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Scott Renshaw
Tomatometer-approved critic
Scott Renshaw began writing reviews for Usenet's rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup in 1993; since then, he has written over 900 full-length reviews of new theatrical releases. He began his professional career with freelance contributions to the Casper, WY Star-Tribune, and has since added contributions to several newspapers in the U.S. and Australia. Scott now serves as a film critic for Cinema Review (www.cinemareview.com), a contributing writer for Video Librarian magazine (www.videolibrarian.com), and staff writer for the Park City (UT) Mountain Times and Salt Lake City Weekly. Scott was born in San Diego, CA on December 28, 1966 -- making him older than his photo would suggest -- and grew up in Bakersfield, CA. He graduated from Stanford University in 1989, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 12 years. He now lives in Salt Lake City, UT with his wife Laura, son Nicholas and a beagle named Cassie.
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Selma (2014) |
DuVernay's film is too effective on its own dramatic terms for it to be reduced simply to an allegory for Where We Are Today, yet it's also tremendously encouraging for anyone who wonders if there's any hope for change. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Oct 05, 2018
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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) |
John Requa and Glenn Ficarra strike a nice balance between "war is hell" and absurdist comedy - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Mar 04, 2016
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The Boy and the Beast (2015) |
We're all quite clear that it's about letting go of anger before it consumes you-and it manages to be about that idea with some style. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Mar 04, 2016
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Zootopia (2016) |
It's confusing when it starts to feel that Zootopia is working against its own message to get easy laughs. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Mar 04, 2016
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Theeb (2014) |
Young al-Hwietat is impressive at conveying the physical and moral trials Theeb faces in a basic survival narrative. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 26, 2016
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Eddie the Eagle (2016) |
Why are movies about inspirational stories so uninspired? - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 26, 2016
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12 Years a Slave (2013) |
12 Years a Slave has too many unforgettable elements, even in its less effective second half for it not to deliver a visceral impact. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 24, 2016
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The Lady in the Van (2015) |
Turning that life into a brisk comedy -- in which matters like how a homeless person deals with bodily functions are among the punch lines -- feels rather hard to justify. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 19, 2016
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Risen (2016) |
The narrative essentially inserts Clavius in the middle of Acts of the Apostles, and neither his character nor the variation on familiar Biblical episodes capture the same sense of discovery. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 19, 2016
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Ip Man 3 (2015) |
It's kind of a shame that this series feels so determined to stick to the facts of real-life kung fu grandmaster Ip Man (Donnie Yen), because it's a lot more fun when it's a good old-fashioned martial-arts free-for-all. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 19, 2016
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Race (2016) |
While it may have been an extraordinary time in which this one man pulled off his extraordinary achievements, a movie starts to lose its impact when it begins to feel that it's more about the time than about the man. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 19, 2016
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The Witch (2015) |
That may be part of what makes it so disturbing, even when Eggers doesn't set out to shock you: He's wrestling with something that we don't fully understand, but that we know in our gut is real. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 19, 2016
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) |
Keaton's performance works beyond its wink-and-a-nod to his own Batman history, and there's even stronger work by Norton and Stone finding their own characters' vulnerabilities. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 16, 2016
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45 Years (2015) |
Writer/director Andrew Haigh finds the emotional power that a single revelation can hold over decades of history. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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(undefined) |
There's a staggering amount of talent, imagination, emotion and creativity on display in this program. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) |
It's closer to almost-good than it has any right to be; if only someone had figured out that you shouldn't remember only occasionally that Lady Catherine De Bourgh has been turned into a one-eyed ninja. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Hail, Caesar! (2016) |
Few contemporary filmmakers create works that require more reflection than the Coen brothers -- and that applies even when they're turning out one of their "lighter" comedies. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Where to Invade Next (2015) |
Issue-oriented documentaries are so generally dour and panic-inducing that an approach like the one Michael Moore takes here -- "He guys, there are solutions out there! Lots of them! C'mon, let's take a look!" -- comes off as almost revolutionary. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Son of Saul (2015) |
Nemes' prowling extended takes rarely feel like showy flourishes, instead creating a unique sense of the concentration camp as a physical space. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Deadpool (2016) |
