Reel Rundown - Rotten Tomatoes

Reel Rundown

Reel Rundown is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Chris Sawin
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
3.5/5
Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021)

Chris Sawin

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist is an accurate representation of Satoshi Kon's most well-known works, but you're just left wanting more. He passed before his time and he was a masterful visionary. This documentary portrays that message extremely well
Posted Oct 6, 2021
2
4/5
Little Vampire (2019)

Chris Sawin

You become completely obsessed with the world Little Vampire throws its audience into and you don't get to spend nearly enough time there. A tale about the undead has never been so funny, charming, and creative.
Posted Oct 6, 2021
3
2/5
Yakuza Princess (2021)

Chris Sawin

If there was any sort of fight choreography, it is utterly annihilated by the film's poor editing. A cool concept and a strong supporting actor aren't enough to make a sloppy and amateurish action film with very few thrills worthwhile.
Posted Oct 6, 2021
4
4/5
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (2021)

Chris Sawin

The beautiful animation in Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko is only secondary to the warmth in your chest the film leaves you with once you see that last plate served at the grill house that so many townspeople frequent.
Posted Oct 6, 2021
5
3/5
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2020)

Chris Sawin

I would still recommend My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising to fans of the series and anime in general.
Posted Dec 30, 2020
6
4/5
Lupin III: The First (2020)

Chris Sawin

Lupin III: The First is a sleek, loose, vibrant, and almost lifelike take on the character that is unbelievably entertaining from start to finish.
Posted Dec 11, 2020
7
4/5
Sound of Metal (2020)

Chris Sawin

Sound of Metal is so incredibly satisfying. Everything around us is just an obnoxious and noisy cacophony. The world's most beautiful symphony is utter and complete silence. Brilliantly acted with a powerful message that leaves a colossal impact.
Posted Dec 11, 2020
8
4/5
Another Round (Druk) (2020)

Chris Sawin

Another Round is a short fuse of a drama centered on a bad idea. You know that inevitable and combustible explosion will happen any moment, but watching until it finally does is the mastery of the concept.
Posted Dec 11, 2020
9
2.5/5
Black Bear (2020)

Chris Sawin

Black Bear isn't necessarily an entertaining or enjoyable experience, but it's the type of film that is intriguing to analyze and has some rather strong performances from the three leads.
Posted Dec 11, 2020
10
4/5
Wolfwalkers (2020)

Chris Sawin

Wolfwalkers is one of the most gorgeous animated films of the year. Tom Moore and Cartoon Saloon have given birth to creatively mesmerizing cinema dribbling with exquisite animated bliss.
Posted Nov 23, 2020
11
1.5/5
Vanguard (2020)

Chris Sawin

Vanguard is over complicated with a light tone, silly antics, solid gold cars, and Jackie Chan using John Cena's attitude adjustment wrestling maneuver. It has a few decent moments buried within this shiny gold turd of an action film.
Posted Nov 23, 2020
12
3.5/5
Fried Barry (2020)

Chris Sawin

Fried Barry is bonkers cinema that doesn't make a ton of sense, but is enjoyable for its psychotic and erratic nature. It's worth looking into if you're a fan of ludicrously wild films or if you're on the hunt for something totally different.
Posted Sep 30, 2020
13
3/5
Furie (Hai phuong) (2019)

Chris Sawin

Even with its flaws, Furie is a one-woman juggernaut.
Posted Mar 3, 2020
14
4/5
Ride Your Wave (2020)

Chris Sawin

Ride Your Wave has a simple concept that allows Masaaki Yuasa to be more pure and direct than he's ever been. Well-written, imaginative, and poignant, Ride Your Wave is the first exceptionally strong animated film of 2020.
Posted Feb 20, 2020
15
2/5
The Lodge (2020)

Chris Sawin

The Lodge trades logic and sound reasoning for atmospheric horror meaning that its creepy sequences don't really make a ton of sense in the long run. The film aims to unsettle and little else. This is psychological horror at its sloppiest.
Posted Feb 15, 2020
16
4/5
Come to Daddy (2020)

Chris Sawin

Come to Daddy is this bizarre thriller that makes you laugh out loud, cringe on more than one occasion, and strings its audience along this sad, beautiful, and often gruesome enigmatic tale that is really about a father and his son at its core.
Posted Feb 7, 2020
17
1.5/5
The Rhythm Section (2020)

