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Patrick Z. McGavin

Patrick Z. McGavin's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Sonatine (1993) 93% EDIT “At a time when action movies typically hand us a canned experience, Kitano pictures carry a charge of originality.” – Chicago Reader Jun 16, 2022 Full Review Ponette (1996) 92% 3/4 EDIT “The emotional truth of Ponette connects each scene with every other” – Chicago Reader Jun 16, 2022 Full Review Face/Off (1997) 93% 3/4 EDIT “Redeemed by Woo’s bravura skills, Face/Off becomes more than just a genre exercise.” – Chicago Reader Jun 15, 2022 Full Review The Cable Guy (1996) 57% 2/4 EDIT “...on the whole The Cable Guy is about as subversive a mainstream comedy as you’ll find...” – Chicago Reader Jun 14, 2022 Full Review Billy Bathgate (1991) 36% 2/4 EDIT “The filmmakers have foolishly equated the size of their budget with accomplishment. The movie drifts, and then it’s over–abruptly and before we’re able to fully take it in. The best parts were left on the page.” – Chicago Reader May 26, 2022 Full Review The Commitments (1991) 90% 3/4 EDIT “The Commitments is possibly Parker’s most personal film, his own working-class origins in the north London borough of Islington paralleling those of his characters.” – Chicago Reader May 24, 2022 Full Review Fight Club (1999) 81% EDIT “The movie demands a certain attention and is not easily dismissed, but there is something deeply unsettling about a work that uncritically espouses brutality as a function of alienation and nonconformity.” – The Hollywood Reporter Oct 15, 2019 Full Review Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) 82% EDIT “[Red Balloon] takes the ineffable and makes it concrete and visible.” – Stop Smiling Aug 24, 2017 Full Review Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014) 88% 3/4 EDIT “The entrancing fifth feature of the Zellner brothers, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, is like found art in the beguiling, haunting manner it combines the seemingly ridiculous and desperate with an ineffable and quiet sadness.” – Chicago Sun-Times Dec 15, 2015 Full Review Tales of the Grim Sleeper (2014) 100% EDIT “Mesmerizing, chilling and greatly disturbing.” – RogerEbert.com Apr 27, 2015 Full Review Human Capital (2013) 81% 2.5/4 EDIT “The film is further undone by an overwrought ending and toneless conclusion that proves too soft to energize the movie's implied though underdeveloped social critique.” – Chicago Sun-Times Apr 3, 2015 Full Review What We Do in the Shadows (2014) 96% 3/4 EDIT “The New Zealand-made art comedy What We Do in the Shadows is a bracing reminder of how the right burst of energy and style breathes fresh ideas into a genre threatened with creative exhaustion.” – Chicago Sun-Times Mar 6, 2015 Full Review Step Up Revolution (2012) 40% 2.5/4 EDIT “At its best, it embodies emotion through movement.” – Boston Phoenix Jul 26, 2012 Full Review Farewell, My Queen (2012) 93% 3/4 EDIT “Jacquot subtly shifts the movie's force and moral inquiry towards Seydoux, and her alert performance provides a melancholy humanity.” – Boston Phoenix Jul 25, 2012 Full Review Red Lights (2012) 30% 2/4 EDIT “The initial poetry of terror gives way to a wildly baroque and incident-packed plot that proves hyperbolic, mannered, and ridiculously overwrought.” – Boston Phoenix Jul 25, 2012 Full Review Polisse (2011) 86% 2.5/4 EDIT “The film's one great scene ... is cancelled out by the baroquely improbable and absurdly overwrought ending.” – Boston Phoenix May 24, 2012 Full Review Goodbye First Love (2011) 83% 3.5/4 EDIT “The autobiographical third feature from French director Mia Hansen-Lve limns the ecstasy and tumult of youthful, sometimes self-destructive passion.” – Boston Phoenix May 10, 2012 Full Review In Darkness (2011) 88% 3.5/4 EDIT “Working with the superb cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska, Holland draws on the restricted light and vertiginous space to achieve immersive, tactile imagery that is appalling and unforgettable.” – Boston Phoenix Mar 8, 2012 Full Review Miss Bala (2011) 88% 3.5/4 EDIT “Sigman's tremulous, vivid performance anchors the movie. It's a knockout.” – Boston Phoenix Jan 24, 2012 Full Review The Little Chinese Seamstress (2002) 77% EDIT “The ethereal private moments and inspired passages are beautifully shot by Jean-Marie Dreujou, but Dai never quite organizes the material dramatically, and the tone is too often jagged and disruptive.” – Chicago Reader Mar 18, 2010 Full Review Babar: King of the Elephants (1999) EDIT “The composition and imagery are workmanlike at best, but the score is jaunty and witty and the middle section is breezy fun” – Chicago Reader Jan 29, 2010 Full Review Moon (2009) 90% EDIT “A frequently engrossing science fiction story given a particular tension and seriousness by its moral inquiry into what it means to be fully human and alive.” – Screen International Dec 16, 2009 Full Review Sugar (2008) 93% EDIT “In a word, Sugar is extraordinary.” – Screen International Dec 16, 2009 Full Review Afghan Star (2009) 100% EDIT “Not a radical act of film-making and visually, it is far from an inspired piece of work - but it's a great example of a film where the strong content rules supreme.” – Screen International Jun 23, 2009 Full Review Choke (2008) 56% EDIT “The movie's not quite there, but it represents a dark ride into the night that unleashes a series of precarious thrills.” – Screen International Oct 18, 2008 Full Review
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