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Michael Ordoña
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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A Million Miles Away (2023) |
A Million Miles Away doesn’t exactly zoom past the stratosphere, but it’s kept in orbit by Hernández’s inspirational true story and the comfort of family ties. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Bobi Wine: The People's President (2022) |
It’s hard not to be swept up in the film, a delivery device for outrage in a moment that could use it. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 30, 2023
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Sisu (2022) |
There’s far too much suspension of disbelief required to maintain any kind of dramatic stakes. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Apr 26, 2023
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Spinning Gold (2023) |
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Dreamer bucks convention, struggles, success leads to excess and drugs, marriage falls apart, etc., etc. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 31, 2023
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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond (2022) |
The movie isn’t unusual-looking or surprising, but my daughter assures me fans of the show will not want to miss it. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jan 19, 2023
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New Gods: Yang Jian (2022) |
Whatever else one comes away with, “New Gods: Yang Jian” belongs alongside the more visually striking recent animated features. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jan 19, 2023
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Alice, Darling (2022) |
Ultimately, it’s about the bonds of sisterhood and how those who know you best and love you most can help you heal, or at least start you on that path. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 30, 2022
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The Almond and the Seahorse (2022) |
It’s fertile dramatic ground, though it has been more fruitful in “50 First Dates” and “Memento,” among others. The cast is game. Unfortunately, what should be gut punches feel like glancing blows. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 16, 2022
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Project Wolf Hunting (2022) |
Slaughter stans will get their butchery bellyfuls. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Oct 06, 2022
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Argentina, 1985 (2022) |
Apart from the moving testimonies of surviving victims, the movie’s power comes from the desperate needs for justice and to prevent this authoritarian, terrorist scourge from ever taking hold again. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Breaking (2022) |
The lack of context and focus make “Breaking” feel unmoored. It also doesn’t need to be some sort of thrill ride — but a deeper, grittier dive into its protagonist might have helped the film connect. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 24, 2022
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Day Shift (2022) |
“Day Shift” is a damned delight. One would be tempted to call it the best horror comedy of 2022 so far, but it mixes so many genres it’s more like 2022’s best horror-buddy-cop-cartel-drama-bounty-hunter-martial-arts-action comedy (so far). - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 12, 2022
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Emergency Declaration (2021) |
The performances are uniformly solid, especially by the two leads, and the generally low-key cinematic style keeps us in the pocket of the story. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 11, 2022
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The Sea Beast (2022) |
It’s a ripping yarn, a gorgeously rendered kaiju adventure on the high seas that uses fantasy to ask pertinent questions about the stories we believe, and who benefits from that belief. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 08, 2022
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The Princess (2022) |
The Princess is an unabashedly feminist action-adventure in which the central character rises from her dormancy to slash the patriarchy. It couldn’t be more timely, and it’s a good time too. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 01, 2022
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Spiderhead (2022) |
Even with the addition of action scenes and more sinister underpinnings, the main attraction of the film remains the short story’s personal drama, enhanced onscreen with linings of dread and executed with wit and some good acting. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jun 16, 2022
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Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022) |
“Jerry & Marge Go Large” is a charmer. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jun 16, 2022
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The Valet (2022) |
Sure, there’s convenience to the gag and its resolution. But “The Valet” has more going for it than that farce setup, thanks largely to its sparkling leads. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted May 19, 2022
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Dakota (2022) |
It means to be about a struggling family saved by a brave dog. What most viewers will agree on is that it needed more dog. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Apr 01, 2022
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The Devil You Know (2022) |
While it does put an interesting spin on the phrase from which it takes its title, the family drama with crime elements “The Devil You Know” stumbles. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 31, 2022
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Cheaper by the Dozen (2022) |
The new “Cheaper by the Dozen” feels less like a feature than a lengthy sitcom pilot. It’s an assembly-line product scrubbed clean of personality. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 17, 2022
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Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie (2021) |
The animators enjoy depicting imaginative and extreme violence. If that’s your thing (and if it isn’t, why are you watching this movie?), “Jujutsu Kaisen 0" does not disappoint. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 16, 2022
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I Want You Back (2022) |
Both Slate and Day provide enough underdog charisma to make us root for their characters, if not their wrongheaded quests. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Feb 09, 2022
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A Journal for Jordan (2021) |
Its elements of posthumous, loving advice and inevitable tragedy make for good bones. But this portrait is too clean, too unquestioning, too accepting, to get to the marrow. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 23, 2021
