Entertainment Today

Entertainment Today is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Brent Simon
Rating Title/Year Author
Last Stop for Paul (2006) Joseph Feinstein This is a most daffy, snazzy, kooky movie which will absorb you every moment it's on the screen. Take the trip with Paul to the last stop.....it's worth it! EDIT
Posted Mar 6, 2008
4/5 Strength and Honor (2007) Joseph Feinstein Strength and Honor is a most apt title for this movie truly has both. EDIT
Posted Dec 19, 2007
B+ The Inheritance (2003) Brent Simon A solid, involving Danish drama that proves discord, struggle and variance need not necessarily be lost in translation. EDIT
Posted Oct 11, 2004
B Naked in New York (1993) Brent Simon A movie of somewhat indulgent introspection, a confection of twentysomething ambivalence. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
D+ () Brent Simon The movie's core idea is a relatively good one... but its execution is hormone-addled titillation, as devoid of aspiration as it is inspiration. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
A- THX-1138 (1971) Brent Simon A scrupulously crafted vision of benevolent oppressiveness, THX 1138 exudes a creamy hypnotism and resonates strongly. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B Tying the Knot (2004) Brent Simon Activist filmmaking... but neither strident nor plaintive. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B- Shark Tale (2004) Brent Simon A colorful, vibrant and charismatic treat that plays to both kids and adults... EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
F A Dirty Shame (2004) Brent Simon Shrill and clamorous claptrap, a movie whose harried declamations and colorful, frenetic staging give the impression of plot in the absence of any real narrative conviction. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B Shaun of the Dead (2004) Brent Simon A colorful British genre mash-up that crossbreeds the zombified existence of late twentysomething interpersonal ennui with a literal attack of the undead. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
F Anatomy of Hell (2003) Brent Simon Issues of sexual commitment, fidelity and self-worth are graphically explored with the torpid detachment of a psych major's filmic send-up of a Calvin Klein commercial... EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B The Yes Men (2003) Brent Simon Subversive and thought-provoking, though also a little too slack and unassuming for its own good; more 'why' and not just 'how' would have been a welcome addition. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
C+ Remember Me, My Love (2003) Brent Simon A lively if overlong movie that allows for the full spectrum of human emotion and behavior. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
C Wimbledon (2004) Brent Simon Ably, consistently directed and featuring attractive, likeable leads, yet also still so formulaic and quirk-free as to lull you into a stupor. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B+ Cowboys & Angels (2004) Brent Simon There are no truly great lessons imparted in Cowboys and Angels, but its charm, sociability and highly watchable performances make it a smooth, friendly cinematic pint. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
D- Swimming Upstream (2001) Brent Simon Management of tone is everything in tales this sentimental, and Swimming Upstream is ploddingly obvious and mawkish -- all desultory domestic scenes and bad monologues. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
C+ Incident at Loch Ness (2004) Brent Simon Somewhere between The Blair Witch Project, Lost in La Mancha, Anaconda and the kookiest film school art project ever dreamed up... EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
C- Reconstruction (2003) Brent Simon Emblematic of a new sort of filmic collage in which artificial construction is as much a featured part of the point as a means to an end. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B- Evergreen (2004) Brent Simon The dialogue is on-the-nose and its lessons are pedestrian, but the film remains a "working poor-trait" of poignancy and grace due to Addie Land's unself-conscious turn. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B+ Criminal (2004) Brent Simon A jazzy, offhandedly brilliant exercise in colorful mendacity and shell game shenanigans that benefits from the cool, authoritative occupational swagger of John C. Reilly. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
D+ When Will I Be Loved (2004) Brent Simon Careening and indulgent... a triple-loose oration on gender, power, wealth and age that asserts its points without ever owning them. EDIT
Posted Oct 5, 2004
B Bush's Brain (2004) Brent Simon An engrossing, disturbing portrait of the perversion of our political process -- a victim of our collective disdain and disinterest that we let it get dragged down this far. EDIT
Posted Sep 7, 2004
B The Brown Bunny (2003) Brent Simon Punishingly, defiantly slow... but also an artful film of uncommon tenderness with modest, at-arm's-length rewards. EDIT
Posted Aug 30, 2004
A- Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004) Brent Simon Clearheaded, practical and plenteous in evidence but smart and confident enough not to berate you. EDIT
Posted Aug 30, 2004
A- Duel (1971) Brent Simon A sort of minimalist telepic precursor to John Dahl's Joyride that packs the unadulterated genre punch of pure grain alcohol... EDIT
Posted Aug 23, 2004
B- High Art (1998) Brent Simon A solid if diffident, strongly character-focused drama worth the time of those who appreciate shoegazing introspection for the High Art that it is. EDIT
