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Rita Kempley

Tomatometer-approved critic
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Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Desert Hearts (1985) 77% EDIT “Given the low budget, there was no money for transitions or fancy wideshots, so the look is strangled, stranded and somehow like stagework. ” – Washington Post Oct 10, 2025 Full Review My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) 95% EDIT “It's a little like mixing the white and the dark loads, but somehow it all comes out in the wash and love prevails.” – Washington Post Oct 10, 2025 Full Review Tron (1982) 60% EDIT “"Tron" turns out to be an inorganic "Fantastic Voyage," a movie with which only a computer programmer could interface.” – Washington Post Oct 1, 2025 Full Review Boogie Nights (1997) 91% EDIT “For those not offended by such fare, there is the charm of Anderson's sardonic humor and the sweetness of many of the characters, beginning with Eddie, played with a perfect blend of dopiness and dash by Wahlberg. ” – Washington Post Sep 23, 2025 Full Review This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 98% EDIT “A splendid spoof of concert films, crunch-and-moan music, the British invasion and leaden guitars.” – Washington Post Sep 9, 2025 Full Review Starman (1984) 83% EDIT “Despite Allen's sincere face; Bridges' quirky, effective portrayal; some exquisite effects; and many funny moments, the film falters at the finish, if not a little before. Mostly it never delivers what it promises -- an alien with all the right answers.” – Washington Post Aug 21, 2025 Full Review The Return of the Living Dead (1985) 71% EDIT “It's definitely not for all audiences, but its visceral effects and old-fashioned scare tactics make it a real scream for chiller fans.” – Washington Post Aug 6, 2025 Full Review Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) 78% EDIT “It's a series of comic blackouts and inside jokes linked by the big little boy's search for his missing bicycle, and while it's frequently great fun, Pee-wee sure could have used some training wheels.” – Washington Post Jul 28, 2025 Full Review The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) 88% EDIT “"The Naked Gun" is more fun than a stack of slapsticks.” – Washington Post Jul 22, 2025 Full Review Supergirl (1984) 19% EDIT “Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind insist on lots of flight time, but it doesn't matter much, balanced out as it is with socko action comedy.” – Washington Post Jun 28, 2025 Full Review Final Destination (2000) 51% EDIT “The movie is too numbing to be scary.” – Washington Post May 21, 2025 Full Review Fools Rush In (1997) 33% EDIT “"Friends" rush in where even fools would fear to tread.” – Washington Post Mar 22, 2024 Full Review The Horse Whisperer (1998) 73% EDIT “The movie is not only a better version of the book, it's a work unto itself. The story is subtler, and the moral issues it raises are far more complex.” – Washington Post Nov 28, 2023 Full Review Smooth Talk (1985) 94% EDIT “Not just another youth movie, but a deft dramatization of a Joyce Carol Oates story adapted by a couple of documentary filmmakers in their feature debut.” – Washington Post Nov 26, 2023 Full Review Back to School (1986) 81% EDIT “Like Groucho before him, Dangerfield is at his best playing against straight society, humbling the smug with his audacious wit.” – Washington Post Aug 25, 2023 Full Review Magnolia (1999) 82% EDIT “Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson's frenzied follow-up to Boogie Nights, can be as intoxicating as the flower it's named for, and its characters, most of them as flawed and fascinating as the film itself, seem intoxicated by the overpowering scent.” – Washington Post Jul 15, 2023 Full Review The Color Purple (1985) 73% EDIT “Whatever its faults, whatever its excesses, The Color Purple will make you cry and cry some more. It's an important film, heart- warming, heartbreaking and heartfelt -- a very American saga.” – Washington Post May 31, 2023 Full Review An American Tail (1986) 76% EDIT “A bright-eyed tale of Jewish triumphs that will find a place in many young hearts.” – Washington Post May 18, 2023 Full Review Yentl (1983) 69% EDIT “Yentl is Streisand. Either you like her or you don't. And if a little Streisand means a lot, then a lot is what you've got.” – Washington Post May 12, 2023 Full Review Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 77% EDIT “Spielberg and Lucas tried too hard in Temple. It has more complex stunts, more technical perfection, and more than a touch of genius. It's fun at both ends. But it's also mean-spirited and corrupt at its core.” – Washington Post Apr 18, 2023 Full Review Boys on the Side (1995) 73% EDIT “An engagingly acted, likable, fried green Thelma & Louise.” – Washington Post Mar 15, 2023 Full Review Godzilla (1998) 20% EDIT “Its sodden state derives from its shameless assault on the moviegoing public. This isn't art. It isn't even great trash. It's a con game, and we bear the claw marks.” – Washington Post Feb 15, 2023 Full Review The Big Lebowski (1998) 79% EDIT “The Stranger sums it up best in the self-serving epilogue: "It was a purty good story, dontcha think? Made me laugh to beat the band... Parts, anyway." ” – Washington Post Jan 24, 2023 Full Review Cabeza de Vaca (1991) EDIT “Alvar's bizarre enlightenment makes for a good yarn, even if it isn't clearly or grippingly told by the writer-director, whose background is in making documentaries. What Echevarria does best is create a living diorama...” – Washington Post Nov 30, 2022 Full Review Creepshow (1982) 66% EDIT “It's an unabashedly juvenile junk movie... Most of the time Creepshow works, though. Ghouls will be ghouls, after all, and Romero, creator of the classic 'Night of the Living Dead, does push a mean panic button. ” – Washington Post Aug 9, 2022 Full Review
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