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The Dissolve

Tomatometer-approved publication.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
High and Low (1963) Mike D'Angelo No shot in High And Low particularly stands out from the others, but every shot contributes to the film’s central dichotomy: high/low, heaven/hell, grandiose/mundane, privilege/squalor... That’s not Great Directing. It’s just great directing.
Posted Aug 13, 2025  Edit critic review
4.5/5
The Easy Life (1962) Scott Tobias Bruno and Il Sorpasso are full of wonderful surprises and hidden depths, and they continually slip away from any attempts to reduce them.
Posted Sep 28, 2022  Edit critic review
Losing Ground (1982) Mike D'Angelo [Collins] succeeds in detailing the various ways in which we all stumble about looking for a blessed moment of release.
Posted Mar 01, 2022  Edit critic review
The Secret of My Success (1987) Nathan Rabin The profound moral and spiritual emptiness at the core of The Secret Of My Success keeps it from being the dumb fun promised by its premise, title, and extensive use of Yello.
Posted Jun 09, 2021  Edit critic review
King Kong Escapes (1968) Noel Murray That said, both of the Tojo Kong movies are entertaining, for their cringe-inducing moments, and for the genuine beauty of Toho's model-work, rendered in Tohoscope.
Posted Mar 24, 2021  Edit critic review
The Stunt Man (1980) Nathan Rabin It's a carnivalesque lark whose brevity and gravity are both attributable to the remarkable, pitch-perfect performance of O'Toole...
Posted Mar 07, 2021  Edit critic review
Pretty Ugly People (2008) Nathan Rabin Pretty Ugly People has a premise so staggeringly, insultingly stupid that it would require brilliant execution to pull it off. (Unfortunately, the execution isn't even good, let alone brilliant.)
Posted May 15, 2020  Edit critic review
Fall From Grace (1990) Tim Grierson ...a rather cheesy TV biopic of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker...
Posted Jun 05, 2019  Edit critic review
The Searchers (1956) Tasha Robinson It’s an endlessly surprising film, in large part because it starts out feeling like such a standard Hollywood Western... But then the film diverges from the expected action-rescue-revenge plot, and becomes bigger, wider, and sadder.
Posted Mar 19, 2018  Edit critic review
The Killer (1989) Keith Phipps The work of a filmmaker operating at the highest level of his abilities.
Posted Sep 08, 2017  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Do I Sound Gay? (2014) Noel Murray There's also an understated, unexpectedly moving arc to this film, which considers how exaggerated "gayness" has been an important part of one subculture separating and defending itself from hostile environments.
Posted Jul 09, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Meet Me in Montenegro (2014) Craig J. Clark Holdridge and Saasen should get credit for making sure the obstacles to their happiness aren't romance-movie contrivances, but rather the sorts of things that happen to people while they're busy making other plans.
Posted Jul 09, 2015  Edit critic review
1.5/5
The Suicide Theory (2014) Charles Bramesco A tonal mishmash of warmth and stark despair prevents Theory from leaving any lasting impression.
Posted Jul 09, 2015  Edit critic review
5/5
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) Judy Berman Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders enjoys a richly deserved place in the international canon of timeless coming-of-age stories.
Posted Jul 06, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Thrashin' (1986) Noel Murray A lot of what's entertaining today about Thrashin' is inadvertent.
Posted Jul 06, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Robot Jox (1990) Noel Murray Gordon's saving grace is that the stop-motion animation and model work on Robot Jox looks really cool, even now.
Posted Jul 06, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
Dog Soldiers (2002) Craig J. Clark Dog Soldiers remains Marshall's most potent distillation of taut action, unrelenting horror, and gallows humor.
Posted Jul 06, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Zarafa (2012) Tasha Robinson Zarafa is essential viewing simply because it foregrounds and normalizes black and Arabic characters in a medium that's usually focused on Caucasian protagonists
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
1.5/5
In Stereo (2015) Mike D'Angelo The film isn't remotely funny or insightful enough to justify spending an hour and a half in such intensely disagreeable company.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Jimmy's Hall (2014) Vadim Rizov Loach lays on the sentimentality thick in the early stretches, and there's a stillborn romantic subplot that stubbornly refuses to enrich the main political text.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Stray Dog (2014) Tasha Robinson Stray Dog is often powerfully moving, due to Granik's intimate access to Hall and his family, and the overwhelming and openly expressed feelings on display.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Jackie & Ryan (2014) Mike D'Angelo It's refreshing to see a romance-even a slightly tepid one-that acknowledges and even embraces its transient nature.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
Amy (2015) Keith Phipps Kapadia provides a heartbreaking reminder of what we lost when we lost her.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
2/5
Terminator Genisys (2015) Keith Phipps The film almost completely falls apart in the second half when it becomes as loud as it is tedious.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Magic Mike XXL (2015) Scott Tobias Magic Mike, XXL is a loose, shambling party bus-or party organic fro-yo food truck, to be more exact-and everyone's having a great time.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
A Poem Is a Naked Person (1974) Noel Murray A Poem Is A Naked Person is littered with striking moments that fit casually into Blank's study of fame and aspiration.
