Movie Reviews

'Holmes & Watson' Shows What It Takes To Earn A Rotten Tomatoes Score Of Zero

6:24pm December 27, 2018

The Sherlock Holmes spoof briefly earned zero percent on the film review site. How did it accomplish this anti-feat, and what are some of the other flops to which it's now being compared?

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Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly in Stan & Ollie.

Arts

'Stan And Ollie' Traces 2 Legends Working Hard Past Their Prime

5:00pm December 27, 2018

by Scott Tobias

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly star as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in a film that struggles to keep its energy up as it follows the decline of two great film comedians.

Not throwing away his shot(gun): Christian Bale's Dick Cheney smirks and glowers in Vice.

Arts

'On The Basis Of Sex' And 'Vice': 2 Biopics — 1 Bathed In Light, 1 Steeped In Shadow

10:06am December 26, 2018

by Bob Mondello

What's your preference: hagiography or demonization? A biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg is blandly positive, while another about Dick Cheney offers an extended, if entertaining, screed.

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Nicole Kidman stars as Erin Bell in Karyn Kusama's Destroyer.

Arts

Straining For Grit And Settling For Grim, 'Destroyer' Doesn't Deliver

5:00pm December 25, 2018

by Ella Taylor

Director Karyn Kusama has a history of films where women fight back. But Destroyer, despite its transformation of Nicole Kidman, fails to develop a compelling story to support that transformation.

In His New Film, Shakespearean Actor Kenneth Branagh Stars As The Bard Himself

4:21pm December 21, 2018

by Bob Mondello

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in All Is True as Shakespeare in his final years, with Judi Dench as his wife.

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Arts

Venture 'Into The Spider-Verse' For An Exuberant, Visually Stunning Thrill

1:40pm December 21, 2018

by Justin Chang

If you thought you'd seen enough characters in red masks and blue suits to last a lifetime, well, you ain't seen nothing yet: This new animated film puts a fresh spin on the Spider-Man saga.

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All dolled up: Mark (Steve Carell) photographs the plastic stand-ins of his backyard miniature town in Welcome to Marwen.

Arts

'Welcome To Marwen,' By Way Of Hollywood Cliches And False Uplift

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Andrew Lapin

Robert Zemeckis adapts a gripping documentary about one trauma survivor's low-fi art project; the result is a "bloated and lifeless" drama that trivializes his experience.

Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) and Bumblebee (as himself) are more than meets the eye in Bumblebee.

Arts

Flight Of The 'Bumblebee': Transformers Flick Soars Over (Low) Franchise Expectations

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Scott Tobias

Director Travis Knight takes over from Michael Bay, and sets about getting viewers to care about characters instead of assaulting our senses. The result is surprisingly watchable.

L to R: Tom (Jack Colgrave Hirst), Judith (Kathryn Wilder), Will (Kenneth Branagh) and Anne (Judi Dench) smile for the ... portraitist, in All Is True.

Arts

'All Is True' Finds Melancholy And Magic In Shakespeare's Final Years

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Ella Taylor

An aging Bard of Avon (Kenneth Branagh) returns to his hometown to reconnect to the family he barely knows in this touching film about the disconnect between life and art.

Pawel Pawlikowski's film follows musician Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and dancer Zola (Joanna Kulig) over the course of 15 tempestuous years.

Arts

Polish Lovers Find Cold Comfort In The Elliptical, Frustrating 'Cold War'

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Mark Jenkins

Pawel Pawlikowski follows up 2013's Ida with this tale of Polish musicians living under Stalin; it's "an ode to joylessness that feels historically credible but narratively arbitrary."