rec.arts.movies.reviews

rec.arts.movies.reviews is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Andrew Wright, Bill Clark, Bob Bloom, Brian Orndorf, Chris Bumbray, David N. Butterworth, David Nusair, Dragan Antulov, Drew McWeeny, Eric Lurio, Eugene Novikov, Geoff Berkshire, Greg Dean Schmitz, James Sanford, Jeffrey Huston, Jon Popick, Josh Gilchrist, Karina Montgomery, Kristian M. Lin, Laura Clifford, Louis Proyect, Mac Verstandig, Mark R. Leeper, Matt Prigge, Michael Dequina, Michael J. Doyle, Phil Hall, Scott Mendelson, Scott Renshaw, Scott Tobias, Shane Burridge, Shay Casey, Susan Granger, Ted Prigge, Wallace Baine, Willie Waffle
Rating Title/Year Author
3.5/4 Rocketman (2019) Frank Ochieng Thoroughly eye-popping, sprawling with vibrancy and vision, and spryly contemplative, ROCKETMAN is a virtual blast into the effervescent orbit of the meaningful musical biopic. EDIT
Posted May 31, 2019
B- Photograph (2019) Laura Clifford There is a sadness to these two characters that permeates the film and its gentle romance. EDIT
Posted May 16, 2019
2/4 The Curse of La Llorona (2019) Frank Ochieng ...yearns to piggyback on The Conjuring's previous installments. Nevertheless, The Curse of La Llorona peters out as a pronounced offering of supernatural sludge without any particular sense of unfamiliar dire, distinction or definition. EDIT
Posted Apr 20, 2019
2.5/4 Destroyer (2018) Frank Ochieng Destroyer's selling point is its leading lady Kidman whose fraught physicality and penetrating performance as an undesirable, conflicted cop in this stagy street-wise fable of corruptible consciousness propels this urban drama's bloodshot resonance EDIT
Posted Dec 31, 2018
1.5/4 Holmes & Watson (2018) Frank Ochieng One would gain more chuckles watching the short-lived '70s sitcom "Holmes and Yoyo" than withstanding the big screen strained silliness of Holmes & Watson. Indeed, Holmes & Watson need to definitely get a comical clue. EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2018
3/4 Bumblebee (2018) Frank Ochieng Undoubtedly energetic, infectiously witty, and resourcefully feisty...frenzied family fun entertainment with a notable message about belonging and feeling connected. The film's pounce-and-pathos mantra is refreshingly poignant and invigorating EDIT
Posted Dec 21, 2018
3/4 Widows (2018) Frank Ochieng [A] cerebral popcorn flick with an inherent cunning messaging about shifty womanhood pushed to the legal limit, Widows is dashing entertainment. The incomparable Viola Davis is its strong, shining centerpiece EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2018
3/4 Deadpool 2 (2018) Frank Ochieng Deadpool rules! Absolutely riotous in its blood-splattered insanity, "Deadpool 2" does its intended job in delivering the overstuffed antics rooted in the free-wheeling nonsense of Reynolds's brand of bouncy badassness. EDIT
Posted Dec 12, 2018
B+ Ben Is Back (2018) Laura Clifford It's small in scale, essentially a two-hander between Roberts and Hedges, and they are both at the top of their game here, Roberts fierce and unrelenting in her efforts to protect her son, Hedges keeping us guessing as to his true intentions. EDIT
Posted Dec 7, 2018
B C'est la vie ! (2017) Laura Clifford "The Intouchables" cowriter/directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano once again adhere strictly to genre templates, but do so with such verve and wit they are like master plate spinners. EDIT
Posted Jul 12, 2018
B 12 Days (2017) Laura Clifford Depardon's fly-on-the-wall approach suggests Frederick Wiseman with fewer cutaways and a more limited focus. The film is fascinating, but leaves us with many questions unanswered. EDIT
Posted Jun 28, 2018
3/4 Homicide (1991) Mark R. Leeper Quote not available. EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2017
3.5/4 Homicide (1991) Serdar Yegulalp Quote not available. EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2017
2.5/4 Home Alone (1990) Steve Rhodes A hit for its slapstick humor as well as the age-old theme of a kid who bests the grown-ups. EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2017
Chasing Coral (2017) Louis Proyect The urgency of this problem requires people to become informed about the issues, starting with seeing the film either at the IFC or on Netflix. EDIT
Posted Jul 18, 2017
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) Louis Proyect Fascinating tale of an autodidact who died at the age of 32 leaving behind a body of work that ranks among the 20th century's most valuable. EDIT
Posted Dec 10, 2016
Hidden Figures (2016) Louis Proyect Great story and powerful performances in a film that dramatizes a neglected aspect of the Civil Rights movement. EDIT
Posted Dec 10, 2016
Merci patron! (2016) Louis Proyect This is the kind of film Michael Moore has a reputation for making but does not deserve. If his latest depicted France as a liberal utopia, this one shows the grim reality--but with humor. EDIT
Posted Nov 29, 2016
Asperger's Are Us (2016) Louis Proyect Four young men with Asperger's discover that comedy is the best cure for what ails them. EDIT
Posted Nov 28, 2016
Off the Rails (2016) Louis Proyect A bittersweet documentary about a man who lived to drive subway trains and buses under false identity, the kind of work real employees regard as oppressive. EDIT
Posted Nov 28, 2016
Magnus (2016) Louis Proyect Mostly of interest for chess enthusiasts, it is a fascinating study of someone as gifted as Bobby Fischer but not burdened by madness. EDIT
Posted Nov 22, 2016
Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015) Louis Proyect As much a documentary on Kurosawa, the film is a reminder of how much we have lost since the golden age of cinema was replaced by the bottom-line barbarianism of the Hollywood studios. EDIT
Posted Nov 22, 2016
Denial (2016) Louis Proyect This film benefits from a screenplay written by David Hare, arguably Britain's finest living playwright, who eschewed holocaust film cliches. EDIT
Posted Nov 19, 2016
