External reviews
5698
in total
published by Austin Chronicle
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Glass
A review by Marc Savlov for Austin Chronicle2019-01-16
Cobbled together on what appears to be a very low budget, Glass shatters under the weight of too many comic book allegories-cum-history lessons, weirdly abrupt plot machinations, epically puny bouts of brawny fisticuffs, and a third-act bit of outright what-the-f**k-ery that gives even the lamest deus ex machinas a bad name.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
A Dog's Way Home
A review by Steve Davis for Austin Chronicle2019-01-15
Some kids may find the whole affair traumatic, particularly when the poor pooch finds herself dehydrated and chained to a corpse in the wilderness. Then again, that’s nothing compared to those same kids’ parents’ recollection of a Disney flick in which a tearful boy must shoot his rabies-inflicted yeller dog in the end. Bless the beasts and the children.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
The Upside
A review by Marjorie Baumgarten for Austin Chronicle2019-01-14
Nicole Kidman, as good as she is, is given little to do in a one-note role, but fares better than Julianna Margulies who appears merely in a one-scene role. Kevin Hart’s huge number of fans may push this film to early box-office success but eventually they are likely to toss it into the untouchable pile.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Destroyer
A review by Steve Davis for Austin Chronicle2019-01-09
Speaking in a barely audible rasp bordering on monotone, Kidman bravely submerges herself in a performance with some genuinely harrowing emotional moments, and yet the unswerving conviction she brings to the role is conspicuous.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Second Act
A review by Marc Savlov for Austin Chronicle2019-01-04
Granted, it's breezy enough in a retro-chic kind of way, but the meh factor is too high to overcome for all but the hardiest of J-Lo die-hards.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Escape Room
A review for Austin Chronicle2019-01-04
From a purely visual point of view, Escape Room is worth the price of admission.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
On the Basis of Sex
A review for Austin Chronicle2019-01-03
Jones makes a fine Ginsburg – especially in the mouth, lips pursed expectantly – but something in Hammer’s resigned manner paints a Marty that is more ineffectual than stoic, and the chemistry between them is pretty middle-of-the-road.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Shoplifters
A review for Austin Chronicle2019-01-03
Yet in many ways Shoplifters is an unlikely yet organic extension of his last film, 2017's crime drama "The Third Murder." Less a whodunit than a whydidyoudoit, that legal procedural was really a subtle assault on Japan's judicial system, in which it's more important that a case makes sense than it reaches the truth. Shoplifters cuts close to the same marrow as "The Third Murder," but with how Japan views families as his subject.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
A Bread Factory Part One: For the Sake of Gold
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-27
The film is episodic and often veers into hit-or-miss flights of fancy.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
A Bread Factory Part Two: Walk With Me a While
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-27
I would not recommend this film to everyone, but those seeking a poignant satire on art will be continuously rewarded, as the film seeks, over and over, to grapple (in often wondrous ways), with what it means to live.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Holmes & Watson
A review by Marc Savlov for Austin Chronicle2018-12-26
Combined with some awfully lazy riffs on Holmes’s fondness for his seven-per-cent solution, Holmes & Watson is not so much a case of whodunit as it is a question why bother.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Aquaman
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-20
Aquaman also benefits from a cast that is unafraid to chew a little scenery. Momoa is an established entity at this point in his career; equal parts cartoon character and Eighties action lead, he carries the film through its muddiest moments through sheer charisma.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Bumblebee
A review by Marc Savlov for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
Knight, coming from a born animator’s background, retrofits the intergalactic Sturm und Drang for a more humanistic tone that manages to be both more entertaining overall and moderately Spielbergian (he continues to executive produce the franchise) in this tale of a girl and her big, lovable, lemon-colored E.T. It’s a kinder, gentler Transformers movie for the holidays. Go figure.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
The House That Jack Built
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
The film feels rote, an exercise of base and pedestrian concerns that never moves beyond anything resembling a statement. Of which there is none, except perhaps von Trier regarding his navel, which I suspect he wouldn’t have it any other way. For the rest of us? We suffer, which is most likely by the director’s design.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Vice
A review by Kimberley Jones for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
McKay has made a protest film, plainly seething – a primal howl from a guy who used to just goose howls of laughter.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Mary Poppins Returns
A review by Steve Davis for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
For no matter how derivative this carefully calculated sentimental journey may be, there’s still an undeniable magic in its voice and its step likely to enchant adults – and hopefully kids – alike. Uncle Walt would be proud.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
If Beale Street Could Talk
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
While there is poetic grace, that's not to say that there's no didacticism. Like Baldwin, Jenkins has a rigorous sense of what is broken in society.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Ben Is Back
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
An impactful film, one that’s made for the season of giving, if giving means never giving up.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
Welcome To Marwen
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-19
Ultimately, this is the best version of this story that the CG-obsessed Zemeckis could have possibly produced. But just because he could make it, that doesn't mean he should.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle -
The Mule
A review for Austin Chronicle2018-12-18
Eastwood plays it cool, thankfully. It’s the best film about drug trafficking that you can take your grandparents to.Read entire review on Austin Chronicle
