Michael J. Cinema
Michael J. Cinema is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this
publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following
Tomatometer-approved critic(s):
Michael J. Casey
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
3.5/5
Brown and Hall are outstanding. They're worth the price of admission alone.
Posted Jan 28, 2022
2
4/5
TikTok, Boom. (2022)
3
3/5
Watcher (2022)
4
4/5
Dual (2022)
5
3.5/5
After Yang (2022)
6
3.5/5
No Time To Die (2021)
Where "No Time to Die" succeeds is in the moments of Craig as Bond, a man reckoning with a career of death and destruction. What is all that sound and fury for?
Posted Dec 29, 2021
7
1/5
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
8
3.5/5
The Tender Bar (2021)
Monahan and Clooney have enough fun with plenty of quips and insights to carry the story, and when there isn't, there's Affleck.
Posted Dec 20, 2021
9
4/5
Last and First Men (2020)
Full of wonder and wonderful.
Posted Dec 13, 2021
10
2/5
Being the Ricardos (2021)
Some of the dialogue crackles with that Sorkin touch, but the images feel flat and bored. Not boring, but bored.
Posted Dec 8, 2021
11
3/5
Swan Song (2021)
There are some missteps and some missed opportunities but the rest works because Stephens cares about this town and these people. And Kier is great, no doubt about it.
Posted Dec 5, 2021
12
4/5
Cow (2022)
'Cow' is less a documentary about livestock as it is a nearly wordless look at life in captivity.
Posted Dec 5, 2021
13
3.5/5
Godzilla (2014)
14
3.5/5
The Dance of Reality (2014)
'Dance of Reality' has its moments of pure Jodorowsky. It will be up to each viewer to decide if that sentence is praise or pejorative.
Posted Dec 3, 2021
15
3.5/5
Writing with Fire (2021)
Without relying on saccharine movie practices, Ghosh and Thomas let the reporters and the subjects speak for themselves.
Posted Dec 1, 2021
16
3.5/5
A fascinating premise with a disappointing visual style.
Posted Dec 1, 2021
17
1.5/5
Tammy (2014)
Dead on arrival.
Posted Dec 1, 2021
18
3/5
The metaphor at work here is an obvious one, but it works. Being a teenager doesn't often revolve around subtlety. Obvious is the way to go.
Posted Nov 30, 2021
19
4.5/5
Snowpiercer (2014)
Part allegory, part Hero's Journey, Snowpiercer makes no concessions about its religious and political metaphors, and it is all the stronger for it.
Posted Nov 30, 2021
20
4/5
C'mon C'mon (2021)
There's real love between Johnny and Jesse and real chemistry between the actors. Phoenix has always felt natural in front of the camera, but Norman matches him beat for beat.
Posted Nov 24, 2021
21
1/5
House of Gucci (2021)
There are no characters in 'House of Gucci,' only caricatures.
Posted Nov 22, 2021
22
4/5
A Coffee in Berlin (2014)
A somber tale told with jazz, blues, black and white photography, and an incredible performance from Schilling.
Posted Nov 20, 2021
23
2.5/5
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
A well-made movie with nary an original thought in its head.
Posted Nov 18, 2021
24
4/5
The Gatekeepers (2013)
25
2.5/5
Happy Christmas (2014)
Although not an entirely successful movie, 'Happy Christmas' is a giant leap forward for Swanberg.
Posted Nov 17, 2021
26
3.5/5
The Double (2014)
Watching 'The Double' is like hitting the buffet line. So many options, so much to choose from.
Posted Nov 16, 2021
27
4.5/5
The Immigrant (2014)
An incredible American movie crafted by a New York director who absorbs European cinema like water.
Posted Nov 15, 2021
28
2/5
I Origins (2014)
There is a great deal wrong with "I Origins," most noticeably the pacing. It is a slow burn, bordering on boring as it moves from one scene to the next.
Posted Nov 14, 2021
29
4/5
The Novice (2021)
At times 'The Novice' feels like a staring match between Fuhrman and Hadaway. Neither blinks.
Posted Nov 13, 2021
30
5/5
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
An irreverent movie that never grows old. It looks and feels as fresh as the very first time.
Posted Nov 13, 2021
31
4/5
Blue Ruin (2014)
Creates a level of paranoia by telling this tale primarily in close-ups and toying with focal depth.
Posted Nov 13, 2021
32
2.5/5
A Banquet (2022)
33
4/5
Coherence (2014)
34
4/5
For No Good Reason (2014)
Doesn't just inform, it entertains as well. It dazzles the eyes with both the beauty and violence of Steadman's paintings but of Paul's imagination.
Posted Nov 12, 2021
35
2.5/5
Belfast (2021)
An idyllic look at an un-idyllic time with little hindsight and less insight.
Posted Nov 11, 2021
36
4/5
They Came Together (2014)
Maintains a high level of humor and self-awareness for its entire run time.
Posted Nov 11, 2021
37
2.5/5
Archipel (2021)
The components are abstract, fragments of larger vignettes maybe, that feel like they were disassembled, jumbled, and then spread out at random.
Posted Nov 10, 2021
38
4/5
God Help the Girl (2014)
Silly kids playing dress-up, love connections made through music, and the infectious nature of pop music.
Posted Nov 10, 2021
39
4/5
Frank (2014)
'Frank' addresses mental illness head-on and in a very, well, frank manner.
Posted Nov 10, 2021
40
3.5/5
Luzzu (2021)
41
3/5
Night Moves (2014)
'Night Moves' is not a movie that explores why people do what they do, but how they deal with what they have done.
Posted Nov 9, 2021
42
3/5
North by Current (2021)
43
4.5/5
Ballad of a White Cow (2021)
An exceptional piece of work.
Posted Nov 8, 2021
44
3.5/5
We Are the Best! (2014)
Writer/director Lukas Moodysson adapts his wife's graphic novel into a heartfelt look at three teenagers who have not yet come of age but are on their way.
Posted Nov 8, 2021
45
3.5/5
Radu has fun exposing the hypocrisy and the bigotry not so dormant in Romanian society.
Posted Nov 7, 2021
46
2.5/5
A Five Star Life (2014)
Made with the cooperation of The Leading Hotels of the World, which reduces this movie to an elaborate and elongated advertisement for luxury hotels.
Posted Nov 7, 2021
47
4/5
The Sleeping Negro (2021)
Myers suggests we are all corruptible by a white man in a high tower but ends with a slightly more human slant and a reminder that all actions come with consequences.
Posted Nov 6, 2021
48
2/5
Jimi: All Is by My Side (2014)
A less than compelling lead character, a biopic about a musician with nary a song from said musician, and a cliché depiction of sexual proclivities.
Posted Nov 6, 2021
49
3.5/5
The performances are good, as is the pacing, and the black and white cinematography from Paul Guilhaume is particularly captivating.
Posted Nov 5, 2021
50
3/5
The Taking (2021)