Skip to content
  • weekly digest email
  • join my Patreon
  • join my Substack
  • my books
  • about/contact
  • twitter
  • rotten tomatoes
  • letterboxd
  • goodreads
  • pinterest
  • rss
FlickFilosopher.com

film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022

  • on Netflix
  • movies for the resistance
  • classic film virgin
  • directed by women
    • Where Are the Women? project
  • cinemas
    • US and Canada
    • UK and Ireland
  • dvd/vod
    • US and Canada
    • UK and Ireland
  • 2022’s films ranked
    • 2021’s films ranked
    • 2020’s films ranked
    • 2019’s films ranked
  • all recent posts
    • archives by month
  • all reviews
    • A–M
    • N–Z
    • Oscars Best Pix
    • Oscars Best Animated Pix
  • new comments

2022 releases

Theirs Is the Kingdom documentary review: art is not a luxury

Sun, Apr 17, 2022
1 comment

Lovely, gentle look at an artwork honoring the marginalized. A compassionate challenge to cultural assumptions, including those that decenter the poor and insist that art is a luxury, not a necessity.

| 1 Comment

Navalny documentary review: celebrating the biggest pain in Putin’s ass

Thu, Apr 14, 2022
no comments yet

Spectacularly entertaining. As gripping, as suspenseful as a finely wrought fictional thriller; a sheer delight as a portrait of the man himself. Films don’t get much more daring or crucial than this.

| Leave a comment

The Bad Guys movie review: criminally fun

Fri, Apr 08, 2022
2 comments

A snappy, snarky, never-ever sentimental concoction of cartoon chaos meets hip heist flick. Its breezy swagger extends to the delightful animation, organic and mellow, hot and cool at the same time.

| 2 Comments

Ambulance movie review: dead on arrival

Fri, Apr 01, 2022
3 comments

A screaming deluge of metal and rubber devoid of drama, suspense, and elegance. Instead it’s random vehicular chaos enacted with the same energy of a four-year-old smashing his toys into one another.

| 3 Comments

Olga movie review: coming out swinging for Ukraine

Thu, Mar 17, 2022
no comments yet

Poignant, pointed drama about a teenage Ukrainian gymnast fuses the personal and the political in a portrait of the spirit of Ukraine that is now being tested in the worst way. Incredibly affecting.

| Leave a comment

Gold movie review: dust in the wind

Sun, Mar 13, 2022
no comments yet

In a dry, dusty, desperate landscape, Zac Efron goes full grunge, effectively underplaying physical and psychological implosion. But there’s nothing unexpected in this brutal open-air chamber piece.

| Leave a comment

The Batman movie review: to bat, or not to bat

Sun, Mar 06, 2022
7 comments

No snark, no spandex pantomime spectacle. Just noir mystery, Pattinson’s sad recluse a detective in a cesspit of corruption. Relentlessly grim, all darkness and despair, not escapist but of our time.

| 7 Comments

The Burning Sea (Nordsjøen) movie review: nightmare (fossil) fuel

Thu, Mar 03, 2022
no comments yet

Not terribly disastrous… until it is. Then movie-movie melodrama gives way to eco-cataclysm and new realms of planetary existential nightmare. I cannot recall a movie’s ending haunting me this much.

| Leave a comment

Dog movie review: magic mutt

Fri, Feb 18, 2022
no comments yet

Wounded veterans in reluctant-buddy road trip. Allegedly a comedy, but I don’t see much evidence for that. The schmaltz may be slightly more convincing than the comedy, but it’s a low bar to get over.

| Leave a comment

Death on the Nile movie review: Kenneth Branagh steps in the same river twice

Wed, Feb 16, 2022
7 comments

This should be salacious! We should revel in the seething jealousy and simmering resentments! But there’s not much suspense or engagement in waiting for someone to die, nor in finding out whodunnit.

| 7 Comments
Post navigation
Older posts
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 Page2 Page3 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 weekly digest email at Substack.

shop to support




Watch on Apple TV

PayPalMe
PayPal me...
FlickFilosopher.com does not accept ads, guest posts, link placements, or sponsored content.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

member
Online Film Critics Society


member
Alliance of Women Film Journalists

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 © 1997–2022 MaryAnn Johanson. All rights reserved.
No content appearing on this site may be reproduced, reposted, or reused in any manner without express written permission.
privacy policy | hosted by Fused