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The News Lens International

The News Lens International is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): CJ Sheu.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
La Chimera (2023) CJ Sheu Not just Arthur, the film itself is immersed in the past.
Posted Nov 12, 2024  Edit critic review
Gavagai (2018) CJ Sheu Cerebrally intriguing but somniferously monotonous, watching Gavagai feels just like reading the first half of this sentence.
Posted Nov 05, 2024  Edit critic review
My First Film (2024) CJ Sheu Anger’s coming of age isn’t about arriving at the answers, but about knowing how to ask the questions.
Posted Oct 31, 2024  Edit critic review
Clytaemnestra (2021) CJ Sheu We know that Clytaemnestra’s pressure cooker will explode; the fun is in seeing how the cracks form.
Posted Sep 23, 2024  Edit critic review
Benediction (2021) CJ Sheu Transcendent performances and visionary direction make for a numinous final film by Terence Davies.
Posted Sep 06, 2024  Edit critic review
Showing Up (2022) CJ Sheu Reichardt is one of the few directors who truly knows how to use Williams, and the resulting portrait is detailed, deep, and compassionate.
Posted Aug 26, 2024  Edit critic review
The Idea of You (2024) CJ Sheu The film in general has a reasonable proximity to realist logic, but it’s still a rom-com, so there’s at least some fantasy involved. . . . It’s just a really good film.
Posted Aug 20, 2024  Edit critic review
Hit Man (2023) CJ Sheu As the object of desire, what Powell gives is less chemistry than capybara, but that’s okay, because Arjona’s performance is so hot that I was surprised the screen didn’t start smoking.
Posted Aug 01, 2024  Edit critic review
Civil War (2024) CJ Sheu If beauty is the sole standard for their work, then the film’s view of war photography is as an aesthetic death cult.
Posted Jul 15, 2024  Edit critic review
Godzilla Minus One (2023) CJ Sheu Almost all the men are veterans who’ve seen the horrors behind the old lie, Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (“It’s sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”). . . . “Not having been to war is something to be proud of[.]”
Posted Jun 26, 2024  Edit critic review
Soviet Bus Stops (2022) CJ Sheu Indelible bus stops and a retro soundtrack from behind the Iron Curtain can’t hide the fact that this film is essentially a 57-minute commercial for the two photography books from which it’s adapted.
Posted Jun 12, 2024  Edit critic review
Challengers (2024) CJ Sheu Tashi’s beautiful, but the boys aren’t attracted to HER. What they want is to be near her greatness, to have it, to be great; they don’t want to be in her, they want to BE HER.... No, the real source of sexual chemistry is between the boys.
Posted May 31, 2024  Edit critic review
Hotel by the River (2018) CJ Sheu So that’s the plot, and it only exists so that the characters can hold forth on gender dynamics in the second act. But before that, we get to luxuriate in the muted winter beauty of the river scenery, accentuated by the crisp black-and-white digital image
Posted May 24, 2024  Edit critic review
Eileen (2023) CJ Sheu The film’s story and character arcs are broadly predictable, and there are few noteworthy plot details to speak of. ... Once logic goes out the window, it doesn’t come back.
Posted Apr 26, 2024  Edit critic review
The Woman Who Ran (2019) CJ Sheu Though only one woman has run in The Woman Who Ran, it seems like every woman wants to.
Posted Apr 18, 2024  Edit critic review
The Holdovers (2023) CJ Sheu Absolutely nothing new happens in Alexander Payne’s surprisingly warm and fuzzy film, but it’s a perfectly fine way to while away 135 minutes. And — who knows? — you might even remember some well-worn yet valuable life lessons.
Posted Apr 01, 2024  Edit critic review
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) CJ Sheu At the end of the film’s 150 minutes, there’s a verdict, but Sandra is still the only person who knows if she killed Samuel. The only thing we can be sure of is that the trial, and any such trial, is a farce.
Posted Mar 24, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls and Panzer the Finale: Part II (2019) CJ Sheu The girls are funny and cute, the tanks are historically accurate, and the battles are fierce and competently portrayed for the most part.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part IV (2023) CJ Sheu Despite its ridiculous premise, this hit anime franchise has action, humor, historical accuracy, and heart — though the latest installment takes a slight dip.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 3 (2021) CJ Sheu The girls are funny and cute, the tanks are historically accurate, and the battles are fierce and competently portrayed for the most part.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls und Panzer: This is the real Anzio Battle (2014) CJ Sheu These cultural and military stereotypes don’t just inform the respective battle tactics; they’re also incredibly funny.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls und Panzer: The Movie (2015) CJ Sheu The girls are funny and cute, the tanks are historically accurate, and the battles are fierce and competently portrayed for the most part.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 1 (2017) CJ Sheu The girls are funny and cute, the tanks are historically accurate, and the battles are fierce and competently portrayed for the most part.
Posted Mar 18, 2024  Edit critic review
Leave the World Behind (2023) CJ Sheu The film has more impossible shots than the Harlem Globetrotters.
Posted Mar 06, 2024  Edit critic review
Poor Things (2023) CJ Sheu Set against colorfully artificial production design and a weird premise that’s typical of Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things masters the coming of age vibe.
