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The Watchers

A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatur... Read all A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night. A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

• Ishana Shyamalan
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• Jun 6, 2024

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• June 7, 2024 (United States)
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Transformers 5 Review: A Bombastic Blast of Confusing Fun

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Transformers: The Last Knight is a befuddling film on multiple levels. On one hand, the fifth installment of the franchise is a towering special effects achievement. Director Michael Bay, Hollywood's king of blowing stuff up , truly raises his action game. Shot with IMAX 3D cameras, the technical brilliance of The Last Knight cannot be understated. It is incredible to see. The fault lies in the scattershot plot. Elements from the previous films are mixed into an updated storyline, drumroll please, from the 1986 classic cartoon, The Transformers: The Movie . It doesn't make a lick of sense, but is an intriguing turn in the overall plot direction. Transformers fans are going to have a field day with this one. Minor spoilers are ahead.

Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) has long left Earth on a quest to find his creator. In his absence, Transformers continue to arrive. The U.S. Government has created the Transformers Reactionary Force (TRF) to handle their ongoing threat. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) has hidden the remaining Autobots in a South Dakota junkyard. He and Bumblebee venture out to save good robots in distress. They are constantly hunted by the TRF, much to the chagrin of Colonel Lennox (Josh Duhamel); who remembers when the military was allied with the Autobots.

Yeager's rescue mission to the Chicago quarantine zone uncovers two things. The first is a plucky orphan, Izabella (Isabella Moner), who knows how to fix the robots. The other is an ancient amulet from the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Transformers were responsible for his legendary victories. A secret organization led by Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) has buried their influence over humanity. The discovery of the amulet points to a hidden weapon that heralds an apocalyptic battle for Earth's survival. Meanwhile, in the depths of space on the dead world of Cybertron, Optimus Prime has found his maker.

The plot swings like a boomerang between different characters and locations. It's confusing as hell keeping track of what exactly is happening. I could drive a tractor through the plot holes. That should be a damning critique, but it's not. I loved the 1986 Transformers movie as a kid. The Last Knight takes a narrative chunk from that film and repurposes it. Only diehard fans who've seen the thirty-year old cartoon will know what I'm referring to. The Last Knight is the set up bridge to a wider Transformers Universe.

The film is a constant, unrelenting action barrage. The new characters inject humor when the spectacle starts to overwhelm. Anthony Hopkins , Jerrod Carmichael, and Cogman (Jim Carter), a sociopathic servant droid, are hilarious. They keep everything on track when the 3D explosions and gunfire start blurring. The female lead, actress Laura Haddock, is pivotal; but spends her time trading innuendo with Mark Wahlberg. Michael Bay continues to embrace juvenile sexual humor, but that's par for the course the fifth time around.

Transformers: The Last Knight rekindles my personal interest in the franchise. It incorporates themes from the 1986 film, which should tickle fanboys a plenty. None of that matters to Transformers neophytes, who would be utterly confused by the meandering plot. In that case, let the spectacle work its magic. From Paramount Pictures , see Transformers: The Last Knight in the best theater possible. The behemoth action scenes, in glorious IMAX 3D, are totally worth the price of admission .

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‘avenue 5’: tv review.

Armando Iannucci returns to HBO with 'Avenue 5,' a Hugh Laurie-fronted futuristic comedy about a disaster in space.

By Daniel Fienberg

Daniel Fienberg

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Like a modern day Irwin Allen, Armando Iannucci is a crafter of disaster epics, utilizing profanity in place of everyday heroism.

What are Veep and The Thick of It if not   slowly unfolding civic disasters, placing the ill-prepared or ill-intentioned against the grinding wheels of change? The same can be said of Iannucci’s forays into features. One rarely watches his disasters with confidence that an apt solution is coming.

Release date: Jan 19, 2020

It’s from this perspective that Iannucci’s latest HBO offering, Avenue 5 , is perhaps best approached — as a comic Poseidon Adventure in space. Such a perspective might benefit the first couple episodes, which don’t stumble so much as they unfold and reveal themselves in ways that aren’t always quite as funny as they should be, though things become more amusing after chaos starts ensuing.

