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Gary Arnold

Tomatometer-approved critic

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Dracula (1979) 64% EDIT “From opening wolf howls through ominous, ambiguous concluding images, it sustains an exciting, witty, erotically compelling illusion of supernatural mystery and terror.” – Washington Post Oct 20, 2025 Full Review Tron (1982) 60% EDIT “Fascinating as they are as discreet sequences, the computer-animated episodes don't build dramatically. They remain a miscellaneous form of abstract spectacle.” – Washington Post Oct 1, 2025 Full Review This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 98% EDIT “Despite the improvisational acting methods, Reiner's film never wanders conceptually. The episodes and characterizations are wedded to a consistent, benevolent comic vision.” – Washington Post Sep 9, 2025 Full Review Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 96% EDIT “Sidney Lumet's gritty and gripping semi-documentary crime melodrama "Dog Day Afternoon” is a triumphant new classic of American movie naturalism.” – Washington Post Apr 7, 2024 Full Review The Verdict (1982) 88% EDIT “The portentousness is often a disservice to the actors, embedded in dead air with roles too feebly written to get the ventilation going.” – Washington Post Mar 1, 2024 Full Review Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) 73% EDIT “People who believe that all that smoke must indicate one hell of a fiery movie might be rather dismayed by the movie itself.” – Washington Post Jan 29, 2024 Full Review The Touch (1971) 64% EDIT “The Touch is utterly ridiculous, the probable low point of Ingmar Bergman’s often trying but independent and distinguished artistic career.” – Washington Post Jan 29, 2024 Full Review The Duellists (1977) 74% EDIT “The Duellists is Scott's first feature, but it reflects a forceful as well as masterly command of settings, lighting and composition. Pictorially, this is the most evocative period movie since McCabe & Mrs. Miller.” – Washington Post Nov 20, 2023 Full Review Alien (1979) 93% EDIT “Sigourney Weaver is the only newcomer in the cast, but her movie debut may generate instant stardom. Weaver... is an experienced theater actress, and she brings an exciting combination of intelligence, bravery and sex appeal.” – Washington Post Nov 16, 2023 Full Review Yentl (1983) 69% EDIT “This labor of love and persistence hasn't resulted in a masterpiece, but it has been justified by a movie of exceptional charm and sentimental potency. ” – Washington Post May 12, 2023 Full Review Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 94% EDIT “It is a transcendent blend of heroic exploits, cliffhangers and chases distilled with nostalgia and wit from the pulp thrillers, comic books and Republic serials of the World War II era.” – Washington Post May 4, 2023 Full Review Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 77% EDIT “An exceptionally energetic but also grotesque and finally wearisome spectacle of gratuitous sensations and perilous exploits.” – Washington Post Apr 18, 2023 Full Review One Sings, the Other Doesn't (1977) 65% EDIT “Despite its progressive tone, oddly reminscent of Soviet films that used to enthuse over the brighter day ahead and urge their publics optimistically onward, "One Sings" represents a regression in every crucial respect.” – Washington Post Mar 7, 2023 Full Review 9 to 5 (1980) 70% EDIT “A farce with an unsightly vindictive streak, Nine to Five squanders its costars in the roles of fuming secretaries who conspire to turn the tables on their domineering fool of a boss.” – Washington Post Mar 2, 2023 Full Review Paper Moon (1973) 91% EDIT “The problem with Paper Moon is that it’s hollow at the center. The central relationship, involving a small-time con man and a tough little girl who practice a Bible-selling racket in the Midwest during the Depression, remains undeveloped and unaffecting.” – Washington Post Aug 8, 2022 Full Review Terms of Endearment (1983) 81% EDIT “Winger's performance is the crowning achievement in a movie conceived and acted in unusually sensitive, observant, realistic terms.” – Washington Post Jul 20, 2022 Full Review Thief (1981) 80% EDIT “By the time Thief winds down, Caan's characterization is listing several degrees starboard of The Exterminator. Keeping the major reservations in mind, Thief remains a fascinating and provocative movie.” – Washington Post Jul 7, 2022 Full Review Tess (1979) 81% EDIT “Watching this long, placid maddeningly subdued movie, you can't help wondering what became of Hardy's stark chronicle of crimes of passion.” – Washington Post Jun 17, 2022 Full Review Excalibur (1981) 73% EDIT “This stilted reenactment of the Arthurian saga finds Boorman evolving into a modernist parody of Cecil B. De Mille, whipping up a kitschy custume spectacle.” – Washington Post Dec 30, 2021 Full Review Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) 10% EDIT “After seeing what Boorman hath wrought, it becomes pathetically apparent that he was trying to wing it with an obscure conception.” – Washington Post Oct 27, 2021 Full Review El Super (1979) 92% EDIT “While Hidalgo-Gato distinguishes himself in the subtlest performance, the supporting presences are consistently impressive: [especially] Zully Montero as El Super's wife [and] Elizabeth Pena as his daughter.” – Washington Post Aug 11, 2021 Full Review The Border (1982) 65% EDIT “The evidence continues to suggest that well-meaning filmmakers can't lick this particular provocative subject.” – Washington Post Aug 6, 2021 Full Review El Norte (1983) 92% EDIT “The Navas have made an independent feature of far more style and substance than low-budget circumstances and well-meaning intentions usually allow.” – Washington Post Aug 3, 2021 Full Review Chan Is Missing (1982) 96% EDIT “Chan Is Missing proves to be a better pretext for a movie than a finished film.” – Washington Post May 12, 2020 Full Review Yanks (1979) 57% EDIT “Yanks remains an unusually appealing and ingratiating movie.” – Washington Post Apr 17, 2020 Full Review
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