John Bleasdale

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CineVue
For 308 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 38% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 60% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

John Bleasdale's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Lowest review score: 20 Victoria and Abdul
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 134 out of 308
  2. Mixed: 167 out of 308
  3. Negative: 7 out of 308
308 movie reviews
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet
    It seems ridiculous to call a film that is only 73-minutes long an epic, but that is what The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet feels like. Though it should be made clear, by epic there’s nothing grandiose; there is nary a special effect to be seen and hardly a cast of thousands. But at the same time, Argentine filmmaker Ana Katz’s sixth feature encompasses a life and very nearly the end of the world.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Army of the Dead
    This is a good solid three star movie. Which is perhaps where Snyder should be anyway, away from the extremes of deification and vilification. When he’s not trying to be great, he can actually be quite good.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    The Capote Tapes
    The Capote Tapes show a talent that seemed to go to waste while at the same time teasing us with the possibility that there is more yet to come.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    76 Days
    It shows the desperation, the pain and the suffering, but it also reveals the spirit and fortitude of those tasked with caring for the sick.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Totally Under Control
    Doing these usually faceless public servants justice is vitally important. But Totally Under Control somehow feels unfinished.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Space Dogs
    The alienness of humanity, when seen from another perspective, is evident throughout the film.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Benjamin
    Benjamin is a charming metropolitan rom-com which is ultimately too lightweight to escape the gravity of its influences.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    A Rainy Day in New York
    Not great, not hilarious, but not terrible or awful either.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Mike Wallace Is Here
    Avi Belkin’s Mike Wallace Is Here harvests a vast archive of interviews and b-roll footage to create a fascinating profile of a combative, conflicted figure, who nevertheless substantially changed the face of how news was reported.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Cuck
    Ultimately, though it hints at moments of wit, Cuck never feels serious enough to be a convincing character study and not garish enough to head into genre territory. Ultimately, this sordid tale feels both real and inconsequential.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Vivarium
    It’s open to debate whether this claustrophobic little parable means something. It’s devilishly clever but there’s a suspicion that this is beautiful calligraphy without words. And yet with the added circumstance of self-isolation, quarantine and quiet four-walled despair, Vivarium will undoubtedly resonate.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
    Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ timely documentary on the Nobel Prize-winning novelist is a persuasive argument for rereading Morrison if you’ve already read her works – and if you haven’t, an imperative to get to it.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Midnight Family
    An acutely observed and frequently heartbreaking documentary.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Saturday Fiction
    Saturday Fiction certainly demands patience, shrouded at first in a smog of exposition.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Babyteeth
    Babyteeth is a funny, vibrant and deeply moving piece of work. Its flaws are the flaws of youth, overcompensating for boredom with frenetic hyperactivity.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    About Endlessness
    Made up of a series of related but not necessarily connected vignettes, each filmed with a static camera, they resemble New Yorker cartoons scripted by Samuel Beckett.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Ema
    There’s so much to enjoy in Ema that it comes as a surprise that there’s so little there.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    The Painted Bird
    Is The Painted Bird exaggerated? Does it go too far? Does it break the limits of taste? “Yes” on all counts. Walking out is an understandable and valid reaction but watching, getting angry, suffering and approaching understanding is also important too.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Wasp Network
    It might be that there’s a meatier version of the film – a Carlos-style miniseries perhaps – but as it stands, shifting between a lighthearted caper and more consequential political tragedy, Wasp Network is an entertaining fumble.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    The King
    The King feels disconnected and unurgent. Despite some wonderful moments, it perhaps lacks the requisite majesty.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    An Officer and a Spy
    The film itself is utterly uncontroversial, solid, occasionally stolid, and perfectly fine.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Seberg
    Superficiality soaks the entire film.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    The Laundromat
    Hopefully, Soderbergh’s film will raise more awareness as well as a chuckle.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Joker
    Phoenix has created a masterful performance for a film which itself feels like a masterpiece: a cracked masterpiece.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    The Truth
    The truth is that The Truth is an above-average French comedy and Kore-eda has succeeded in a finely wrought act of ventriloquism and diva worship. But the Japanese director’s fans can be forgiven for thinking above average is not good enough for such an accomplished filmmaker.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Marriage Story
    At the heart of Marriage Story are two career-best performances from Driver and Johansson. There is sensitivity, wit and intelligence in abundance, and in one barnstorming scene the kind of raw emotional nudity that’s rarely captured on screen: it’s the painful core of the movie which the laughter might ease but can’t erase.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Ad Astra
    Scenes come and go with a weightlessness that has nothing to do with zero gravity.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Three Peaks
    This is a powerful and beautifully shot film of love and survival.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Sibyl
    Efira is a dominant and compelling presence and Sibyl is frequently funny. Ultimately, it never quite squares the circle of the comedy and the pain, but Triet is a sophisticated filmmaker and this – her third feature – is further proof of great talent.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    The Climb
    Covino’s brilliant comedy is original and smartly entertaining: a celebration of male friendship in all its ups and downs.
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