indieWire

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating Title/Year Author
B+ The Meaning of Hitler (2020) Eric Kohn The movie isn't just another cautionary tale; it's a jagged intellectual wakeup call that cuts deep, and America can't hear it enough. EDIT
Posted Nov 16, 2020
C The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020) David Ehrlich Somewhere, deep under the surface of Dower's film, is an illuminating meditation on the relationship between the banality of modern living and the fantasies that people sell to the masses to help them cope with it. EDIT
Posted Nov 16, 2020
B+ Monsoon (2019) Ryan Lattanzio "Monsoon" is a quiet, solitary affair designed to communicate how isolating it can be to travel alone in a big city, especially one you have a fragmentary relationship to. EDIT
Posted Nov 13, 2020
D Chick Fight (2020) Kate Erbland Despite Akerman's consistent charm... "Chick Fight" never punches up, constantly churning out repetitive, cheap, and lazy narrative choices meant to propel it to an ostensibly happy ending. EDIT
Posted Nov 13, 2020
B Jungleland (2019) David Ehrlich As raw and engaging as the disconnect between Stanley and Lion becomes as they tumble toward California, the real tension of "Jungleland" lives in the ever-constricting space between its three main characters and the respective clichés. EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2020
B Proxima (2019) Kate Erbland The result is an immersive, often ponderous exploration of what it means to become, as Sarah puts it, "a space person." EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2020
B Citation (2020) Tambay Obenson "Citation" works best when it hovers in the infuriating skepticism hurled at its young protagonist as she makes her case, and it's unclear whether the system will work in her favor until the final, unnerving act. EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2020
D Fatman (2020) David Ehrlich This bland stab at seasonal entertainment is too enamored by its own edgy revisionism to deliver on that promise, and after the 2020 that we've been having, everyone deserves something better in their stocking this year. EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2020
C- Hillbilly Elegy (2020) David Ehrlich For all of the favors that Howard does to the subject of his biopic, the director can only do so much to disguise the self-serving nature of a story that was always less about where Vance came from than it was about where he wanted to go. EDIT
Posted Nov 10, 2020
B+ Mank (2020) Eric Kohn Despite the artifice in every frame, "Mank" is grounded in the realism of its protagonist's perspective, and Oldman bursts through every scene with such domineering energy he often looks as though he might burst onto the lens. EDIT
Posted Nov 6, 2020
B Ham on Rye (2019) Ryan Lattanzio "Ham on Rye" exists behind glass, but it isn't cutely coy. There's something angry about it and hard to parse. EDIT
Posted Nov 5, 2020
B Finding Yingying (2020) David Ehrlich Shi's tender documentary suggests their daughter is a lot closer than she once seemed. EDIT
Posted Nov 5, 2020
B- Freaky (2020) Kate Erbland "Freaky" doesn't skimp on the meat and potatoes of any good body-swap movie: having a ton of fun watching two different people awkwardly slip into their new corporeal figures (and lives). EDIT
Posted Nov 4, 2020
B Kindred (2020) Kate Erbland The imagery and impact of "Kindred" is impressive, and while it may not stick the landing, the path there is well worth flying. EDIT
Posted Nov 4, 2020
B More Than Honey (2012) Eric Kohn The movie compensates for its murkier sections with a poignant outlook. EDIT
Posted Nov 3, 2020
A- Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (2012) Drew Taylor We want to know as much as we can about this guy, but like any good magician, he keeps things shadowy and hard to pin down. EDIT
Posted Nov 3, 2020
B- How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012) Erik McClanahan The film is often compelling, clever and entertaining, but oddly enough, these strongest moments are revealed in an awkward third act tonal and structural shift to be nothing more than filler. EDIT
Posted Nov 3, 2020
C+ Stardust (2020) Kate Erbland ... a biopic that's too buttoned-up - and never as out-there as its inspiration. EDIT
Posted Nov 2, 2020
C Let Him Go (2020) David Ehrlich "Let Him Go" aspires to feel like a born-again Western - and thoroughly understands what that entails on an intellectual level - but Bezucha isn't always able to wrap his mind around how they work. EDIT
Posted Nov 2, 2020
B Madre (2019) Ryan Lattanzio "Madre" turns out to be the least twisted, and most empathetic, entry in the damaged mother movie canon in some time. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
B The True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019) Eric Kohn Krejcí and Dufault avoid didacticism thanks to the sheer gusto they bring to a wide range of settings, from the cramped interiors of an RV to a lighthouse party lit by fireworks late at night. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
B- Fire Will Come (2019) David Ehrlich The result is a short and elliptical tale that unfolds at the speed of life and resolves with the hopeful uncertainty of forgiveness itself. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
B- The Life Ahead (2020) Eric Kohn "The Life Ahead" is compelling enough to make the by-the-numbers narrative worth telling, if only because with such fine-tuned performances at its center, it deserves to be told. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
C- Come Play (2020) David Ehrlich "Come Play" is merely serviceable, and leaves you with the feeling that a much better game was lost in the shuffle. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
B+ His House (2020) David Ehrlich "His House" is an urgent and spine-tingling ghost story about what it means to begin anew in a home that may not want you to live in it. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
C+ Holidate (2020) Kate Erbland Predictability doesn't have to be a sin when it comes to the often paint-by-the-numbers world of romantic comedy, but this awkward combination of expectation and disdain for it make for a film only fleetingly worthy of celebration. EDIT
