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Critiques With Context
Movie reviews by an experienced movie critic and member of the Critics Choice Association
Review: Ne Zha II
A 2-hour 24-minute Chinese animated epic film drowning in details and complexity, but breaking box office records.
Drew Moniot
2 days ago3 min read
Review: "Freakier Friday"
Freakier Friday” successfully raises the bar on a modern-day comedy classic.
Drew Moniot
Aug 143 min read
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Review: "A Working Man"
There is a list of things in "A Working Man" that just don’t work. But Jason Statham fans probably won’t care.
Drew Moniot
Apr 133 min read
"The Friend"
Naomi Watts co-stars with a 150-pound Great Dane in this touchingly sweet story about love and loss and the process of overcoming devastating grief.
Drew Moniot
Apr 103 min read
Review: "The Amateur"
A suspenseful but slow-moving remake of the 1981 original with the same title.
Drew Moniot
Apr 94 min read
Review: "I Need You: 53 Years of the Band America"
A well-researched, beautifully nuanced documentary about the band America, screened at CIFF49.
Drew Moniot
Apr 24 min read
Review: "The Penguin Lessons"
A truly remarkable, deeply touching film, based upon real-life events about a middle-aged British English teacher and a rescued penguin.
Drew Moniot
Mar 284 min read
Review: "The Alto Knights"
For the first time in his career, Robert De Niro plays two characters -- real-life, crime bosses--in the same movie.
Drew Moniot
Mar 273 min read
Review: "Snow White"
Disney’s live action remake is shaping up to be the box office disaster that everyone predicted,
Drew Moniot
Mar 253 min read
Review: "2001: A Space Odyssey in 2025"
A recent screening of "2001: A Space Odyssey" is a testament to the timelessness of this Kubrick classic.
Drew Moniot
Mar 164 min read
Review: "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie"
Warner Brother’s first ever animated feature fails to be either looney or funny.
Drew Moniot
Mar 164 min read
Review: "Black Bag"
A very cerebral spy film heavy on characters and dialogue and light on action and thrills.
Drew Moniot
Mar 133 min read
Review: "Novocaine"
A man incapable of feeling pain and a graphically violent action/comedy not for the squeamish.
Drew Moniot
Mar 113 min read
Review: "Mickey 17"
Robert Pattinson stars in this mind-bending, sci-fi tale about an “expendable” spaceman in the year 2054.
Drew Moniot
Mar 83 min read
Review: "Riff Raff"
A dark comedy with a very slow start, a shocker of a final reel and a gratuitous end scene that spoils everything before it.
Drew Moniot
Mar 43 min read
Review: 'Dog Man'
Former SNL cast members like Pete Davidson add to the zany fun in Peter Hastings’s movie adaptation.
Drew Moniot
Feb 262 min read
Review: "Love Hurts"
Everybody is Kung Fu Fighting in this Valentine’s Day movie that is big on violence and blood and light on romance.
Drew Moniot
Feb 243 min read
Review: "Captain America: Brave New World"
A mixed bag with dazzling effects sequences interspersed with lengthy, pace-killing dialog. Fans don’t seem to mind.
Drew Moniot
Feb 203 min read
Review: "Companion"
A spectacular blend of sci-fi and film noir not to be missed.
Drew Moniot
Feb 153 min read
Review: "Paddington in Peru"
A fun, family-friendly adventure.
Drew Moniot
Feb 133 min read
Hannibal Lecter and Me: Revisiting My Role as an Extra in "The Silence of the Lambs"
I was an extra in an Oscar-winning film shot in Pittsburgh!
Drew Moniot
Feb 23 min read
Review: "Presence"
A contemporary ghost tale that is all about Steven Soderbergh’s gliding Steadicam camera work and less about a satisfying, scary story.
Drew Moniot
Feb 13 min read
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