John Bleasdale

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CineVue
For 338 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 39% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 59% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

John Bleasdale's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 Close
Lowest review score: 20 Victoria and Abdul
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 156 out of 338
  2. Mixed: 175 out of 338
  3. Negative: 7 out of 338
338 movie reviews
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    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Decision to Leave
    Ultimately, Decision to Leave is like a beautiful airport novel of a film. It is far cleverer than it needs to be and is so acted with sly charisma.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Broker
    It’s impossible not to be beguiled by the sweetness of the comedy, the skill of the performers and sheer craft of the film. But hopefully next time out Kore-eda will use it in the service of a plot which is more believable.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Close
    Dhont’s second film is a touching and empathetic treatment of male friendship, superbly acted and beautifully filmed.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Showing Up
    Just as we learn to grudgingly like Lizzie, we also see the value in her work as it slowly comes together, emerging from the kiln with new colours and finally being displayed among her family and friends.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Men
    Men is a hallucinatory provocative work which will provoke laughs and yelps and not a little self-reckoning.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Tori and Lokita
    The final twist is so manipulative and cynical as to be actually enraging.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Moonage Daydream
    Morgen presents a sense of Bowie as a man who is in search of himself and who, through philosophy and a bold commitment to art, finds his wisdom.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Crimes of the Future
    Crimes of the Future still has its strengths. Howard Shore’s score lends a tragic, almost stately emotional counterpoint to the steel of the wit.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Triangle of Sadness
    Östlund has created a full-throated, roaring comedy of hate against the upper-classes. It is cynical, nihilistic and has no issue about punching down.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Aftersun
    Wells’ debut is a frankly astonishing work which will leave a lasting impression.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Corsage
    Kreutzer employs a variety of subtle anachronisms – servants wearing modern glasses, a concrete wall here and there – to allow herself and Krieps the freedom to introduce a modern sensibility that sticks a middle finger up at the polished production design of most films of this genre as casually as Elisabeth does at the decorum of her courtly life.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Armageddon Time
    What elevates Armageddon Time to something more than a piece of indulgent navel gazing is the way that Paul’s coming-of-age is reflected in the national story which closes a chapter on Jimmy Carter to turn a new page into Reaganite 1980s selfishness, reactionary politics and feral capitalism.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Final Cut (Coupez!)
    Your appreciation or otherwise of the film is going to be greatly influenced by whether or not you’ve seen the original, and as such Final Cut doesn’t really elbow its way to the front. However, if you can stand the slight whiff of decomposition then this deconstruction is fun and clever.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    When You Finish Saving the World
    When You Finish Saving the World is fine. It’s well made, witty, and Wolfhard and Moore are effortlessly convincing in their roles; Wolfhard shucking off his Stranger Things image in the process. The problem – if there is one – is in the smooth snark of the title. There are sharp edges here that never bite.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Small Body
    It is a film about a personal grief which gradually, step by step, takes on a mythic resonance. This is a new and vibrant talent to be watched.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Dogs
    Visually arresting and well-acted, Dogs shows promise but one would have hoped for some new tricks.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Hit the Road
    Hit the Road is damned near to being a masterpiece – if it isn’t simply one already. There are scenes of broad comedy, musical sequences and a wholly tragic episode that plays out in a long wide-shot. The wonderful cast inhabit their roles so fully it’s hard to believe this is not a bona fide family.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Memoria
    Memoria is gloriously weird and it has that most magical quality of making you look at things in a totally different way.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Casablanca Beats
    There’s no revolutionary moment of success in which the meanies are ousted and hip-hop declared godly. Music is like education in this: it’s all about the movement, not the destination.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Nitram
    Kurzel is a master at building tension of a tragedy foretold.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    A Hero
    Iran is a complex and bureaucratic country, but it is also the role of social media and so-called ‘fake news’ that lend A Hero a contemporary relevance, even as it feels like an ancient morality tale.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Red Rocket
    Most importantly, Red Rocket is a humane comedy, a portrait of romantic douchebaggery and an America of flailing last chances.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    The French Dispatch
    The movie is a gas. It moves with, well, dispatch, clattering along in its own eccentric way.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 John Bleasdale
    Flag Day
    Of the many problems the film has, it’s the different plots that never quite bounce off each other.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 John Bleasdale
    Everything Went Fine
    The performances are pitch perfect, particularly that of Marceau, who is superb in riding through the conflicts of the situation and the moments when the strong emotions riding over the niceties finally come to the fore.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    After Yang
    After Yang is a moving, subtle and grounded piece of science fiction that doesn’t necessarily get to the core, but certainly hits the heart.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    The Souvenir: Part II
    The two-part The Souvenir can be seen very much as one whole, and as such is one of the very best achievements in recent British cinema.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 100 John Bleasdale
    Annette
    The delight is in the audacity and surprise of the film.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 John Bleasdale
    Martin Eden
    The film’s strongest element and most necessary comes with Luca Marinelli’s performance.
    • 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.
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