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Set in the somewhat distant future, Avenue 5 is largely set aboard the eponymous mammoth vessel enjoying an eight-week maiden voyage around Saturn. Under the reassuringly watchful eye of Captain Ryan Clark ( Hugh Laurie ), the 5,000 passengers, including the ship’s eccentric and wealthy owner Herman Judd (Josh Gad), are enjoying lavish buffets, record-breaking yoga classes and periodic astronomical wisdom delivered by the first Canadian to set foot on Mars (Ethan Phillips).

After a (hilarious) tragedy, the seemingly capable crew of Avenue 5 — among them engineer Billie (Lenora Crichlow), Judd’s grouchy Girl Friday Iris (Suzy Nakamura) and singularly unhelpful customer relations head Matt (Zach Woods) — are forced to handle unruly passengers and the prospect of a journey that may stretch into years.

The Avenue 5 pilot, written by Iannucci with frequent collaborators Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche, has an unexpected amount of explaining to do — much more than their typical fly-on-the-wall approach requires. It isn’t a huge exposition dump, and details about this sci-fi world are given sparingly, but other than the gravity-defying calamity (directed with efficient flair by Iannucci), the opening 28 minutes boil down to rushed and surprisingly bland character-driven chatter so that the writers have expectations to reverse in subsequent episodes. Rewatching the pilot after the four episodes sent to critics, I was able to more easily pick up on how much the writers had been seeding and I got a few laughs. But my initial reaction was one of disappointment.

It’s also a bit difficult to see what, exactly, Iannucci is satirizing here. The politics and commerce of the future are, if anything, underused as targets. Maybe it’s the hospitality industry being mocked. Or maybe it’s better to look at Avenue 5 as simply Iannucci having fun with a new and not very subtext-rich disaster scenario, resulting in something clever if not particularly smart.

As things get worse on Avenue 5, things get better for many of the actors starring in Avenue 5 . Impeccably coiffed and seemingly returning to his flat House American accent, Laurie initially coasts on conveying Captain Clark’s passive-aggressive charm, but as episodes advance and more of the character’s backstory is revealed, it becomes a tremendously entertaining performance. Woods, always masterful at going from tightly wound to manically unspooled, and Crichlow raise the mirth to match the stress levels, as does the terrific Nikki Amuka-Bird as the head of mission control back on Earth. Gad is playing yet another of his manic man-children and he seems to be leaning hard on a funny haircut and garish tracksuits without much characterization to match beyond “blundering ineptitude,” though he at least gets to share scenes with Nakamura, whose acerbic timing had never been put to better use.

The vacationers on Avenue 5 are present, if not always assets. I chuckled here and there at the coarse bickering between the estranged spouses played by the reliable Kyle Bornheimer and Jessica St. Clair, but found less engagement in  The Thick of It  veteran Rebecca Front’s Karen, a pushy passenger notable mostly for being the rare Iannucci character who prefers euphemisms to swearing.

As dire as the situation on the ship gets, cinematographer Eben Bolter keeps the proceedings bright and bathed in retro colors, while Simon Bowles’ production design is full of curved arches and rounded edges, justifying the description of Avenue 5 as a flying dildo. The special effects are solid if not showy, not that anybody will be watching this show with the same demands as they might have of a new Star Trek .

Viewers will be watching for Iannucci’s caustic prose and a top-tier cast and on those levels, Avenue 5 is a worthwhile journey, even if it doesn’t blast off quite as fast as you might hope.

Cast: Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ethan Phillips

Creator: Armando Iannucci

Premieres Sunday, January 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

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CBI 5: The Brain movie review — Scrapes through by riding on nostalgia and Mammootty’s towering presence 

Mammootty continues to imbue Iyer with dignity and gravitas, and ultimately, he is CBI 5’s saving grace.

Language: Malayalam  

The first clue to where this film is headed lies in its grandiose title, CBI 5: The Brain . This is the fifth instalment of the popular CBI franchise that began with Oru CBI Diary Kurippu in 1988. Each one has been directed by K. Madhu, written by S.N. Swamy and starred Mammootty as CBI officer Sethurama Iyer, an icon of the agency and a genius. But why “the brain”? The choice of words is a harbinger of the film’s tendency to stuff ill-fitting English lines into conversations throughout the narrative, all of them stiffly written and awkwardly delivered.   

