|
B+
|
Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A messy, sprawling, operatic statement from Nolan. It’s technically masterful, but can also keep you at a distance during crucial moments. But it’s also incredibly exciting to behold, a mosaic of intellectual cinema drenched onto the screen.
Posted Aug 03, 2023
|
|
B
|
The Stranger
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Wright artfully directs his film with the kind of precision that’ll keep you hanging on to every shot.
Posted Dec 14, 2022
|
|
B
|
Resurrection
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Hall delivers a harrowing performance that cements her among the very best actresses working today. Her film may crumble by its end, but she’s unforgettable.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C+
|
Nope
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
"Nope” is incoherently told. It’s a fascinating mess of a movie, almost never predictable in its messy nature, but devoid of the discipline needed to truly grab our attention.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C+
|
The Gray Man
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
An algorithm-infused product that barely has a beating heart.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C+
|
Murina
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
e coming-of-age tropes used here (blossoming sexuality, overprotective fathers, desire for freedom) can be traced back to countless better movies.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C-
|
Both Sides of the Blade
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
When you don’t buy the central couple of a story, and the chemistry between the actors lacks spark, then the whole movie gets screwed over.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C
|
Thor: Love and Thunder
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
There’s dry wit throughout this movie, but also a sense of unearned familiarity.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Fire of Love
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Sara Dosa’s documentary might not make you fully care for its doomed lovers, but she more than compensates for it by inserting some of the most astonishing volcano imagery every put on film.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B-
|
The Forgiven
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
I’d watch Chastain read the phonebook at the point, she can do no wrong in my books.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C+
|
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A cutesy animated film that plays like a short being overstretched
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Elvis
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A blitzkrieg of pop art
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B
|
The Black Phone
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Small-scaled horror that relies on atmospheric dread
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
D
|
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Strenuously overacted, the film is more interested in being topical and “sex positive” than engaging and original.
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B
|
Cha Cha Real Smooth
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” turns out to be a pleasant watch due to its performances, including career-best work from Johnson, and Raiff’s smartly written screenplay
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C
|
Lost Illusions
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
An ambitious adaptation that falls flat
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
D
|
Jurassic World Dominion
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
This unnecessary sequel is unbearable, unwatchable, and too incoherent to suffer through
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C+
|
Top Gun: Maverick
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Forced ode to the original doesn't fully embrace the cheese
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
C
|
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Such a waste of Raimi's talents
Posted Jul 30, 2022
|
|
B-
|
The Northman
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
You can tell Eggers wanted a more elevated, visually-driven movie and I hope a director’s cut shows up someday.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Watcher
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
One of the best horror movies of recent years
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
A-
|
Crimes of the Future
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
David Cronenberg’s ‘Crimes of the Future’ is meditative, horrific and visionary
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
C
|
Emergency
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
“Emergency” means to be topical, but it can’t escape what it tries to avoid most: familiar irrelevancy.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
C
|
Men
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Garland’s intentions in making this film don’t turn out fully-formed. He so desperately wants to sneak into the viewers brain, but we end up in a state of confusion rather than enlightenment. He tries hard to bewilder, maybe a little too much so.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
A-
|
Happening
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A stunning, realist and visceral achievement.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
C+
|
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
In between all the meta-ness are rather blandly shot action scenes that feel both forced and pedestrian. It falls flat in its taunting of Hollywood lunacy and ends up being the exact thing it purports to mock.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
C
|
Dual
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
This is a minor work from a filmmaker filled with talent — an undercooked, not well shot, comatose script that doesn’t fully embrace its inner Lanthimos.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Navalny
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
“Navalny” is a doc that exposes a shocking series of events, all of which are too mindblowing to reveal
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Like Linklater's very best movies, “Apollo 10 1/2” plays akin to a slice-of-life rumination, avoiding forced drama and instead opting for the beauty of moments.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B-
|
X
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
There’s nothing original about West’s highly stylized film, it’s just a down and dirty horror jam with a decent batch of jump-scares.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B-
|
Deep Water
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
It's a very silly movie, but watchable in its blatant ludicrousness.
