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Michael D. Reid
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Official Website:
http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Beetlejuice (1988) |
If this unapologetically silly movie falters when the grab bag of visual tricks threatens to tear, it is propped up by the many giddy performances. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 22, 2024
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Alien Resurrection (1997) |
As it turns out, the hit-and-miss humor in this fourth instalment of the gory sci-fi series saves it from ruin. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 07, 2024
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Alien 3 (1992) |
A wildly uneven, monumentally oppressive gorefest. And while the ambitious screenplay... makes some interesting allusions to Christianity amid the illogical mayhem, the movie is ultimately little more than a prolonged duel between man and monster. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Aliens (1986) |
The sequel is less innovative than its predecessor, but the horror and paranoia is still bountiful and what a dizzying special-effects trip it is. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 30, 2024
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Twister (1996) |
This thunderously terrifying blockbuster about one of the most frightening forces of nature is intermittently persuasive enough to make you believe in such an absurd prospect as hefty cows, mad and otherwise, flying about like wayward kites. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 16, 2024
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Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) |
Disney's summer animation entry, mercifully bereft of cloying musical numbers, falls into the "good enough" category. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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America's Sweethearts (2001) |
Director Joe Roth's glossy ensemble comedy... should be a laugh riot. It falls short, but has its moments. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) |
Steven Spielberg has managed the seemingly impossible: a harmonious marriage of his own brand of glowing optimism and the cynical, alienating style of the late Stanley Kubrick. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Pearl Harbor (2001) |
This formulaic three-hour opus seems to go on from here to eternity. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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The Fast and the Furious (2001) |
A noisy, testosterone-charged and utterly nonsensical mess of a movie. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Blow (2001) |
Director Ted Demme's colorful, vividly evocative biopic about the rise and fall of one-time American coke kingpin George Jung recalls the energy and period stylism of other blasts to the past. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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The Anniversary Party (2001) |
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming co-wrote, directed and head a star-studded cast whose standout ensemble acting is among the most striking assets in this droll, sharply observed Hollywood comedy-drama. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Shrek (2001) |
What's not to love about Dreamworks' long-awaited digital delight? It's a hip, fresh and deliciously subversive spin on classic fairy tales. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Sexy Beast (2000) |
A gorgeously vitriolic crime flick with a personality all its own. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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The Score (2001) |
[The cast] don't just plot to steal a priceless jeweled scepter... in this absorbing, standard-issue heist flick. They also steal as many scenes as director Frank oz and his screenwriters swipe ideas from other movies. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Legally Blonde (2001) |
Clueless meets Election in this breezy, utterly disposable high-concept chuckler. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Jurassic Park III (2001) |
The Westjet of summer popcorn movies, a no-frills hot-weather adventure that gets the job done efficiently and leaves you feeling vaguely satisfied, even if it doesn't knock your socks off. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) |
A strangely exhilarating and mesmerizing experience as it breaks new ground in the never-ending technological revolution. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Cats & Dogs (2001) |
While this fusion [of different effects] seamlessly creates the illusion cats and dogs are indeed talking to each other, the story has all the charm of a flatulent Fido who's just devoured a crate full of Gravy Train. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Planet of the Apes (2001) |
Visually, this dark would-be satire on race relations is a stunner, and there is some amazingly expressive acting. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 30, 2024
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Little Women (1994) |
The film's most striking assets are Jan Roelfs' gorgeous, meticulously evocative production design; Coleen Atwood's period perfect costumes; and Geoffrey Simpson's exquisite cinematography.
- Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 11, 2024
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Seven (1995) |
The ever-dependable Freeman is remarkably persuasive as the laconic, coolly efficient veteran... and the unbilled, chameleonic Hollywood star who plays the frighteningly sadistic serial killer is a chillingly affecting nightmare. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Mar 29, 2024
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Almost Famous (2000) |
Almost Famous, complete with a terrific period soundtrack, is consistently entertaining as it journeys into its nostalgic world of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, largely because of its top-flight cast. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Mar 25, 2024
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Forrest Gump (1994) |
Forrest Gump is a winning, unabashedly sentimental fable that somehow manages to bring Frank Capra and Oliver Stone to mind in the same breath. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Mar 01, 2024
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Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) |
With its first-rate acting, sparkling repartee, glorious costumes and majestic English scenery, Four Weddings and a Funeral is a rare treat aimed at the Masterpiece Theatre crowd and discerning lovers of droll British humor. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Feb 28, 2024
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Amélie (2001) |
Like its title character, Amelie is a quirky, unabashedly manipulative charmer that, while endearing at first, overstays its welcome. Until the visual pyrotechnics and faux joie de vivre become too overbearing, however, [it's] a captivating confection. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Feb 13, 2024
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Mean Girls (2004) |
This wickedly funny, dead-on portrait of teen cruelty is leavened by an amusingly executed plea for human kindness and non-conformity. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jan 10, 2024
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Heat (1995) |
It all becomes terribly tiresome, and Heat loses even more of its sizzle with Mann's preoccupation with the love lives of its protagonists. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Dec 19, 2023
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Atanarjuat the Fast Runner (2001) |
Although its powerfully unaffected performances and sociological aspects make Atanarjuat an increasingly riveting slice of life, it's Norman Cohn's lustrous cinematography of its vast horizons, enhanced by that stunning Arctic light, that stands out most. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Nov 08, 2023
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Y tu mamá también (2001) |
Yes, [Y tu mamá también] is as sexually explicit and ferociously frank as you've heard. The film is also a provocative, corrosively funny statement on class distinction in Mexico, however, and a scathingly honest account of adolescent sexual obsession. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Sep 09, 2023
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Traffic (2000) |
The film isn't perfect, but the film deserves top marks for addressing a poisonous social issue with rare grit, candor, and no easy answers. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Sep 06, 2023
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Selena (1997) |
Flimsy as it is, this Latin soap opera is undeniably entertaining in fits and starts, largely because of Lopez's tour-de-force performance and resemblance to the charismatic singer. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Sep 06, 2023
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Ladybugs (1992) |
Writer-director Ron Shelton's wittily perceptive, street-wise screenplay and the terrific comic chemistry of its appealing stars, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, enliven this aimless and insubstantial but exuberant comedy. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 31, 2023
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When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) |
Despite the reality-defying presence of handsome co-stars Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia and the dreamy home, occupations and income brackets of their characters... this film emerges against all odds as a sobering and profoundly affecting look at alcoholism. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 28, 2023
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Lone Star (1996) |
The most masterful achievement yet from the most socially conscious of independent filmmakers, John Sayles. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 23, 2023
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Moscow on the Hudson (1984) |
Williams himself turns in a beautifully controlled performance, sweetly conveying the twin emotions of homesickness and newfound euphoria. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Aug 17, 2023
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A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) |
The ingeniously, splendidly executed fantasy sequences are what make the movie so ultimately enjoyable. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 25, 2023
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Batman (1989) |
It's by turns brilliantly inspired, infuriatingly unfocused, hilarious, boring, exhilarating, gloomy and empty. The film's abundant virtues wrestle with its shortcomings. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 25, 2023
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In the Mood for Love (2000) |
While some might find this elegantly elusive film's reticence frustrating, there's no denying the smoldering, riveting eroticism of the film's leads. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 15, 2023
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The Matrix (1999) |
Although it's sometimes too confounding for its own good and a little heavy on the Zen-inspired techno-babble, The Matrix is a consistently absorbing assault on the senses. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Magnolia (1999) |
You may not like some of these characters, but they're rooted in reality, and that's one of the many points this film strains to make. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jun 30, 2023
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Back to the Future (1985) |
Just a joyously whimsical, ingeniously devised, well-written time-travel comedy that anyone from five to 95 should find splendidly entertaining. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jun 27, 2023
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Armageddon (1998) |
Anchored by its star appeal, Armageddon eventually overcomes its weak buildup, feeble dialogue and patriotic excess to become the heart-pounding outer space disaster flick it should have been from the get-go. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jun 22, 2023
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Patriot Games (1992) |
Ford is the film's Rock of Gibraltar. He glues everything together with his solidly restrained if unspectacular performance as the intense and intelligent former CIA man. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Jun 06, 2023
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The Color Purple (1985) |
Fans of the book may not appreciate such dilution but, as a film, The Color Purple works surprisingly well. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted May 25, 2023
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An American Tail (1986) |
Silly as it often is, Bluth's beautifully-crafted creation is also a metaphorical drama about the immigrant experience and there are more than a few moments in this otherwise delightful film that leave a sour taste. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted May 16, 2023
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Yentl (1983) |
The biggest and most basic problem with Yentl is that the story is lackluster and uninteresting. It certainly doesn't warrant treatment as a musical. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted May 12, 2023
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) |
Fabulously funny, fast-paced and exhilarating. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 26, 2023
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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) |
As for the film's human elements, young Ke Huy Quan is a captivating find, supplying sentiment and laughter. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Apr 18, 2023
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Evil Dead 2 (1987) |
Newcomer Campbell is perfectly cast as the exasperated hero... He is wonderfully adept at physical comedy delivered in a deadpan style. - Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
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| Posted Mar 29, 2023
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