CBI 5: The Brain begins with CBI officers Balagopal (Renji Panicker) and Vinay (Ramesh Pisharody) addressing a class of new IPS recruits. The lecture leads to a discussion about how Iyer solved a series of murders that came to be known as the Basket Killings in their time. Curious nickname, but again, inexplicable.   

The mystery is initially interesting. A minister dies of a heart attack on a flight. This is followed by a crop of tragic deaths – an accident, a suicide, a hit-and-run incident. The CBI is called in to crack the case. Enter: Iyer.

Although a hero’s late entry is a cliché in commercial cinema to get the audience excited about the arrival of a superstar – usually male – on screen, and Mammootty’s directors have had a particular fondness for this device for a long time now, it can still be entertaining when well handled. In    CBI 5 though, the effect is unremarkable.   

Some thrillers pride themselves on challenging the viewer by being so oblique that they offer only fleeting glimpses of crucial pointers. In CBI 5: The Brain , the music, camera angles, acting and/or dialogues are used to over-explain every reason for suspicion, despite which we are left with some loose ends

Shyam’s background score for the early CBI films was sharp and energetic. Much water has flowed under the bridge and through Malayalam cinema’s music landscape since then, and in CBI 5: The Brain , Jakes Bejoy’s score feels almost generic, most notably the theme assigned to Soubin Shahir’s character. Yes, yes, we get it, he is meant to be an eerie fellow. How much will that point be underlined?   

Oru CBI Diary Kurippu became a landmark because of the hero’s methodical approach to investigations, and conversations that sounded real, belying the pace and hectic activity on screen.

Instead of staying true to the original’s tone, CBI 5 throws bombastic and stilted lines into the mix in what appears to be a misplaced attempt at contemporisation.

This is ironic because a low pitch would have ended up echoing the middle-of-the-road slice-of-life new Malayalam New Wave that has been winning over audiences in Kerala for the past decade or so, and increasingly now outside Kerala too.   

Sethurama Iyer’s trademark meticulousness remains, and for the first half, CBI 5 ’s plot offers a fair share of suspense. After a while though, it becomes too convoluted, too crowded with people and twists, and towards the end, those twists are too contrived to be convincing.   

When the climactic revelation is made, the casualness towards mental health is off-putting. This is a far cry from the extreme sensitivity and awareness of mental well-being that Malayalam cinema has shown in recent years in a range of films including, perhaps most prominently, Kumbalangi Nights and #Home .

CBI 5 ’s impressively mounted opening credits may hold greater meaning for those who have been following the series, but even for those who have not, they serve as a reminder that this is a legacy film. The reliance on nostalgia works in the scene featuring Jagathy Sreekumar because it is poignant irrespective of whether you have watched the earlier films or know of the actor’s medical condition in recent years. It falls flat, though, in the jocular treatment of the recurring character Sathyadas (Saikumar). Unless you have seen the previous CBI instalments, the jestful tone even in his introductory scene is inexplicable. It has been 17 years since the fourth film was made, and a whole new generation of movie-goers are now visiting theatres, so it makes no sense to leave such a major portion of the film dependent on the public’s memory of Parts 1-4.   

The cast of CBI 5: The Brain consists of many artistes with a solid track record, but they are either wasted here or left to struggle with inadequate writing. The Kerala State Award winner Swasika , for instance, is given a minor, under-explored role. So is Dileesh Pothan.   

The effort to keep Soubin Shahir’s character intriguing and intimidating has the reverse effect – the screenplay is trying too hard with him, and so is the actor. To see Soubin misfire after so many back-to-back bull’s-eyes, including most recently in Bheeshma Parvam , is disappointing. Anoop Menon gets far more to chew on in the script, but is unable to handle it.   

