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Joey Morona
Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:
Life and culture reporter at cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer
Publications:
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) |
The "long-awaited" sequel to "Beetlejuice" is nothing more than a series of forced memory pops designed to conjure up feelings of nostalgia. But what happens when you realize the original may not have been as good as you remember?
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Sep 04, 2024
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Alien: Romulus (2024) |
The scariest Alien movie in decades: a chaotic, no-holds-barred ride that won’t make you smarter but might keep you up at night. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Aug 14, 2024
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Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) |
Deadpool & Wolverine is an absolute blast: an action-packed, hilarious, heartfelt and inventive love letter to Marvel fans 25+ years in the making. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 23, 2024
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Twisters (2024) |
'Twisters' generally goes down smoothly thanks in large part to Glen Powell, the reigning 'Rizz King of Hollywood.' - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 17, 2024
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Inside Out 2 (2024) |
Though not as personal or interesting as Turning Red, Pixar's latest is still a smart, entertaining and engaging coming-of-age story. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jun 12, 2024
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Challengers (2024) |
Subversive, provocative and playful, Challengers is ultimately undermined by a bonkers ending. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Apr 24, 2024
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) |
'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' is dragged down by its obsession with the past. If the franchise is to continue, its caretakers could learn something from another 'Frozen' and let it go. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Mar 20, 2024
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Drive-Away Dolls (2024) |
Weird, queer and unapologetically unserious, Drive-Away Dolls is disposable and inexplicable fun. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Feb 21, 2024
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Dune: Part Two (2024) |
I could watch Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya stare into each other’s deep blue eyes all day. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Feb 21, 2024
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Bob Marley: One Love (2024) |
Seems more interested in deifying its subject than going any deeper than a surface-level examination of the man behind the music. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Feb 13, 2024
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Argylle (2024) |
No, Taylor Swift did not write the source material for "Argylle." That much becomes obvious fairly quickly as Swift has never written anything as unserious and ridiculous as this. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jan 31, 2024
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Mean Girls (2024) |
Two decades after the original came out, in a world where everybody is too online, the cautionary tale of Mean Girls is more timely than ever. And now you can dance to it. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jan 10, 2024
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American Fiction (2023) |
American Fiction takes great pleasure in making fun of the kind of awards bait Hollywood routinely puts out. The fact that the film turns out to be exactly that isn’t just ironic. It’s brilliant.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jan 09, 2024
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The Color Purple (2023) |
Melodramatic, hopeful and richly entertaining, the new The Color Purple is epic filmmaking. It’s the movie you remember seeing in 1985, but also one that feels brand new. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Dec 21, 2023
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Poor Things (2023) |
Poor Things is a singular experience. Powered by the intoxicating and fearless Emma Stone, the film is full of life: dark, funny, curious, whimsical, weird -- and wildly libidinous. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Dec 19, 2023
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Wonka (2023) |
Wonka's message is old-fashioned and somewhat corny. But in an extraordinary film like this one, it goes down smooth like chocolate.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Dec 13, 2023
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Maestro (2023) |
Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic is a stylish and intimate portrait of a complicated love story. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Dec 06, 2023
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) |
Like the Hunger Games themselves, the film isn’t so much entertainment as it is an exercise in survival. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 15, 2023
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Next Goal Wins (2023) |
The latest from director Taika Waititi is at times an incoherent, hastily produced mess. Yet, the movie’s charms are hard to resist. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 14, 2023
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The Marvels (2023) |
Campy, weird, confusing and yet oddly moving. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 08, 2023
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Foe (2023) |
The twist is so sneaky, in fact, the film might require a second viewing to fully appreciate (detest?) the level of manipulation at work here. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Oct 18, 2023
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A Haunting in Venice (2023) |
Branagh’s Venice is indeed chilling, dark and full of secrets, but he fails to populate it with an interesting mix of characters and motives. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Haunted Mansion (2023) |
Haunted Mansion's message about the need for human connection in the face of overwhelming grief is compelling and emotional. But it gets shortchanged by a corny and mostly frightless ghost adventure. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 25, 2023
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Oppenheimer (2023) |
A deeply moving and incredibly haunting story of a complex man. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 19, 2023
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Barbie (2023) |
