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Tamara Straus

Tamara Straus's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Biography:

San Francisco Chronicle film critic.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Tulpan (2008) 96% 3/4 EDIT “A tender, unforgettable comedy about a vanishing way of life.” – San Francisco Chronicle May 8, 2009 Full Review Obscene (2007) 92% 3/4 EDIT “Obscene, a tribute to New York publisher Barney Rosset, is an entertaining reminder of the ferocity of the culture wars of the 1950s and '60s.” – San Francisco Chronicle Sep 5, 2008 Full Review Warchild (2008) 3/4 EDIT “Warchild, the second feature of German director Christian Wagner's Balkan Blues Trilogy, is one of those rare war films, like Apocalypse Now and Hiroshima Mon Amour, that makes brilliant use of symbolism.” – San Francisco Chronicle Aug 22, 2008 Full Review Body of War (2007) 80% 4/4 EDIT “A chance to witness the struggles of a remarkable young man. Young may be paralyzed in the body, but his mind is fiercely alive.” – San Francisco Chronicle Apr 18, 2008 Full Review Blindsight (2006) 98% 3.5/4 EDIT “Simultaneously a sports adventure film, a tear-jerking tale of hope and inspiration and a captivating meditation on culture clash.” – San Francisco Chronicle Mar 28, 2008 Full Review Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm (2007) 3/4 EDIT “Passion & Power may lay it on too thick with its You Go, Girl! message, but in the end it does bring to life a remarkably amusing and strange secret history.” – San Francisco Chronicle Feb 22, 2008 Full Review Taxi to the Dark Side (2007) 100% 5/5 EDIT “Will go down in film history as a damning historical document of the Bush administration's wartime expansion of executive powers.” – San Francisco Chronicle Feb 8, 2008 Full Review The Business of Being Born (2007) 81% 3/4 EDIT “A powerful, frightening look at America's delivery room that makes a strong case for natural childbirth overseen by experienced midwives rather than by surgery-prone doctors.” – San Francisco Chronicle Jan 18, 2008 Full Review Have You Heard from Johannesburg?: Apartheid and the Club of the West (2010) 100% 4/4 EDIT “The documentary's rousing thesis is that American economic pressure can transform a nation halfway across the globe and do it in the name of liberty and equality.” – San Francisco Chronicle Nov 2, 2007 Full Review Terror's Advocate (2007) 87% 3/4 EDIT “Jacques Vergs makes for compelling documentary film fodder: He is arrogant, cosmopolitan, politically unpredictable and enmeshed in the roots of modern international terrorism.” – San Francisco Chronicle Nov 2, 2007 Full Review In the Valley of Elah (2007) 73% 4/4 EDIT “Elah does have moments of slipping into political sermon, but for the most part it is an effective, disturbing and -- a rarity for Haggis -- subtle exploration of the stateside war story.” – San Francisco Chronicle Sep 14, 2007 Full Review I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal (2007) 80% 3/4 EDIT “The film dramatically shows how many of the criminals on Wiesenthal's lists were eventually sent to jail or died from heart attacks or suicide when they were at last located.” – San Francisco Chronicle Jun 29, 2007 Full Review Crazy Love (2007) 79% 2/4 EDIT “Among the weirdest explorations of connubial relationships since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And like Edward Albee's 1962 play, it leaves one feeling queasy about human nature.” – San Francisco Chronicle Jun 8, 2007 Full Review The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) 41% 1/4 EDIT “Now the fabricated story of a boyhood that included abandonment, rape and near constant fear and humiliation is a movie. The result is unwatchable.” – San Francisco Chronicle Mar 24, 2006 Full Review
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