San Diego Reader - Rotten Tomatoes

San Diego Reader

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
3/5
The Swerve (2020)

Scott Marks

A relentlessly unshakable albeit unpleasant ride, particularly when filmmaker Dean Kapsalis slaloms around audience expectation, something he skillfully accomplishes for the first two-thirds of the picture.
Posted Oct 27, 2020
2
3/5
Belly of the Beast (2020)

Scott Marks

Inside the belly of documentarian Erika Cohn's Beast lurks a monstrosity more appalling than horror fiction.
Posted Sep 22, 2020
3
3/5
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)

Scott Marks

In closing, one must applaud the filmmakers for their wisdom in including the single most important full frontal romp committed to film in the past 20 years: Ken Davitian's nude wrestling match with Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat.
Posted Sep 1, 2020
4
4/5
The Beach House (2020)

Scott Marks

The film offers no explanations; the horror lies just out of sight, somewhere below the widespread horizon line.
Posted Jul 7, 2020
5
4/5
Rewind (2020)

Scott Marks

Unquestionably difficult to watch - wait until you learn details of Uncle Harold's "punishment" - Neulinger's heroic act of bravery will hopefully encourage and inspire others to come forward.
Posted Jun 26, 2020
6
3/5
Working Man (2020)

Scott Marks

First-time director Robert Jury's Working Man finds suspense amidst the humdrum, and love among the rubble of a marriage put on hold.
Posted Jun 16, 2020
7
3/5
Driveways (2020)

Scott Marks

This is one of those quiet gems where we get dropped into the lives of a handful of characters at what turns out to be a crucial turning point in all their lives.
Posted May 14, 2020
8
2/4
G.B.F. (2014)

Scott Marks

Director Darren Stein's frequently on-target satire had me laughing enough to keep it interesting.
Posted May 8, 2020
9
Driveways (2020)

Matthew Lickona

This is one of those quiet gems where we get dropped into the lives of a handful of characters at what turns out to be a crucial turning point in all their lives.
Posted May 8, 2020
10
2/5
Hansel and Gretel Get Baked (2013)

Scott Marks

The gore gets to be a tad gratuitous, but for the most part [Duane] Journey has a ball ripping into genre conventions.
Posted Apr 30, 2020
11
2/5
Buffaloed (2020)

Scott Marks

This low rent She-Wolf of Wall Street is not without its charms - it's hard not to find some room in one's heart for a film that works so hard to restore the word "jagoff" to popular usage.
Posted Feb 14, 2020
12
3/5
The Assistant (2020)

Scott Marks

Green, the first filmmaker to give narrative voice to this subject, posits her day in the life of a witness to workplace gangrene as a grueling example of cinema as frustration.
Posted Feb 14, 2020
13
4/5
The Traitor (2020)

Scott Marks

Show me a classic cosa nostra saga that doesn't affirm the importance of family and... well, I'll show you Marco Bellocchio's The Traitor, everything one hoped The Irishman would be but wasn't.
Posted Feb 14, 2020
14
1/5
Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words (2020)

Scott Marks

One of the most controversial political subjects of his generation is thus afforded an unduly sympathetic portrait - but how else would Pack have been able to get Thomas to sit still long enough for the interview portion of our program?
Posted Jan 31, 2020
15
The Gentlemen (2020)

Scott Marks

Telegraphing dialogue, Tarantino-speak tributes, and a third act plot logjam are tantamount to bringing ants to the picnic, but there's enough repellent on board so as not to bother or distract too much.
Posted Jan 31, 2020
16
2/5
The Last Full Measure (2020)

Scott Marks

Not bad for a regulation military movie, but I must confess to a wandering attention span; how else could I notice the cigarette that Jackson removes from the pack of Marlboros is an American Spirit?
Posted Jan 31, 2020
17
3/5
Cold Case Hammarskjöld (2019)

Scott Marks

In his own way, the ever-present director is as much a scene-hogger as Joaquin Phoenix with one glaring difference: Brügger's mercenaries are the real-deal, not heavy-handed, makeup-streaked clowns with mommy and daddy issues.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
18
5/5
63 Up (2019)

Scott Marks

At first glance, 21 Up played as somewhat of a novelty. That was over forty years ago. Today, it stands as one of cinema's greatest achievements, a use of the medium that's at once blatantly logical and profoundly affecting.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
19
3/5
The Irishman (2019)

Scott Marks

It didn't take a genius to see that television was finally poised to win the war against movies. I just didn't expect my teacher to be leading the charge against theatrical exhibition.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
20
5/5
Richard Jewell (2019)

Scott Marks

Has there been a time since the Man With No Name first rode into town when Eastwood wasn't at the top of his game? Don't believe me? Check out Richard Jewell.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
21
1/5
Earth (Erde) (2019)

Scott Marks

It's a case of the meaningful point in question given a meaningless treatment.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
22
1/5
Midnight Family (2019)

Scott Marks

At 81 minutes, you won't be bored, but don't be surprised if the car ride home finds you questioning how an audition reel for a reality television program earned a theatrical release.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
23
3/5
Quezon's Game (2020)

Scott Marks

It may not always qualify as great cinema, but when it comes to presenting a fascinating, emotionally rewarding history lesson, you'll be hanging on every scene.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
24
2/5
Underwater (2020)

Scott Marks

There's no better feeling than starting the New Year right with an affectionate, action-packed genre picture.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
25
1/5
Just Mercy (2020)

