Peter Rainer
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Past Lives (2023) |
Song has said the film is semiautobiographical, and it shows. Although at times technically wayward and dramatically diffuse, there is not a moment in it that does not bear the personal stamp of a lived-in connection. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Jun 02, 2023
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The Color Purple (1985) |
Every scene is slicked up to be a stunner, no stop is left unpulled, no camera move is left untracked. What’s missing is a deep, resounding reason to have made this film for its own sweet self. - Los Angeles Herald Examiner
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| Posted May 31, 2023
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Anxious Nation (2022) |
A very important subject dealt with in a rather superficial way. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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You Can Live Forever (2022) |
It moves along at a rather slow pace and doesn't quite reach the emotional summation it was looking for, but it's commendable and worth seeing. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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The Taking (2021) |
It's an interesting thesis and the clips are illustrative. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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What's Love Got to Do with It? (2022) |
A tolerably enjoyable rom-com. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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The Eight Mountains (2022) |
It is one of the few films I've ever seen that's about male friendship without buddy-buddy backslapping, and that's quite meaningful. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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Plan 75 (2022) |
It's really quite extraordinary... A first-rate debut. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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It Ain't Over (2022) |
[An] affectionate documentary. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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R.M.N. (2022) |
Mungiu does not offer an easy remedy for this toxic mess. How could he? But no one who makes a movie this vehement can fail to harbor a hope for what human beings, at their best, can be. R.M.N. is the work of an outraged idealist. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Apr 27, 2023
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Chupa (2023) |
A sweet but very minor movie. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Paint (2023) |
There's not a lot of laughs in this movie, which might've been intentional -- but then what was the point of this film? - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Sam Now (2022) |
It seemed to me not enough... There's so much more that goes unspoken that I think could have been addressed. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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The Worst Ones (2022) |
The ways in which the roles these kids play impinge on their real lives is interesting... A fascinating movie. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Showing Up (2022) |
Once you get into the mood that it'll never explode into anything revelatory, it's genial enough. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Rewind & Play (2022) |
A film that ought to appeal to fans of Thelonious Monk -- but even if you don't know him, you should watch it anyway because everyone should be a fan of Thelonious Monk.
- FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Air (2023) |
The film wants to be a wing-ding entertainment, but it also strives to say Something Important. The first half of that equation is what makes the movie eminently worth watching. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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Army of Darkness (1992) |
Army of Darkness is mostly a terrific piece of mindlessness. That may not sound like such a great recommendation -- until you drop in on some of this season's high-minded clunkers. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 31, 2023
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The Lost King (2022) |
The Lost King often seems distinctly underpowered. But it has one big thing in its favor: Sally Hawkins’ performance as Langley. She’s perfectly cast, which, as a general rule, does not always translate into a perfect performance. Not so here. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Mar 24, 2023
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Boys on the Side (1995) |
The three women are so spirited and funny -- so emotionally keyed into all the hearts and flowers -- that they give the movie their own kind of truth. - Los Angeles Times
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| Posted Mar 14, 2023
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Let It Be Morning (2021) |
There's a lot of things going on in this movie that have a lot of emotional cross-currents. The best thing is Juna Suleiman, who is absolutely extraordinary. Whenever she's on film, the screen trembles with life. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 15, 2023
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The Civil Dead (2023) |
A sweet little movie that's surprisingly touching. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 15, 2023
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The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (2021) |
This is maybe the best movie I've seen so far this year... It's a full-scale performance and a terrific movie. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 15, 2023
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80 for Brady (2023) |
Between them, there's so many Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tonys -- don't they deserve better than this movie? - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Feb 15, 2023
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Full Time (2021) |
Julie is most herself when she is on the go, and the film suggests that, for all her exhaustions, perhaps this is the way she feels most alive. Calamy’s quicksilver performance certainly implies this. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Feb 03, 2023
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Dog Gone (2023) |
On a scale of one to five, I would give this one "woof." - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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The Offering (2022) |
For what it is, it's effective. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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Plane (2023) |
I really enjoyed this in a sort of old school, guilty pleasure kind of way. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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Saint Omer (2022) |
A powerful and perplexing film. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Jan 18, 2023
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No Bears (2022) |
Perhaps what is most remarkable about “No Bears” is how, despite all this heavy-duty baggage, it nevertheless averts despair. The reason for this, I think, is because the director Panahi equates filmmaking, no matter the risks, with freedom. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Jan 12, 2023
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Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb (2022) |
Would Caro’s books have been any less great if he and Gottlieb had never met? Who knows? But as this bracingly affectionate film makes clear, it was the gift of a lifetime for both that they did. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Jan 05, 2023
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The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari (2022) |
Powerful... It's a very scary movie and not for everybody. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 20, 2022
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Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery (2022) |
Even if something doesn't quite work, you know something good is going to come next. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 20, 2022
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The Quiet Girl (2022) |
I liked it, but it's too quiet... The film suffers from being a little careful not to touch all the sentimental buttons. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 20, 2022
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Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) |
This film, despite all the phantasmagorical stream-of-consciousness aspects to it, I thought had real emotional weight in places. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Dec 20, 2022
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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) |
[James Cameron] remains very much at the center of his obsession. He may not be a great artist, or a visionary, but in its look, and its feeling for family, this behemoth enterprise still has an ardent, cornball grandeur to it. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Dec 19, 2022
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Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) |
The filmmakers don’t try to tone down Dahl’s darkness or sentimentalize the children’s plight. They recognize how condescending that would come across... - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Dec 07, 2022
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2020: Chaos and Hope (2022) |
A quick flip through that awful year... If you want to put yourself through that again on film, this one's for you. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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"Sr." (2022) |
It wasn't terribly revealing about Jr... but it was nevertheless fascinating to watch their interaction. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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The Son (2022) |
The problem I have with this is that it just telegraphs everything. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Memories of My Father (2020) |
As a portrait of a father-son connection... it's quite moving. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Nanny (2022) |
There's a lot of talent involved in this film... It's something of a mess narratively, but that can be easily pardoned. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) |
It's so glossy, over-produced, and swank... I didn't find the cast all that sterling. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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She Said (2022) |
[She Said] doesn’t add much to the existing record. What it does do, when it’s good, is something the news headlines could not: It dramatizes the survivors’ voices on camera. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Nov 19, 2022
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The Fabelmans (2022) |
The surprise is that, remarkably, despite all these faults, and despite Spielberg's legendary reputation, The Fabelmans never seems self-serving. It's a humble self-portrait, and the humility is most welcome. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Nov 11, 2022
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Armageddon Time (2022) |
Unlike most movies that draw on a director’s life, Armageddon Time is rarely rose-colored. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Oct 28, 2022
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Three Minutes - A Lengthening (2021) |
These people looking back at us seem both shudderingly close and ineffably far away. Whatever their ages, they are rendered forever young. Their ultimate fate imbues the imagery with an overwhelming poignancy that is almost impossible to comprehend. - Christian Science Monitor
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| Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Let the Little Light Shine (2022) |
This is ultimately a very feel-good movie. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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Loving Highsmith (2022) |
It's a fascinating look at a woman who rightly said she didn't write mysteries but about love. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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The Story of Film: A New Generation (2022) |
As much as I admire anyone who can put this kind of time and energy into this anthology of clips, I do have a problem with his basic thesis... I don't think he really accounts for the crisis going on in film right now. - FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
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| Posted Sep 19, 2022
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