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American Underdog (2021) |
The film is sanitized to the point of sterility. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 23, 2021
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Mother/Android (2021) |
Unfortunately, while it gets mileage out of its two fine lead performances and the story has deep emotional roots for the filmmakers, its journey fails to capture the imagination. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 16, 2021
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Swan Song (2021) |
Mahershala Ali is a really good actor. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 16, 2021
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National Champions (2021) |
You don't have to be into football to appreciate the high-stakes struggle in "National Champions." - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 08, 2021
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Mosley (2019) |
"Mosley" feels well-intentioned, though its lessons are unclear, especially considering its ending. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 08, 2021
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Encounter (2021) |
"Encounter" has its moments, but it suffers from multiple storytelling approaches that don't mesh. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Dec 01, 2021
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A Boy Called Christmas (2021) |
The solution to the town's malaise is toys, and the comeuppance of the movie's kidnappers and child abusers is they get chocolates and their kids get presents. That doesn't seem right. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Nov 24, 2021
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8-Bit Christmas (2021) |
This is a very well-made film. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Nov 24, 2021
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Bruised (2020) |
Berry's willingness to go to dark places and her generosity toward her cast - allowing each of them moments to shine - can only be promising signs for the burgeoning filmmaker. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Nov 16, 2021
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Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) |
"Ron" ... at some point, it went wrong. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Oct 22, 2021
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Needle in a Timestack (2021) |
Unfortunately, this film doesn't quite thread the needle. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Oct 15, 2021
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Hard Luck Love Song (2020) |
"Hard Luck Love Song" is a happy but gritty marriage of material, filmmaker and star. Much is asked of Dorman, and he delivers all. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Oct 14, 2021
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Copshop (2021) |
"Copshop" is an enjoyable, slow-burn action movie featuring a smart script, sharp direction, strong cast - and the emergence of a possible star. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Sep 15, 2021
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Malignant (2021) |
Can a movie that's deficient in just about every way be redeemed by an original twist? In the case of "Malignant," the answer is ... sort of. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Sep 10, 2021
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Kate (2021) |
If you're signing up for an assassin revenge movie with Winstead entertainingly kicking ass, you're going to get one. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Sep 10, 2021
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He's All That (2021) |
It actually is all that, for the most part. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 27, 2021
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PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) |
The dialogue is fairly represented by the line: "Where is it? There's so many buildings. I wonder which one it is." - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 18, 2021
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Beckett (2021) |
Filomarino's second feature has the texture, atmosphere and attention to character of a small European film, rather than the one-liners and physics-defying action of a big-budget popcorn movie. By the way, it's also suspenseful and involving. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 12, 2021
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Vivo (2021) |
"Vivo" takes off with a cute kinkajou, some good music and some interesting visuals, but ultimately doesn't stick the landing. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Aug 05, 2021
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The Last Mercenary (2021) |
If you're looking for light, silly action fun, you could do worse than "The Last Mercenary." - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 30, 2021
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All the Streets Are Silent: The Convergence of Hip Hop and Skateboarding (1987-1997) (2021) |
Tries to cram too much into too little space. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 29, 2021
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Charlatan (2020) |
Holland... deftly moves the story through its present and past and elicits understated performances throughout the entire cast, all without excessive sentimentality. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 23, 2021
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Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021) |
"Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" ends up having enough good-time action sequences to make it worth the popcorn money. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 22, 2021
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How It Ends (2021) |
The end-of-the-world genre has enjoyed some new beginnings of late. "How It Ends" is one of the more thoughtful and fun of these one-way tickets. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 20, 2021
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Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) |
Consider the sequel curse broken: "Fear Street Part 3: 1666" satisfyingly wraps up Netflix's R.L. Stine movie trilogy with deepened themes, more fully realized characters and enjoyable twists that lend dimension to the arching story. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 16, 2021
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Running Against the Wind (2019) |
While a title card tells us the film is "inspired by true events," it's hard to find verification of them, or any background for the tale - no matter; where it winds up going isn't extreme enough to be unbelievable. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Jul 08, 2021
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