M. E. Russell, Portland Oregonian
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For 407 reviews, this critic has graded:
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66% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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31% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.4 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
M. E. Russell's Scores
- Movies
| Average review score: | 62 |
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| Highest review score: |
Critic Score
100
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| Lowest review score: |
Critic Score
0
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 217 out of 407
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Mixed: 154 out of 407
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Negative: 36 out of 407
407
movie reviews
- By critic score
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M. E. Russell 75
To my thinking, the grand simplicity of the metaphor is a big part of In Time's oddly retro sci-fi charm. Niccol is practicing the old-school craft of making a barn-broad alternate-reality that forces you to think about the way we all consensually agree to participate in systems -- even when those systems are hopelessly screwed up.- Posted Oct 27, 2011
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M. E. Russell 75
The movie is strongest when it stays with Bateman and Spacey, who play greatest-hits remixes of their best-loved performances.- Posted Jul 7, 2011
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M. E. Russell 75
I suspect audiences will divide sharply on the movie's wild tone shifts. I found them sort of fearless.- Posted Apr 14, 2011
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M. E. Russell 75
John Carter is too wickedly strange not to recommend. Movies this expensive usually play it much safer.- Posted Mar 8, 2012
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- Posted Apr 26, 2012
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M. E. Russell 75
"Fast Five" and Fast & Furious 6 -- the newest, nearly-as-much-dumb-fun sequel -- play more like "The Avengers" than they don't.- Posted May 23, 2013
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M. E. Russell 75
In their best moments, Hark's action movies have a what-did-I-just-see giddiness, as if their choreography were springing straight from a cartoon id. Though I could have done without much of the film's CGI-heavy fakery, "Detective Dee" finds that giddiness more than a few times.- Posted Oct 13, 2011
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M. E. Russell 75
Waititi is still telling stories of offbeat, semi-delusional New Zealanders, and he's still sprinkling his work with cartoonish flights of fancy -- but this time he grounds the comedy in a big-hearted, bittersweet story about a boy desperate to connect with his father.- Posted Apr 5, 2012
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M. E. Russell 75
The film's climax is a bit of a jumble, but by then Hillcoat has built his world so vibrantly that it hardly matters. And the hard-charging soundtrack -- featuring Cave, Warren Ellis, Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson -- is an absolute blast.- Posted Aug 28, 2012
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- Posted Oct 4, 2012
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M. E. Russell 67
If you find the film's xenophobic undercurrents distasteful, take solace in this: Taken was co-written and directed by the Frenchmen responsible for "District B13," so at least the xenophobia is imported. -
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M. E. Russell 67
The movie still works as a clever little "Twilight Zone" episode with great production values, and it's an impressively ambitious debut for Barthes. -
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M. E. Russell 67
It all sort of plays out like "Law and Order: Spiritual Victims Unit," but the movie's stuffed (some might say overstuffed) with wonderfully staged moments and set pieces. -
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M. E. Russell 67
It's fun junk. And it doesn't satisfy. Dot the I is a weird, pretty film with a dumb script, a skilled cast and a good twist, plus one hot sex scene and one brilliant scene-chew by D'Arcy. -
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M. E. Russell 67
It's a definite crowd-pleaser and a perfectly fun night at the movies. -
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M. E. Russell 67
I was annoyed by Levasseur and Aja's desertion of their tense, simple plot in favor of tedious "plot twists" that could, frankly, use a rest. It's a waste of a good first half. (Grade: A- for first hour, C- thereafter.) -
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M. E. Russell 67
Surprisingly flabby, with lazy writing and some final-act lurches into unironic rom-com that seem at odds with the bizarro premise. -
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M. E. Russell 67
The final third...is so overblown and anticlimactic that it finally gets you thinking about empty profundity and loose ends. -
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M. E. Russell 67
While you're in the theater, it's actually -- heaven help me -- pretty fun to watch. -
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M. E. Russell 67
Taken as a whole -- and it kills me to write this -- it just doesn't add up to much. -
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M. E. Russell 67
This movie is a powerfully silly brain vacation. It's a by-the-numbers underdogs vs. bullies comedy. -
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M. E. Russell 67
While it's focused on the people -- on men who never had mentors struggling to mentor themselves and each other -- the movie works as a smart B film. -
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M. E. Russell 67
It's an ambitious idea that monkeys with your expectations: make a whole movie about the ugly, hurt-feelings part of the relationship that's usually disposed of in a romantic-comedy musical montage. Unfortunately, like a bad boyfriend, The Break-Up has a problem with consistency. -
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M. E. Russell 67
As idiot car-crash movies go, "Tokyo Drift" is pretty fun, and certainly a more-than-decent entry in this franchise. -
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M. E. Russell 67
When it works, it's decent family fun; the kids are incredibly sharp. But the script's not as sharp as they are, and not everyone brings his A-game. -
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M. E. Russell 67
Night at the Museum ends up being a pretty fun all-ages comedy -- if you can survive its first 20 minutes. -