Scott Marks

It's good acting at its finest in this preaching to the choir "right to life" drama that might have worked had the filmmakers chosen to show the audience a little mercy by not constantly talking down to them.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
26
0/5
The Hottest August (2019)

Scott Marks

August 2017 was not the hottest on record. Not even close. If one can't get the title right, what chance is there of everything else falling into order?
Posted Jan 28, 2020
27
3/5
Cunningham (2019)

Scott Marks

I maintain as much of an appreciation for modern dance as I do for watching golf on TV. But this is a movie, and as such, anything can be, and in this case is, rendered cinematic.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
28
0/5
Dolittle (2020)

Scott Marks

It is with deep and abiding regret that we report the passing of Robert Downey, Jr. - one of the last of his generation of trailblazers - over to the dark side.
Posted Jan 28, 2020
29
1/5
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Matthew Lickona

When we meet up with brash pilot Poe, he's lightspeed-skipping his way out of trouble, and Abrams is in much the same mode, whisking you from one thing to the next before you have much time to think or feel anything in response.
Posted Dec 19, 2019
30
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Scott Marks

It's well worth leaving the house for.
Posted Dec 18, 2019
31
4/5
Honey Boy (2019)

Scott Marks

When it comes to cinema as therapy, LeBeouf put his time (and ours) to superb use here.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
32
1/5
Midway (2019)

Scott Marks

The digitized combat looks like something traced and transplanted from another war, one that took place in a galaxy far, far away.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
33
1/5
Last Christmas (2019)

Scott Marks

Still, it's worth a visit to the multiplex to behold cinematographer John Schwartzman (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Founder) accept the challenge of illuminating a feature almost entirely by Christmas lights.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
34
0/5
The Good Liar (2019)

Scott Marks

Wait for Britbox.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
35
3/5
Synonyms (Synonymes) (2019)

Scott Marks

As stiff-neck storytelling goes, this is pretty damn impressive.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
36
1/5
Frozen II (2019)

Matthew Lickona

Not much gain against a good deal of loss.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
37
3/5
Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Matthew Lickona

Think Iron Man and Captain America, only it's a (mostly) true story and what's at stake is not the fate of the universe, nor even an auto race, but the glorious, endless pursuit of perfection.
Posted Nov 22, 2019
38
2/5
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi (2019)

Scott Marks

The pounding hooves that whisk us through the pre-credit montage recall the manner of storytelling audiences lapped up throughout the '60s, but which is now the stuff that Hallmark Channel dramas are made of.
Posted Nov 19, 2019
39
2/5
The Report (2019)

Scott Marks

A film as thought-provoking as this should pack more thrills; the majority of the suspense is generated from Driver's countenance, not Burns' ability to captivate an audience.
Posted Nov 19, 2019
40
3/5
By the Grace of God (Grâce à Dieu) (2019)

Scott Marks

One is prone to expect excess in a film by François Ozon, [but he] wisely opts to frame the fact-based events as a straightforward crime drama.
Posted Nov 19, 2019
41
1/5
Harriet (2019)

Matthew Lickona

The gospel songs are gorgeously performed and cleverly deployed, but the rest of the soundtrack makes an absolute mess of the film's mood: swoopy where it should be driven, wistful where it should be achingly tense.
Posted Nov 1, 2019
42
2/5
Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Matthew Lickona

There's a deep and sincere sweetness in the work of writer-director Taika Waititi. It's a kind of relentless and innocent good cheer that persists in the face of horror - to the point where the horror is obscured, or maybe defanged.
Posted Nov 1, 2019
43
3/5
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)

Scott Marks

When it comes to establishing and maintaining tension, there wasn't a better American genre picture released this year. Refrain from viewing it as historical record and you won't leave disappointed.
Posted Oct 28, 2019
44
1/5
Cyrano, My Love (Edmond) (2019)

Matthew Lickona

For us to care about the froth, we need a proper sense of the churning that creates it.
Posted Oct 25, 2019
45
3/5
The Lighthouse (2019)

Matthew Lickona

It's rough going, but it's beautifully filmed and framed in black and white, and Dafoe is wild and wildly entertaining in a role that feels written to match his every aspect.
Posted Oct 25, 2019
46
2/5
Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria) (2019)

Matthew Lickona

There's plenty of artfulness on display in the intertwining of life and what gets made of it, but also a fair helping of artifice. Art imitating life, but also improving it a bit.
Posted Oct 18, 2019
47
1/5
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

Matthew Lickona

And [Jolie] is a star here: something amazing to behold, an Old Hollywood glamour shot come to...well, not exactly come to life, but mobile, anyway.
Posted Oct 18, 2019
48
2/5
Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins (2019)

Matthew Lickona

Janice Engel's loving portrait of perhaps the most famous liberal journalist in Texas history (there must be a few others, right?) feels a bit like a pitch for a biopic. That is to say, it's more portrait than story.
Posted Oct 12, 2019
49
3/5
The Addams Family (2019)

Scott Marks

Much closer in spirit to Charles Addams' ghoulishly byzantine etchings (Lurch was indeed an escapee from a home for the criminally insane) and the '60s sitcom it spawned than Barry Sonnenfeld's sleepy and pukey remodelings.
Posted Oct 12, 2019
50
1/5
Gemini Man (2019)

Matthew Lickona

The same High Frame Rate that make the actors look like they're on Days of Our Lives makes the colors absolutely pop. And those textures on the skulls in the underground ossuary fight scene! It's cooler than the action, anyway.
Posted Oct 11, 2019