Rebecca Cusey
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Tangled (2010) |
Disney found the right combination of heart, laughs, and fairy dust to make a princess movie with the appeal of its classics and that's also right in 2010. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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Tron: Legacy (2010) |
Once disbelief is suspended, it's quite a ride. As with Avatar last year, the reason to see Tron: Legacy is for the experience. Lights flash. Radiating discus hurl through the air in 3D. The music pounds. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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Morning Glory (2010) |
The producers and writers missed a chance either to make the case for television news or to bid it a fond farewell. To ignore such an obvious elephant in the room seemed odd. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) |
Because the overly ambitious storyline lacks clarity, the film lacks the pulse-pounding energy of the original. What heart there is comes from the family drama among Jake, Winnie, and Gordon. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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The Beaver (2011) |
The other actors keep pace with Gibson, especially Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence as a teen love interest. The thick, meaty, rich, dark film offers only a few moments of gallows humor to lighten the mood. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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Rabbit Hole (2010) |
There is no right way to navigate this foreign country, no magic incantation to find release. The only way out is through. This film beautifully and heart-shatteringly demonstrates that fact. - WORLD
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| Posted Apr 04, 2018
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24: Redemption (2008) |
Luckily for President Taylor, Bauer is always in the right place at the right time with guns blazing against long odds. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Toy Story 3 (2010) |
Like last year's Up from the same company, Pixar, this film tickles the funny bone but also brings a tear to the eye. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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The Tree of Life (2011) |
The result is a fragmented but beautiful kaleidoscope of a film that is closer to a prayer set to music than to a story. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) |
This film turns the wackiness dial up high. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) |
Clocking in at just over two hours, the movie delivers only about half an hour of fun. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Unknown (2011) |
If one can swallow the premise... the film is a lot of fun. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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X-Men: First Class (2011) |
Add in some spectacular battle sequences and crisp characters, and it makes one of the best superhero movies in years. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Attack the Block (2011) |
For a movie filled with funny moments and low-budget, puppetish aliens, the film packs a lot of insight into its premise. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) |
... once the penguins arrive, it devolves into penguin poop jokes and predictable plot turns. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Warrior (2011) |
The intense fighting takes the sappiness out of what turns out to be a very moving film. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) |
Madcap coincidences and an emotional speech in an unlikely situation ruin the tender tone the film worked so hard to achieve. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) |
In the hands of director Michael Bay, this battle is bound to be over the top, and the special effects amaze. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) |
The effects and acting are top notch, with a vast cast providing well-developed background characters. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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Drive (2011) |
The audience that sits down to see Drive may expect to see a heist movie, but they will quickly become absorbed in a film that has more in common with a classic Western than a high-octane chase film. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 22, 2018
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The Adventures of Tintin (2011) |
True to Spielberg, the action sequences don't let up. Tintin's adventures transition seamlessly from ocean liner to biplane to sand dunes to Moroccan streets. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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Moneyball (2011) |
Because of Sorkin's powerful script, the film becomes more than just a baseball story. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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Machine Gun Preacher (2011) |
The film always respects the faith that drives the story, but it raises more questions than it answers. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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The Way (2010) |
... presents the intensely faith-filled practice of pilgrimage in a way that is not heavy-handed or saccharine. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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The Iron Lady (2011) |
The Iron Lady is a tremendously good movie in what it includes, but one that is sadly incomplete. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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We Bought a Zoo (2011) |
Unlike frenetic movies focused on the next laugh, this tender film does not aim at children and hope to bring adults along. Rather, it offers something for each member of the family, blending a sad but ultimately hopeful storyline and some cute animals. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) |
It starts slow, and a bit confusing for those not familiar with the novels, but builds to intensity, creating a taut, sinister spy story for grown-ups. - WORLD
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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La La Land (2016) |
It's nostalgic in the same way a hipster combing through vinyl records in a record shop coffee house is nostalgic. It picks and chooses what it wants to remember about the past and puts a decidedly modern spin on the treasures it decides to keep. - The Federalist
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| Posted Dec 12, 2016
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The Nice Guys (2016) |
The thing that sets this movie apart is the magic that happens between Gosling, Crowe, and Rice. - The Federalist
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| Posted Dec 12, 2016
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Last Days in the Desert (2015) |
The core of the film, the beauty of it, and the spirit of it are what I wish religious movies would be about. Scratch that. It's what I wish all movies would be about. - The Federalist
