San Diego Reader - Rotten Tomatoes

San Diego Reader

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
4/5
The Happy Prince (2018)

Matthew Lickona

It's a passion project that never devolves into mere passion; a sober (if loving) look at an inebriated soul.
Posted Oct 19, 2018
2
2/5
Museum (Museo) (2018)

Scott Marks

With his characters unable to fence the goods, writer-director Alonso Ruiz Palacios has no place to turn but in the direction of head-scratching surrealism.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
3
1/5
Trouble (2018)

Scott Marks

Writer-director Theresa Rebeck has nothing to offer this masterly cast but a paycheck for their participation in her lightweight dysfunctional-siblings family feud.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
4
2/5
Tea With the Dames (Nothing Like a Dame) (2018)

Scott Marks

While these four actresses are magnificent, their choice of directors is less so; Roger Mitchell (Notting Hill, Hyde Park on the Hudson) makes his biggest contribution by moving the discussion indoors at the sight of rain.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
5
2/5
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Careful framing, mysterious characters, slow builds, violent surprises, and a dynamite parade of very nearly on-the-nose songs from the mid- to late-1960s
Posted Oct 12, 2018
6
1/5
The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

Matthew Lickona

If Clint Eastwood's barely reformed killer was Unforgiven, Robert Redford is unrepentant in this love letter to...Robert Redford.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
7
1/5
First Man (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Ryan Gosling's impassive visage must have the gravitational pull of a black hole, because Chazelle can't seem to keep his camera from being pulled loose from its moorings and drawn in thisclose for more than one or two scenes at a time.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
8
1/5
Hal (2018)

Scott Marks

If ever a film needed a little more "Just Say No!" (and a little less defense of the eminently unwatchable Lookin' to Get Out) it's this, but first-time filmmaker Amy Scott insists on sugar coating the snow.
Posted Oct 5, 2018
9
3/5
Colette (2018)

Scott Marks

Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens' use of highly-reflective surfaces is a revelation, and Thomas Adès' lush score hits a melodramatic high note.
Posted Oct 5, 2018
10
2/5
The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Matthew Lickona

For every revelation woven into the action, there's a bit of obvious philosophizing to remind you of the real point here. (It sure ain't the gunplay, though the way the six-guns spit sparks is fun to look at.)
Posted Oct 5, 2018
11
0/5
Venom (2018)

Matthew Lickona

The Venom symbiote requires a perfect match to bond with its host; otherwise, the host is doomed. The Venom movie plays like a midnight horror that has invaded a superhero movie, and while there are some laffs to be had, it's far from a perfect match.
Posted Oct 5, 2018
12
1/5
A Star Is Born (2018)

Matthew Lickona

If 2011's The Artist was an homage, this is more of a burlesque, a hot mess of a movie that takes its dramatic cues from the camp excesses of the drag queens among whom our hammered hero finds the lucky Lady.
Posted Oct 5, 2018
13
0/5
Tower (2016)

Scott Marks

The overall absurdity of the piece left me numb beyond belief. Why stop here? Why not a claymation recreation of the events of 9-11? Or Jiminy Cricket in Steven Spielberg's When You Wish Upon Auschwitz?
Posted Oct 3, 2018
14
2/5
Science Fair (2018)

Matthew Lickona

High marks for skill and clarity of presentation - it's a real crowd pleaser. But if you want to win Best Documentary in Show, you need to push a little harder - take a risk, and hope you've convinced the audience to pay attention.
Posted Sep 28, 2018
15
3/5
I Am Not a Witch (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Even if writer-director Rungano Nyoni's film were a lesser achievement - less unsettlingly complicated, less bitterly funny, less bluntly sad - it would still have the witch truck, one of the great cinematic images of this or any other year.
Posted Sep 28, 2018
16
3/5
Blaze (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Ethan Hawke continues scratching his artisty itch by directing and co-writing a biopic of Blaze Foley that feels as raggedy-shambling, jumbled, and sad (but secretly thoughtful and impressive) as the country music oddball himself.
Posted Sep 21, 2018
17
2/5
Lizzie (2018)

Matthew Lickona

When the time comes for the famous axe and whacks, Lizzie reveals itself as more Greek tragedy than murder mystery - a depiction of feminine ferocity and ingenuity in the face of injustice.
Posted Sep 21, 2018
18
1/5
American Chaos (2018)

Scott Marks

Who was Stern's target audience? Surely Democrats don't want to spend 90 minutes relitigating the election any more than Republicans yearn to squander so much as a cent of their entertainment dollar watching liberals whine.
Posted Sep 15, 2018
19
0/5
Peppermint (2018)

Scott Marks

There must not have been enough zeros on the alimony check; why else would Garner agree to lend her name to what is essentially gun porn?
Posted Sep 15, 2018
20
4/5
Pick of the Litter (2018)

Scott Marks

By far the most joyous time you'll have at the movies all year.
Posted Sep 15, 2018
21
3/5
The Apparition (L'apparition) (2018)

Matthew Lickona

The result is something rare: a genuinely engaging cinematic treatment of faith, one that offers revelations even as it casts a gimlet eye on Revelation.
Posted Sep 14, 2018
22
1/5
A Simple Favor (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Director Paul Feig doesn't seem able to decide whether he's making a slightly outré crime comedy, a blithely twisted relationship thriller, a brightly lit horror melodrama, or maybe an arch meta-take on all three.
Posted Sep 14, 2018
23
1/5
The Predator (2018)