Posted Oct 28, 2020
B The Craft: Legacy (2020) Kate Erbland [A]n entertaining and insightful mashup of tropes, both respectful of what came before and willing to try new tricks. EDIT
Posted Oct 27, 2020
A- BloodSisters (1995) Jude Dry In a world that would rather erase all alternative lifestyles, "Bloodsisters" is a vital archive of queer history. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2020
C Synchronic (2019) David Ehrlich "Synchronic" is easy to applaud for being what Steve might describe as "brain damage orangutan fucking crazy," but Benson and Moorhead's ode to the present doesn't leave you with a newfound appreciation for the moment at hand. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2020
B+ Coming Home Again (2019) Ryan Lattanzio Chung's understated performance is a fitting center for a movie almost always operating at whisper-level. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2020
C+ Radium Girls (2018) Kate Erbland Some things, it seems, never change, and even though "Radium Girls" struggles to deliver that message with as fine a point as it should, it's worth remembering. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2020
B+ My Psychedelic Love Story (2020) Eric Kohn "My Psychedelic Love Story" crystallizes its appeal in Harcourt-Smith's gentle face, as she argues with the filmmaker and herself while talking through her drama until she's only left with fragments of possibilities. EDIT
Posted Oct 23, 2020
B- I Carry You With Me (2020) Jude Dry We've all heard the horror stories, but these small cruelties become just as heartbreaking - especially when rendered so viscerally and elegantly on film. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
C+ Over the Moon (2020) David Ehrlich It's a shame because the myth at the heart of this story has such a rich history to it, and the film is bookended by scenes that render Fei Fei's Chinese family with great warmth and exquisite detail. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
C+ Run (2020) Ryan Lattanzio There's enough go-for-broke and whiplash-inducing shifts in tone on display to suggest this filmmaking duo has a future, even when their characters don't seem to have a past. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B- Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (2020) Jude Dry Working with better documented subjects, she had to find a creative way into the ubiquitous figures. The resulting film, while engaging enough, doesn't amount to more than an amusing bit of fun. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
C Nocturne (2020) Ryan Lattanzio Still, the way this story unfolds, and how it unpeels its protagonist into a sexually deflowered, master musician is too predictable to be scary, despite a few striking tableaux involving a psychedelic. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B Belushi (2020) Eric Kohn It's always fun to sit through a clip reel when the talent quotient is this high, but "Belushi" doesn't sugarcoat the sadness at the core of the actor's legacy. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You (2020) David Ehrlich If this film makes anything clear amidst its hazy recollection and hangout vibe, it's that Springsteen feels a certain religiosity to the act of playing in a band, and practicing for the eternity to come. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B Love and Monsters (2020) David Ehrlich Michael Matthews' "Love and Monsters" is the rarest kind of movie these days: A fun, imaginative, genre-mashing adventure that was made with a modest amount of big studio money. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B The Sounding (2017) Kate Erbland Rich in its execution and careful in its approach, "The Sounding" resonates. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B- White Noise (2020) Eric Kohn "White Noise" culminates by letting its subjects share their delusions of grandeur, but can't sort out if they're pathetic or practical in these uncertain times. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself (2020) Kate Erbland It's nearly impossible to absorb all this rage, but Pelosi endeavors to synthesize it into one frenetic portrait of a country on the brink. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
D+ Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020) David Ehrlich Zemeckis has made some unsuccessful films over the last 20 years, but "The Witches" is the most frustrating of them all because it feels like it could've been made by somebody else. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
B+ I'm Your Woman (2020) Eric Kohn It's almost too easy to recall the Jean-Luc Godard quote that every movie needs a girl and gun, but "I'm Your Woman" takes that truism and it endows it with fresh purpose. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
D+ The Lie (2018) Kate Erbland Too stupid to be the hard-hitting drama it was first sold as and too self-important to be the black comedy it really should be, Sud's film is a master class in bad decision-making, improbable choices, and overwrought acting. EDIT
Posted Oct 16, 2020
B Yellow Rose (2019) Kate Erbland Diane Paragas' film finds fresh ground to explore the price and the power of the American dream, bolstered by country crooning and heartbreaking (and very real) legal worries. EDIT
Posted Oct 16, 2020
B The Kid Detective (2020) Kate Erbland Something curious, laced with pitch black comedy and a major dose of tragedy, a winking sense of genre, and a stellar performance from Adam Brody. EDIT
Posted Oct 16, 2020
C+ Rebecca (2020) David Ehrlich Wheatley has never been one to hedge his bets or compromise his vision, so it's curious that he would slap on a pair of velvet handcuffs and volunteer to make something that's so beholden to the past. EDIT
Posted Oct 15, 2020
B BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky (2020) Kate Erbland The K-pop phenomenon may still feel new to some consumers (it's not), but if nothing else, Suh's film handily does away with the sense that these superstars are simply part of a pre-packaged cultural machine. EDIT
Posted Oct 14, 2020