Posted Aug 23, 2004
C+ Superstar in a Housedress (2004) Brent Simon A vibrant, skin-deep flirt, both refined and tawdry, fabulous and skin deep -- probably a comparison Curtis himself would appreciate. EDIT
Posted Aug 23, 2004
C Mean Creek (2004) Brent Simon Reach exceeds grasp in this small ensemble character drama in the vein of Stand By Me that succeeds far more in theory than in practice. EDIT
Posted Aug 23, 2004
A- After Hours (1985) Brent Simon Darkly comedic and delightfully manic, After Hours is a fresh, funny look at one man's downward mental and emotional slide into an evening of unmitigated SoHo hell. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2004
C- Gozu (2003) Brent Simon Gozu has an occasional fever dream lucidity scene to scene, but the film's willfully weird parts also never coalesce into something grander. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2004
B- Danny Deckchair (2003) Brent Simon A charming if shaggy, paint-by-numbers Aussie trifle in which one small, spontaneous step toward change sparks a radical reinvention of self. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2004
C We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) Brent Simon Well acted and designed of a piece [but] too diffident and emotionally murky to elicit a sustained reaction. The movie could have benefited from a more proactive script. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2004
B+ Collateral (2004) Brent Simon An engrossing, low-key, character thriller about the collision of ruthless amorality, conflicted decency and masculinity in crisis. Jamie Foxx has arrived as a movie star. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2004
C- Open Water (2003) Brent Simon An undercooked minimalist film exercise. The end result: you're stranded in Open Water, bereft of hope or care for the movie's characters. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2004
B Stander (2003) Brent Simon Like its protagonist, the film feels slightly off its rocker, a weird grab bag of disparate emotions, yet you don't ever really stop enjoying its company. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2004
C- The Village (2004) Brent Simon Shyamalan can stretch out a moment like a master guitarist... yet here his skills are put to service in the form of a laborious rather than meticulous charlatan end-around. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2004
B+ Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003) Brent Simon A vivid and distressing documentary examination of the state of the fourth estate... a deeply fascinating must-see for anyone interested in the news, politics and civic life. EDIT
Posted Aug 3, 2004
B+ Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003) Brent Simon A masterfully creepy little import, a deeply unsettling daisy chain of expanding terror. EDIT
Posted Jul 26, 2004
C- This Old Cub (2004) Brent Simon Genial but wandering and woefully edited... one simply wishes This Old Cub asked a few more actual questions of its old diehard Cub subject. EDIT
Posted Jul 26, 2004
B- Zhou Yu's Train (2002) Brent Simon A reticent but luminous meditation on love and desire. EDIT
Posted Jul 26, 2004
C+ The Hunting of the President (2004) Brent Simon Engages but rarely fixes illuminating revelation in its crosshairs. Still, for political wonks, that's enough of a seduction to merit consideration. EDIT
Posted Jul 26, 2004
C+ The Notebook (2004) Brent Simon Its first 15-20 minutes are awful, but the film eventually emerges as a credible and even genuinely heartrending tearjerker. EDIT
Posted Jul 19, 2004
C Touch of Pink (2004) Brent Simon Middling screwball comic fantasia... a passable indie film calling card perhaps suited more for casting directors and potentially adventurous directors than general audiences. EDIT
Posted Jul 19, 2004
A- The Corporation (2003) Brent Simon Vivid, informative, depressing and galvanizing all at the same time, The Corporation is a bombshell documentary... that leaves your mind a crazy jumble after viewing. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
B+ Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Brent Simon I could have used more smarm and crisply delineated battle-of-sexes confrontation, but Ferrell's overwrought mania and wholesale comedic devotion again sell the laffs. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
B+ Riding Giants (2004) Brent Simon An entertaining niche subculture document... a vicarious thrill for all those who never graduated beyond bright yellow boogie boards. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
A Before Sunset (2004) Brent Simon A verbose, invigorating gem. There hasn't been a brighter, better, more spry and alive relationship picture in years. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
C The Clearing (2004) Brent Simon Well acted, with an accumulative sense of novelistic detail, but it doesn't quite fully connect. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
D- Father and Son (2003) Brent Simon It's hard to imagine a more jointly artful and mind-numbingly off-putting cinematic experience... Father and Son is the virtual definition of tedium. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004
C You'll Get Over It (2002) Brent Simon Genuinely engaging performances from Baumgartner and Maravalidealized are kind of wasted in this idealized and dramatically weightless coming(-out)-of-age story... EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2004