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Mick LaSalle
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Eileen (2023) |
This movie, about two people forming an unlikely bond, isn’t boring at all, just disappointing. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 28, 2023
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Leave the World Behind (2023) |
“Leave the World Behind” is the unusual case of a film that starts out bad and gets better. So, if you find that you’re already enjoying yourself, stick with it, because it definitely won’t get any worse. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 21, 2023
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Maestro (2023) |
“Maestro” exposes a truth about marriage that I always knew but could never quite articulate: To be truly known and understood can actually be scary. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 20, 2023
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32 Sounds (2022) |
A remarkable documentary and something you’ll never forget. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 20, 2023
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Saltburn (2023) |
Its problem is that it’s superficially smart and deeply stupid. It’s clever and amusing in 20 different ways, but when it really matters, it descends into ridiculousness. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 17, 2023
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) |
In the central role, it’s Blyth’s task to make sense of Coriolanus Snow’s journey, and he does. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 14, 2023
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May December (2023) |
“May December,” a skillful and inspired movie, is the product of enormous directorial confidence. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 14, 2023
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JFK: What the Doctors Saw (2023) |
These are men in their 70s and 80s, with serious medical careers behind them, who seem neither deluded nor mendacious. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 14, 2023
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The Marvels (2023) |
Thankfully, the movie clocks in at a mere 105 minutes. “The Marvels” doesn’t have much to say, but at least it says it quickly. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 08, 2023
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Dream Scenario (2023) |
The world has finally gotten weird enough that Nicolas Cage now makes total sense. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 06, 2023
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Sly (2023) |
Basically, Stallone is the Saint Sebastian of American cinema. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 02, 2023
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What Happens Later (2023) |
Maybe somebody somewhere has made a better American film about mature love, but at this moment, I can’t think of any. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 01, 2023
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Rustin (2023) |
Colman Domingo’s performance in “Rustin” captures the exhilaration of a man in the happiest period of his life. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 31, 2023
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Priscilla (2023) |
We’re left with a movie that mostly consists of a confused woman-child stumbling around a mansion in high heels. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Pain Hustlers (2023) |
Emily Blunt is so emotionally present that she almost redeems the movie. She doesn’t, but she at least makes the first half of “Pain Hustlers” watchable. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) |
For le Carré fans, “The Pigeon Tunnel” is a must-see, but the film will also be useful to people wanting an introduction to his work. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Persian Version (2023) |
If Keshavarz were in a room with you, talking about her own mother in this way, you’d try to change the subject. If you were a therapist, you’d fall asleep. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 24, 2023
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The Holdovers (2023) |
“The Holdovers” feels so distinctly Payne-like that it comes as a surprise that he didn’t write it, or perhaps adapt it from some weird novel that sold eight copies 50 years ago. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 23, 2023
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Nyad (2023) |
You really feel that Bening is making that journey. You might start to feel that you’re swimming with her. But the movie’s technical excellence is overshadowed by its human dimension. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 18, 2023
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Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) |
“Killers of the Flower Moon” can’t and shouldn’t be confused for a great movie. But you can still feel good about seeing it. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 14, 2023
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The Burial (2023) |
“The Burial” isn’t a masterpiece, and it was never meant to be. But what’s encouraging here is finding out that Betts can apply the same nuance and rigor to a work of popular entertainment and turn it into something almost great. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 11, 2023
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Foe (2023) |
I believed Ronan and Pescal as two people bound up in love, shared history and torment. As much as I was as glad as anybody when “Foe” finally ended, those two unhappy people have stayed with me. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 09, 2023
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Joan Baez I Am a Noise (2023) |
The impression that comes through is that the filmmakers were too in awe of Baez to press her — or to seek alternate opinions — and so we’re left with a sense of not getting the whole truth. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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The Exorcist: Believer (2023) |
Until someone is able to come up with a new way to depict possession or the battling of possession, this franchise is going nowhere. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 04, 2023
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The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) |
“The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” is tasteful and restrained, and though it was made by someone known as a wild man, there’s no grandstanding here. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 02, 2023
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The Creator (2023) |
If you take the movie seriously — and it wants to be taken seriously — “The Creator” is basically saying we should surrender to the robots, even ones that kill people, especially if they have good manners or take the shape of a little kid. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 27, 2023
