Neely Swanson
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Wildflower (2022) |
If your heartstrings are tugged and your eyes water a bit, it’s all earned. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Mar 14, 2023
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I Got a Monster (2023) |
This is a slam bang thriller that will leave you breathless as you hear the evidence and experience the difficulties of the few good men. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Mar 06, 2023
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Cinema Sabaya (2021) |
Rotem may have manipulated the vision of everyday life but she has made an absorbing film that has you seeking answers to questions she didn’t ask. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Feb 27, 2023
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Juniper (2021) |
The script is a good one and the director keeps things moving emotionally. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Feb 27, 2023
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iMordecai (2022) |
In the end, this film that had some promise, is shallow and, like Judd Hirsch’s character, a Catskills portrait that’s meant to leave you laughing but just leaves you. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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Emily (2022) |
O’Connor has made very good use of her pout and dark eyes, but Mackey takes full advantage of the script, infusing Emily with a personality of much complexity. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Feb 14, 2023
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Filmmakers for the Prosecution (2022) |
Interviews with survivors of the main players, including the son of one of the prosecuted Nazis, add depth to the story. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Feb 04, 2023
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She Is Love (2022) |
The questions Adams asks are all interesting but the execution is somewhat muddled. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Jan 31, 2023
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Close (2022) |
“Close” is truly a directorial tour de force. Dhont knew what he wanted to say and said it with grace, dignity, and depth. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Children of the Mist (2021) |
HÀ Lê Diêm has done a remarkable job of documenting the collision between old ways and new. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Jan 26, 2023
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When You Finish Saving the World (2022) |
This small, independent film deserves attention and an audience. I was drawn in. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Poppy (2021) |
Niccol’s film, based on her own short story, is a lovely narrative that gives voice to a character that is rarely seen. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb (2022) |
My understanding of literature, writing, history, personality, collaboration is all so much deeper after living through dialogues with and about these two giants of 20th and 21st century writing. But, even more important, it’s fun, lively, and humorous. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 30, 2022
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Corsage (2022) |
Telling the story of an unhappy royal, Kreuzer would have done better to tell it historically or, like [Baz] Luhrmann, she should have followed the adage “go big or go home.” She did neither. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 30, 2022
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Living (2022) |
Based on the 1952 Akira Kurosawa film Ikiru, Living has been exquisitely adapted by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. The story is simple, but the character development is among the best you will ever see. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 29, 2022
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Hunt (2022) |
This fast-paced, well-acted spy thriller deserves an audience. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 22, 2022
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The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari (2022) |
A tale of heroism, not just of survivors aiding others but also of local citizens putting themselves in grave danger trying to help where they can, under circumstances that are nearly impossible. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 20, 2022
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Empire of Light (2022) |
“Empire of Light” is a panoply of marginally explored ideas looking for the glue to stick them together. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 15, 2022
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EO (2022) |
Skolimowski and Piaskowska have produced a film that takes us on a thoughtful journey that offers much to contemplate about the essence of being. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Dec 02, 2022
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Christmas with The Campbells (2022) |
Santa must be very unhappy this year because he left us with a piece of coal (actually something a lot smellier) in our stockings called “Christmas with the Campbells.” - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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Confessions of a Hitman (2022) |
That you end up caring about (but not for) Gérald is a tribute to Picard’s interpretation. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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The Fabelmans (2022) |
So much has been made of Steven Spielberg’s newest film being autobiographical but dissecting the personal aspects of this wonderful movie diminishes its universal impact. The filmmaking is sly and misleading. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Nov 28, 2022
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Four Samosas (2022) |
The dialogue is mundane and the comedy is rather juvenile. The acting is not particularly good, with everyone trying too hard. Despite all of that, and this is the intangible, the film will leave you smiling. Go figure. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 28, 2022
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Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter (2021) |
An in depth look at Charlie Trotter, one of the first American superstar chefs. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Nov 22, 2022
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The Menu (2022) |
A frothy mixture of dark comedy, thrills, and ultimately horror that goes down as smoothly as strawberry puree. Director Mark Mylod has taken this concoction and whisked it into a mile-high soufflé. - Beverly Hills Courier