Barbie is a modern fairy tale that speaks to the current moment where individuality is under attack and does it with humor, optimism and depth. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t stop smiling until the credits rolled. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 19, 2023
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) |
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is classic, edge-of-your-seat summer escapism. It's strong enough to stand on its own, but also leaves the audience wanting more without getting too cute about it. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 11, 2023
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) |
Harrison Ford proves to be game as ever as the fedora-wearing, snake-fearing adventurer, but the unmistakable spark of Indy’s creators is sorely missing. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jun 27, 2023
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The Flash (2023) |
Is The Flash an incoherent, overly meta, IP show & tell mess, or is it one of the most inventive and crowd-pleasing films in years? If the multiverse has taught us anything, it’s that multiple things can be true at the same time. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jun 13, 2023
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) |
The seventh film in the franchise offers up the best of both worlds: compelling emotion and intense, white-knuckle action. Now there’s a concept! - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jun 06, 2023
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Shooting Stars (2023) |
LeBron James' origin story is at once extraordinary and ordinary: an old-fashioned, feel-good sports drama about five lifelong friends. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jun 01, 2023
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The Little Mermaid (2023) |
The unlikeliest modern love story of the year. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted May 22, 2023
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Fast X (2023) |
A hell of a thrill ride, with insane action, an unhinged villain and a jaw-dropping ending. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) |
Vol. 3 is mostly dark and dour, which only makes the series’ signature elements of goofy humor, ridiculous scenarios and too-cool-for-school soundtrack stick out like a sore thumb. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted May 01, 2023
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Scream VI (2023) |
An elevated example of how the franchise has perfected its formula of intense thrills, unexpected twists and cheeky winks to tired horror movie tropes. Stab, rinse, repeat. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Mar 08, 2023
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Creed III (2023) |
Jordan has taken the classic underdog story and flipped it on its head while giving Creed the heroic arc worthy of a trilogy. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Mar 01, 2023
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
A sensory overload of a movie that has its charms but ultimately leaves you feeling empty inside. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Feb 14, 2023
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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) |
Perhaps the most immersive moviegoing experience ever, I could get lost in the world of Pandora all day... or at least for 3 hours and 12 minutes. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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White Noise (2022) |
No matter what you make of its sometimes meandering plot or somewhat muddled message, you can’t help but be charmed by the undeniably quirky spirit of 'White Noise.' - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 29, 2022
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A Christmas Story Christmas (2022) |
The sequel may have the heart of the original, but it’s sorely missing its soul. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 15, 2022
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
The memory and spirit of the late Chadwick Boseman lift this sequel to emotional and dramatic heights rarely seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Nov 08, 2022
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Lovely Jackson (2022) |
A Cleveland man’s extraordinary and inspiring story of unwavering hope and resolve - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Oct 05, 2022
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Blonde (2022) |
A shiny, scandalous package that isn’t nearly as illuminating or thought-provoking as it thinks it is. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Sep 27, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling (2022) |
The film fares much better as a feminist fable about how men and women see the world differently. But getting there is a time, darling.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Sep 21, 2022
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Pinocchio (2022) |
Pinocchio the film lacks the same thing as Pinocchio the puppet. A heart. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Easter Sunday (2022) |
Finally given their opportunity to tell their uniquely Filipino story, Jo Koy and the rest of the cast shine in a heartfelt and authentic comedy that will make you laugh and maybe a little hungry, too. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Aug 04, 2022
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Bullet Train (2022) |
'Bullet Train' will try your patience. It might even insult your intelligence. But it’s got Brad Pitt going for it and sometimes that’s enough. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Aug 02, 2022
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Vengeance (2022) |
I bought it, but if you don’t, well, bless your heart. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 26, 2022
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Nope (2022) |
In 'Nope,' Peele wants the clouds to make you feel the same way the shark in 'Jaws' made you feel about the ocean and, darn it, he pulls it off.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 20, 2022
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The Gray Man (2022) |
A non-stop thrill ride full of jaw-dropping action, intense fight sequences, quippy dialogue and a dream cast highlighted by a deliciously evil Chris Evans as your new favorite villain. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 14, 2022
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Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) |
An engrossing mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
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| Posted Jul 12, 2022
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