External reviews
2064
in total
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Late Night
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-06-07
Kaling’s naive earnestness in the role is very winning, and Thompson makes her boss lady clichés seem almost fresh. Not quite fresh enough, though, to rescue the movie.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Pavarotti
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-06-07
Although Howard doesn’t go in for a lot of musicological analysis of Pavarotti’s genius, which would have enriched the presentation, he compensates by giving us an ample dose of the singing.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Rocketman
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-30
Rocketman is a campy, overblown, self-glorifying fantasia.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Aladdin
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-24
As the princess’s handmaiden, Nasim Pedrad at least has the comic timing that the rest of the cast, including, surprisingly, Will Smith, conspicuously lack. Smith understandably didn’t want to compete with Williams, but as the big, blue, top-knotted Genie, he’s uncharacteristically bland. Even the magic carpet in this movie looks bummed out.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Walking on Water
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-24
Whether you deem this project an extravagant boondoggle or a masterpiece, you have to admire Christo’s tenacity in finally making it happen, as chronicled in the documentary Walking on Water.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Photograph
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-16
What Batra is reaching for here is the fairy tale beguilements of Bollywood romance but without all the hoopla. He wants to tenderize the Bollywood clichés and bring the essence of their ardor into the real, teeming world of Mumbai.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
All Is True
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-11
Given the impossibility of crafting William Shakespeare into a believable human being, the film is an honorable try.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Long Shot
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-05-03
Just in case we don’t register the mismatch, Rogen is outfitted to look especially shlubby, and he sports an unbecoming beard that never comes off. With his crack timing, he still manages to get a few laughs, but he would have gotten a whole lot more if the jokes were any good. Theron, meantime, is photographed in full glamour mode throughout. This is probably just as well, since, as an actress, she doesn’t appear to have a comic bone in her body. Therein lies the true mismatch in this coupling.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
The White Crow
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-04-27
The White Crow fitfully does justice to Nureyev’s overwhelming desire to be an artist, and that’s not a negligible achievement.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Satan & Adam
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-04-25
Ultimately it’s an upbeat movie about life’s downbeats.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Avengers: Endgame
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-04-25
Best of all is Robert Downey Jr. Amid all the hardware, he alone in the Marvel series has consistently given top-notch performances. His work in “Endgame” is extraordinarily moving and makes me wish yet again that this great actor would on occasion see fit to be great in a movie that doesn’t require him to fill out a franchise.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Diane
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-04-11
It’s a rarity, and a real pleasure, to find a movie that presents without condescension rural working-class people, especially women.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Dumbo
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-04-04
The latest entry in this dubious enterprise is “Dumbo,” a perfectly lovely 1941 animated movie that has been transformed by director Tim Burton into a cloddish fantasia that never soars.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
The Mustang
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-03-23
The director has a good eye for semidocumentary detail, and the performances, which also include Bruce Dern as a veteran trainer, Gideon Adlon as Roman’s estranged daughter, and especially Jason Mitchell as a fellow inmate and trick rider, all have the sharp tang of authenticity.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
The Highwaymen
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-03-22
At his best, Costner both exalts and complicates the strong and silent types who crowd, often to diminishing effect, so much of our American movie mythology.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Apollo 11
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-03-01
What makes this film different from numerous other such movies is that, in many instances, it utilizes footage never before seen publicly.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Everybody Knows
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-02-08
As a piece of storytelling, Everybody Knows covers a vast expanse of human experience, but it doesn’t dive very deep.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Cold War
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-01-25
What struck home the most forcefully for me in Cold War is its depiction, insidious and unrelenting, of how artists under communism suffered for their art. At its best, the film is like a bulletin from a benighted world.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Stan & Ollie
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-01-18
It’s a rueful and respectful tribute that stands on its own because of the extraordinary performances of Steve Coogan as Stan and John C. Reilly as Ollie.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor -
Destroyer
A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor2019-01-11
This is one of those radical change-your-image performances that tries too hard to defy our expectations. Kidman has indeed proved in the past to be quite versatile, but this muddled, scabrous, neo-noir procedural does her no great favors.Read entire review on Christian Science Monitor