This one's got attitude. If only it weren't quite so self-satisfied with that attitude. And not entirely justified in it, either. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2016
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Miles Ahead (2016) |
It's hard to latch on to any thematic connection. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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First Girl I Loved (2016) |
It's always satisfying when a movie allows teenage characters to behave like real teenagers. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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The Intervention (2016) |
An engaging bit of Big Chill-ish reflection on being 30-something and still trying to figure out what you want out of love when you grow up. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Jacqueline Argentine (2016) |
Almost profound in its rambling search for a point. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Lovesong (2016) |
It can be a bit frustrating awaiting big emotional moments that Lovesong is reluctant to provide, but the world in which it takes place feels so richly thought-out that all the small moments feel that much more real. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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The Fits (2015) |
The complex mix of fight choreography and dance choreography provides a wonderfully unique framework for the narrative. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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The Lobster (2015) |
The gag may ultimately wear thin, but it's a hoot while it lasts. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Audrie & Daisy (2016) |
Feels less like a story than an 95-minute venting of frustrations. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Kiki (2016) |
Unfair though it might be to compare this movie to that ground-breaking work, it's hard not to wish for more of a sense of discovery. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Sing Street (2016) |
Sing Street is simply lovely at conveying the beautiful foolishness of being young, in love, and moved to create. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Joshy (2016) |
You can see a glimpse in writer/director Jeff Baena's movie of the satisfying ensemble farce it could have been, perhaps three or four script drafts down the road. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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As You Are (2016) |
There's something particularly dispiriting about a movie that seems predicated on edgy authenticity, then goes soaring over the melodramatic top without any self-awareness. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Newtown (2016) |
A consistently lump-in-the-throat experience. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) |
Built on formula, but when a formula is this well-executed, it's awfully hard to complain. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Wiener-Dog (2016) |
[Delivers] just enough pitch-black humor to sweeten the despair. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Sleight (2016) |
Can't overcome the sense of a filmmaker pushing too hard to make his movie awesome, when he hadn't yet figured out how to make it good. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Film Hawk (2016) |
What remains is a nice tribute, but isn't quite a movie. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Manchester by the Sea (2016) |
Lonergan weaves his way through many shades of grief, wise enough to understand that it never takes only one form. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Sand Storm (2016) |
There may be plenty of cultural specificity to Elite Zexer's story, but it also proves to be wonderfully universal about the often-fraught relationships between mothers and their adolescent daughters. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Southside With You (2016) |
On some level, this enterprise was doomed from conception. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Snowtime! (2015) |
By the time the story takes a dark turn towards "war is bad" lecturing, much of the loose, silly appeal of the early sequences fades into the white backgrounds. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Embrace of the Serpent (2015) |
A stylishly-made but tediously pedantic lecture on the evils of European imperialism. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Swiss Army Man (2016) |
If you can manage to say something profound about the way we hide ourselves from others because of the things that make us uncomfortable, and do so while parading fart and boner jokes, you've got something special going on. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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Morris From America (2016) |
Funny, generous and gently observational. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2016
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The Free World (2016) |
Every once in a while, it takes a movie approximately two minutes for it to be clear that my eyes will be rolling for the next 90. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 29, 2016
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Rams (2015) |
A solidly effective story at the core of Grímur Hákonarson's off-beat comedy drama. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 29, 2016
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The Bad Kids (2016) |
Powerfully emotional. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 29, 2016
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Belgica (2016) |
Belgica rarely reaches the point where the central relationship can maintain the same degree of interest. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 29, 2016
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Other People (2016) |
It feels as though Kelly doesn't trust that narrative to carry the movie without looking at his watch. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 29, 2016
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Carol (2015) |
It resonates most thanks to the performances that bring it to life. - Salt Lake City Weekly
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| Posted Jan 08, 2016
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