Celluloid Dreams - Rotten Tomatoes

Celluloid Dreams

Celluloid Dreams is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Peter Canavese
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
3/4
THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (1990)

Peter Canavese

An American tragedy writ large. This "CODA" is ultimately the same movie as "The Godfather, Part III", albeit re-positioned, but still a good, quite worthy movie. (Blu-ray Director's Cut Review).
Posted Jan 25, 2022
2
3/4
My Little Chickadee (1940)

Peter Canavese

Iconic Mae West/W.C.Fields comedy "western" beautifully restored in this Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
3
3/4
Jazz on a Summer's Day (2020)

Peter Canavese

A very solid concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. Great Kino Lorber Studio Classics Special Edition blu-ray.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
4
3/4
Juice (1992)

Peter Canavese

Well-directed with a 'just-so' exaggeration to it that works for the movie. Excellent Special Edition 4K from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
5
2/4
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2021)

Peter Canavese

Entirely conventional; runs on slapstick and action, with all the humor of an old Scooby-Doo episode.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
6
1.5/4
Shattered (2022)

Peter Canavese

A trashy, derivative thriller which only comes to life when it's being sensational.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
7
4/4
Memoria (2021)

Peter Canavese

A masterful film about dreams, curses, viruses, altered states, unreliable memories, consciousness and trying to come to a deeper and more profound understanding of existence. Museum-quality cinema.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
8
2.5/4
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (2021)

Peter Canavese

A supernatural-themed romantic comedy with some lovely moments which captures this languid sense of community and local character.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
9
2/4
The 355 (2022)

Peter Canavese

Only intermittently engaging; lacks the pacing, deftness and wit to mask all the cliches that we're so familiar with by now.
Posted Jan 18, 2022
10
3/4
Mass Appeal (1984)

Peter Canavese

The play has been opened up very effectively for the screen in a very good script and an interesting story with an excellent cast. (Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray review).
Posted Jan 18, 2022
11
2.5/4
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)

Peter Canavese

Charles Dickens' unfinished novel receives a somewhat mediocre, but fairly entertaining treatment in this Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray highlighted by a strong central performance by Claude Rains.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
12
2.5/4
The Mad Doctor (1941)

Peter Canavese

Basil Rathbone plays a bisexual physician in this interestingly weird, Black Widow-y thriller. (Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray review with a terrific contextual commentary by film historian David Del Valle).
Posted Jan 5, 2022
13
3/4
The Accused (1949)

Peter Canavese

A good and unusual noir in a decent special edition blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
14
2.5/4
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

Peter Canavese

A compelling enough supernatural thriller and a kind of forerunner to M. Night Shayamalan. (Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray review).
Posted Jan 5, 2022
15
2/4
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946)

Peter Canavese

Gale Sondergaard makes a good heavy in this Universal B-movie cheapie. (The Kino blu-ray is really great, though).
Posted Jan 5, 2022
16
3.5/4
A Hero (2022)

Peter Canavese

A morality play about media and social media that are hungry to create a story for attention, and a commentary on how reductive most cinematic storytelling is.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
17
2.5/4
France (2021)

Peter Canavese

Lea Seydoux is the real reason to see this cringe comedy. Oddly paced, interesting enough, not as incisive maybe as one might hope, but still a movie with something on its mind.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
18
3.5/4
Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas) (2021)

Peter Canavese

Everything you've come to expect from Pedro Almodovar -- a twisty story with a psychological thriller element to it, lush, colorful design, beautiful actors and a plot that builds complication on complication.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
19
3.5/4
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Peter Canavese

An interesting beast -- and the more you dig in to it the more interesting it becomes.
Posted Jan 5, 2022
20
3/4
Reopening Night (2021)

Peter Canavese

Enjoyable, behind-the-scenes look at The Public Theater's return to the Delacourte in New York City during the pandemic.
Posted Jan 4, 2022
21
2/4
A Journal for Jordan (2021)

Peter Canavese

Might make a pretty good date movie (Nicholas Sparksy but a little bit better). Directed by Denzel Washington in this smooth, commercial Hollywood style. A romance for softies (but also problematically propagandistic for the military)
Posted Dec 28, 2021
22
2.5/4
The King's Man (2021)

Peter Canavese

An audacious take on history which wildly varies in tone; if you can loosen up and enjoy it as a historical fantasia it can be fun.
Posted Dec 28, 2021
23
3.5/4
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Peter Canavese

A very impressive Shakespeare adaptation and one of the best of MACBETH. (Coen sort of outdoes Orson Welles at his own game here).
Posted Dec 28, 2021
24
3.5/4
Licorice Pizza (2021)

Peter Canavese

We've come to expect from Paul Thomas Anderson bold, brilliant story-telling and this is no exception. Sophisticated, breezy, fun and masterfully made.
Posted Dec 28, 2021
25
3/4
The Novice (2021)

Peter Canavese

It's 'Whiplash' for rowing. Tedious and one-note with an unlikable character at its center, but it does have an intriguing philosophical angle to it.
Posted Dec 28, 2021
26
3/4
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Peter Canavese

Cracking open the multi-verse in the MCU and keeping the fans happy. Almost a remake of the 'Into The Spider-verse' animated movie with virtually the same gimmick.
Posted Dec 28, 2021
27
2.5/4
Swan Song (2021)

Peter Canavese

The futurism is impressive a la Minority Report and the movie is beautifully rendered, but the futuristic concerns one has about the world created here are left unanswered. Maudlin and overlong but Mahershala Ali is fantastic.
Posted Dec 26, 2021
28
2/4
Sing 2 (2021)