It can be exasperating to watch a film leaning too obviously on Mammootty’s larger-than-life personality to get by. Whatever CBI 5 ’s errors may be, thankfully it does not go the whole hog on this front with a surfeit of low-angle shots and a raucous signature tune or some tacky quirk for Sethurama Iyer set in the mould of The Great Father , White and some of the other terrible films that the legendary actor has chosen to star in in the past couple of decades. CBI 5 does let Mammootty dominate every scene in which he is present, but it holds back enough to allow the actor’s naturally towering presence to do its job. It is not as if Mammootty does anything new here, and the fact is, he falters with those oddly written English lines, but he is who he is, a giant who we have grown up loving, an actor who continues to imbue Iyer with dignity and gravitas, and ultimately, he is CBI 5 ’s’s saving grace.   

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)  

This review was first published when CBI 5: The Brain was released in theatres in May 2022. The film is now streaming on Netflix.  

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial  

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, nine to five.

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"Nine to Five" is a good-hearted, simple-minded comedy that will win a place in film history, I suspect, primarily because it contains the movie debut of Dolly Parton . She is, on the basis of this one film, a natural-born movie star, a performer who holds our attention so easily that it's hard to believe it's her first film.

There have been other debuts this unmistakable; you could name Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Travolta . And what you'd be talking about in each case would not necessarily be a great dramatic performance in an important movie. You'd be talking about a quality of presence, a personal life force that seems to take over the screen.

"Nine to Five" is only a fairly successful comedy. It has some very funny moments, and then it has some major ingredients that don't work, including some of its fantasy sequences. But then it also has Dolly Parton. And she contains so much energy, so much life and unstudied natural exuberance that watching her do anything in this movie is a pleasure. Because there have been so many Dolly Parton jokes (and doubtless will be so many more), I had better say that I'm not referring to her sex appeal or chest measurements. Indeed, she hardly seems to exist as a sexual being in this movie. She exists on another plane, as Monroe did: She is a center of life on the screen.

But excuse me for a moment while I regain my composure. "Nine to Five" itself is pleasant entertainment, and I liked it, despite its uneven qualities and a plot that's almost too preposterous for the material. The movie exists in the tradition of 1940s screwball comedies. It's about improbable events happening to people who are comic caricatures of their types, and, like those '40s movies, It also has a dash of social commentary.

The message in this case has, to do with women's liberation and, specifically, with the role of women in large corporate offices. Jane Fonda , Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton all work in the same office. Tomlin is the efficient office manager. Fonda is the newcomer, trying out her first job after a divorce. Parton is the boss's secretary, and everybody in the office thinks she's having an affair with the boss. So the other women won't speak to her.

The villain is the boss himself. Played by Dabney Coleman (of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"), he's a self-righteous prig with a great and sincere lust for Dolly Parton. She's having none of it. After the movie introduces a few social issues (day care, staggered work hours, equal pay, merit promotion), the movie develops into a bizarre plot to kidnap Coleman in an attempt to win equal rights. He winds up swinging from the ceiling of his bedroom, attached by wire to a garage-door opener. Serves him right, the M.C.P.

This whole kidnapping sequence moves so far toward unrestrained farce that it damages the movie's marginally plausible opening scenes. But perhaps we don't really care. We learn right away that this is deliberately a lightweight film, despite its superstructure of social significance. And, making the necessary concessions, we simply enjoy it.

What I enjoyed most, as you have already guessed, was Dolly Parton. Is she an actress? Yes, definitely, I'd say, although I am not at all sure how wide a range of roles she might be able to play. She's perfect for this one - which was, of course, custom-made for her. But watch her in the scenes where she's not speaking, where the action is elsewhere on the screen. She's always in character, always reacting, always generating so much energy we expect her to fly apart. There's a scene on a hospital bench, for example, where Tomlin is convinced she's poisoned the boss, and Fonda is consoling her. Watch Dolly. She's bouncing in and out, irrepressibly.

What is involved here is probably something other than "acting." It has to do with what Bernard Shaw called the "life force," that dynamo of energy that some people seem to possess so bountifully. Dolly Parton on the screen simply seems to be having a great time, ready to sweep everyone else up in her enthusiasm, her concern, her energy. It's some show.

