The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)

The Dispatch (Lexington, NC) is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Matthew Lucas
Rating Title/Year Author
3.5/4 Gretel & Hansel (2020) Matthew Lucas Feels right at home amongst the work of such Italian masters as (Dario) Argento and Mario Bava, whose films often felt like they took place inside a nightmare where plot didn't matter so much as atmosphere and mood. EDIT
Posted Feb 3, 2020
2/4 Dolittle (2020) Matthew Lucas Everything about it feels bland and conservative, a made-by-committee Hollywood product that's about as generic and flavorless as movies get. EDIT
Posted Jan 20, 2020
3/4 Just Mercy (2019) Matthew Lucas Buoyed by strong turns by Jordan and Foxx, Just Mercy treats stock characters like human beings, centers the victim's story, and refuses to ignore the collateral damage of wrongful convictions. EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2020
3/4 1917 (2019) Matthew Lucas Its technical aspects are so uniformly remarkable that one almost becomes so caught up in the nail-biting high-wire act on display that it's easy to miss the more human elements of the story it sought to illuminate in the first place. EDIT
Posted Jan 5, 2020
2/4 Bombshell (2019) Matthew Lucas Doubles down on many of the issues that plagued Trumbo, in many cases substituting "Saturday Night Live" style caricatures for real people in such a way that distances the audience from the human elements of the story. EDIT
Posted Dec 12, 2019
3.5/4 Uncut Gems (2019) Matthew Lucas The Safdies have designed Uncut Gems with knife's edge precision to tear audiences' nerves to shreds, and the results are as gripping as they are exhausting. EDIT
Posted Dec 11, 2019
3/4 Richard Jewell (2019) Matthew Lucas Paul Walter Hauser is a revelation, turning in a truly extraordinary performance that lifts him up into a new realm. EDIT
Posted Dec 9, 2019
4/4 The Irishman (2019) Matthew Lucas In Scorsese's masterful hands it becomes an American tragedy writ-large, a sweeping portrait of great potential cut down by greed and corruption, and a road to hell paved by the best of intentions. EDIT
Posted Dec 2, 2019
3/4 Frozen II (2019) Matthew Lucas Tackles real world issues in a way that's both entertaining to children and palatable to adults. In short, Frozen II is Disney's best film of 2019. EDIT
Posted Nov 25, 2019
1.5/4 Ford v Ferrari (2019) Matthew Lucas Bloated, over-long, and celebrates the achievements of men only as they live to serve the capitalist machine, leaving anything resembling actual human drama in the dust. EDIT
Posted Nov 18, 2019
3/4 Harriet (2019) Matthew Lucas There's something undeniably rousing about the way Lemmons directs this, as if she's directing a superhero film with Tubman as the hero. EDIT
Posted Nov 11, 2019
2.5/4 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) Matthew Lucas You have to give them credit for taking on relevant themes...but in the context of a bright and sunny family-friendly Disney film, it never really has the chance to dig down as deep as its ideas require. EDIT
Posted Oct 19, 2019
2/4 Gemini Man (2019) Matthew Lucas There are parts of Gemini Man that look so tangible and real that it's as if we could reach out and touch Will Smith - but this fidelity to absolute realism seems to erase the cinematic artistry. EDIT
Posted Oct 14, 2019
3.5/4 Parasite (2019) Matthew Lucas Bong masterfully blends these divergent genre elements into one wildly original whole, crafting an incisive indictment of income inequality and the wide gulf between the classes that is as bitterly funny as it is achingly sad. EDIT
Posted Oct 11, 2019
2/4 Downton Abbey (2019) Matthew Lucas Downton no longer feels like a window into a bygone world from which we've progressed, but a regressive longing for a simpler time when people knew their place and never asked for more. EDIT
Posted Sep 18, 2019
3.5/4 Ad Astra (2019) Matthew Lucas Whether it's over the rainbow or beyond the reaches of Neptune, Gray can't help but remind us that nothing is so grand and mysterious and worth our time as love. EDIT
Posted Sep 17, 2019
2/4 It: Chapter Two (2019) Matthew Lucas Goes off the rails in the second half, featuring a loud, garish extended climax that's so bathed in CGI effects that it becomes numbing, an unpleasant visual assault rather than than a creepy funhouse. EDIT
Posted Sep 6, 2019
3.5/4 The Nightingale (2018) Matthew Lucas An uncompromising howl of righteous fury anchored by a haunting performance by Franciosi, whose grim determination comes to represent the plight of all oppressed peoples who have at long last had enough. EDIT
Posted Sep 1, 2019
3/4 Ready or Not (2019) Matthew Lucas A delightfully demented comic romp, short, sweet, and nasty - a gleeful fantasia of over-the-top gore and outlandish action that takes direct aim at the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy. EDIT
Posted Aug 27, 2019
3/4 Good Boys (2019) Matthew Lucas While Good Boys doesn't exactly feel like a comedy classic in the making the way Superbad did, it's got a lot of heart and plenty of laughs thanks to the talent of its young cast. EDIT
Posted Aug 20, 2019
3.5/4 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Matthew Lucas Øvredal turns the film's creepy funhouse aesthetic into a surprisingly adept commentary on our national obsession with clinging to false narratives about of our past. EDIT
Posted Aug 9, 2019
3/4 Maiden (2018) Matthew Lucas It's an inspiring tale, to be sure. But without its strong emotional core it would likely be just another sports documentary. EDIT
Posted Aug 6, 2019
3.5/4 Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019) Matthew Lucas Easily Tarantino's most deeply felt film to date. Beneath his instantly recognizable sense of dark humor, it's a pensive and haunted reverie of the fading shadows of old Hollywood." EDIT
Posted Jul 30, 2019
2/4 The Lion King (2019) Matthew Lucas For a film full of such breathtakingly real images, the musical numbers are often flatly staged, the realism constantly undercutting the story's vibrant emotions and narrative drive. EDIT
Posted Jul 23, 2019
