Refinery29

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
Isn't It Romantic (2019)

Anne Cohen

None of this is exactly innovative... but the film is charming enough to pull it off.
Posted Feb 12, 2019
2
High Flying Bird (2019)

Anne Cohen

The real draw here is the cast, who deliver their lines with acerbic prowess and deadpan humor, all while never letting us forget that there's something very serious at the core of all this sports drama.
Posted Feb 7, 2019
3
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Anne Cohen

Velvet Buzzsaw is a captivating, silly, delicious, decadent mess. It's the cronut of movies, a pointless treat I never thought I'd need, or want, until it was put right in front of me.
Posted Feb 1, 2019
4
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Anne Cohen

Ultimately, this all feels like a step backwards.
Posted Jan 31, 2019
5
Miss Bala (2019)

Anne Cohen

The plot unfolds less smoothly than it does in the original, but it's almost worth it to see more of Rodriguez's vibrant action scenes.
Posted Jan 31, 2019
6
She's All That (1999)

Anne Cohen

She's All That is so rooted in our cultural understanding of teen movies that a world without it now seems unimaginable.
Posted Jan 25, 2019
7
Close (2019)

Anne Cohen

Close can't quite decide where it wants to go, and rather than committing to one narrative strand, scatters many,hoping that one ending will stick.
Posted Jan 17, 2019
8
The Upside (2019)

Anne Cohen

They focus on the singular positive story between a white man and his first Black friend. Hart and Cranston have great buddy chemistry, but it's not enough to hold up the film.
Posted Jan 9, 2019
9
The Holiday (2006)

Anne Cohen

What makes The Holiday interesting - and worth reexamining more than a decade after its release - is that unlike most holiday-themed movies, it exhorts the viewer to take time for themselves, not just others. It's the ultimate self-care flick.
Posted Dec 27, 2018
10
Second Act (2018)

Ariana Romero

It's a breath of fresh air - and that's all I've ever wanted from a Jennifer Lopez movie.
Posted Dec 20, 2018
11
On the Basis of Sex (2019)

Anne Cohen

Unlike its protagonist, On The Basis of Sex won't change the world. But judging by the sobs coming from many of the women around me in the theater, it certainly hits the spot.
Posted Dec 19, 2018
12
Destroyer (2018)

Anne Cohen

Her [Kidman] performance... is a beacon in a film that tends to gets lost in its own convoluted plot. It makes Destroyer not just worth seeing, but worth revisiting, over and over again.
Posted Dec 18, 2018
13
Vice (2018)

Anne Cohen

To a certain extent, that lack of context effectively contributes to the feeling of nihilistic chaos that's so in line with politics post-2016 election. But it also doesn't provide insight on the person the movie claims to actually be about.
Posted Dec 17, 2018
14
Cold War (Zimna wojna) (2018)

Anne Cohen

It's rare to see a love story built on two such complex individuals, each with their own desires and flaws... They move in tandem, a choreographed dance that brings them together, and pulls them apart, only to jerk back, like magnets.
Posted Dec 14, 2018
15
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Anne Cohen

It's hard to tear one's eyes away from Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns. From the second she descends from the sky, holding little Georgie Banks' (Joel Dawson) kite, she owns every second of her screen time as the magical nanny.
Posted Dec 14, 2018
16
If Beale Street Could Talk (2019)

Anne Cohen

Beale Street is a work of quiet intensity, a literary adaptation that uses silence and music as powerfully as it does words. Jenkins has created a cinematic poem, one that alternatively soars with joy and love and guts you with pain.
Posted Dec 12, 2018
17
Aquaman (2018)

Anne Cohen

It's certainly fun to watch, and I spent most of it giggling with glee and/or dismay at how crazy it all was. But it also feels like wasted potential.
Posted Dec 11, 2018
18
Vox Lux (2018)

Anne Cohen

Brady Corbet's film promises great things, and there are kernels of ambitious, fascinating ideas throughout, but they don't pay off.
Posted Dec 5, 2018
19
Roma (2018)

Anne Cohen

Roma doesn't seek to present a rosy solution, nor does it pass judgement. It's concerned with the details, the small things that make up a life and make it meaningful. Everyone matters in Roma - but especially those who so often get overlooked.
Posted Nov 28, 2018
20
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Refinery29 Editors

What's more fun than stop-motion animated holiday movies? Absolutely nothing... It also features a badass Mrs. Claus basically trying to save Christmas.
Posted Nov 27, 2018
21
The Favourite (2018)

Anne Cohen

It's a sensorial delight, a delicious morsel of court decadence, rivalry, and intrigue, with enough wit and rage to pierce your gut and leave you writhing.
Posted Nov 21, 2018
22
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Elena Nicolaou

It would be worth taking an hour and having a cookie with Sad Santa, just so he could tell us how to restore our own faith in humanity after this not-so-merry year.
Posted Nov 19, 2018
23
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

Anne Cohen

The historical accuracy of the action feels less important than the overall statement the film makes on women and power: Much has changed in the last 431 years, but not nearly enough.
Posted Nov 16, 2018
24
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Anne Cohen

That unwillingness to engage with the potential richness of its universe is what makes the sequel Fantastic Beasts directed by Harry Potter alum David Yates, such a slog.
Posted Nov 16, 2018
25
Widows (2018)

Anne Cohen

These women aren't pining for the men they lost so much as they are just trying to get by, and in that vacuum, a powerful collaboration is born.
Posted Nov 14, 2018
26
Twilight (2008)