Chris Sawin

It crawls at a pace that will have your heart pounding out a flailing, balls-to-the-wall drum solo in frustration. Blake Lively's stagnant screen presence will have you hyperventilating a rapid fire bass line; the pace you wish the film had.
Posted Feb 7, 2020
18
4/5
Color Out of Space (2020)

Chris Sawin

Color Out of Space is a brilliant, bonkers, and terrifying experience. It's grotesque and mesmerizing even if the journey is a little sluggish along the way.
Posted Feb 7, 2020
19
4.5/5
Wyrm (2019)

Chris Sawin

If you have ever had trouble making friends, feel socially awkward in the slightest, or have a terrible love life, then Wyrm is going to be something that speaks to you, laughs with you, cries with you, and celebrates your triumphs with you.
Posted Oct 11, 2019
20
3/5
Happy Face (2019)

Chris Sawin

Happy Face has a lot to say about what the definition of beauty is and the extremes those desperate enough to attain that status might go through. Sometimes the people who seem healthiest are the sickest people on the planet.
Posted Oct 11, 2019
21
4/5
Deerskin (2020)

Chris Sawin

Gloriously ludicrous with a remarkably captivating performance from Jean Dujardin and a gonzo concept that snowballs into uproarious madness, Deerskin is a delightfully eccentric comedy intertwined with a grisly and outlandish inner seam.
Posted Oct 10, 2019
22
4/5
First Love (Hatsukoi) (2019)

Chris Sawin

Takashi Miike unleashes this refined, matured, and sleeker version of himself with First Love. This is the funniest and most entertaining Miike has ever been.
Posted Oct 7, 2019
23
4/5
Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Chris Sawin

Jojo Rabbit is a touching film about human compassion with an intimacy that is absolutely unparalleled. This is one of the most heartfelt and imaginative fairy tales of the year.
Posted Oct 7, 2019
24
3.5/5
It Chapter Two (2019)

Chris Sawin

A cryptic head-scratcher of a second half likely to be off-putting to casual moviegoers. If you stick with the Losers until the bitter end, It: Chapter Two is incredibly bold, overwhelmingly bloody, and an undeniably bonkers slice of cosmic pie.
Posted Sep 6, 2019
25
5/5
Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)

Chris Sawin

Along with the Gods is like South Korea got a hold of a bizarrely awesome fusion of What Dreams May Come and The Frighteners while expanding on the adventure that awaits us all in the afterlife and sucker punches our tear ducts to oblivion in the process.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
26
4/5
I, Tonya (2018)

Chris Sawin

Margot Robbie is an explosive delight and Craig Gillespie has found a way to make figure skating as intimidating as being initiated into the mafia.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
27
5/5
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Chris Sawin

Brilliantly mesmerizing with a dazzling use of color, the action sequences are perhaps the best they've ever been, and the comedy in the film made a guy who generally rolls his eyes at everything laugh like a fool for two and a half hours straight.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
28
4.5/5
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Chris Sawin

Thor: Ragnarok prides itself in being outrageously silly resulting in a different kind of superhero film that alters the landscape and has a lot of fun in doing so. It is a spontaneity driven juggernaut that puts the "comic" back in "comical."
Posted Sep 2, 2019
29
1/5
All I See Is You (2017)

Chris Sawin

Nothing happens in All I See is You. The film is one life-altering procedure jammed into one ugly, bloated and cellulite-heavy existence that is otherwise similar to everybody else.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
30
4/5
Creep 2 (2017)

Chris Sawin

Creep 2 is the type of film that makes you squirm in your seat due to its uncomfortable nature, but your eyes remain glued to the screen because the thought of missing some crucial detail is just as horrific as a serial killer videotaping all of his kills
Posted Sep 2, 2019
31
4/5
The Foreigner (2017)

Chris Sawin

Jackie Chan manages to offer a glimpse at his former glory in The Foreigner while unleashing an intricately performed fury that no one knew he was capable of.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
32
3.5/5
Downsizing (2017)

Chris Sawin

Downsizing gets increasingly more devastating as it inches through its 135-minute duration, but reminds you that being human and compassionate has nothing to do with how big you are.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
33
3/5
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Chris Sawin