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| Posted Nov 20, 2022
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In Her Hands (2022) |
[Zarifa's] story has been and continues to be an inspiration to many throughout the world. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 13, 2022
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Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (2020) |
The conversations with fashion historians and family members, carrying on his tradition, are informative and fascinating, giving a broader portrait of Ferragamo. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 04, 2022
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Holy Spider (2022) |
As your stomach tightens, waiting to see what will or won’t happen to Saeed and how blame will be showered on Rahimi, you are witness to a history that happened and continues to happen in Iran. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 02, 2022
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God Forbid: The Sex Scandal that Brought Down a Dynasty (2022) |
Watch this fascinating documentary told with speed, humor, and horror. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Nov 02, 2022
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Paul Taylor: Creative Domain (2014) |
Throughout this excellent documentary, company dancers, former dancers, and rehearsal assistants discuss what they do, how they do it, and their never-ending reverence and love for Taylor. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 30, 2022
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All That Breathes (2022) |
“All that Breathes” is definitely informative and succeeds more than it fails, but it could have been so much more. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 24, 2022
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A Chance Encounter (2022) |
“A Chance Encounter” is the very definition of a small film, in all of the best ways. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 24, 2022
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) |
Elegiac, humorous, and tragic, all at the same time. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 23, 2022
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Raymond & Ray (2022) |
Complicated family dynamics are surely in Garcia’s wheelhouse and his exploration in “Raymond & Ray” is deep and infused with the understanding of what happens when promise is unfulfilled and life derails. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 17, 2022
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Ask Me to Dance (2022) |
“Ask Me to Dance” has its heart in the right place and tells a story as old as the hills. In this particular case, however, it should have stayed buried. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 13, 2022
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The Inhabitant (2022) |
Writer Kevin Bachar and director Jerren Lauder have made a film that transcends genre and finds a way to layer psychology, teen angst, and family drama into the fright. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 04, 2022
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Hinterland (2021) |
An excellent treatise on the hell of war and the reintegration of soldiers into society, it is also a thrilling murder mystery with dark undercurrents. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Oct 02, 2022
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My Best Friend's Exorcism (2022) |
The production smacks of bad television, both in terms of production values, writing, directing, and casting. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 30, 2022
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Hold Me Tight (2021) |
This film should be on everyone’s viewing list. I was amazed, appalled, and moved. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Bandit (2022) |
All in all... it’s fun to spend some time with “Bandit.” - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 20, 2022
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See How They Run (2022) |
Directed smoothly by Tom George, the action rarely lags and the dialogue crackles with humor. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 15, 2022
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Simchas and Sorrows (2022) |
Just sit back and enjoy. You don’t always need a masterpiece to have a good time. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 14, 2022
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God's Country (2022) |
[Newton] stoically does the best she can with what she’s been given, but it’s a losing battle. She’s very watchable but I’m not sure that even she was able to suspend the belief necessary to carry off this role. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 12, 2022
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The Class (2022) |
Imitation is sometimes the highest form of flattery. Unfortunately, in the case of “The Class,” it’s misplaced. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 05, 2022
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Private Desert (2021) |
“Private Desert” is a remarkably nuanced story about love, masculinity, expectations, and vulnerability. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Sep 05, 2022
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Carnal Knowledge (1971) |
Brilliantly directed, Nichols focused on closeups to reveal character, aided enormously by Feiffer’s incisive dialogue and story. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Aug 29, 2022
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Adieu Godard (2021) |
[A] very enjoyable and thoroughly absurd feature film. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Aug 24, 2022
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Lost Illusions (2021) |
Xavier Giannoli’s truly sumptuous adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s novel Lost Illusions is prescient, modern, and yet thoroughly grounded in its time. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Aug 18, 2022
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Spin Me Round (2022) |
Not everything in life has to have a deeper meaning. Sometimes you just need to kick back, relax, and enjoy. “Spin Me Round” is just what’s on order. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Aug 16, 2022
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Lie Hard (2022) |
“Lie Hard” is actually a cut below awful, venturing into that realm of films that try too hard to be funny by taking a solid concept and breaking the already stretched rubber band. - Easy Reader (California)
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| Posted Aug 15, 2022
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