Posted Jul 02, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Mala Mala (2014) Jen Chaney Co-directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini approach their subjects with healthy curiosity and consistent respect.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
Malice (1993) Scott Tobias The fun of Malice comes from Sorkin, Frank, and Harold Becker understanding the been-there/done-that formulas of thrillers past and tinkering with them as much as possible.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
5/5
Five Easy Pieces (1970) Noel Murray Director Bob Rafelson attempts something unusual here, making a film that's subtle about its meaning without ever ranging into the pretentiously oblique or merely ambiguous.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Les tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (Up to His Ears) (2013) Craig J. Clark The breakneck pace becomes wearying, though, as the action rarely pauses long enough for the characters or the audience to catch their breath.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
That Man From Rio (1964) Craig J. Clark It's a picturesque adventure filled with a logic-bending plot and death-defying stunts.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
2/5
Max (2015) Scott Tobias Max tries to get away with standard-issue dog-adventure tropes by assuming the exultant tone of other coming-home dramas about heroic Marines.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World (2015) Tasha Robinson The footage is simultaneously spectacular and intimate, with plenty of adorable-child moments.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
2/5
The Princess of France (2014) Mike D'Angelo The Princess Of France ambles from one low-key encounter to another, rarely engaging directly with the Bard, and never elevating its heart rate beyond the resting level.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Felt (2014) Scott Tobias The payoff may be predictable, but Banker and Everson are refreshingly unclear about how they-and viewers-feel about it.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
1.5/5
Ted 2 (2015) Genevieve Koski Ted 2 is a repetitive, self-congratulatory slog, dragged down by a haphazard plot and the same third-act problems that ultimately sunk the first film.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
The Little Death (2014) Scott Tobias it goes down as easy as Junior Soprano on Bobbi Sanfillipo, which is both a blessing and a curse for Lawson's Hollywood-slick romantic comedy.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Dancing Arabs (2014) Keith Phipps It uses moments of dark humor to great effect in the midst of an otherwise-sober film.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
4.5/5
Cartel Land (2015) Scott Tobias Cartel Land combines video journalism and ecstatic beauty filmmaking to devastating effect, like real life framed as a breathlessly paced thriller.
Posted Jul 01, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
A Murder in the Park (2014) Scott Tobias As a loaded summary of an important, disquieting chapter in Illinois legal history, it gets the blood boiling, and suggests a justice system open to manipulation by bad actors.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
Glass Chin (2014) Matthew Dessem Stoll and Ireland are both in top form-Ireland, in particular, brings heartbreaking depth to a part that usually gets short shrift in noirs.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
The Midnight Swim (2014) Andrew Lapin Burdge, Lafleur, and Palladino are effortlessly believable as sisters, but that only makes it a shame that the script doesn't take fuller advantage of their innate chemistry.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Fresh Dressed (2015) Keith Phipps Jenkins clearly knows the territory and has access to all the right people, but he doesn't really push in the places that could benefit from pushing.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
1.5/5
Bound to Vengeance (2015) Charles Bramesco José Manuel Cravioto's wants so badly to work the femsploitation angle, but has no functional understanding of the crucial factors that distinguish between the good and bad apples.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
7 Minutes (2014) Chris Klimek It's handsomely shot and reasonably well-acted, and it'll likely get Martin better gigs as a director, if not a screenwriter.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
A Little Chaos (2014) Kate Erbland While he shines in his supporting role as the satisfyingly complex king, it's hard not to imagine what the film would have looked like with Rickman as the romantic lead.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Advantageous (2015) Mike D'Angelo Advantageous makes a superb showcase for Kim, a hugely underrated and underutilized talent.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
3/5
Big Game (2014) Noel Murray If nothing else, Helander has properly schooled his actors on just what this film is, and they respond by playing their parts with infectious gusto.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014) Scott Tobias It takes such a limited view of this multi-faceted figure that it fails as portraiture, and the real center of the film is too much of a bland good guy to compensate.
Posted Jun 24, 2015  Edit critic review
4/5
The Fisher King (1991) Noel Murray Gilliam exaggerates the romanticism, the grotesquerie, and the personal pain that runs through LaGravenese's story, creating a reality where the more preposterous turns make sense.
Posted Jun 22, 2015  Edit critic review
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