That Shelf

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating Title/Year Author
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) Courtney Small Channelling the brand of physical humour that catapulted his career to stardom in the '90s, Carrey devours every scene he is in. EDIT
Posted Feb 15, 2020
Nose to Tail (2019) Courtney Small Zigelstein's film serves up a dish that is full of bitter truths, which its protagonist is reluctant to swallow. EDIT
Posted Feb 14, 2020
VFW (2019) Victor Stiff VFW recreates the genre's blood-thirsty highs and playfully embraces its campy lows to deliver a fun-loving throwback that revels in depravity. EDIT
Posted Feb 14, 2020
Downhill (2020) Pat Mullen Downhill is lots of fun, but it's a green circle to the double black diamond of its predecessor. EDIT
Posted Feb 13, 2020
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020) Victor Stiff P.S. I Still Love You gives its audience exactly what they want. More adorable characters. More will-they-or-won't-they drama. And most importantly, more Lana Condor. EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2020
Zola (2020) Victor Stiff [Zola] is an astute social satire, a hilarious crime caper, and a terrifying cautionary tale. EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2020
Kajillionaire (2020) Victor Stiff Beyond the hilarious crime-family shenanigans, Kajillionaire is a story about broken people coming together to feel whole.. EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2020
Scare Me (2020) Victor Stiff Scare Me stretches its storytelling premise too thin to sustain this 104-minute film. Both actors' schticks get old all too quick. EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2020
Wendy (2020) Victor Stiff Wendy is a transcendent experience capable of moving you to tears. But I get it if you tell me those tears stem from boredom. EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2020
() Pat Mullen Van Grinsven's film is an assured debut with intoxicating visuals, sharp performances, and just the right hint of danger. EDIT
Posted Feb 10, 2020
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) Pat Mullen Birds of Prey puts the audience in the shoes (or roller skates) or somebody who gets a perverse thrill from nihilistic violence. Like it or not, it's a rush. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2020
Rebuilding Paradise (2020) Victor Stiff The brilliance of Howard's film is that it forces us to consider the intangible pieces of our souls that we lose in the rebuilding process. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2020
() Victor Stiff [Us Kids] offers an up-close look at how teenagers wrestled control out of the hands of corrupt, ignorant, and pernicious adults in positions of authority. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2020
The Assistant (2019) Pat Mullen Green's film boldly and frankly lets audiences witness the covert complicity that is pervasive in many workplaces. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2020
Impetigore (Perempuan Tanah Jahanam) (2020) Victor Stiff Anwar takes this story to dark places, and this film isn't for the faint of heart. Don't be shocked when Impetigore keeps your pulse jackhammering for its entire runtime. EDIT
Posted Feb 5, 2020
Big Fur (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Big Fur smartly assumes that the audience needs a good primer on taxidermy's mechanics and history. It sprinkles these practical lessons throughout the quick 76 minute running time. EDIT
Posted Feb 3, 2020
There Are No Fakes (2019) Courtney Small There Are No Fakes is a haunting portrait of greed, class and the horrors that can arise when art is only viewed through a monetary lens. EDIT
Posted Feb 1, 2020
Charm City Kings (2020) Victor Stiff Charm City Kings is an obvious cautionary tale. Soto and Payne aren't subtle about their movie's moral centre. EDIT
Posted Jan 31, 2020
Rosie (2018) Pat Mullen For anyone who has ever worked hard and worried about how to pay for tomorrow, Rosie hits a nerve. EDIT
Posted Jan 31, 2020
Run Sweetheart Run (2020) Victor Stiff Run Sweetheart Run is an exhilarating horror flick and a scorching social commentary. EDIT
Posted Jan 30, 2020
The Gentlemen (2020) Rachel West While there never seems to be enough thrills or mystery, Guy Ritchie's most-recent crime caper is never dull thanks to a great cast and ludicrous story. EDIT
Posted Jan 29, 2020
A- Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (2020) Jason Gorber y Miss Americana shines a bright light on the music star that's a perfect celebration for fans - and may well generate more than a few new ones. EDIT
Posted Jan 29, 2020
The 40-Year-Old Version (2020) Victor Stiff The Forty-Year-Old Version is one of Sundance 2020's finest gems. It's an example of cinema, not as it currently exists, but as audiences want it (and need it) to be. EDIT
Posted Jan 28, 2020
The Turning (2020) Pat Mullen A lousy screw. EDIT
Posted Jan 25, 2020
Miss Juneteenth (2020) Victor Stiff Miss Juneteenth is so thoughtful, earnest, and heart-achingly specific that it can only be the work of a storyteller baring their soul. EDIT
