NBC News THINK

NBC News THINK is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Ani Bundel, Jenni Miller, Noah Berlatsky, Ronda Racha Penrice
Rating Title/Year Author
The Gentlemen (2020) Jenni Miller A sexy, stylish ensemble cast in a London heist flick spitting out one-liners from a [Guy] Ritchie-penned twisty script can't save this lackluster throwback to a style of storytelling that's past its prime. EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
Underwater (2020) Noah Berlatsky It's one of those horror films that suggests that, even if there are some survivors, the apocalypse has been postponed rather than banished. EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2020
Little Women (2019) Jenni Miller [Greta] Gerwig's eye is flawless. EDIT
Posted Dec 30, 2019
1917 (2019) Noah Berlatsky In "1917," creators used their enormous technical talent to rationalize and justify an irrational, unjustifiable war. EDIT
Posted Dec 25, 2019
Cats (2019) Jenni Miller Perhaps the least chill Broadway musical of all time EDIT
Posted Dec 23, 2019
Bombshell (2019) Jenni Miller The movie can't quite stomach making Bombshell as edgy as they want to, deferring to a weaksauce female empowerment message instead of addressing the broader social questions. EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2019
Playmobil: The Movie (2019) Ani Bundel Playmobil manages the live-action part, but without any clever twists. EDIT
Posted Dec 9, 2019
Marriage Story (2019) Jenni Miller Marriage Story has its own sort of happy ending - or at least a more hopeful one than the others we've seen before. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2019
Knives Out (2019) Ani Bundel Knives Out not only brings back this breed of manor house murder mystery - last a cult hit with the 1980s-era "Clue" - but proves that the current climate may be ripe for a full-scale modern revival. EDIT
Posted Dec 2, 2019
Queen & Slim (2019) Noah Berlatsky "Queen & Slim" director Melina Matsoukas is less interested in action and violence than in love. ....And that, as it turns out, makes the film both less predictable and more heartbreakingly political. EDIT
Posted Dec 1, 2019
Frozen II (2019) Ani Bundel A complete stunner, worth seeing on the big screen. EDIT
Posted Nov 25, 2019
Charlie's Angels (2019) Ani Bundel The good news is that the film is just as hilariously bad as the original and has a whole lot of fun in the process. EDIT
Posted Nov 18, 2019
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Noah Berlatsky "Terminator: Dark Fate," though, manages to fit its old clunky rotors and cogs smoothly into the socket of our apocalyptic present. EDIT
Posted Nov 1, 2019
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) Ani Bundel It's a visually gorgeous movie...Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a muddled mess. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2019
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) Ani Bundel For fans of the series, this is the closure for Jesse they always wanted. EDIT
Posted Oct 14, 2019
Joker (2019) Ani Bundel It turns out the piece of art that has caused such an uproar is nothing more than an incoherent, misbegotten and embarrassingly dull two hours. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
Judy (2019) Ani Bundel While the writing may be schmaltzy, star Renée Zellweger is brilliant in the titular role. EDIT
Posted Oct 2, 2019
Ad Astra (2019) Noah Berlatsky The movie goes a long, long way around the universe to find the same boring, cold-hearted action hero as ever. EDIT
Posted Sep 20, 2019
Hustlers (2019) Ani Bundel It's utterly meta and absolutely on point. EDIT
Posted Sep 16, 2019
It: Chapter Two (2019) Noah Berlatsky "It," that generic title, demonstrates that in pop culture, there is always a second chapter. There's no such thing as just one evil clown. EDIT
Posted Sep 7, 2019
12 Strong (2018) Noah Berlatsky The mechanics of colonial propaganda are particularly clear in "12 Strong," which is unabashedly patriotic and militaristic. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Shazam! (2019) Noah Berlatsky Even in its most inspired moments... "Shazam!" can still feel weirdly disjointed. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Skyscraper (2018) Noah Berlatsky [Dwayne] Johnson's acting in "Skyscraper" isn't going to win any Oscars. But it's still a pleasant change from the action movie default. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Noah Berlatsky The movie vibrates with ambition and enthusiasm. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