Roger Ebert reviews movies on the Channel 5 news at 10 p.m. Thursday, Sunday and Monday.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Nine to Five (1980)

110 minutes

Sterling Hayden as Tinsworthy

Elizabeth Wilson as Roz

Lily Tomlin as Violet Newstead

Dolly Parton as Doralee Rhodes

Jane Fonda as Judy Bernly

Dabney Coleman as Franklin Hart Jr.

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Produced by

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Screenplay by

• Patricia Resnick

Photographed by

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• Charles Fox
• Richard Hashimoto

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5 Galaxies is a new sci-fi film that's now available on DVD and Digital. Much like this year's  Holiday Hell , the movie is a collection of shorts that allow a team of filmmakers to play in this realm and tell their own stories across various time periods and settings. For example, one is set in a contemporary future where a man wrestles with his responsibility to help an overpopulation crisis by killing himself at age 40, while another is set in a Phillip K. Dick-inspired word where a criminal is in possession of a face-shifting device. This all sounds rather interesting, but unfortunately it doesn't make for the most engaging watch.  5 Galaxies is a muddled lineup of sci-fi shorts that struggles to live up to whatever intriguing potential they may have on-paper.

The biggest issue with the film is a painful disconnect between the five shorts. Unlike  Holiday Hell , there's no framing device that ties all of the vignettes together, so the complete picture has a random feel to it, rather than being a cohesive work. Additionally, the shorts themselves feel incomplete - almost as if they are individual acts pulled out of a longer feature (or a proof-of-concept demo for a full movie). Many of them lack either the necessary setup to help certain emotional beats land or a proper resolution. Too often, the shorts will frustratingly end just as things really start to get interesting and present a challenge for the characters, which can be maddening for the viewer. If the directors had more time to flesh things out, there might have been some fascinating works here, but instead some of the shorts feel inconsequential and unsatisfying.

Related: Read Screen Rant's Holiday Hell Review

Sadly, the material doesn't do any of the actors favors, as much of the cast is given little to work with. To be fair, the ensembles of all the shorts try their best, but there's only so much they can do. Impressively, the filmmakers were able to land some big names amidst a group of unknowns (like Eric Roberts and the MCU's Pom Klementieff), but  5 Galaxies ultimately feels like a waste of their high profiles and talent. Additionally, the writing leans heavily into tried and true sci-fi tropes in both premise and characterization (the post-apocalyptic survivor jaded by his experiences; a roguish bounty hunter with a tortured past, etc.) without bringing anything all that new to the table, which takes away from the viewing experience.

On a more positive note, the filmmakers do stretch their obviously limited budget as far as it'll go. Technically, the production design and special effects work are impressive (especially considering the scope of  5 Galaxies ), making things as immersive as possible. It's in these elements the directors' passion for the stories they're telling comes through, as it's apparent they had fun crafting sci-fi environments and wanted to take viewers to new worlds.  5 Galaxies might have looked a little hokey in theaters, but its release strategy of going straight to video benefits it, since any shortcomings in the technical aspects are masked on the small screen - be it a TV or a mobile device.

Ultimately,  5 Galaxies is a mishmash of various sci-fi concepts that doesn't really amount to anything. What's unfortunate is that any individual short had the potential to make for a relatively compelling feature-length genre picture, but it doesn't work as an anthology. As presented,  5 Galaxies doesn't have any real flow to it, and it's difficult to recommend even to the biggest sci-fi fans out there. Perhaps someone might find something to enjoy if they were to cue it up on a rainy day, but  5 Galaxies - even for a low-budget film with small aspirations - will really struggle to stand out.

More: Read Screen Rant's Bombshell Review

5 Galaxies is now available on DVD and Digital.

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'Godzilla Minus One' Review: The best Godzilla film ever!

'godzilla minus one' review: director takashi yamazaki's 'godzilla minus one' won rave reviews during its premiere in tokyo and usa in 2023. now, the much-awaited film is premiering on netflix. read our review..

