool
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| Posted Sep 16, 2022
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The Innocents (2021) |
Vogt opts to use this overwhelming sense of dread over any genre tricks, finding tension in the silence between these kids and in this community. - The Spool
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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Nitram (2021) |
Jones inhabits the facets of Nitram in full force, looking committed to the intensity that bubbles until it cannot stay capped any longer. - The Spool
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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The Contractor (2022) |
With mostly stale action and a bungled third act missing usual political intrigue, The Contractor feels like a knockoff of better, mid-2000s fare. - The Spool
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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Butterfly in the Sky (2022) |
It’s an exercise in looking back, in giving credit to a group of people that positively affected millions of Americans. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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Don't Make Me Go (2022) |
It’s likely people will make the mistake of thinking this was an adaptation of a popular book, one of those novels seen in airports and picked up by parents and teens looking to throw it away after their vacation ends. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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Rogue Agent (2022) |
Rogue Agent...hums when focusing on Norton and Arterton, a dynamic duo bringing a seductive, dangerous nature to their (mostly) linear story. - The Spool
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| Posted Aug 14, 2022
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I Love My Dad (2022) |
I’m not sure that I Love My Dad is a particularly well-made film, but it’s certainly a well-intentioned one, featuring actors tapping into a trueness within them and a director looking for another level of catharsis. - The Spool
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| Posted Aug 08, 2022
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Bullet Train (2022) |
Everyone in the film is winking at each other, every scene a nod to the audience. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Aug 02, 2022
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Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel (2022) |
A moving, devastating piece of filmmaking. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jul 17, 2022
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Lynch/Oz (2022) |
For a Lynch diehard, Lynch/Oz will be catnip. For any average moviegoer, it digs into the well of American cinema history with enough fascination that it’s worth a watch. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Jul 05, 2022
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Hustle (2022) |
Sandler ushers Hernangómez into the limelight, as the latter gives a quiet performance in his first lead role, using his physical gifts to guide him as an international hooper with a big dream.
- The Spool
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| Posted Jun 28, 2022
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Happening (2021) |
With her sophomore feature, the director opts for minimality, slowly closing the window of a young woman’s freedom, shooting each scene with a tender and realitist lens. - The Spool
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| Posted May 06, 2022
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Memory (2022) |
Without any depth to these characters, Memory has little to offer audiences that they haven’t seen before. - The Spool
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| Posted May 05, 2022
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Paris, 13th District (2021) |
The moments of nastiness combined with times of apathy bring together the peaks of this little drama, cratering when the writers assemble unearned redemption. - The Spool
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| Posted Apr 24, 2022
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King Knight (2021) |
A slew of good actors cant save dialogue that puts them into boxes and leaves them stranded there. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 27, 2022
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Sharp Stick (2022) |
Even as quality dips and swerves, this is a project where it seems no notes were given, the kind of freedom that's refreshing in today's landscape. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future (2022) |
This feature debut represents a big swing for the Chilean director, a thoughtful, deliberate drama bursting with ecological and personal imagery. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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Something In The Dirt (2022) |
Something in the Dirt becomes a late-night obsessives dream, a sometimes-unintelligible deep dive into the subconscious of two men who are grasping at importance. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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The Mission (2022) |
If only Anderson went even further and muddied up the glassy waters. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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Brian and Charles (2022) |
Whatever its issues reaching the already-short 90-minute runtime, its a delight: a happy-go-lucky story about found family, or in this case a created one. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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Lucy and Desi (2022) |
Poehlers warmth rides like a current through the entirety of the film, providing joy that was missing from Aaron Sorkins recent biopic Being the Ricardos. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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The Territory (2022) |
A collaborative, vrit documentary thats both engaging and terrifying. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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Dual (2022) |
Stearns, critically successful in his first two films, will likely find a more divisive audience with Dual, which bears an outstanding premise and mixed execution. - The Film Stage
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| Posted Feb 08, 2022
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A Hero (2021) |
The Iranian director dramatizes the most straightforward situations, creating tension within the four walls of a household, building walls around Jadidi as he travels around the city, unclear of where to go or what to do. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 07, 2022
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Home Team (2022) |
Kevin James turn as controversial football coach Sean Payton blocks its punt through shallow storytelling and its frankly loathsome protagonist.
- The Spool
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| Posted Feb 01, 2022
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