The Pop Break

The Pop Break is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Marisa Carpico
Rating Title/Year Author
Film About a Father Who (2020) Marisa Carpico Both Lynne and we are perhaps no closer to understanding Ira Sr. by film's end, but we at least know him as his children do and...that's nothing short of miraculous. EDIT
Posted Feb 14, 2020
Quezon's Game (2020) Marisa Carpico ...by examining World War II through the lens of a country that America colonized, the film reframes and questions America's self-mythologizing. EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
The Gentlemen (2020) Marisa Carpico ...perhaps Ritchie's most cogent display yet that for him, style is substance. EDIT
Posted Jan 23, 2020
Les misérables (2019) Marisa Carpico ...so much of what happens feels so predictable and cliché that its ideas can ultimately feel a bit shallow. EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2020
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Marisa Carpico ...a barely coherent series of nostalgia-inducing but ultimately meaningless references that even a bad fan fiction writer would find indulgent. EDIT
Posted Dec 18, 2019
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018) Marisa Carpico ...offers an informative and compelling view of Kael's career that nonetheless feels like it's missing something. EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2019
Little Joe (2019) Marisa Carpico ...whether Hausner's thought experiment works depends on how willing viewers are theoretically open to the idea that sacrificing free will is worth easier contentment. EDIT
Posted Dec 9, 2019
For Sama (2019) Marisa Carpico ...an unbelievably powerful record of history as it happened that feels like an entirely new type of documentary filmmaking. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2019
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019) Marisa Carpico More than any previous Netflix Christmas film, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby is pure escapism. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2019
Shooting the Mafia (2019) Marisa Carpico ...while the film gives a decent overview of her career and the way it's intertwined with Italy's history of organized crime, it doesn't dig deep enough. EDIT
Posted Nov 22, 2019
The Knight Before Christmas (2019) Marisa Carpico Indeed, those looking to dismiss Knight as just another corny holiday movie likely won't be converted, but for connoisseurs of the genre, it's far better than most. EDIT
Posted Nov 21, 2019
Queen of Hearts (2019) Marisa Carpico While some could view [its] refusal to condemn or defend Anne outright as a weakness, the way it explores her moral relativism is what actually makes the film so hard to shake. EDIT
Posted Nov 20, 2019
Waves (2019) Marisa Carpico Its character arcs are often over-the-top and occasionally border on misery porn, but its heady depiction of love in all forms is equally potent. EDIT
Posted Nov 13, 2019
Philophobia: or the Fear of Falling in Love (2019) Marisa Carpico ...Philophobia is a strange mix of comedy and horror that's, unfortunately, only intermittently effective. EDIT
Posted Nov 12, 2019
Sunday Girl (2019) Marisa Carpico Still, while elements of Sunday Girl don't always mesh, it's hard to fault Ambrosio when his film is largely so surprising and sharp. EDIT
Posted Nov 8, 2019
Honey Boy (2019) Marisa Carpico [LaBeouf's]...commitment to the awful truth of his upbringing is part of what makes Honey Boy so impressive. EDIT
Posted Nov 8, 2019
Harriet (2019) Marisa Carpico ...the picture it paints about the shameful truth of America's deep-seated racism is a rebuke to any glorification of the south on film or otherwise. EDIT
Posted Oct 31, 2019
The Current War (2017) Marisa Carpico Mitnick's script is as focused on moving the plot forward as the inevitable march of progress Edison and Westinghouse's competition represents. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2019
Tell Me Who I Am (2019) Marisa Carpico A Tough but Cathartic Documentary about Childhood Trauma EDIT
Posted Oct 17, 2019
Little Monsters (2019) Marisa Carpico As strong as Little Monsters' final scenes may be, they still can't make up for how weak the rest of the movie is. EDIT
Posted Oct 15, 2019
Emanuel (2019) Marisa Carpico Ivie's film may be about the grief caused by one heinous act, but watching it feels like a divine lesson in what faith really means. EDIT
Posted Oct 15, 2019
The Riot Act (2018) Marisa Carpico What ultimately keeps The Riot Act from working isn't its villains but its hero. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2019
Dilili à Paris (2018) Marisa Carpico Ocelot's intentions may be pure, but his handling of the serious social issues he tackles is so lacking in nuance that it borders on embarrassing. EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
Joker (2019) Marisa Carpico For all the handwringing over Joker's release to call it dangerous simply imbues it with more coherence and power than it actually has. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
