Dear Cast and Crew - Rotten Tomatoes

Dear Cast and Crew

Dear Cast and Crew is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Di Golding
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
5/5
At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Di Golding

But to strip the myth from the man, to understand his motivations, recognize his limitations, and attempt to show us what he saw is something perhaps only another painter could do. Or, as in the case with At Eternity's Gate, two painters.
Posted Dec 20, 2018
2
1/5
Grudge Match (2013)

Di Golding

I don't want to sound like some butthurt feminist here, but if a Mike Tyson cameo is the least misogynistic part of your movie, you have a problem.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
3
4/5
Nebraska (2013)

Di Golding

No splashy, sentimental performances. No outrageous plot twists. No CGI. Just regular folks reckoning with their circumstances, quietly, with dignity, and suffused with director Alexander Payne's signature dry wit.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
4
2/5
The Book Thief (2013)

Di Golding

Opening with a sweeping shot of a train racing on snow-covered tracks, a title card reads 'Germany, February 1938'. This kind of vagueness sets up a film that brushes past details in favour of a broad-strokes Nazi movie for the whole family.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
5
1.5/5
Vampire Academy (2014)

Di Golding

The gothic sets and oxblood colour palette are ripped straight from a Heart video. The frenetic pacing, more appropriate, perhaps, for a first-person video game, had me craving a Ritalin Latte.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
6
3/5
20 Feet From Stardom (2013)

Di Golding

20 Feet has fingers in a lot of narrative pies, but it's most interesting when it focuses on the singers' struggles in a historical context.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
7
1/5
Pompeii (2014)

Di Golding

As the film begins, the camera pans slowly over what appear to be statues, but which turn our to be the petrified remains of the citizens of Pompeii. These are the most multi-dimensional people we see on screen.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
8
1.5/5
Winter's Tale (2014)

Di Golding

In this world, some people can be reincarnated and those in heaven have the choice to come back and walk the earth as mortals. Now, I'm not religious, but I did find myself praying for this movie to redeem itself.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
9
3/5
Blackfish (2013)

Di Golding

With extensive interviews and an impressive amount of footage, Cowperthwaite stops just short of exploitation.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
10
4/5
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)

Di Golding

Trying to appeal to both kids and adults is not an easy feat, one side usually benefits more than the other, and in this case, it's the over 30 crowd that wins.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
11
2.5/5
Veronica Mars (2014)

Di Golding

But part of what made our hero so endearing was that she was a kid playing dress-up in a grown-up world. Now an adult, Veronica's schtick is reminiscent of putting your favourite song on repeat: sure, it's fun for awhile, but it gets old fast.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
12
3/5
Divergent (2014)

Di Golding

Woodley plays her part so believably you can't help but root for her despite the juvenile, it's-okay-to-be-different, people-aren't-just-one-thing thematic undertones so simply expressed for the training bra set.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
13
3/5
Noah (2014)

Di Golding

Once the film has blown it's CGI load, it turns into a kitchen sink drama, an episode of Eastenders as directed by Mike Leigh.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
14
1.5/5
The Canyons (2013)

Di Golding

It would be too easy to blame the leads for the film's flatness, but I'm not sure that better actors could have roused such listless dialogue.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
15
3/5
Touchy Feely (2013)

Di Golding

I kept waiting for something bigger to happen here, but wasn't necessarily disappointed when it didn't.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
16
2.5/5
Algonquin (2013)

Di Golding

Watching Algonquin, I felt like a petulant child forced into a canoe trip; bored for a long stretch, annoyed by the company, relieved when it was over, yet impressed by the stunning scenery.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
17
4/5
The Secret Trial 5 (2014)

Di Golding

Most Canadians were aware of these suspected terrorists being detained, ostensibly to protect our security. But Wala shows how our collective attitudes towards the detainees changed since the peak of our anxiety immediately following September 11, 2001.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
18
4/5
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story (2014)

Di Golding

What saves this film from being another gimmicky Super Size Me or No Impact Man is Grant and Jennifer's modestly charming Canadian-ness. They present some pretty frightening statistics, but they also offer some helpful solutions
Posted Dec 11, 2018
19
3/5
The Railway Man (2014)

Di Golding

The first two thirds of the film seem to be building towards a satisfying resolution, but it gets there only after taking an improbable twist, and that left a sour taste in my mouth.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
20
1/5
Blended (2014)

Di Golding

If you've seen the trailer, you've seen it all.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
21
4/5
Filth (2014)

Di Golding

There is a grotesque whimsy in Filth that calls to mind the delicious dark humour of American Psycho and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
22
3/5
It's a Disaster (2013)

Di Golding

It's the hell of couples brunch fully realized. I was amused as much as galled by the unapologetic narcissism and stunning lack of empathy exhibited by the characters of It's A Disaster. These are people who shouldn't survive the apocalypse.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
23
3.5/5
Spinning Plates (2013)

Di Golding

The flavours, though lovingly prepared, don't always compliment one another. Perhaps it's because when we get to the 'and then the unthinkable happened' portion of the documentary, the lack of balance left an odd aftertaste.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
24
3/5
Earth to Echo (2014)

