Phil de Semlyen
Select another critic »For 171 reviews, this critic has graded:
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50% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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47% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.7 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Phil de Semlyen's Scores
- Movies
- TV
Average review score: | 68 | |
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Highest review score: | Manchester by the Sea | |
Lowest review score: | Stuber |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 86 out of 171
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Mixed: 83 out of 171
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Negative: 2 out of 171
171
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Time Out
- Posted Aug 9, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted Jul 8, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Clearly surge pricing also applies to jokes, because it’s mostly about as funny as a traffic jam.- Time Out
- Posted Jul 6, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The storytelling never lacks for sincerity and quiet power. It’s a cry from the heart with a courageous message.- Time Out
- Posted Jul 1, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
As an object lesson in leadership, Maiden is compelling, but its flashbacks to a less enlightened time in sport are the biggest showstoppers – and jaw-droppers.- Time Out
- Posted Jun 24, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s not nearly as good as Logan or X2, but it’s a whole lot better than the eyeball-poking affliction that was X-Men: Apocalypse. On the flipside, it still feels like a fairly pointless retread of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s The Dark Phoenix Saga, which we’ve already seen (and hated) in Brett Ratner’s 2006 disaster X-Men: The Last Stand.- Time Out
- Posted Jun 5, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Diego Maradona has the football and the drugs – think Scarface with screamers – but it’s a surprisingly emotional ride too. In the spirit of all good docs, it’ll make you reappraise your feelings about the man and the myths around him.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The Whistlers has a tonne of pulpy circuit-breakers – look out for a hilarious ‘Psycho’ tribute – to remind you not to take it all too seriously. Hitchcock would have approved.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s a hugely impressive debut and visually arresting from first to last.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Maybe the film loses its head a bit at this point too, with its deeper message lost in the epic bloodshed, but the chances are you’ll be having too much fun to mind.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Diehl and Pachner are both terrific, mastering Malick’s improvisational style and bringing earthy authenticity to its playful family moments.- Time Out
- Posted May 20, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
If there’s one thing Rocketman does have in common with Bohemian Rhapsody, it’s a commanding central performance.- Time Out
- Posted May 16, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
For all its inspired moments, this is a movie content to coast on the charms of its terrific cast of comedic actors. Welcome to Night of the Living Deadpan.- Time Out
- Posted May 15, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
If the final act is a bit dull and the anarchic Reynolds factor ends up muzzled, director Rob Letterman makes sure not to lose that self-aware edge altogether, while providing enough Pokémon Easter eggs to satisfy the most demanding fan. He’s also helped invent a whole new movie genre: cuddly noir.- Time Out
- Posted May 8, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Despite the best efforts of its committed young cast, and especially a game (if suspiciously old-looking) Nicholas Hoult as Tolkien in his late teens and early twenties, it’s a plodding and polite portrayal that holds few surprises.- Time Out
- Posted May 3, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The overall effect is glassy and inert, with Rooney Mara’s Mary an oddly elusive presence in the film that carries her name.- Time Out
- Posted Apr 11, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
There’s the odd nifty camera move but the action sequences are often messy and rote. The self-healing Hellboy is able to withstand endless punishment, which may be faithful to Mignola’s source material but hardly ups the stakes. The audience is not so lucky. Hellboy? Just hell, actually.- Time Out
- Posted Apr 10, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Even leaving aside the fan-pleasing sight of Burton’s Dark Knight and Penguin sharing the same big top, the Batman parallels are inescapable. Keaton tears a page from the Jack Nicholson Joker playbook with his most deliriously huge performance in years.- Time Out
- Posted Mar 26, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Nemes wants to let the chaos and noise of Sunset overwhelm the audience, but like Irisz herself, it’s hard not to get a bit lost in the clamor.- Time Out
- Posted Mar 23, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
You’d call it Tarantino-esque but for the pacing and lack of a soundtrack. (Even Tarantino might have cut a couple of these baggy subplots.)- Time Out
- Posted Mar 23, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted Mar 13, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s the visuals, though, that really soar. With master cinematographer Roger Deakins again lending his eye as consultant, the camera weaves in and out among photo-real flora and fire-breathing fauna.- Time Out
- Posted Feb 19, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
A motorsports movie you don’t need to be a petrolhead to enjoy. Rev up those whiteknuckle thrillride clichés, you're going to need them.- Empire
- Posted Feb 14, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
This visually epic, but monotonous collaboration between James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez is less than the sum of its slick parts.- Time Out
- Posted Jan 31, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It falls short of enchanting but it's never less than fun and likable. Watch it through the eyes of your inner teenager and you’ll have a blast.- Time Out
- Posted Jan 25, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It's a film that bores straight into your soul and leaves you shattered, but somehow richer for having seen it.- Empire
- Posted Jan 4, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
There are also juicy supporting roles for Shirley Henderson and Midnight in Paris’s Nina Arianda as the comedians’ long-suffering wives, Lucille and Ida. The film may be called Stan & Ollie, but it’s never more alive than when the four of them are onscreen.- Time Out
- Posted Dec 21, 2018
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- Phil de Semlyen
There are memorable cameos from collaborators (Josh Homme take a bow) and a triumphant coda, but most of all, the rather melancholy sense of a visionary struggling to stay relevant.- Time Out
- Posted Dec 19, 2018
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- Phil de Semlyen
Sure, some of the plot twists are a bit labored, and there’s maybe a henchman too many—but, trust me, you’ll be too busy rooting for the superhero with a snout to care.- Time Out
- Posted Dec 14, 2018
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