Circle of Poison (2015) Louis Proyect It is the definitive film critique of pesticides that benefits from a wide array of scientific experts and activists including Weir himself who has credentials as both. EDIT
Posted Nov 18, 2016
Arrival (2016) Louis Proyect Octopuses from outer space can't begin to compete with Klaatu or ET. EDIT
Posted Nov 15, 2016
National Bird (2016) Louis Proyect By far the most effective treatment in either documentary or narrative film of the war crimes that will be linked with Barack Obama for decades to come. EDIT
Posted Nov 9, 2016
Peter and the Farm (2016) Louis Proyect More like Charles Bukowski than Henry David Thoreau, the eponymous farmer featured in this brilliant film is a reminder that documentaries are often far better than narrative films in character development. EDIT
Posted Nov 2, 2016
Finding Babel (2015) Louis Proyect Whether your interest in Babel is purely literary or political or like mine a combination of both, this is a must-see film. It will make you want to read his great works for the first time or once again like me. A superb production. EDIT
Posted Oct 28, 2016
The Ivory Game (2016) Louis Proyect The first film since John Huston's "Roots of Heaven" that makes you want to support sainthood for the activists trying to end elephant poaching. EDIT
Posted Oct 22, 2016
Before the Flood (2016) Louis Proyect A stunning achievement that despite its understandable inability to ground its critique in the capitalist system that is the root of all our problems, this film is both timely and insightful. EDIT
Posted Oct 22, 2016
Into the Inferno (2016) Louis Proyect A reminder that volcanoes can be just as deadly as grizzly bears and just as much of an inspiration for arguably the world's greatest septuagenarian director. EDIT
Posted Oct 14, 2016
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) (2015) Louis Proyect An outstanding film both artistically and politically. I only wish that there were parts 3 and 4. Unique for its being made by a victim of the US made by a native of the country . Not to be missed by serious political people. My pick for best doc of 2016. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2016
The Birth of a Nation (2016) Louis Proyect Finally a film about slavery by an American director that is the artistic and political peer to Gillo Pontecorvo's "Burn". EDIT
Posted Oct 1, 2016
13TH (2016) Louis Proyect Another work of genius from one of America's outstanding directors and social critics. EDIT
Posted Oct 1, 2016
The Hurt Business (2016) Louis Proyect Everything you ever wanted to know about the fastest growing spectator sport with fighters who despite the violence of their craft are smart, articulate and likable. Highly recommended. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2016
Among the Believers (2015) Louis Proyect Surprise-surprise. Young boys and girls become Islamic fundamentalists in order to get a meal and a roof over their head. The answer is not Predator drones but ending inequality. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2016
Do Not Resist (2016) Louis Proyect In the 60s the left used to refer to the cops as an occupying army. This fine documentary shows how reality has caught up with the rhetoric. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2016
I, Daniel Blake (2016) Louis Proyect Ken Loach at his very best. It might be subtitled "Why Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader". Succeeds as social commentary and as the story of an individual. EDIT
Posted Sep 28, 2016
La fille inconnue (2016) Louis Proyect Pay no attention to the "rottens". This is an outstanding film by the Dardennes about the difficulties of living a moral life under capitalism. EDIT
Posted Sep 26, 2016
Seed: The Untold Story (2016) Louis Proyect A model of scientific insight, story-telling and cinematic panache that reminds us that the future of life under capitalism is guarded at best. EDIT
Posted Sep 23, 2016
The Ruins of Lifta (2016) Louis Proyect Although in many ways an unrealizable project, Menachem Daum's attempt at reconciliation with Palestinians is a reminder that Jewish ethics is not necessarily a contradiction in terms when it comes to Israel. EDIT
Posted Sep 23, 2016
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (2016) Louis Proyect A reminder of how documentary filmmakers are using the videocamera in the same way that earlier generation of revolutionaries used the printing press. BRAVO! EDIT
Posted Sep 16, 2016
Snowden (2016) Louis Proyect Pay no attention to the "rottens". This is vintage Oliver Stone and powerful story-telling about a true American hero. EDIT
Posted Sep 15, 2016
Command and Control (2016) Louis Proyect A close call with a gargantuan catastrophe and a risk that still exists as long as nuclear weapons exist. EDIT
Posted Sep 13, 2016
Neruda (2016) Louis Proyect A fascinating examination of the role of radical artist in bourgeois society that prioritizes the drama of an individual rather than the social drama of a crackdown that anticipated Pinochet. Despite that, it is great filmmaking. EDIT
Posted Sep 9, 2016
En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît (2015) Louis Proyect A poignant tale of a mass exodus that will certainly relate to today's tragedy, even if some shallow film critics can't make that connection. EDIT
Posted Sep 9, 2016
As I Open My Eyes (2015) Louis Proyect A film that explains the Arab Spring better than any documentary. My pick for the best foreign film of 2016 for now. I doubt that anything will surpass it. EDIT
Posted Sep 9, 2016
Two Who Dared: The Sharp's War (2016) Louis Proyect While rescuing Jews has been the subject of a number of fictional films, it takes a documentary to do justice to the decency of Waitstill and Martha Sharp. EDIT
Posted Sep 8, 2016
Landfill Harmonic (2015) Louis Proyect While "inspiring" is a hackneyed term in film reviews, in this case it really applies. EDIT
Posted Sep 8, 2016
Starving the Beast (2016) Louis Proyect Does for the attack on public universities what Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job" did for (or against) Wall Street chicanery in 2010. An exemplary film. EDIT
Posted Sep 8, 2016