Posted Jun 07, 2022
|
|
B-
|
Turning Red
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
I found that Shi took a potentially on-paper solid idea and squandered it into semi-plodding and, at times, derivative plot
Posted Mar 13, 2022
|
|
B-
|
Nightmare Alley
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
But something feels off, as if del Toro forgot to inject any sort of humanity into his characters. They all feel like pawns on a chessboard rather than involving, full-blooded humans.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
B+
|
The Lost Daughter
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Its a ludicrous proposition offered by Gyllenhaal, to hang out with these people, but it makes for a terrifyingly artful film about bad parenting.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
C+
|
West Side Story
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
The artistry from Spielbergs swirling camera, to Kaminskis gritty photography to the immaculate performances keep you hanging on. However, Spielbergs intentions seem misplaced here, his execution over-elaborated. It leaves you feeling with a shrug.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
C+
|
Don't Look Up
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
You dont believe anything that happens in this film. The moments are rendered in rather cartoonish fashion; for a film invested in tackling the zeitgeist, I dont think it quite gets how people act in times of crisis.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
C-
|
The Matrix Resurrections
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Wachowski seems to have lost her touch in regards to shooting action. The fight scenes here are as bad as those from Revolutions, with excessive CGI utilized in favour of developing character. Maybe Lana needed her fellow sister to help out here.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
B-
|
Parallel Mothers
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Tonal issues aside, Almodovar throws a wealth of ideas for the audience to grasp here, they might never fully come together, but its an irresistible proposition to watch a high-caliber artist swing for the fences with this kind of ambition.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
B+
|
Kimi
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A timely and minimalist CVOID-era gem.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
C+
|
The Batman
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Its a rather highly-polished and extremely well-directed mainstream affair, but the ideas that Reeves infuses his film with, the substance, so to speak, is familiar and feels almost artificial.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
B
|
Fresh
(2022)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Despite its lack of subtleties or even the absence of character substance, not to mention a wildly over-the-top climax, its a wild ride
Posted Mar 02, 2022
|
|
B-
|
House of Gucci
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
This bizarre Italian soap opera, sitting at nearly 3 hours, is destined to become a legendary meme.
Posted Nov 23, 2021
|
|
|
Licorice Pizza
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Anderson's film is a love story, but one filled with masterful brush strokes. It plays like a madcap mix of Linklater, "Punch-Drunk Love" and Leo's Carax's "Holy Motors."
Posted Nov 16, 2021
|
|
|
Fauci
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
This was a rather standard doc, plainly told. There was nothing especially appealing about the whole thing; Hoffman, and Tobias basically fawn all over their subject for 90 minutes.
Posted Oct 23, 2021
|
|
C+
|
Dune
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
It also feels like half a movie, all set-up/no payoff, one conceived with the primary intention of world-building before, hopefully, going for the kill shot in the sequel.
Posted Oct 23, 2021
|
|
B
|
The Hand of God
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
Despite the familiarity, the end-result is a raw and, on a moment by moment basis, compulsively watchable coming-of-age tale.
Posted Oct 12, 2021
|
|
|
Dave Chappelle: The Closer
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
A revolutionary act of defiance
Posted Oct 12, 2021
|
|
C
|
The Humans
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
For a film so concerned about humans - their fears, dreams, and connections - Karam ends up doing the very thing he should be avoiding: isolating them.
Posted Sep 24, 2021
|
|
B-
|
Last Night in Soho
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
The mix of genres doesn't always mesh, the hypnotic coherence of the first hour replaced by incoherence and overexposed twists in the latter half
Posted Sep 24, 2021
|
|
C+
|
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
(2021)
|
Jordan Ruimy
|
he problem is that despite Showalter seemingly avoiding a plasticized depiction of Faye, he doesn't necessarily dig deep enough into her psyche. In Showalter's film, she's both smarter than she looks and totally unaware of the corruption.
Posted Sep 24, 2021
|
>