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John Russell Taylor

John Russell Taylor's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Let It Be (1970) 81% EDIT “It might be fun if it were not so grainily photographed, so incomprehensibly recorded and, at times, so erratically synchronised. ” – The Times (UK) May 9, 2024 Full Review In Cold Blood (1967) 75% EDIT “The book was cool, long and absorbing; the film is overheated, not so long as films go these days, and decidedly dull.” – The Times (UK) May 1, 2024 Full Review They Only Kill Once (1968) EDIT “Brian G. Hutton has directed snappily, with little wastage of word and action, and the set piece of smuggling in the middle is nicely tense.” – The Times (UK) May 1, 2024 Full Review Planet of the Apes (1968) 86% EDIT “Charlton Heston does as much as possible to create a character for the hero where the writers have left a bare sketch. Consequently, the film is modestly entertaining, and not too much of a letdown. ” – The Times (UK) May 1, 2024 Full Review Little Big Man (1970) 91% EDIT “A pity about some of the film's earlier miscalculations, but Arthur Penn is very evidently a big man, and in that context a few little miscalculations do not matter all that much. ” – The Times (UK) Nov 10, 2023 Full Review The Last Picture Show (1971) 98% EDIT “I suppose it is very good, actually, but I suspect that it will work with full force only for an American spectator. For it is above all an essay in nostalgia: not only nostalgia for a period, the early 50s, but also nostalgia for a place, a way of life.” – The Times (UK) Oct 24, 2023 Full Review Love 65 (1965) EDIT “It is all over the place: talky in parts, technically very self-conscious and inclined to use efforts like speeded and slowed motion which probably looked fresher in 1965 than they do now.” – The Times (UK) Jul 25, 2023 Full Review Macbeth (1971) 78% EDIT “The important thing about putting Shakespeare on the screen is not to be intimidated by him. Roman Polanski's film of Macbeth succeeds splendidly when it follows this basic rule.” – The Times (UK) Jul 21, 2023 Full Review A Man for All Seasons (1966) 89% EDIT “The satisfactions to be gained from the film are preeminently quiet, civilized. But they are none the less real.” – The Times (UK) Sep 8, 2022 Full Review Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) 82% EDIT “Are they satirizing middle-class conventions? Are they daring to poke fun at the latest West Coast substitute-religion?... I really don't know. And I'm not sure that it matters too much. A lot of it is very funny.” – The Times (UK) Jun 15, 2022 Full Review Dougal and the Blue Cat (1970) EDIT “I must record that as a mere grown-up I found it quite enchanting. ” – The Times (UK) May 27, 2022 Full Review Buck and the Preacher (1972) 84% EDIT “The film is different by virtue of being virtually all-black, but these days that is really not different enough. ” – The Times (UK) May 27, 2022 Full Review Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) 67% EDIT “It is not all that bad, in the sense that it is never less than quite respectable, reasonably literate, but it is certainly a long, dull plod. ” – The Times (UK) May 26, 2022 Full Review Dirty Harry (1971) 89% EDIT “The message, finally, is the least important part of the film; the medium, and the artist's command of it, is the real message. And Siegel has never been more in command of it than here. ” – The Times (UK) May 26, 2022 Full Review Barefoot in the Park (1967) 81% EDIT “Gene Saks directs with two left feet and even such good old standbys as Charles Boyer and Mildred Natwick seem desperately unhappy in their work.” – The Times (UK) May 2, 2022 Full Review Midnight Cowboy (1969) 89% EDIT “This is obviously the sort of film in which people argue endlessly about which of the principals steals it, and the argument is irresistible, if pointless. Both are very good, in different ways. ” – The Times (UK) Mar 11, 2022 Full Review Oliver! (1968) 90% EDIT “In the constant seesaw of realism/fantasy it is hard for anyone to keep one clear thread continuously in mind, and most of the performances are as muddled and indecisive as you might expect. ” – The Times (UK) Mar 3, 2022 Full Review Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) 93% EDIT “The colour photography is often beautiful and the opening scenes are full of vivid local colour, though afterwards director Sergei Paradzhanov does let things drag on rather.” – The Times (UK) Feb 28, 2022 Full Review A New Leaf (1971) 94% EDIT “It is all charming and funny and distinctive in its humour, and the principals are ideally used. Clearly Miss May has a way with actors, herself as much as anyone else, and her touch extends even to the smaller parts.” – The Times (UK) Feb 10, 2022 Full Review The French Connection (1971) 97% EDIT “Quite efficient but pretty unremarkable.” – The Times (UK) Apr 15, 2021 Full Review The Godfather (1972) 97% EDIT “It is a film everyone will want to see, and few find disappointing. But try to forget all the ballyhoo before you see it, just in case.” – The Times (UK) Mar 29, 2021 Full Review A Clockwork Orange (1971) 86% EDIT “There are no passages where we can sit back, listen and admire. The film just hits, and hits hard. It works, as only a master could make it.” – The Times (UK) Dec 21, 2020 Full Review Live and Let Die (1973) 67% EDIT “Will James Bond live on in the 1970s? Not much farther, if this episode is anything to go by.” – The Times (UK) Dec 18, 2020 Full Review Wattstax (1973) 90% EDIT “The cinema-verite material is very cunningly incorporated with the festival coverage of many major black rock activities to make an overall rhythmic pat- tern full of life and vigour.” – The Times (UK) Dec 18, 2020 Full Review Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) 81% EDIT “Practically everything in Valerie and Her Week of Wonders turns on magic and the film's success in creating a magic world where everything seems at once fantastic and immediately believable.” – The Times (UK) Oct 7, 2020 Full Review
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