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| Posted May 12, 2016
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) |
Too competent to be universally panned, too disjointed to be universally praised, too anticipated to be a new revelation, too beloved in subject to be easily dismissed, the film will be one people either passionately love or passionately hate. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2016
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Deadpool (2016) |
"Deadpool" is not so much a movie as an extended inside joke with a movie wrapped around it, plus an abject apology for Green Lantern. - The Federalist
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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The Revenant (2015) |
This film is a testosterone flick, the opposite of a chick flick. That is not to say that no women will enjoy it, only that many will not. Its purpose is grit, gore, strength, and endurance. It is simple and elegant in its simplicity. - The Federalist
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| Posted Jan 15, 2016
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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) |
Whatever audiences expected from Michael Bay's examination of the Benghazi debacle, it wasn't this insightful war story about hubris on every level except the men who carry the guns. This film rivals greats like "Black Hawk Down" and "Zero Dark Thirty." - The Federalist
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| Posted Jan 15, 2016
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) |
Delivers an effective mix of nostalgia and new storylines. Disney pulled off a modern-day Christmas miracle keeping the plot almost completely unknown to audiences. My advice is keep it that way. - The Federalist
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| Posted Dec 16, 2015
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015) |
Although the plot remains, for the most part, the same, the tone is so different as to reverse the pacifism-at-all-costs message of the book, making a good series even better. - The Federalist
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| Posted Nov 20, 2015
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The Martian (2015) |
Ridley Scott's enjoyable space drama feels like a throwback to the days when American know-how and determination promised a brighter future ahead. - The Federalist
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| Posted Oct 02, 2015
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Ant-Man (2015) |
Like its predecessor, "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Ant-Man" plays with the Marvel universe without upending it. It manages to make fun of the superhero genre while still fully embracing the emotions that make the genre powerful. - The Federalist
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| Posted Jul 21, 2015
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Trainwreck (2015) |
The film makes the case for getting over yourself and growing the hell up. It's more than romantic comedy. It's profound, even as it makes you laugh again and again. Here's hoping that Apatow and Schumer are just getting started. - The Federalist
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| Posted Jul 17, 2015
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Inside Out (2015) |
After you realize the central message, which has to do with Sadness herself, the film feels a little like an exercise you'd experience at a good therapist's office. Only Pixar could pull that off and make a good, not great, film out of it. - The Federalist
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| Posted Jun 19, 2015
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Jurassic World (2015) |
"Jurassic World," like its predecessors, fills up the screen with roaring, slathering, earth-shaking dinosaurs, then fills in mere humans around the edges. It's a formula that works as well in 2015 as it did in 1993. - The Federalist
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| Posted Jun 15, 2015
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Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) |
Anna Kendrick's charm saves this film from being entirely predictable and only half funny. - The Federalist
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| Posted May 15, 2015
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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) |
It makes sense a MAD MAX army goes into battle with a metal guitarist. This primal, epic film is the stuff of Homer in the key of Metallica. - The Federalist
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| Posted May 15, 2015
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) |
You can't escape the feeling that Whedon and the gang are having a good time making the film, and want to share that glee with the audience. It's a franchise that has hit its rhythm. - The Federalist
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| Posted May 01, 2015
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Furious 7 (2015) |
Soap opera with supercars and explosions. Pitch perfect tribute to Paul Walker. What's not to love? - The Federalist
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| Posted Apr 03, 2015
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Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) |
A punk rock rebel of a movie. It follows no rules. It slaps you in the face while making you laugh. Completely entertaining, it also isn't afraid. In our environment of careful and slavish correctness to groupthink, that feels like a refreshing breeze. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2015
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Jupiter Ascending (2015) |
I kind of had a tepidly good time in "Jupiter Ascending." It won me over in the same way that bag of tater tots in the freezer wins you over: it has its own freezer-burned charm. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2015
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Inherent Vice (2014) |
For those who have never been high, the new film "Inherent Vice" will give you a pretty good sense of it. You'll have no idea what's going on. You'll wonder whether you're supposed to know. In the end, though, you won't be sure you care. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2015
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Selma (2014) |
Do not believe anyone trying to make "Selma" a factional thing, a liberal or conservative, black, white, or hashtag movie. It transcends all that. It is a great American story, well told, and nothing less. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2015
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American Sniper (2014) |
Primarily, it is a gritty and moving war story about the heroes who have answered America's call to arms. Secondarily, it is an unapologetic manifesto from Eastwood about what it means to be an American and a warrior today. - The Federalist
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| Posted Mar 30, 2015
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