The First Purge (2018) Noah Berlatsky The fourth film in the "Purge" horror franchise is a timely, and surprisingly earnest, glimmer of hope in summer filled with real-world cruelty and government oppression. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Mortal Engines (2018) Noah Berlatsky The film's adventure plot simply rolls over the main thematic content of the book. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Halloween (2018) Noah Berlatsky This latest iteration of "Halloween" is predictable; it's a horror you can count on not to be too horrible. Even the jump scares are comforting. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Deadpool 2 (2018) Noah Berlatsky "Deadpool 2" is quite entertaining. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Pet Sematary (2019) Noah Berlatsky An enjoyable but innocuous genre exercise which mostly misses the book's emotional weight. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Sorry to Bother You (2018) Noah Berlatsky It's an unapologetically radical film - and a film that understands how the narrative structure of most Hollywood films is deliberately designed to exclude radicalism. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Venom (2018) Noah Berlatsky The movie grinds through its first half, and takes far too long to get Venom and Eddie together. But once the monster and man do become one, the plot picks up dramatically. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Noah Berlatsky It draws a picture we've seen before. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Rampage (2018) Noah Berlatsky "Rampage" is a goofy, mediocre film. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Aquaman (2018) Noah Berlatsky The movie raises serious environmental issues, and then, rather than engaging with them, it shows us lots of fight scenes. EDIT
Posted Aug 29, 2019
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019) Ani Bundel Not trusting the audience to follow the novel's non-linear timeline, Linklater unwound all the mysteries and strangest of all, never once lets Bernadette disappear. EDIT
Posted Aug 19, 2019
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) Noah Berlatsky "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" is a kids film that is so hyperaware that it's a kids film that it ends up feeling more sophisticated than the vast majority of action movies marketed to the middle-aged. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2019
The Kitchen (2019) Jenni Miller The women's motivations are a weird, reductive mélange of female empowerment, but not everything about and starring women needs to be empowering. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2019
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) Ani Bundel The Jason Statham-Dwayne Johnson film is still the most entertaining the franchise has been in years. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2019
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019) Ani Bundel "Once Upon A Time" takes this opportunity and mostly squanders it, reframing the murders as a story about white male heroism that does a disservice both to Tate and to the story Tarantino was ostensibly trying to explore. EDIT
Posted Jul 29, 2019
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019) Noah Berlatsky For all his self-reflection and self-dramatization, there are things about the movies the director refuses to see, or to put on screen. Without them, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is less a fairy tale than a false alibi. EDIT
Posted Jul 24, 2019
The Lion King (2019) Ani Bundel One wrong move, an awkward flick of the ear - or worse, when they start talking, because animals' mouths aren't designed to form human language - and the illusion is shattered. EDIT
Posted Jul 19, 2019
Stuber (2019) Noah Berlatsky Stuber is a generic action/comedy buddy movie that is neither very funny nor suspenseful. EDIT
Posted Jul 13, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Noah Berlatsky And "Far From Home" really is fun, all the way through to the Easter eggs and plot reversals in the multiple after-credits sequences. It is a movie that is fully aware of the joys of illusion, of fantasy and of its audience. EDIT
Posted Jul 2, 2019
Murder Mystery (2019) Ani Bundel Critics are right - the film isn't great. EDIT
Posted Jun 27, 2019
Toy Story 4 (2019) Ani Bundel Everyone gets time to tell their story, whether it's Duke Caboom or Buzz Lightyear. Everyone has their moment in the spotlight. EDIT
Posted Jun 24, 2019
Men in Black: International (2019) Noah Berlatsky This international reboot is inspired less by the 1990s than by the pre-1989 era of spy narratives. Going global in "Men in Black: International" means going back to the Cold War. EDIT
Posted Jun 20, 2019
Dark Phoenix (2019) Ani Bundel The film is simply a muddled, unnecessary retelling of a story already told badly, revealing how little creatively Fox has to offer. EDIT
Posted Jun 11, 2019
Late Night (2019) Jenni Miller What a pleasure "Late Night" is. EDIT
Posted Jun 7, 2019
Dark Phoenix (2019) Noah Berlatsky Kinberg took a famous narrative about how women can't control their own power, and made it into a story about how they can. EDIT
Posted Jun 7, 2019
Rocketman (2019) Ani Bundel Egerton may not always hit the notes perfectly, and one or two songs feel a bit it's Elton John night on "American Idol," but he throws himself into every number. The result, often, is magical. EDIT
Posted Jun 4, 2019