NPR

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating Title/Year Author
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Glen Weldon I'm Thinking of Ending Things may be downbeat - and hoo boy, is it - yet it avoids the dour misanthropy of much of Kaufman's work EDIT
Posted Sep 4, 2020
Mulan (2020) Justin Chang Despite its PG-13 rating, a rarity for a Disney release, Mulan feels like a watered-down version of a potentially captivating story. EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) Linda Holmes I don't know that I needed a third Bill & Ted movie, but I've got to say, I was happy to see it. EDIT
Posted Aug 28, 2020
Class Action Park (2020) Linda Holmes What emerges is both a solid history of the park and a surprisingly thoughtful piece about how we contextualize our own childhoods. EDIT
Posted Aug 27, 2020
Boys State (2020) Justin Chang Like politics itself, the action can be a little confusing; unlike politics, it's never boring, mainly because the movie wisely focuses on a select few participants. EDIT
Posted Aug 12, 2020
Black Is King (2020) Cate Young Drawing on the themes of The Lion King - inheritance, self-identity and determination - Knowles repurposes the story as a clarion call to Black people. EDIT
Posted Aug 4, 2020
Black Is King (2020) Eric Deggans It's obvious that she has been very deliberate about who she works with, what she says, what it looks like. And it makes a powerful statement when you bring it all together. EDIT
Posted Aug 4, 2020
An American Pickle (2020) Linda Holmes It's a clever idea, it has some good jokes, and it approaches the idea of immigration to the United States in a way I haven't seen. EDIT
Posted Aug 4, 2020
The Weight of Gold (2020) Eric Deggans There are two non-white athletes, Jones and Ohno. But the lack of darker-skinned competitors leads to concerns about colorism and seems a serious lapse in an otherwise well-crafted film. EDIT
Posted Jul 31, 2020
She Dies Tomorrow (2020) Glen Weldon The Most 2020 Movie of 2020. EDIT
Posted Jul 31, 2020
The Go-Go's (2020) Glen Weldon In her contemporary interviews with the band members, Ellwood has captured them all at a time of life when they are prepared to look back at their youthful selves with a mixture of generosity and clear-eyed candor. EDIT
Posted Jul 31, 2020
Relic (2020) Justin Chang A disturbing and ultimately devastating movie about what it means to love someone unconditionally, even when they've lost the power to love you back. EDIT
Posted Jul 24, 2020
Amulet (2020) Justin Chang Amulet is more than the sum of its visual frights. Garai sets you up to expect one kind of movie, but she's made something else entirely... EDIT
Posted Jul 24, 2020
Showbiz Kids (2020) Linda Holmes What [Alex Winter has] made here is a perceptive, sensitive film in which actors tell their own stories - some sad, many simply complicated. EDIT
Posted Jul 21, 2020
Palm Springs (2020) Linda Holmes Watch it; it's fun. EDIT
Posted Jul 11, 2020
The Old Guard (2020) Linda Holmes If you miss the blockbuster and the star vehicle and the big action sequence, and if you want something that can be all those things while still having humanity and thought and a point of view, this is your film. EDIT
Posted Jul 10, 2020
Greyhound (2020) Glen Weldon Like a sailing vessel, Greyhound benefits from the sleekness of its design and its characters' lack of baggage, both literal and emotional. EDIT
Posted Jul 10, 2020
Welcome to Chechnya (2020) Justin Chang A documentary that plays like a chilling undercover thriller. EDIT
Posted Jul 8, 2020
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020) Linda Holmes Use stupid things to give a beautiful message of love and peace? I've heard worse philosophies of life. EDIT
Posted Jul 8, 2020
Hamilton (2020) Linda Holmes [T]he film adaptation is a marvelous and welcome addition to the show's legacy in spite of a few imperfections. Even for those who know the celebrated cast album backwards and forwards. EDIT
Posted Jun 30, 2020
Irresistible (2020) Linda Holmes There's nothing in it that challenges anyone's ideas about anything. Who is going to find this provocative? The people who love Beltway insiders? SuperPAC stans? EDIT
Posted Jun 23, 2020
Shirley (2020) Justin Chang Like a lot of great genre writers, Jackson consistently used thriller conventions to illuminate the phantasms of the mind and turn her own demons into art. Shirley is a worthy testament to her legacy. EDIT
Posted Jun 4, 2020
On the Record (2020) Eric Deggans "On The Record" makes a powerful case. But left unanswered is a question for all of us. Once the silence is broken, what comes next? EDIT
Posted May 27, 2020
The Trip to Greece (2020) Justin Chang Personally, I hope we haven't seen the last of this squabbling, endearing duo - or heard the last of their Michael Caine. EDIT
Posted May 22, 2020