Posted Feb 29, 2024  Edit critic review
Anyone But You (2023) CJ Sheu Anyone but You is a standout return to rom-com form powered by the acting chops, wit, and frankly stunning looks of its two leads.
Posted Feb 26, 2024  Edit critic review
Afire (2023) CJ Sheu Petzold has gotten less subtle over the years, and this is probably his bluntest film yet. But his trademark haunting conflicted poignancy is still there in the ending.
Posted Jan 30, 2024  Edit critic review
Ferrari (2023) CJ Sheu The film portrays characters mostly running smoothly in the face of death around every corner, of the road and of life.
Posted Jan 24, 2024  Edit critic review
Fair Play (2023) CJ Sheu Effective sound design and solid acting anchor an overdetermined and melodramatic plot.
Posted Jan 03, 2024  Edit critic review
Napoleon (2023) CJ Sheu The main cast does excellent work, no thanks to the slow pacing and underlit imagery. Ridley Scott can’t decide if Napoleon is tortured, pitiable, or just plain silly.
Posted Dec 19, 2023  Edit critic review
May December (2023) CJ Sheu A farcical black social comedy, Todd Haynes’s May December offers a catty and campy twist on Bergman’s Persona, satirizing Hollywood along the way.
Posted Nov 30, 2023  Edit critic review
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR (2023) CJ Sheu Small imperfections aside, the film succeeds beyond our wildest dreams at its two aims: to offer a religious experience for us Swifties, and to spread the gospel of Swift far and wide[.]
Posted Nov 14, 2023  Edit critic review
The Boy and the Heron (2023) CJ Sheu At its core, this is Miyazaki’s The Tempest[.]
Posted Oct 30, 2023  Edit critic review
A Haunting in Venice (2023) CJ Sheu A Haunting in Venice elevates well-worn genre tropes with exceptional casting and filmmaking flair to create a satisfying experience.
Posted Oct 25, 2023  Edit critic review
Inspector Sun (2022) CJ Sheu I hope Chieng was paid handsomely.
Posted Oct 06, 2023  Edit critic review
The Moon (2023) CJ Sheu Is it good? Not really. But the excitement and explosions still manage to deliver.
Posted Aug 31, 2023  Edit critic review
Past Lives (2023) CJ Sheu [F]or all the talk of in-yun, the true past life is the one Nora left behind in Korea[.]
Posted Aug 17, 2023  Edit critic review
Small, Slow But Steady (2022) CJ Sheu Over the course of its 99 minutes, one learns to inhabit Keiko’s quietude, and even begins to feel the power that lies at its center.
Posted Jul 31, 2023  Edit critic review
In Water (2023) CJ Sheu For those who have no patience [...], Hong is saying that [...] they’re too shortsighted. But for those who are willing to go with it [...], he shows how even the immature work of a nascent artist, crude as it may be, has a charm all its own.
Posted Jul 13, 2023  Edit critic review
Decision to Leave (2022) CJ Sheu Style is the name of the exposition game[....] What’s a little murder in the face of true love?
Posted Jul 11, 2023  Edit critic review
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) CJ Sheu [W]hat’s fast becoming this series’ calling card: action sequences that defy all spatial orientation and come at you at the speed of thought while meticulously maintaining coherence and clarity of audience focus.
Posted Jul 04, 2023  Edit critic review
Dealing with Dad (2022) CJ Sheu The Americanized grown children of Asian immigrants come to terms with the poor emotional parenting of their father. The real twist isn’t in the premise of the Taiwanese father having depression but rather what if he actually doesn’t have a heart of gold?
Posted May 25, 2023  Edit critic review
Rally Road Racers (2023) CJ Sheu Yet derivative as it is, a good time can still be had by kids who haven’t seen the films on which it draws.
Posted May 09, 2023  Edit critic review
Anime Supremacy! (2022) CJ Sheu The film stiffs the working class in order to stick it to the man. As for the performances, perhaps the characters have been making children’s shows for too long.
Posted Apr 18, 2023  Edit critic review
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) CJ Sheu Who knew the Wickiverse was a (murderous) utopia?
Posted Apr 06, 2023  Edit critic review
Cyber Heist (2023) CJ Sheu Given how many Chinese provinces joined the production, if this is the best they can do, Hollywood has nothing to fear.
Posted Mar 24, 2023  Edit critic review
Return to Seoul (2022) CJ Sheu Yet despite the broad familiarity of the story and character, the specific details fascinate (arms dealer?!), and Park’s nuanced and layered performance, with some layers contradicting others, is never less than attention-grabbing.
Posted Mar 06, 2023  Edit critic review
The Novelist's Film (2022) CJ Sheu We feel the purity of art, how isolated the circuit is from the artist to the work and back. The impact of all art is on the individual first, and the burden of creating and fashioning that individual impact is shouldered by each artist in their own way.
Posted Mar 06, 2023  Edit critic review
Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV (2023) CJ Sheu What makes it special is the sheer number of Paik’s works excerpted throughout. ... For most of the film’s running time, Paik’s work as conveyed in "Nam June Paik" still looks like it comes from the future.
Posted Feb 07, 2023  Edit critic review
Bad Press (2023) CJ Sheu In an atmosphere of pervasive media bashing, the film reminds us of just how much worse things would be without it.
Posted Feb 07, 2023  Edit critic review
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