Matthew Lickona

What's remarkable is that the results are so blockbuster-bland. It might've helped if Black had stuck to the band of misfits angle, pitting the Predator against a group of war-ravaged vets who have to find a way past their damage if they're gonna survive.
Posted Sep 14, 2018
24
0/5
Kin (2018)

Scott Marks

If the Baker boys truly were fabulous, they'd have had the guts to go all the way and earn an R rating.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
25
3/5
Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) (2018)

Scott Marks

The filmmakers have a grand habit of stealing from others and making it their own.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
26
0/5
The Nun (2018)

Scott Marks

Were it not for sudden blasts of Dolby fury, there would be nothing to provide shocks, let alone scares. What terrifies most is the complete and utter lack of plot.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
27
1/5
The Wife (2018)

Scott Marks

Other than the performances, there is nothing here audiences haven't seen more times than they have their own feet.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
28
3/5
We the Animals (2018)

Matthew Lickona

The conclusion is certain enough to be practically foregone, and if what leads up to it is aggressively arty, it's also artful and frank, a rare combination.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
29
1/5
Destination Wedding (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Your enjoyment may depend on how cheekily delightful you find it that they keep up the chatter even during a hillside hump: "Can we please stop talking about your mother?" "I'm killing time."
Posted Sep 7, 2018
30
3/5
Madeline's Madeline (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Add another name to the list of talented and charismatic young actresses of color making auspicious debuts of late: Helena Howard, star of director and co-writer Josephine Decker's simultaneously attractive and repellent mindjob.
Posted Sep 7, 2018
31
2/5
The Happytime Murders (2018)

Scott Marks

The connoisseur of filth within me is pleased to report how wonderfully nasty much of the felted proceedings here are to behold.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
32
1/5
A.X.L. (2018)

Scott Marks

After 2016's Monster Trucks laid a giant goose egg at the box office, what made the folks at Global Road think this similarly themed shaggy mechanical pal tale would fare any better?
Posted Aug 31, 2018
33
3/5
40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie (2018)

Scott Marks

Having never seen an episode of Two and a Half Men or The Big Bang Theory, I can still say it's good they exist, if for no other reason than the proceeds from those TV series afforded Aronsohn the opportunity to direct this heartfelt music documentary.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
34
2/5
Operation Finale (2018)

Scott Marks

Ben Kingsley's serene, "everybody sh*ts" reading of the character is a source of illumination around which everything else in the picture revolves.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
35
1/5
The Bookshop (2018)

Scott Marks

Hang a CLOSED sign in the window: it's another film with a strong female character that's cushioned in the safety and comfort of the recent past.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
36
1/5
Love, Cecil (2018)

Scott Marks

The film version of My Fair Lady is a ceremonious bore, and the viewer has Cecil Beaton's pompously sedentary, open-casket visual compositions to blame.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
37
2/5
Skate Kitchen (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Less a movie than a visually striking meditation on Being a Girl These Days.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
38
1/5
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (L'empire de la perfection) (2018)

Matthew Lickona

In the end, [Faraut] doesn't have quite enough of anything for a feature.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
39
3/5
The Little Stranger (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Everything here is precise: Abrahamson's direction, the understated performances, the intrusive sounds that stop just shy of jarring. The result is more sad and spooky than suspenseful or scary, an effect that seems entirely, and pleasingly, intentional.
Posted Aug 31, 2018
40
4/5
The Cakemaker (2018)

Scott Marks

Credit first-time writer/director Ofir Raul Graizer with pulling off something of a miracle.
Posted Aug 23, 2018
41
3/5
Midaq Alley (1998)

Scott Marks

All of the trusted movie sites categorize this as a drama, but if that's the case, why did I spend so much of the running time dabbing tears of laughter?
Posted Aug 10, 2018
42
3/5
The Catcher Was A Spy (2018)

Scott Marks

In Moe Berg, Rudd helps director Ben Lewin (Paperback Writer, The Sessions) add another unforgettable passive hero to the his increasing menagerie.
Posted Aug 10, 2018
43
4/5
BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Scott Marks

Not since Bamboozled has a Spike Lee joint been this blunt and tightly rolled.
Posted Aug 10, 2018
44
1/5
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Whether you are amused or bemused, it's unlikely that you'll feel much of anything; this is comedy at its frothiest and foamiest.
Posted Aug 10, 2018
45
2/5
McQueen (2018)

Matthew Lickona

[The directors] would have done well to shear away the obscuring frills of polite encomiums and pay more attention to the structural details of both the man and what he made.
Posted Aug 10, 2018
46
1/5
The Meg (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Maybe director John Turteltaub thought the barrage of pathos and yuks would distract from the fact that his star is a very big fish that is not very bright. Still: cool shark, bro.
Posted Aug 10, 2018
47
0/5
Christopher Robin (2018)

Scott Marks

Poo is too kind a word to describe the flat, gray nature of Disney's reenvisioned Hundred Acre Wood and the trademarked bland anonymity director Marc Forster brings to the party.
Posted Aug 3, 2018
48
1/5
Generation Wealth (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Scattered and self-indulgent, a career retrospective in search of a coherent theme.
Posted Aug 3, 2018
49
1/5
The Darkest Minds (2018)

Matthew Lickona

Notable for its willingness to display coarse language (kids these days), and nasty behavior - it's a dystopia; when mind-control powers are in play, is it really so surprising that they get used for murder, rape, and torture?
Posted Aug 3, 2018
50
2/5
The King (2018)

Matthew Lickona

The insistence may inspire a furrowed brow here, a rolled eye there, and a shaken fist or knowing nod over yonder, but there's enough earnest comment and good music to make the effort worth seeing and chewing over.
Posted Jul 27, 2018