Di Golding

There are so many, well, I'll be charitable and call them 'homages' to 80s movies that I stopped counting. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that once referenced, it was hard not to compare those movies to yours
Posted Dec 11, 2018
25
4/5
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

Di Golding

Instead of being restricted to the confines of being just another franchise potboiler, those hairy primates elevate Dawn to the type of storytelling that transcends genre.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
26
3/5
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2014)

Di Golding

Myers gives us the cinematic equivalent of a tabloid; it's fun, gossipy and light, but in the end is only supermeh.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
27
3/5
The Zero Theorem (2014)

Di Golding

This film struggles tonally to find equilibrium between broad satire and intimate revelation.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
28
2.5/5
Hercules (2014)

Di Golding

Hercules isn't awful, it's just not good enough. At least not as good as its individual parts: the intricately choreographed action sequences, the roster of respectable British thespians, the $100 million price tag.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
29
2.5/5
The Giver (2014)

Di Golding

Despite the fact that I'm an adult who has never read the book, I still felt like I was being pandered to. It didn't need to be that way.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
30
3.5/5
What If (2014)

Di Golding

The 'com' is fresh, even if the 'rom' feels a little stale.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
31
1.5/5
If I Stay (2014)

Di Golding

The story's naïveté is matched only by its dullness.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
32
4/5
The Battered Bastards Of Baseball (2014)

Di Golding

The footage builds in such a way that it's impossible to not get caught up in the enthusiasm of a bunch of unruly players and their larger-than-life Hollywood owner defying the conventions of the uptight Minor League establishment.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
33
3/5
This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

Di Golding

Levy had a lot of character arcs to juggle, so it's no surprise he had a hard time keeping them all in the air.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
34
2/5
The Maze Runner (2014)

Di Golding

Without backstory it's impossible to care about these boys, so, instead of characters we can root for, we get archetypes.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
35
3.5/5
St. Vincent (2014)

Di Golding

Bill Murray is that rare actor whose very presence is enough to convince the audience that what they're about to see is a cut above the rest.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
36
4/5
Citizen Marc (2013)

Di Golding

Citizen Marc shows us that it's not the citizens themselves, but their movement that is being hijacked by Emery's ego (which, one of his detractors observes, 'is 40% of his body weight').
Posted Dec 11, 2018
37
1.5/5
Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

Di Golding

Before I Go To Sleep is yet another wannabe sex-thriller with the kind of maddeningly vague premise that studios love because it gives the audience absolutely nothing to go on, thereby nullifying any expectations.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
38
3.5/5
Tim's Vermeer (2014)

Di Golding

Tim's Vermeer shares similarities with other recent art-mystery docs like Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollock and My Kid Could Paint That, both of which dare to question the perceived truths held dear by art world elites.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
39
4/5
E-Team (2014)

Di Golding

Instead of playing on my Western, middle-class guilt, E-Team shows their subjects living similarly comfortable lives, nary a hair-shirt in sight. It's this lack of moralizing that gives the film gravitas.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
40
4.5/5
After Tiller (2013)

Di Golding

There is nothing easy about After Tiller. Not the watching or the telling.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
41
2/5
God's Pocket (2014)

Di Golding

God's Pocket feels like three separate movies. And none of them moved me.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
42
3.5/5
Laggies (2014)

Di Golding

Shelton has a knack for filming the literal and figurative spaces between people, and Andrea Seigel's contrived (albeit likeable) script is at home in Shelton's navel-gazing universe.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
43
2.5/5
Serena (2015)

Di Golding

Director Susanne Bier's fans will be especially disappointed by the story's lack of focus and abrupt character development, flaws absent in her far superior films like After The Wedding, and In A Better World.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
44
3/5
Fading Gigolo (2014)

Di Golding

The music, as with the earthy set design, and the elegantly textural jewel-toned costuming, create a rich and sensual backdrop that make up for the flat characters and the somewhat improbable plot.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
45
2.5/5
Annie (2014)

Di Golding

Annie is contemporary and urban but feels strangely small-and not in an intimate way.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
46
4.5/5
Wild (2014)

Di Golding

Witherspoon's Cheryl is the kind of complicated female lead we rarely see onscreen; a frustrating and reckless mess with nothing to lose. She is not easy to root for.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
47
4.5/5
Selma (2015)

Di Golding

Selma is decidedly matter-of-fact and yet it bursts with emotion. When confronted with scenes of shocking brutality, DuVernay knows exactly when to turn the camera away.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
48
1.5/5
Mortdecai (2015)

Di Golding

Most caper comedies understand the need to pepper their expository scenes with sight gags. Nothing brings what should be a fun heist flick to a dead halt like two poorly lit actors sitting opposite each other reading out the plot scenario.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
49
3/5
Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

Di Golding

The more riveting story is the one Maloof doesn't tell, about the controversy surrounding his "discovery" of Vivian... It's hard not to view Finding Vivian Maier as a glorified infomercial for The Maloof Collection.
Posted Dec 10, 2018
50
3.5/5
Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Di Golding

It's a campy, cheesy, gleeful tribute to the space opera, an episode of Flash Gordon with a limitless bank account. All that's missing is Freddie Mercury screeching "Jupiter ahhh! Savior of the universe!"
Posted Dec 10, 2018