Posted Jan 25, 2020
Bad Hair (2020) Victor Stiff Bad Hair is a delightful horror dramedy that interrogates black women's struggle to be true to themselves in the face of a system hellbent on snuffing out their blackness. EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
Bad Boys for Life (2020) Victor Stiff The series' waning staying power may not last "for life," but this Bad Boysmovie still works its magic, for at least a couple of hours. EDIT
Posted Jan 19, 2020
Les misérables (2019) Pat Mullen It's an exhilarating discovery and a bold introduction of a new voice. Les Misérables gets my vote as the best first feature of the past year. EDIT
Posted Jan 17, 2020
Clemency (2019) Pat Mullen The final moments of Clemency are undoubtedly the finest of Woodard's career. EDIT
Posted Jan 16, 2020
Leslie Jones: Time Machine (2020) Victor Stiff Jones' sex-positive set uses comedy as a Trojan horse to deliver insights into accepting middle age. EDIT
Posted Jan 14, 2020
The Song of Names (2019) Pat Mullen The film wrestles with the aspirations of art-house prestige and crowd-pleasing appeal, but it never finds harmony. EDIT
Posted Jan 3, 2020
Gossip (2000) Rachel West Replace the flip phones with iPhones, the word-of-mouth hallway gossip with retweets, and the salacious storyline could work just as well for today's audience. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
The Kitchen (2019) Rachel West The Kitchen is a half-cooked crime drama that never quite rises to the occasion. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
Guns Akimbo (2019) Rachel West Guns Akimbo offers is video game-stylized violence mixed with adolescent slapstick humour and a lazy commentary on online addiction. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
Extra Ordinary (2019) Rachel West There's little gore, lots of puking, and plenty of endearing moments in the odd yet likeable Extra Ordinary. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
8 (2019) Rachel West Though 8 lacks genre tropes and instead unfolds like a mysterious puzzle, the film fails to deliver on some of the story's more horrific elements. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
C+ () Rachel West While the film follows the standard exorcism execution, there's enough here to offer a fresh look at the genre with some jump scares along the way. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
B+ Come to Daddy (2019) Rachel West Ant Timpson's debut feature Come To Daddy is a weird and wild ride, full of surprises and a superb performance from star Elijah Wood. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
D Earthquake Bird (2019) Rachel West Earthquake Bird meanders through its plot points in a narrative that feels lost in translation. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
F Cats (2019) Rachel West The most shocking thing about Cats is that it's somehow worse than you imagined it could ever be. EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2019
Little Women (2019) Victor Stiff Greta Gerwig once again knocks it out of the park and in doing so, makes a strong case that she's one of cinema's next great directors. EDIT
Posted Dec 25, 2019
Just Mercy (2019) Victor Stiff Just Mercy has the right elements for a gripping courtroom drama... but can't quite bring it all together in a compelling way. EDIT
Posted Dec 23, 2019
Bombshell (2019) Pat Mullen Absolute dynamite. Featuring an all-star cast and a script that bites with caustic wit, the film does for the #MeToo movement what The Big Short did for the financial crisis. EDIT
Posted Dec 20, 2019
6 Underground (2019) Victor Stiff Before the credits roll, 6 Underground will either trigger your adrenal glands or leave you triggered. EDIT
Posted Dec 20, 2019
A Hidden Life (2019) Pat Mullen With each frame of A Hidden Life, the hills are alive with the sound of Malick. This Alpine odyssey is a return to form. EDIT
Posted Dec 18, 2019
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Victor Stiff I don't want to sound like a killjoy, because The Rise of Skywalker is all kinds of fun. But its biggest drawback is Abrams' obsequious desire to give fans what they want. EDIT
Posted Dec 18, 2019
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) Courtney Small For a film all about finding oneself, Jumanji: The Next Level seems to have left its heart back in the jungle. EDIT
Posted Dec 14, 2019
() Pat Mullen This balls-to-the-wall phantasmagoria of maple syrup soaked ridiculousness is unlike anything we've seen. EDIT
Posted Dec 12, 2019
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) Matt Hoffman Breathtaking performances - shot in close-up - of songs like "One More Cup of Coffee", "Hurricane", and "Romance in Durango" are padded by moments of joy and heartbreak. EDIT
Posted Dec 11, 2019
Knock Down the House (2019) Victor Stiff It's incredible how [Rachel] Lears captured AOC's improbable ascent, and for that reason alone people will get a kick out of this film. EDIT
Posted Dec 10, 2019