Peter Canavese

A bright, colorful jukebox musical for kids lacking in any comic edge. Lavish CG animation but in service of a thinly-veiled, garishly updated rip-off of The Muppets.
Posted Dec 26, 2021
29
4/4
Red Rocket (2021)

Peter Canavese

Sean Baker's docu-dramatic style and his commitment to telling the story of sex workers are the gifts that keep on giving in one of the best comedies of the year. Captures the charm and poison of malignant narcissism.
Posted Dec 26, 2021
30
3.5/4
Nightmare Alley (2021)

Peter Canavese

A darkly gorgeous, well-told morality play and a baroque exploration of the dark heart of human nature reminiscent of The Coen Brothers.
Posted Dec 26, 2021
31
2/4
The Tender Bar (2021)

Peter Canavese

Good actors here, but the performances are hammy in a movie with no subtlety whatsoever. Everything is spelled out, whether in the dialogue or the narration. (It's watchable, though).
Posted Dec 25, 2021
32
2/4
National Champions (2021)

Peter Canavese

There is some melodramatic juice here to be squeezed from the plot, but the overripe dialogue and tonal missteps make it all a bit listless. The more lunkheaded version of 'High Flying Bird.'
Posted Dec 25, 2021
33
3.5/4
The Lost Daughter (2021)

Peter Canavese

A powerful and compelling drama about a woman haunted by the "crushing responsibility of motherhood" and the things you aren't allowed to say out loud.
Posted Dec 25, 2021
34
3.5/4
Drive My Car (2021)

Peter Canavese

A quietly moving, exquisitely made, intimate and emotionally unsparing drama about the communion between people, bonded by art or like-minded pain, things left unsaid and unanswerable questions.
Posted Dec 25, 2021
35
3/4
Don't Look Up (2021)

Peter Canavese

Big, long, fun--and disturbing. It ain't Paddy Chayefsky or Armando Iannucci but it hits the nail on the head, is very satisfying--and will age well.
Posted Dec 25, 2021
36
2.5/4
The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) (2021)

Peter Canavese

One of Sorrentino's more tolerable movies. Occasionally connects with a thematic or psychological insight but it passes so quickly as to make you doubt it was ever there. But fans of the director will probably love it.
Posted Dec 16, 2021
37
2.5/4
Single All The Way (2021)

Peter Canavese

A standard-issue rom com that's heavy on the 'rom' and light on the 'com.' The movie equivalent of a smile and a hug. Undeniably sweet, the only thing it's trying hard at here is trying to convince you that you're having a good time.
Posted Dec 16, 2021
38
3/4
Benedetta (2021)

Peter Canavese

'Tis the season for erotic lesbian nun movies. A typical Verhoven blend of horny provocation and camp excess grounded by the fact that it's based on a true story.
Posted Dec 16, 2021
39
3/4
Being the Ricardos (2021)

Peter Canavese

Insufficiently cinematic for a movie that's being hyped for awards season but the performances and the inside baseball-ness of it all work in its favor.
Posted Dec 14, 2021
40
3.5/4
West Side Story (2021)

Peter Canavese

In a lot of ways the original ('61) is superior but this one has a surprising amount of energy about it and Spielberg's cinematic language sings here in a way it hasn't for awhile.
Posted Dec 14, 2021
41
3/4
Wife of a Spy (Supai no tsuma) (2021)

Peter Canavese

A Japanese tele-film with interesting enough storytelling (and a 53- minute 'Making Of' documentary included on this Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray).
Posted Nov 26, 2021
42
3/4
The Deceivers (1988)

Peter Canavese

Straight-up action/adventure with very dark overtones. A little over ripe but interesting enough from the always interesting Nicholas Meyer. (Kino Lorber Studio Classics blu-ray review).
Posted Nov 26, 2021
43
3/4
Vanilla Sky (2001)

Peter Canavese

Likable and ambitious with great John Toll visuals. You want it to succeed but it doesn't always quite get there. (4K restoration Paramount Presents blu-ray review).
Posted Nov 26, 2021
44
3/4
Ragtime (1981)

Peter Canavese

Somewhat disjointed, and while it doesn't quite get its hands around the novel, still enjoyable with a great cast. (Blu-ray includes the 19-minutes longer director's cut with the 4K restoration of the original theatrical release).
Posted Nov 26, 2021
45
3.5/4
Julia (2021)

Peter Canavese

It does the job well.
Posted Nov 25, 2021
46
3.5/4
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (2021)

Peter Canavese

Surprisingly emotional and impressive documentary about Brian Wilson.
Posted Nov 25, 2021
47
3/4
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021)

Peter Canavese

One of those 'what's not to like?' documentaries as well as a very interesting movie about a very important literary figure.
Posted Nov 25, 2021
48
2.5/4
Zeros and Ones (2021)

Peter Canavese

Deliberately inscrutable covid-era thriller. Not the easiest watch but typically interesting as an Abel Ferrara movie.
Posted Nov 25, 2021
49
3.5/4
tick, tick...Boom! (2021)

Peter Canavese

Quite a outstanding adaptation of a musical that's so pure, personal and deeply knowing about the creative life. Ultimately a labor of love by and for people who love the New York theater scene.
Posted Nov 25, 2021
50
2.5/4
Mayor Pete (2021)

Peter Canavese

A managed look at a measured politician.
Posted Nov 25, 2021