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Tom O'Brien

Tom O'Brien's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
WTO/99 (2025) 83% 6/10 EDIT “Though the protests against economic globalization began to fade after 9/11, those demanding justice remain on the streets to this day, and the fighting spirit exhibited in "WTO/99" captures that struggle in a vivid and inspiring way.” – Next Best Picture Dec 3, 2025 Full Review Merrily We Roll Along (2025) 95% 7/10 EDIT “It is perhaps Radcliffe, who makes the most of the show’s move to film. An experienced film actor who won his first Tony Award for his work here, he knows just how much to modulate his stage performance to fit the intimacy of this very different medium.” – Next Best Picture Oct 29, 2025 Full Review What Does that Nature Say to You (2025) 100% 7/10 EDIT “With “What Does That Nature Say to You,” Hong has at last achieved a comfortable balance between exploring his familiar themes of the artistic process and familial relationships while never losing sight of entertaining his audience.” – Next Best Picture Oct 9, 2025 Full Review Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (2025) 98% 8/10 EDIT “It serves as a snapshot of one last year in the life of a young Palestinian artist whose courage and honesty now have the power to change minds and touch hearts. And that, in the long term, can be as powerful a weapon as any.” – Next Best Picture Oct 4, 2025 Full Review Or Something (2024) 6/10 EDIT “Comedy partners since 2021, Rahma and Neely are attuned to each other's rhythms, both as writers and performers, and the ease they have working with each other (even when their characters are in conflict) creates a chemistry that you can't buy.” – Next Best Picture Aug 21, 2025 Full Review Leads (2025) 7/10 EDIT “In “Leads,” Poyser displays one of the rarest skills that a young indie director can have: he is confident enough to pause and let his characters breathe. ” – Next Best Picture Jun 9, 2025 Full Review Words of War (2025) 75% 6/10 EDIT ““Words of War” follows similar themes and narrative beats as last year’s female-journalist-under-fire offering, “Lee,” starring Kate Winslet, in which a sterling central performance is surrounded by a film that’s not up to her standards.” – Next Best Picture May 5, 2025 Full Review Cheech & Chong's Last Movie (2024) 87% 4/10 EDIT “Sadly, if Cheech & Chong stays true to the film’s title and makes this their last movie, it strikes a disappointing note on which to end this talented duo’s cinematic career.” – Next Best Picture Apr 24, 2025 Full Review The Age of Disclosure (2025) 27% 5/10 EDIT “At its most speculative point, “The Age of Disclosure” comes off as “Unsolved Mysteries” dressed up in a suit and tie.” – Next Best Picture Mar 18, 2025 Full Review The Spies Among Us (2025) 8/10 EDIT “The level of historical information that “The Spies Among Us” presents is impressive. Still, it wouldn’t be nearly as impactful if we didn’t identify with Peter so strongly and understand the importance that unlocking a family secret means to him.” – Next Best Picture Mar 13, 2025 Full Review The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024) 86% 8/10 EDIT “Unlike other recent animation films that strain to include pop culture references or sneering put-downs, the humor of “The Day the Earth Blew Up” captures the essence of what made those classic cartoons so funny.” – Next Best Picture Mar 11, 2025 Full Review Ne Zha II (2025) 91% 7/10 EDIT “As distinctive as the imagery may have been in the first film, Yu Yang tops it here with several images that take you out of the battle you're watching to pause to admire their sheer beauty” – Next Best Picture Mar 6, 2025 Full Review Waves (2024) 8/10 EDIT “The spine of any successful film is its screenplay, and the precision with which Mádl has created and assembled the building blocks of his narrative is the source of his film’s strength.” – Next Best Picture Jan 10, 2025 Full Review Waltzing with Brando (2024) 56% 4/10 EDIT “As fine an actor as each man is, there’s relatively little natural chemistry between Zane and Heder, so the bond we are told the characters have is difficult to fully believe.” – Next Best Picture Jan 10, 2025 Full Review The Colors Within (2024) 92% 7/10 EDIT “To see Totsuko finally gather the courage to change the things she can is an inspiration to us all, and in “The Colors Within,” Yamada has captured such a key moment in a young person’s life with enormous style and grace.” – Next Best Picture Jan 9, 2025 Full Review Architecton (2024) 95% 8/10 EDIT “Kossakovsky doesn't provide a quick answer – he's merely posing the question – but it needs to be confronted before most of our most cherished buildings – both ancient and modern – become little more than piles of toxic rubble.” – Next Best Picture Dec 11, 2024 Full Review Meanwhile on Earth (2024) 82% 6/10 EDIT “Despite the screenplay turbulence that threatened to derail “Meanwhile on Earth” in Act 2, Clapin managed to land the plane with style. ” – Next Best Picture Nov 8, 2024 Full Review To a Land Unknown (2024) 98% 8/10 EDIT “The fact that the film is so effectively moving can be credited mainly to its extremely well-crafted screenplay by Fleifel, Fyzal Boulifa, and Jason McColgan.” – Next Best Picture Nov 5, 2024 Full Review Soundtrack to a Coup d'État (2024) 97% 8/10 EDIT “Among the many remarkable elements of “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat” is Grimonprez’s decision to tell his tale on an epic scale, which, despite the vast number of people, places, and issues that he introduces, he brilliantly manages to make sense.” – Next Best Picture Nov 1, 2024 Full Review DEVO (2024) 85% 5/10 EDIT “While “DEVO” provides an entertaining 90 minutes, it needed Smith to break out of the confines of the tropes of music docs and bring that same spirit of anarchy to his filmmaking as well.” – Next Best Picture Oct 30, 2024 Full Review Gaucho Gaucho (2024) 95% 8/10 EDIT “For 84 luminous minutes, Dweck and Kershaw have offered us a rare and valuable window into a proud culture for whom traditions are sacred and community is everything.” – Next Best Picture Oct 24, 2024 Full Review Nocturnes (2024) 93% 6/10 EDIT “Their sounds are so finely mixed that after some time, you begin to believe that you can actually recognize and distinguish from which creature the sounds are coming. It’s a remarkable piece of sound design.” – Next Best Picture Oct 18, 2024 Full Review Afternoons of Solitude (2024) 88% 8/10 EDIT “Serra’s indecisiveness about his subjects has extended to this reviewer as well. Watching “Afternoons of Solitude” is a thrilling and challenging theater experience, and it’s not one you’ll wish to repeat soon.” – Next Best Picture Oct 17, 2024 Full Review Who by Fire (2024) 80% 7/10 EDIT “Yet so much of “Who By Fire” works precisely because Lesage imbues his characters with the kind of enormous vitality that keeps us invested in their fate.” – Next Best Picture Oct 14, 2024 Full Review A Traveler's Needs (2024) 81% 6/10 EDIT “Even if the quirky charms of “A Traveler’s Needs” are not quite enough to place it in the top tier of Hong’s work, there’s still enormous pleasure to be had at its perceptive look at the games that even well-intentioned people play.” – Next Best Picture Oct 8, 2024 Full Review
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