Concrete Playground
Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
3.5/5
Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
Michael Moore returns to form with a bleak and unsettling take on the erosion of American democracy.
Posted Nov 4, 2018
2
2/5
Venom (2018)
An entirely squandered opportunity.
Posted Oct 14, 2018
3
4/5
First Man (2018)
An intimate and breathtaking character study that reminds us exactly why we still love going to the movies.
Posted Oct 14, 2018
4
2/5
The Predator (2018)
Predator's original screenwriter is back, but not even he can recapture the thrill and surprise of the 1987 classic.
Posted Sep 27, 2018
5
Ladies in Black (2018)
Lovely to look at from afar, but boasting extra detail when seen from a closer vantage.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
6
Christopher Robin (2018)
Simply wants viewers to delight in the big-hearted pleasures of its gorgeous world.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
7
A Simple Favor (2018)
Slick, smart, slightly sleazy and ruthlessly entertaining, and remains thoroughly committed to making viewers eat up every moment.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
8
McQueen (2018)
As a depiction of life splattering and changing something luminous, it's vivid, almost violent and certainly intoxicating.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
9
The Insult (L'insulte) (2018)
Doueriri knows how to unpack a moral quandary, sometimes bluntly but always effectively.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
10
Slender Man (2018)
This flimsy horror effort doesn't have a knack for much, other than sticking to the dullest of formulas
Posted Sep 24, 2018
11
The Happytime Murders (2018)
A stitched-together film that can't survive on a rote noir storyline, some human energy and too many gags about puppets gone wild.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
12
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Glimmers with emotion, exuberance and cultural specificity, engagingly and enjoyably so.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
13
A splashy, stylish, skilfully executed and supremely entertaining effort, and a mighty fun time at the cinema.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
14
An assault on the senses that's as brutal as its slasher set-up and as theatrical as its campy tone.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
15
Mandy (2018)
Everything from the feature's colour-saturated visuals, to its ferocious score, to Cage's glorious performance all hits the mark.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
16
Apostasy (2017)
Treads through fraught territory with both authenticity and a no-holds-barred understanding of the complexities of the situation.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
17
Acute Misfortune (2019)
18
A gorgeous gut-punch of a movie, almost like Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude tinted with bleakness and set in a unique gangster world.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
19
An enchanting and empathetic debut; as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
20
Sublimely blue in its bittersweet mood and its exacting colour scheme, the end result is a layered, almost novel-like, always tender and touching study of life and love.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
21
First Reformed (2018)
With the intensity that's made him such a compelling screen presence for decades now, Hawke wears his character's growing uncertainty and unhappiness like a weathered second skin.
Posted Sep 24, 2018
22
2/5
The Meg (2018)
You'll find more bloody gore in a lamb commercial than this toothless and pointless creature feature.
Posted Aug 22, 2018
23
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Helming the film it feels like he was born to make, Lee approaches his weighty material with the complexity that it deserves
Posted Aug 21, 2018
24
On Chesil Beach (2018)
As astute and insightful as McEwan's narrative is, it's the performances that give texture to a tale that otherwise works better on the page .
Posted Aug 21, 2018
25
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
Doesn't always hit the mark, but it entertains in both the action and comedy departments.
Posted Aug 21, 2018
26
RBG (2018)
Like the justice, it's small, smart and striving; thorough and proficient; and eager to make the world a better place than it currently is.
Posted Aug 21, 2018
27
Whitney (2018)
Whitney mightn't tell viewers much that's new; however it assembles its various pieces with a force on par with Houston's roaring voice
Posted Aug 21, 2018
28
5/5
A rare example of a franchise improving with each new instalment; Fallout is a benchmark setter that begs to be seen on the big screen.
Posted Aug 2, 2018
29
Bisbee '17 (2018)
The results are as powerful to watch as they clearly are for those taking part, in a multi-layered documentary that uses everything it can to excavate the past.
Posted Jul 30, 2018
30
Lean on Pete (2018)
The empathy the film shows not only for its protagonist and the titular animal, but for life in the margins in America's midwest, lingers long after Lean on Pete stops rolling.
Posted Jul 30, 2018
31
Prototype (2018)
An example of 3D at its most inventive, artistic and adventurous, it's an audio-visual assault of the mesmerising type.
Posted Jul 30, 2018
32
Skate Kitchen (2018)
The struggle to fit in, find yourself and fight back against gendered expectations has rarely rolled by with such empowering energy, or with such an ethereal air either.
Posted Jul 30, 2018
33
Angels Wear White (2018)
A poised and perceptive crime drama... every frame leaves an imprint, both visually and emotionally.
Posted Jul 30, 2018
34
The Breaker Upperers (2018)
The kind of female-focused buddy comedy that cinema could use considerably more of.
Posted Jul 29, 2018
35
2/5
Skyscraper (2018)
Billed as a homage to Die Hard and Towering Inferno, Skyscraper's lack of wit, grit and suspense leaves it far behind its predecessors.
Posted Jul 24, 2018
36
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
37
Diamantino (2018)
38
Deserves to be celebrated as one of the best features Australia has ever had to offer.
Posted Jul 19, 2018
39
Zama (2018)
Nine years since making her last feature, Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel returns with an effort that matches her reputation: mythic.
Posted Jul 19, 2018
40
Caniba (2018)
Endlessly fascinating... there are few documentaries like Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel's Caniba.
Posted Jul 19, 2018
41
There's no doubting the sheer artistic and filmmaking spectacle on display.
Posted Jul 19, 2018
42
3.5/5
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
With a self-contained storyline and plenty of laughs, Ant-Man and The Wasp is the perfect follow-up to the chaos of Infinity War.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
43
Mary Shelley (2018)
Thanks to Fanning's lively and spirited portrayal, there's no doubting the fire that burned inside Mary, even when the film does favour her amorous affairs.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
44
Best F(r)iends, Part 1 (2018)
It won't tear you apart with laughter or leave you wondering how it got made, but very few films can manage that.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
45
Thelma (2017)
Part sci-fi, part horror, part coming-of-age effort, the end result is a piercing exploration of identity that looks as impressive as it feels.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
46
Under the Tree (Undir trénu) (2018)
A bleak but hilarious study of bad behaviour.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
47
Heavy Trip (Hevi reissu) (2018)
Even when it veers into silly territory, Heavy Trip remains inventive, heartfelt and very amusing.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
48
Valley of Shadows (2017)
The gothic horror tradition is alive and well in moody, brooding Norwegian effort Valley of Shadows, which proves as haunting and gorgeously gloomy as its title suggests.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
49
Winter Brothers (2018)
As a study of masculinity left to fester in an isolated environment, it's an emotionally powerful piece.
Posted Jul 16, 2018
50
Adrift (2018)