3/4 Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Matthew Lucas Rather than wiping out half of all life in the universe, this villain seeks to wipe out truth itself. And in 2019, there's nothing more terrifying, or more relevant, than that. EDIT
Posted Jul 9, 2019
3/4 Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) Matthew Lucas These are surprisingly strong but incredibly relevant themes for a children's movie, and Yuh continues to relay them with humor and grace. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Anomalisa (2015) Matthew Lucas It's deceptively simple for a Kaufman film, but there's a devastating sense of truth in its melancholy portrait of mid-life ennui. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
2.5/4 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) Matthew Lucas Bay handles the action sequences well, but his sense of patriotism often trumps his sense of moral complexity -- something that is sorely missing amid all the explosions in 13 Hours. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
4/4 Carol (2015) Matthew Lucas A major work by a major filmmaker, working at a level of narrative grace and elegance that is almost unmatched in contemporary cinema. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
4/4 The Revenant (2015) Matthew Lucas A bold, brutal, beautiful movie and an impeccably directed work of art. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 The Danish Girl (2015) Matthew Lucas A work of tremulous beauty buoyed by two of the most powerful screen performances in recent memory. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Matthew Lucas Hums with the constant energy of a film trying desperately to please, and while it doesn't always hit every note perfectly, it hits them with such gusto that it makes up for its faults. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 Room (2015) Matthew Lucas An undeniably moving experience that finds incredible beauty in the midst of unspeakable evil. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 The Good Dinosaur (2015) Matthew Lucas It works fine on its own and is an entertaining and occasionally moving children's film, it just feels a bit more anonymous than the high quality we've come to expect from Pixar. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
4/4 The Assassin (2015) Matthew Lucas Shot in both vivid color and striking black and white, the film unfolds like a poem, a whispered plea for peace and a stoic reflection on human folly. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015) Matthew Lucas The filmmakers saved the best for last, pulling out all the stops and delivering a film that is both heart-stopping and heartbreaking. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 Spectre (2015) Matthew Lucas A strange kind of hybrid that isn't fully realistic, or unrealistic enough to be pure, vintage Bond. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Steve Jobs (2015) Matthew Lucas Exists in a realm of great filmmaking that exists in that rare sweet spot where great writing, great directing and great acting collide. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Bridge of Spies (2015) Matthew Lucas As perhaps one of the most quintessentially American filmmakers, Spielberg holds a mirror up to the past and sees us as we are now, a society doomed to repeat our past mistakes if we don't learn from them. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Sicario (2015) Matthew Lucas A gritty, uncompromising film of real, raw power that offers one of the clearest and most complex cinematic takes on America's war on drugs we've seen yet. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 The Martian (2015) Matthew Lucas Scott manages to take potentially dry scientific ideas and turns it into thrilling cinematic gold. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Black Mass (2015) Matthew Lucas Cooper directs with a very spare, matter-of-fact style that allows the characters' brutality to speak for themselves through their own nonchalance. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
2.5/4 A Walk in the Woods (2015) Matthew Lucas (Redford and Nolte) make tired clichés feel like old friends, taking us on a pleasant stroll through the woods that may not lead anywhere, but we're having such a good time that the destination no longer matters. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
1.5/4 Sinister 2 (2015) Matthew Lucas A few chilling images and a terrific score by tomandandy can't make up for lackluster performances (mainly from a completely miscast lead), over-reliance on jump scares and an overall sense of ennui. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3.5/4 Straight Outta Compton (2015) Matthew Lucas There is so much going on in the lyrical wordplay of the music, much deeper than the critics who tend to focus on its violent imagery suggests. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
1.5/4 Fantastic Four (2015) Matthew Lucas Creaks and groans along for a mercifully short hour and 40 minutes while neglecting the basic fundamentals of storytelling in a surprisingly cavalier way. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
2.5/4 Southpaw (2015) Matthew Lucas It may be less than the sum of its parts, but taken on their own, those parts often hit all the right notes. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 Ant-Man (2015) Matthew Lucas One of the most thoroughly entertaining films Marvel has yet produced and shows the superhero genre still has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep from giving us the same old song and dance over and over again. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
2.5/4 Minions (2015) Matthew Lucas Everything about it is a weak excuse to give the Minions something outlandish to do, but there isn't a particularly strong thread running through any of it. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019
3/4 Terminator Genisys (2015) Matthew Lucas Arnold is back, and it's great to see him prove once and for all that he may be old - but he's definitely not obsolete. EDIT
Posted Jul 5, 2019