Anne Cohen

Ten years after its release, Twilight stands as a powerful, darkly stylish depiction of teen female desire.
Posted Nov 14, 2018
27
Overlord (2018)

Sesali Bowen

Even though Overlord's action isn't super scary, it takes the viewer on one hell of a ride. If it was a video game, I'd give it a try. Overlord is not this year's Get Out, but it'll do.
Posted Nov 14, 2018
28
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)

Anne Cohen

The studio system's hamfisted answer to the #MeToo movement turns Lisbeth Salander into a generic action hero with an unnecessarily convoluted and nonsensical backstory, smoothing the edges of everything that made her compelling in the first place.
Posted Nov 8, 2018
29
Outlaw King (2018)

Anne Cohen

Outlaw King is the kind of movie that, were it not a Netflix release, I would wholeheartedly rewatch every single time it was on TV. It's not Braveheart. But it's also not not Braveheart.
Posted Nov 6, 2018
30
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)

Anne Cohen

Ultimately, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms seems destined to be one of those movies you chance upon Christmas day,... It's not terrible -- but it could have been so much more.
Posted Nov 2, 2018
31
Boy Erased (2018)

Anne Cohen

Boy Erased deftly manages to unambiguously indict gay conversion programs, while lending a human face to those who turn to them in crisis.
Posted Nov 2, 2018
32
The Craft (1996)

Anne Cohen

The great strength of The Craft is that it doesn't pass judgment on why the girls are doing what they do... The film's message of female empowerment felt cathartic, but so did its rage.
Posted Oct 25, 2018
33
Suspiria (2018)

Anne Cohen

Things fall apart towards the end... Still, it's an astonishing creative effort, imbued with awe for the infinite possibilities of the feminine.
Posted Oct 24, 2018
34
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Anne Cohen

The songs are where the movie really gets its emotional core, and that alone is perhaps worth the ticket of admission.
Posted Oct 23, 2018
35
Mid90s (2018)

Morgan Baila

The heartfelt charm of the movie lies in the impressive performances, not just from the two biggest names... but from the skaters cast to play a role they know like the back of their hand.
Posted Oct 18, 2018
36
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Anne Cohen

The fact that the film is all the more compelling for its lack of traditional action is down to Heller's skilfull directing, and the script, which crackles with Lee and Jack's combined wit.
Posted Oct 18, 2018
37
Wildlife (2018)

Anne Cohen

Actor Paul Dano's directorial debut... is a complex, deep dive into the psyche of a broken family in an era where the veneer of happiness is prized above all.
Posted Oct 17, 2018
38
The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

Anne Cohen

Sarah Colangelo directs this American adaptation of Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid's 2014 drama by the same name, and she masterfully creates an atmosphere of discomfort, if not outright horror. The buildup is slow and steady.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
39
Beautiful Boy (2018)

Anne Cohen

Beautiful Boy crescendos when Nic and David interact. It's a story about addiction, yes, but also about learning to let go of your children, for better or for worse. It's not exactly an enjoyable film to watch, but perhaps it shouldn't be.
Posted Oct 12, 2018
40
First Man (2018)

Anne Cohen

[It] is a love letter to the scope of human ambition, but is also conscious of its limits. Josh Singer's script doesn't gloss over the more controversial aspects of the space program, nor its detractors, whose concerns -- are given fair consideration.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
41
Venom (2018)

Anne Cohen

As a superhero movie, Venom,... is a dismal failure... But as a buddy comedy? Well, that's where Venom really hits its stride.
Posted Oct 4, 2018
42
Unsane (2018)

Ella Kemp

Amid the kitsch jump-scares and heightened theatrics of Sawyer's battle, Unsane might be the first film in a post-Weinstein era to actually make people listen.
Posted Oct 4, 2018
43
The Hate U Give (2018)

Anne Cohen

Stenberg gives a stunning and powerful portrayal of seething, bubbling rage at the injustice that she can endure no longer. But what keeps [it] from veering into the melodramatic... territory is that it commits to fleshing out its characters fully.
Posted Oct 1, 2018
44
A Star Is Born (2018)

Anne Cohen

A Star Is Born is a resounding success. The concert scenes are particularly impressive... It's intimate, and sweaty, and loud.
Posted Sep 28, 2018
45
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Anne Cohen

Overall, it's a film that makes the most of its gorgeous set and talented cast to deliver a moody crime caper laced with humor and infectious enthusiasm.
Posted Sep 28, 2018
46
Colette (2018)

Anne Cohen

[It's] a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking film that will have you question what you know about the past, and how it bleeds into our present -- and possibly our future.
Posted Sep 21, 2018
47
First Man (2018)

Maia Efrem

In summary, this movie is good, and its star power has Oscar potential.
Posted Sep 11, 2018
48
But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)

Anne Cohen

What makes But I'm A Cheerleader so emotionally affecting is that despite the cotton-candy exterior, the film never lets its audience forget that these are people undergoing a traumatic experience.
Posted Sep 6, 2018
49
Destination Wedding (2018)

Anne Cohen

Ryder is a gifted actress, and Reeves, who has mostly been coasting on roles where he doesn't have to say more than 15 lines at a time, manages to turn his signature woodenness into comedy. And together? It's a powerful force to contend with.
Posted Aug 30, 2018
50
Now and Then (1995)

Anne Cohen

It's a pleasure watching these four legendary women interact.Moore's quirky neuroticism and amazing all-black wardrobe are a treat to watch.
Posted Aug 27, 2018