Blade Runner 2049 is a visual masterpiece, but a drudging descent for the sci-fi genre.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
34
4/5
The Endless (2018)

Chris Sawin

The Endless delves into this unknown and seemingly unexplainable phenomenon and successfully allows the audience to wrap their head around something repetitiously terrifying.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
35
4/5
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

Chris Sawin

Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a bone breaking, face stomping, skull crushing experience that is viciously torturous to endure at times, but is lustfully satisfying when you've had a rough day.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
36
4/5
Mary and The Witch's Flower (2018)

Chris Sawin

Mary and the Witch's Flower submerges itself in Studio Ghibli levels of imagination, beautiful color, likeable characters, and dazzlingly fluid animation for a final product that is creatively captivating to audiences of all ages.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
37
4.5/5
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Chris Sawin

Visually and structurally unnerving with dialogue that has no filter and sickeningly amusing undertones, The Killing of a Sacred Deer often leaves you speechless with so many feelings that dig deeper than Alicia Silverstone's unbelievable finger sucking.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
38
4.5/5
Dave Made a Maze (2017)

Chris Sawin

Its identifiable execution and unbelievably awesome inventive nature makes Bill Watterson's debut an adventurous quest with quirky humor that is well-worth diving into a life-threatening cardboard contraption.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
39
2/5
Broken Mile (2017)

Chris Sawin

The film's staggering demeanor makes Broken Mile feel lost within its own hour and a half of storytelling. While there are shades of something worthwhile in Broken Mile, the final destination is paved with shoddy construction and a wobbly narrative.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
40
4/5
Logan Lucky (2017)

Chris Sawin

Logan Lucky is pure redneck genius and Daniel Craig delivers an absurdly awesome performance that is one of the most memorably comical of his career.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
41
4/5
A Taxi Driver (2017)

Chris Sawin

Violently captivating and emotionally effective, A Taxi Driver showcases the talented Song Kang-ho with one of the most invigorating and captivating performances of 2017.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
42
3/5
The Dark Tower (2017)

Chris Sawin

The Dark Tower is the type of film you blind buy out of a clearance bin and enjoy as a one-time watch. A sloppy kind of popcorn entertainment like a McRib you ingest with your eyeballs. The Dark Tower is the fast food equivalent of the summer blockbuster.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
43
4/5
Detroit (2017)

Chris Sawin

Detroit has this 12 Years a Slave quality to it. The film is absolutely compelling from start to finish, but it enrages you and continues to poke and irritate you until you're in a livid state by the end of the film.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
44
4/5
Atomic Blonde (2017)

Chris Sawin

While Atomic Blonde is fairly predictable and not entirely an original concept, it executes its bone cracking, blood-spewing, and intense action with breakneck speed in a brutally satisfying way that is undoubtedly entertaining.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
45
1/5
First Kill (2017)

Chris Sawin

With horrendous storytelling, a talentless cast, and a heavy rain sequence that is only memorable because Hayden Christensen's heavy breathing drowns out the sound of the rain, First Kill is the setup to a bad joke without the punchline.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
46
4/5
Baby Driver (2017)

Chris Sawin

Baby Driver is massively excellent with its sublime music, witty dialogue, masterfully dynamic editing, and blood pumping action. An undeniably satisfying concoction mixed with a sing-along, a dance number, and your favorite heist film.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
47
5/5
Okja (2017)

Chris Sawin

Bong Joon-ho's Okja has shades of My Neighbor Totoro, Pete's Dragon, and The Iron Giant with a slaughterhouse sequence that will rip the heart from your chest and leave it gushing on the floor.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
48
4.5/5
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Chris Sawin

This is the third sequel all franchises should aim to have in their filmography. War for the Planet of the Apes is one of the most sincere and one of the most human films to experience from 2017. Andy Serkis is a monkey god among men.
Posted Sep 2, 2019
49
1/5
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Chris Sawin

If the sky is falling and The Last Knight is Chicken Little, then don't bother warning us that the world is ending. Let this planet rot in space as sequels are churned out to appease a group of sheep who can't recognize flaming garbage when they see it .
Posted Sep 2, 2019
50
4/5
It Comes At Night (2017)

Chris Sawin

Horrifically mesmerizing with one hell of an effective score, the main flaw It Comes at Night seems to have is that its 90-minute duration goes by entirely too quickly.
Posted Sep 2, 2019