Becoming (2020) Eric Deggans Even with its flaws, Becoming is a compelling documentary, offering a carefully revealing look at a whip smart, ferociously practical woman trying to understand how her historic time in the White House changed herself, her family and the nation. EDIT
Posted May 6, 2020
Bull (2019) Scott Tobias The lumpiness of Bull doesn't negate the tenderness and observation that brings its world to life. EDIT
Posted Apr 30, 2020
Circus of Books (2019) Scott Tobias The sense of closure is satisfying, but it's missing a charge. EDIT
Posted Apr 24, 2020
The Last House on the Left (2009) Nathan Lee Director Dennis Iliadis polishes up Craven's template to a lethal shine. EDIT
Posted Apr 23, 2020
Bortom det synliga - filmen om Hilma af Klint (2019) Scott Tobias It may get a C for style, but it breezes through the thesis committee. EDIT
Posted Apr 16, 2020
Selah and the Spades (2019) Ella Taylor A YA gangster movie that doubles as a soulful meditation on the beauty and danger of power, when all means justify the end of retaining that power. EDIT
Posted Apr 16, 2020
Tigertail (2020) Scott Tobias The film feels like a three-hour epic that's been slashed to 91 minutes, with crucial details reduced to crude bullet points for economy's sake. It isn't intimate, it's small. EDIT
Posted Apr 10, 2020
Why Don't You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni) (2018) Mark Jenkins As reminiscent of Japan's Sion Sono as of Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino, Why Don't You Just Die! drips almost as much style as plasma. EDIT
Posted Apr 9, 2020
The Other Lamb (2019) Scott Tobias In reinforcing their themes of religious and cultural oppression, [Szumowska and McMullen] hit the nail too squarely on the head. EDIT
Posted Apr 2, 2020
Resistance (2020) Ella Taylor Marceau truly was a hero who carried his sadness into his work, and Resistance is an honorable, absorbing homage to the making of a man and his art. EDIT
Posted Mar 26, 2020
Vivarium (2020) Scott Tobias The conclusion may feel inevitable, but there's enough eccentricity and wit in the premise to carry the film a long way, just so long as it doesn't have an answer for what exactly is happening. EDIT
Posted Mar 26, 2020
Crip Camp (2020) Bob Mondello A raucous odyssey filled with twists, setbacks, smart strategizing, and unlikely strokes of luck. EDIT
Posted Mar 25, 2020
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) Bob Mondello A generous, affirmative portrait of female friendship and solidarity, a film that is never preachy, rarely in any way judgmental, sometimes raw and always filled with hope. EDIT
Posted Mar 14, 2020
Bloodshot (2020) Chris Klimek An instantly forgettable mid-budget affair that relies on heavy dollops of CGI that would've looked cut-rate even in the early '90s... EDIT
Posted Mar 12, 2020
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) Ella Taylor Hittman is powerfully attuned to the unquestioning solidarity and indomitable moxie of teenaged girls, the wordless ways in which they fight and make up... EDIT
Posted Mar 12, 2020
First Cow (2019) Bob Mondello A resonant, funny and quite moving shaggy cow story. EDIT
Posted Mar 8, 2020
Onward (2020) Bob Mondello Even mid-level Pixar still casts a spell. EDIT
Posted Mar 7, 2020
Saint Frances (2019) Bob Mondello "Saint Frances" hits a sweet spot that's really sweet. EDIT
Posted Mar 6, 2020
First Cow (2019) Chris Klimek You'll need to slow your breathing to sync up, or more likely, down with the movie's tempo, but Reichardt rewards your patience with a profound experience that lingers in memory. EDIT
Posted Mar 5, 2020
Onward (2020) Glen Weldon A testament to the remarkable degree of emotional expressiveness that Pixar's character-animators can imbue into a story. EDIT
Posted Mar 5, 2020
Sorry We Missed You (2019) Mark Jenkins A lacerating social drama that proceeds to demolish the current corporate line on "gig work." EDIT
Posted Mar 5, 2020
The Booksellers (2019) Ella Taylor [A] delightful homage... EDIT
Posted Mar 5, 2020
Greed (2019) Ella Taylor Cunningly mounted to satirize the heavy-breathing structure of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, Greed is a jaunty caper littered with farcical flashbacks... EDIT
Posted Feb 27, 2020
The Whistlers (2019) Mark Jenkins If the film goes faster and farther than its predecessors, it does so at the expense of depth. That's intentional, though. EDIT
Posted Feb 27, 2020
The Invisible Man (2020) Scott Tobias Whannell has succeeded by deemphasizing blockbuster effects and engaging with an old monster in a new way. He's created an invisible man for 2020 while still embracing the foundational terrors of 1933. EDIT
Posted Feb 27, 2020
Young Ahmed (2019) Scott Tobias It's a hugely flawed effort, turning many of the directors' strengths into liabilities, but it's also more thoughtful and complex than the insta-condemnations that were rained down on the basis of its premise alone. EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2020