Listen to Story

• 'Godzilla Minus One' is streaming on Netflix
• It is hands-down the best Godzilla film you'd have witnessed
• The story of 'Godzilla Minus One' is set around the end of World War II

Release Date: 7 Jun, 2024

When 'Godzilla Minus One' dropped on Netflix with no big announcement or promo, it caught many, including me, by surprise. After all, this was THE Godzilla film everyone was waiting for. With a limited release worldwide, fans of the franchise were hoping that it gets a theatrical release in India. But for now, we have to make do with the OTT version and be happy! So why is 'Godzilla Minus One' such an important feature in this franchise? And what sets it apart from the other Godzilla movies? Let’s dive deep!

Godzilla leads the pack when it comes to monster movies that are based on a creature. For years, Japanese filmmakers have been obsessed with this giant that is sea and land-borne, which wreaks havoc and destroys cities. The recent 'Godzilla vs Kong' universe even took this prospect to a newer level and introduced possibilities of radiation and its aftermath. But 'Minus One' is a different Godzilla film .

The film doesn’t want us to only clap and jump in our seats when the monster arrives. The story is set around the end of World War II where a guilt-ridden pilot tries to give himself a second chance only to find that there is no real escape from the demons of his past. The story and writing are so sharp and at the same time create a world where we get to see a lot of what the Japanese common folk went through as a result of the war.

The film won the Best Visual Effects at the Oscars 2024, and you can tell why. The makers don’t go overboard with the pyrotechnics and keep it subtle. When you see Godzilla for the first time, you are in absolute awe of him. His eyes and his moves feel more real and menacing than ever before. The fight scenes, especially the ones set in the ocean where they try and prevent the creature from coming to the shore, are terrific. Takashi Yamakazi creates an almost perfect Godzilla film that does ample justice to its 1954 beginning.

At a time when the West is so heavily invested and relying on VFX in storytelling, it’s heartening to see a filmmaker balance both in a creature film that is expected to sway audiences towards visual effects. If you haven’t watched any Godzilla film before, then this is a terrific introduction to its universe and if you are a 'Kaiju' fanatic, then 'Minus One' is the perfect antidote to your Godzilla withdrawal symptoms.

5 out of 5 stars for 'Godzilla Minus One'. Published By: K Janani Published On: Jun 7, 2024 ALSO READ | Oscars 2024 Highlights: 'Oppenheimer' bags Best Picture, wins 7 awards

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In a TV series, you would enjoy seeing what dumb thing he has done this episode. But this isn’t a TV series, and as it stands, 5lbs of Pressure falls into the category of a decent rather than particularly great crime movie.

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It's well made and earnestly acted, but the tough talk doesn't convince, and the characters are too selfish to fully earn our sympathy.

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5Lbs of Pressure tries to be a gritty and realistic crime drama with multiple storylines converging. But the clumsy handling of the plot and the vapid dialogue result in an unappealing mush of a movie that lacks suspense.

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Luke Evans shines in a powerful performance alongside the excellent Rory Culkin and Alex Pettyfer in this emotionally resonant crime drama.

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Allocco takes too long to set up the storylines about second chances and none of them hold any surprises. Nor do the characters ever come to life.

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This is a case of the ensemble really elevating what’s on the page to ensure the grand statement resonates

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The path in life is often difficult and although it’s not a perfect film by any stretch, 5lbs of Pressure has an interesting message to say about finding forgiveness.

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A gritty and intense crime thriller, but uninspired, overstuffed and occasionally maudlin.

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“5lbs of Pressure” has a tough time cutting through melodrama and limited performances to reach its potential, but it’s certainly well-intentioned work from the helmer.

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Named after the lethal force behind a handgun’s trigger release, “5lbs” weaves an engaging-enough web of misunderstandings, grudges and doomed trajectories amongst various shady types.

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How to Write a Movie Review

Last Updated: May 13, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Marissa Levis . Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 5,621,946 times.

Whether a movie is a rotten tomato or a brilliant work of art, if people are watching it, it's worth critiquing. A decent movie review should entertain, persuade and inform, providing an original opinion without giving away too much of the plot. A great movie review can be a work of art in its own right. Read on to learn how to analyze a movie like a professional film critic, come up with an interesting thesis, and write a review as entertaining as your source material.