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Reptile (2023) |
Every other actor in the movie — from Timberlake, to Eric Bogosian as Nichols’ boss, to Domenick Lombardozzi as his colleague — seems to have been cast as an irresistible force to be thrown against Del Toro’s immovable object. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 25, 2023
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Expend4bles (2023) |
It took the franchise four tries, but with “Expend4bles,” they’ve finally made a solid and consistently effective action movie. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 21, 2023
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Dumb Money (2023) |
Such a David and Goliath story is a natural for movies, but “Dumb Money” is more than the kind of inevitable film that follows every notable public occurrence like a reaction in physics. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 20, 2023
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Retribution (2023) |
Neeson’s last few action flicks may have been just for fans, but “Retribution” is for everybody. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 23, 2023
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Strays (2023) |
“Strays” occasionally demonstrates a grandeur of spirit, but it also shows dogs eating each other’s feces. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 17, 2023
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Heart of Stone (2023) |
Let’s hope this is not the beginning of a secret-agent franchise. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 11, 2023
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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story (2023) |
You ever watch a car race on TV? You ever watch for more than an hour? You ever watch for 135 minutes — willingly? “Gran Turismo” is just the same cars, going around and around and around. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 10, 2023
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Passages (2023) |
Young people should see “Passages” for warning and instruction. They need to recognize the Tomases when they turn up, because people like Tomas can use up years of a person’s life. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 08, 2023
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Happiness for Beginners (2023) |
In most ways, it’s not worth seeing. Yet everything about this movie goes down easy and never gives you a reason to stop watching. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 27, 2023
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Haunted Mansion (2023) |
Haunted Mansion brings together genuinely skilled and appealing comic actors and gives them little to do but mug. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 25, 2023
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Sympathy for the Devil (2023) |
It takes a while for it all to come into focus, but one thing is clear: This very well-made thriller doesn’t have only one mystery man in it. It has two. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 24, 2023
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Oppenheimer (2023) |
The movie is so vigorously directed, not only in terms of sight but also sound, that probably the best a critic can do is point you toward the experience and say, “It’s that.” - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 20, 2023
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Barbie (2023) |
“Barbie” is an impressive and original work of the imagination. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 18, 2023
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The Miracle Club (2023) |
The idea of people’s past deeds coming back to haunt them is a familiar dramatic trope, but there’s nothing cliched in the treatment here. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023) |
“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” may not be a great movie, but it’s a special movie deserving of its own kind of event and worth appreciating. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 10, 2023
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Joy Ride (2023) |
“Joy Ride” feels like it easily could have been better, but it’s certainly good enough, and it might be remembered as an early milestone in some significant careers. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 06, 2023
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Biosphere (2022) |
It’s hard to explain how the screenwriters thought they could just show two guys on a couch, calling each other “dude,” and assume audiences would be interested. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 04, 2023
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Earth Mama (2023) |
“Earth Mama” raises the expectation that it’s a portrait, not just of an issue, but of a person, and in most ways, it lives up to that. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 04, 2023
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Wham! (2023) |
“Wham!” tells a sweet story, but also a goofy and entertaining one, because these guys were more ’80s than anybody, more even than “Miami Vice” and Duran Duran. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 04, 2023
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) |
If you want to see an Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will satisfy you. Even if you’re not sure you want to see an Indiana Jones movie, this fifth and reportedly last installment will not disappoint. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 27, 2023
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Asteroid City (2023) |
The purest distillation of what this director brings to cinema, it’s beautiful to look at, surreal, nostalgic and funny in a weird, distanced way. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 22, 2023
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No Hard Feelings (2023) |
Basically, “No Hard Feelings” is everything you like about Jennifer Lawrence, brought together in one movie and then magnified: her down-to-earth irreverence, her comic timing, her idiosyncratic naturalness and her unexpected sensitivity. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 22, 2023
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The Perfect Find (2023) |
It’s as if no aspect of “Perfect Find” were thought through because everyone expected that, whatever happened, Gabrielle Union could be counted on to carry the movie. She almost does, but doesn’t. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 22, 2023
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Extraction 2 (2023) |
Contrary to what any dentist might tell you, you can’t have too many “Extractions.” - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 15, 2023
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