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Wallace Baine

Tomatometer-approved critic
Official Website:

http://www.wallacebaine.com

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
The American President (1995) 90% B+ EDIT “As a romance, "President" hits all the right buttons and plays out the absurdity of the situation beautifully. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jan 20, 2026 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 95% B+ EDIT “The Two Towers is thoroughly enjoyable, sometimes even breathtaking, despite the fact that it feels less like a movie and more like an episode of a mini-series.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jan 13, 2026 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 91% B- EDIT “Love proves an illusory goal in an epic that doesn't conjure much magic that wasn't already there in J.R.R. Tolkien's original text.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jan 13, 2026 Full Review The Celluloid Closet (1995) 96% A EDIT “Entertaining from the first minute. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Oct 8, 2025 Full Review Spider-Man (2002) 90% A- EDIT “What you'll get is a more-or-less faithful re-telling oh how young Parker went from zero to hero -- with a nicely accessible performance from star Tobey Maguire and thrilling visuals. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Sep 24, 2025 Full Review Boogie Nights (1997) 91% A- EDIT “Boogie Nights might be the first honest exploration of the hedonist show-biz soul of the 1970s ever committed to film. Funny that it took a director who was a schoolboy at the time to do it.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Sep 24, 2025 Full Review Toy Story (1995) 100% A EDIT “Toy Story is a blast from start to finish, and any kid between 2 and 12 ho doesn't love this movie has a serious Wednesday Addams complex.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Sep 10, 2025 Full Review Requiem for a Dream (2000) 80% A- EDIT “It's a deeply uncomfortable, even appalling film to watch. But there's no denying Aronofsky's mad genius behind the camera.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Aug 22, 2025 Full Review Babe (1995) 98% A EDIT “Laugh if you want to, sophistos, but here's something that may surprise you. "Babe" is a wonderfully engaging film, a live-action fable that blends a distinctly "Animal Farm" social take with a pleasingly droll comic touch.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jul 30, 2025 Full Review Hercules (1997) 83% B+ EDIT “Hercules will probably not be remembered as one of Disney's greatest films. But that is only because it is following in the steps of immortals. Still, the new toon is funny, smart, imaginative and vividly realized. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Dec 18, 2024 Full Review The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) 80% B+ EDIT “What makes this claptrap plotting work so wonderfully, however, is Disney's approach, a dark and seductive panorama that brims with subtext. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Dec 18, 2024 Full Review Pocahontas (1995) 59% C EDIT “There is nothing wrong per se with Pocahontas. Disney's only mistake is that it made the same movie -- and made it better -- back in 1989.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Dec 17, 2024 Full Review Little Women (1994) 92% EDIT “Little Women connects us to the brand of American idealism common in the days before media culture, a piece of art with an undisguised purpose to educate, enlighten and inspire. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Apr 10, 2024 Full Review Almost Famous (2000) 91% A EDIT “Crowe's eye-popping success with Jerry Maguire gave him a blank check with the studio suits. He's used it to make a heartfelt memoir of an era too often not given its due.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Mar 26, 2024 Full Review Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) 92% B+ EDIT “Eventually, "Four Weddings" succumbs to the kind of soggy self-obsession and trumped-up dramatics of most love stories. But it doesn't dim the luster of the revelation that is Hugh Grant's performance.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Feb 28, 2024 Full Review Amélie (2001) 90% A EDIT “You can pass on the cakes and cookies this holiday season, but indulge in the crème brulee of "Amelie." It hits the spot.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Feb 13, 2024 Full Review Quiz Show (1994) 97% A EDIT “Wonderful subtext and crisscrossing themes make this an Oscar contender.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Feb 10, 2024 Full Review Smoke Signals (1998) 90% A- EDIT “If Alexie's intention is to fight back a century's worth of negative stereotyping, he does it with humor, grace and an appealing sense of self-deprecation.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Nov 8, 2023 Full Review The Exorcist (1973) 78% A EDIT “William Friedkin's disturbing drama set the standard for Satanic themes in movies for years and some of the exorcism images quickly became pop-culture shorthand. See it, if you haven't, but don't eat pea soup beforehand. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Sep 28, 2023 Full Review Y tu mamá también (2001) 90% A- EDIT “This is a movie that bristles with spontaneity and brims with subtext.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Sep 9, 2023 Full Review Mulholland Dr. (2001) 84% B EDIT “Much of the film unfolds in satisfying fashion as a compelling mystery of dark allure set amongst the much-maligned environment of Hollywood. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jul 11, 2023 Full Review The Truman Show (1998) 94% A EDIT “Post-O.J., post-Diana, a scenario like The Truman Show becomes a more and more vivid reminder that media realities, however true-to-life, are contrived realities and our thirst for vicarious thrills trumps our respect for other's dignity.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Feb 8, 2023 Full Review The Big Lebowski (1998) 79% C+ EDIT “The burden of being Hollywood's hippest filmmakers looks to be weighing heavily on the Coen brothers. After Fargo, "Lebowski" is a return to the overly manner film-nerd humor of The Hudsucker Proxy. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Jan 24, 2023 Full Review Braveheart (1995) 76% A- EDIT “Braveheart is an astonishing spectacle of blood and heart, a virile and punishing epic, less interested in historical relevance than in grandiose myth-making. ” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Nov 18, 2022 Full Review Gladiator (2000) 80% C EDIT “Gladiator is a cynical exercise. It gives historical legitimacy to a pageant of mayhem every bit as ritualized as professional wrestling. It's loud, bloody and empty. The crowds will love it.” – Santa Cruz Sentinel Nov 1, 2022 Full Review
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