Sample Movie Reviews

Writing an Intro for a Movie Review

• Comparison to Relevant Event or Movie: "Every day, our leaders, politicians, and pundits call for "revenge"– against terrorist groups, against international rivals, against other political parties. But few of them understand the cold, destructive, and ultimately hollow thrill of revenge as well as the characters of Blue Ruin. "
• Review in a nutshell: "Despite a compelling lead performance by Tom Hanks and a great soundtrack, Forrest Gump never gets out of the shadow of its weak plot and questionable premise."
• Context or Background Information: " Boyhood might be the first movie made where knowing how it was produced–slowly, over 12 years, with the same actors–is just as crucial as the movie itself."

• Using stars, a score out of 10 or 100, or the simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down is a quick way to give your thoughts. You then write about why you chose that rating.
• Great Movie: ABC is the rare movie that succeeds on almost every level, where each character, scene, costume, and joke firing on all cylinders to make a film worth repeated viewings."
• Bad Movie: "It doesn't matter how much you enjoy kung-fu and karate films: with 47 Ronin, you're better off saving your money, your popcorn, and time."
• Okay Movie: "I loved the wildly uneven Interstellar far more than I should have, but that doesn't mean it is perfect. Ultimately, the utter awe and spectacle of space swept me through the admittedly heavy-handed plotting and dialogue."

• Great: "Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer's chemistry would carry Fruitvale Station even if the script wasn't as good. The mid-movie prison scene in particular, where the camera never leaves their faces, shows how much they can convey with nothing but their eyelids, the flashing tension of neck muscles, and a barely cracking voice."
• Bad: " Jurassic World's biggest flaw, a complete lack of relatable female characters, is only further underscored by a laughably unrealistic shot of our heroine running away from a dinosaur – in heels."
• Okay: "At the end of the day, Snowpiercer can't decide what kind of movie it wants to be. The attention to detail in fight scenes, where every weapon, lightbulb, and slick patch of ground is accounted for, doesn't translate to an ending that seems powerful but ultimately says little of substance."

• Does the film reflect on a current event or contemporary issue? It could be the director's way of engaging in a bigger conversation. Look for ways to relate the content of the film to the "real" world.
• Does the film seem to have a message, or does it attempt to elicit a specific response or emotion from the audience? You could discuss whether or not it achieves its own goals.
• Does the film connect with you on a personal level? You could write a review stemming from your own feelings and weave in some personal stories to make it interesting for your readers.

Composing Your Review

• When you name characters in your plot summary, list the actors' names directly afterward in parenthesis.
• Find a place to mention the director's name and the full movie title.
• If you feel you must discuss information that might "spoil" things for readers, warn them first.

• Cinematography: " Her is a world drenched in color, using bright, soft reds and oranges alongside calming whites and grays that both build, and slowly strip away, the feelings of love between the protagonists. Every frame feels like a painting worth sitting in."
• Tone: "Despite the insane loneliness and high stakes of being stuck alone on Mars, The Martian's witty script keeps humor and excitement alive in every scene. Space may be dangerous and scary, but the joy of scientific discovery is intoxicating."
• Music and Sound: " No Country For Old Men's bold decision to skip music entirely pays off in spades. The eerie silence of the desert, punctuated by the brief spells of violent, up-close-and-personal sound effects of hunter and hunted, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat."
• Acting: "While he's fantastic whenever he's on the move, using his cool stoicism to counteract the rampaging bus, Keanu Reeves can't quite match his costar in the quiet moments of Speed, which falter under his expressionless gaze."

• Keep your writing clear and easy to understand. Don't use too much technical filmmaking jargon, and make your language crisp and accessible.
• Present both the facts and your opinion. For example, you might state something such as, "The Baroque background music was a jarring contrast to the 20th century setting." This is a lot more informative then simply saying, "The music was a strange choice for the movie."

