Skip to content
  • weekly digest email
  • Patreon (paid or free)
  • Substack (paid or free)
  • my books
  • about/contact
  • social media, etc
  • sponsorship
  • rss
FlickFilosopher.com

handcrafted by maryann johanson (human) | 100% free of AIs and algorithms

  • 21st-century sci-fi
  • movies for the resistance
  • classic film virgin
  • directed by women
    • Where Are the Women? project
  • in cinemas
    • US and Canada
    • UK and Ireland
  • watch at home
    • US and Canada
    • UK and Ireland
  • 2026’s films ranked
    • 2025’s films ranked
    • 2024’s films ranked
    • 2023’s films ranked
    • 2022’s films ranked
  • all recent posts
    • archives by month
  • all reviews
    • A–M
    • N–Z
    • Oscars Best Pix
    • Oscars Best Animated Pix
  • new comments

spy

Black Panther movie review: absolute Marvel

Thu, Feb 15, 2018
63 comments

Classic comic-book stuff made fresh by drawing on underexplored mythologies and cultures, yet still deeply resonant and deeply universal. An exhilarating pulp-fiction dream that ups the ante on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

| 63 Comments

American Made movie review: they’re quite bad fellas, in fact

Mon, Sep 25, 2017
4 comments

Style and humor galore, and a hugely entertaining performance from Tom Cruise. But should a true story of immense governmental corruption be quite this fun?

| 4 Comments

Kingsman: The Golden Circle movie review: deliver us from “edgy”

Mon, Sep 25, 2017
115 comments

Save us from male artists who think they are dangerously, uniquely innovative. This stew of toxic masculinity and CGI-cartoon violence is nothing but tediously mundane.

| 115 Comments

American Assassin movie review: we’ve CIAn it all before

Sun, Sep 17, 2017
6 comments

It’s tormented hotheads all around with a hero and villain who are almost indistinguishable and same-old spy stuff racing to a seen-it, been-there ticking-clock finale.

| 6 Comments

Atomic Blonde movie review: bland ambition

Fri, Aug 11, 2017
33 comments

The living, breathing, bleeding life of the breathtaking fight scenes cannot overcome confusingly twisty spy intrigue and multiple male gazes on the story.

| 33 Comments

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets movie review: story of a thousand clichés

Thu, Aug 03, 2017
45 comments

There is barely an original thought in this wackadoodle sci-fi panto, just a lot of tiresome passé attitudes skidding among bug-eyed-monster set dressing.

| 45 Comments

Scribe (La mécanique de l’ombre) movie review: all tapped out

Fri, Jul 21, 2017
no comments yet

This would-be faux-70s paranoid thriller piles on too-obvious intrigue and embarrassing clichés, and lacks suspense, thrills, and a protagonist to care about.

| Leave a comment

Unlocked movie review: the spy who broke the female mold

Fri, May 05, 2017
1 comment

There’s stuff in this spy thriller that’s fresh, and lots that’s familiar, but Noomi Rapace using her brains and brawn to fight bad guys is a genuine thrill.

| 1 Comment

Queen of the Desert movie review: Gertrude Bell gets forgotten again

Wed, Apr 26, 2017
13 comments

This may be Werner Herzog’s most conventional film, but its mostly untold true story knows what it means for a woman to choose a life of adventure and intellect.

| 13 Comments
Snowden green light

Snowden movie review: the system’s self-correction

Mon, Apr 03, 2017
2 comments

A gripping précis of what Edward Snowden learned at the CIA and NSA, why he went public, and why it matters. Entertaining yet also deeply unsettling.

| 2 Comments
Older posts
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4 … Page11 Next →

sf/f/h flash fiction by me

Cultural Artifacts cover
now on Kindle Unlimited!

try KU for free:
US Amazon
Can Amazon
UK Amazon

please help keep truly independent film criticism alive!
support my work at Patreon  support my work at Substack
Pledge your support now at Patreon or Substack.
FREE regular streaming recommendations via Substack and Patreon.
Or make a one-time or recurring donation via PayPal. (PayPal account not required; debit/credit card payment available.)

shop to support




Watch on Apple TV

When you purchase or rent almost anything from Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, and Apple TV, Books, and Music (globally), I get a small affiliate fee that helps support my work. Please use my links if you can! (Affiliate fees do not increase your cost.) Thank you!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
sample sponsored post (sponsored) - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis risus odio.


member
Online Film Critics Society


member
Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Vuelio top-10 UK film blog


Tomatometer-approved critic on
Rotten Tomatoes


top critic
Movie Review Query Engine

Amazon US author page
Amazon UK author page


executive member
International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
Copyright © 1997–2026 MaryAnn Johanson. All rights reserved.
No content appearing on this site may be reproduced, reposted, or reused in any manner without express written permission.
All images appearing on this site not created by me are utilized under fair-use doctrines.
No images or text appearing on this site may be used to train artificial intelligence.
privacy policy | hosted by Fused