Lucy in the Sky (2019) Marisa Carpico [Director Noah Hawley's] experiment may not work, but maybe a failed experiment is more exciting than seeing the same old stories in new packaging. EDIT
Posted Oct 3, 2019
Judy (2019) Marisa Carpico [Zellweger gives] a full-bodied performance and one that (along with the film itself) is perhaps best approached...as an elaborate drag performance. EDIT
Posted Oct 3, 2019
The Death of Dick Long (2019) Marisa Carpico ...for many viewers, that twist will be a bomb so devastating that no amount of thoughtful acting or impressive cinematography will be able to put it back together. EDIT
Posted Sep 27, 2019
Hustlers (2019) Marisa Carpico Granted, particularly in the beginning, the film's slick tone works in large part because Lopez's performance is so charismatic. EDIT
Posted Sep 10, 2019
Jawline (2019) Marisa Carpico It's easy to dismiss social media as superficial, but the brilliance of Jawline is in its willingness to admit that it wouldn't be so dangerous if it weren't also so appealing. EDIT
Posted Aug 23, 2019
Fin de siglo (2019) Marisa Carpico With its confident storytelling, beautiful cinematography and effortlessly real central performances, it's the mark of a stunning new voice in cinema. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2019
What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire? (2018) Marisa Carpico The footage we see may be from two years prior, but what it says about blackness in America feels timeless. EDIT
Posted Aug 16, 2019
The VelociPastor (2018) Marisa Carpico Still, considering how fun and clever The VelociPastor is...it's hard to argue that a few bad choices ruin what's an otherwise enjoyable send-up of cheap genre films. EDIT
Posted Aug 13, 2019
The Garden Left Behind (2019) Marisa Carpico And while that seeming lack of focus would be a far more serious flaw in most films, here, that gentle pacing also serves to make the film's climax that much more shocking. EDIT
Posted Jul 31, 2019
Jay Myself (2018) Marisa Carpico ...[director Stephen] Wilkes paints such a potent picture of this New York City oddity that it's hard not to share that nostalgia by the end. EDIT
Posted Jul 30, 2019
Luce (2019) Marisa Carpico Luce may hold up a distorted mirror to society, but the image reflected back is totally clear. EDIT
Posted Jul 30, 2019
() Bill Bodkin We get a supremely confident Gaffigan. He tells his jokes beautifully and his various voices and intonations heighten every joke he includes them in. EDIT
Posted Jul 25, 2019
Mike Wallace Is Here (2019) Marisa Carpico Though Wallace is no longer around to be interviewed, Belkin nearly does it anyway. EDIT
Posted Jul 25, 2019
Honeyland (2019) Marisa Carpico ...a gorgeous, moving film that will leave viewers longing to spend just a little more time in [its] Promised Land. EDIT
Posted Jul 24, 2019
Trespassers (2018) Marisa Carpico ...despite a promising start and some genuine surprises, Trespassers never manages to feel fresh or exciting. EDIT
Posted Jul 12, 2019
The Farewell (2019) Marisa Carpico ...a funny, moving story about the secrets families keep to protect each other. EDIT
Posted Jul 11, 2019
The Cat Rescuers (2018) Marisa Carpico ...succeeds thanks not to the admittedly adorable series of felines the audience meet throughout, but because of how compelling its human subjects are. EDIT
Posted Jul 8, 2019
Back to the Fatherland (2017) Marisa Carpico ...the question becomes not how can Israel and the younger generations of Jews move on from the trauma of the Holocaust, but is moving on even possible? EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
Midsommar (2019) Marisa Carpico ...there is so much to ponder and enjoy in his filmmaking that maybe it doesn't matter that the plot never delivers the emotional or intellectual punch the film needs. EDIT
Posted Jul 2, 2019
Child's Play (2019) Marisa Carpico There's so much to like about this newest version of Chucky, but there's only so much you can do with a bad script. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019) Marisa Carpico Indeed, one of the best things about The Pieces I Am is how much it allows the audience to understand the thought and, frankly, genius behind Morrison's work. EDIT
Posted Jun 21, 2019
() Marisa Carpico While some viewers will want a clearer and more decisive finish for the teenage revenge fantasy Pirozek sets up, leaving the audience with a sense of dissatisfaction is part of what makes #Like so hard to shake. EDIT
Posted Jun 19, 2019
In the Aisles (2018) Marisa Carpico ...the script doesn't seem terribly interested in its characters, instead focusing on the repetitive tasks that the workers do each day. EDIT
Posted Jun 17, 2019
Being Frank (2018) Marisa Carpico Though Being Frank plays with some intriguing ideas, there are simply too many at work for it to do them justice in under two hours. EDIT
Posted Jun 15, 2019
American Woman (2018) Marisa Carpico Rather, what keeps American Woman from feeling like a real story is precisely how forced so much of it feels. EDIT
Posted Jun 13, 2019
Katie Says Goodbye (2016) Marisa Carpico In the end, Katie Says Goodbye is a strain of virulent misogyny disguised as a profound piece of art. EDIT
Posted Jun 6, 2019