• Great: "In the end, even the characters of Blue Ruin know how pointless their feud is. But revenge, much like every taut minute of this thriller, is far too addictive to give up until the bitter end.""
• Bad: "Much like the oft-mentioned "box of chocolates", Forest Gump has a couple of good little morsels. But most of the scenes, too sweet by half, should have been in the trash long before this movie was put out."
• Okay: "Without the novel, even revolutionary concept, Boyhood may not be a great movie. It might not even be "good.” But the power the film finds in the beauty of passing time and little, inconsequential moments – moments that could only be captured over 12 years of shooting – make Linklater's latest an essential film for anyone interested in the art of film."

Polishing Your Piece

• Ask yourself whether your review stayed true to your thesis. Did your conclusion tie back in with the initial ideas you proposed?
• Decide whether your review contains enough details about the movie. You may need to go back and add more description here and there to give readers a better sense of what the movie's about.
• Decide whether your review is interesting enough as a stand-alone piece of writing. Did you contribute something original to this discussion? What will readers gain from reading your review that they couldn't from simply watching the movie?

Studying Your Source Material

• The title of the film, and the year it came out.
• The director's name.
• The names of the lead actors.

• Make a note every time something sticks out to you, whether it's good or bad. This could be costuming, makeup, set design, music, etc. Think about how this detail relates to the rest of the movie and what it means in the context of your review.
• Take note of patterns you begin to notice as the movie unfolds.
• Use the pause button frequently so you make sure not to miss anything, and rewind as necessary.

• Direction: Consider the director and how he or she choose to portray/explain the events in the story. If the movie was slow, or didn't include things you thought were necessary, you can attribute this to the director. If you've seen other movies directed by the same person, compare them and determine which you like the most.
• Cinematography: What techniques were used to film the movie? What setting and background elements helped to create a certain tone?
• Writing: Evaluate the script, including dialogue and characterization. Did you feel like the plot was inventive and unpredictable or boring and weak? Did the characters' words seem credible to you?
• Editing: Was the movie choppy or did it flow smoothly from scene to scene? Did they incorporate a montage to help build the story? And was this obstructive to the narrative or did it help it? Did they use long cuts to help accentuate an actor's acting ability or many reaction shots to show a group's reaction to an event or dialogue? If visual effects were used were the plates well-chosen and were the composited effects part of a seamless experience? (Whether the effects looked realistic or not is not the jurisdiction of an editor, however, they do choose the footage to be sent off to the compositors, so this could still affect the film.)
• Costume design: Did the clothing choices fit the style of the movie? Did they contribute to the overall tone, rather than digressing from it?
• Set design: Consider how the setting of the film influenced its other elements. Did it add or subtract from the experience for you? If the movie was filmed in a real place, was this location well-chosen?
• Score or soundtrack: Did it work with the scenes? Was it over/under-used? Was it suspenseful? Amusing? Irritating? A soundtrack can make or break a movie, especially if the songs have a particular message or meaning to them.

Expert Q&A

• If you don't like the movie, don't be abusive and mean. If possible, avoid watching the movies that you would surely hate. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Understand that just because the movie isn't to your taste, that doesn't mean you should give it a bad review. A good reviewer helps people find movie's they will like. Since you don't have the same taste in movies as everyone else, you need to be able to tell people if they will enjoy the movie, even if you didn't. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Structure is very important; try categorizing the different parts of the film and commenting on each of those individually. Deciding how good each thing is will help you come to a more accurate conclusion. For example, things like acting, special effects, cinematography, think about how good each of those are. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing, check out our in-depth interview with Marissa Levis .

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/terminology_and_starting_prompts.html
• ↑ https://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review
• ↑ https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/9-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/top-tips-for-writing-a-review
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/summary-using-it-wisely/
• ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/film-review-1.original.pdf
• ↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/film_writing_sample_analysis.html
• ↑ https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/onnyx.bei/dual-credit/movie-review-writing-guide
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-movie-review/
• ↑ https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://edusson.com/blog/how-to-write-movie-review

About This Article

To write a movie review, start with a compelling fact or opinion to hook your readers, like "Despite a great performance by Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump never overcomes its weak plot." Then, elaborate on your opinion of the movie right off the bat so readers know where you stand. Once your opinion is clear, provide examples from the movie that prove your point, like specific scenes, dialogue, songs, or camera shots. To learn how to study a film closely before you write a review, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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