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Betsy Sherman
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Wings of the Dove (1997) |
This adaptation of one of Henry James’s most psychologically rich novels works on its own lighter terms -- although those terms arguably rip away the very forces that motivate the James characters. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1997) |
This intense and darkly rollicking documentary portrait of a troubled artist is in the heartwarming tradition of Crumb. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997) |
Happily this time people will discover our hometown boy Matt Damon, who gives a superb lead performance in an unfortunately mediocre property. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) |
This thriller set in Savannah, Georgia, has enough juicy intrigue to recommend it. But it's got some fault-line flaws that director Clint Eastwood ignores to weave his local-color tapestry. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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Kiss or Kill (1997) |
Diverting, but hardly a classic. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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Alien Resurrection (1997) |
It has refreshingly sick and twisted humor, bold retro-futurist art direction, adequate gore and a talented cast. Yet its splashes of entertainment don't join up into a coherent narrative; it's sadly sloppy on the story front. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Aug 06, 2024
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Mission: Impossible (1996) |
What should have been a finely honed spy thriller is on Cruise-control in more ways than one. Or maybe the impossible mission is expecting a coherent movie from director Brian “Setpieces ’R’ Us” De Palma anymore. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Jul 15, 2024
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A Modern Affair (1995) |
This twist on the romantic comedy genre by Vem Oakley suffers from an agonizingly slow pace and an unnecessarily annoying heroine. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Jul 15, 2024
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Twister (1996) |
Yes, the script is cobbled together from a lot of old Howard Hawks movies, but Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, as the estranged soulmates who rekindle their spark in the eye of the storm, are strong leads, and the supporting cast was well-assembled. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Jul 15, 2024
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La Chimera (2023) |
[It] celebrates the porousness of borders: between time periods, spiritual realms, and all living beings... The film also posits the strength of connection: the tensile strength of a piece of red yarn can support a passage between states of consciousness. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 19, 2024
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The Iron Claw (2023) |
Overall, the story is conveyed with laudable technical prowess. It’s well shot and edited, with an especially good montage of the brothers’ rise to stardom. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Dec 29, 2023
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Hard-Boiled (1992) |
The lush, powerful stylization is far from a mere exercise: It serves Woo's bittersweet mediation on identity and fractured loyalties. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Jul 27, 2023
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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) |
The talky psychological aspects are too dull for children to enjoy and too shallow for adults to buy. More importantly, the animation is wooden and seems skimpy for a feature film project. - Boston Globe
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| Posted May 23, 2023
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Walk Up (2022) |
Walk Up is amusing, and as visually pleasing as any of Hong’s films, with its studies of interior spaces, glimpses of exteriors, and questions about the in-betweens. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 21, 2023
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In Front of Your Face (2021) |
...part of being a Hong fan is adjusting to not knowing how long it’s been since the last bit of action, or even if the next part might have taken place before it... - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 21, 2023
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Introduction (2021) |
As many a filmmaker has demonstrated (including one of Hong’s idols, Yasujiro Ozu), lyrical shots of the ocean can help induce a feeling of transcendence. This one gave me the improbable tingle. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 21, 2023
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Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992) |
Although this new film adaptation of Winsor McCay's comic strip has been somewhat homogenized for modern tastes, both in visual style and in storyline, it's a refreshing, mostly marvelous piece of fantasy. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Mar 07, 2023
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary (2023) |
The five entries in this 165-minute session (each running around 30-40 minutes) are worthy contenders. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action (2023) |
From allegory to metaphysical exploration to simply meta, or alternatively, displaying trenchant realism, the nominees for this year’s ceremony on March 12 are strong. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 17, 2023
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation (2023) |
From allegory to metaphysical exploration to simply meta, or alternatively, displaying trenchant realism, the nominees for this year’s ceremony on March 12 are strong - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 17, 2023
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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) |
The voice cast was well-chosen, and they don’t disappoint. Gregory Mann was a great discovery for Pinocchio. His exuberance conveys Pinocchio’s essential innocence, and he sings beautifully. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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Beethoven (1992) |
Underlying this formulaic plot is a strange tone of desperateness in the movie's smiley-faced depiction of a "perfect" suburban nuclear family... For a family that's not missing any meals, they do more whimpering than any of the animals in the movie. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Nov 21, 2022
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Braveheart (1995) |
As he did with The Man Without a Face, Gibson takes his directorial chores so seriously that he squeezes the life out of the piece. - The Improper Bostonian
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| Posted Nov 18, 2022
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Frownland (2007) |
With its title taken from a Captain Beefheart song, and an undertow it shares with fiction by Kafka and Dostoyevsky, Frownland is a character study like few seen in American cinema. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Oct 27, 2022
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Carnival of Souls (1962) |
Its mix of art-house ambiguity and genuine creepiness make it a must see. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Sep 22, 2022
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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) |
Fleischer-Camp makes a smashing fiction-film directorial debut with Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and Slate shows once again that she’s one of the funniest people around with her lead vocal performance, much of it improvised. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Jul 08, 2022
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Montana Story (2021) |
There are stretches of Montana Story with little dialogue, which seems apt in a Western setting. Information is let out slowly, like fishing line, culminating in confessions and revelations. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 19, 2022
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Out of the Blue (1980) |
Out of the Blue remains a stunner. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 12, 2022
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Polar Bear (2022) |
The directing team of Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, and writer David Fowler, have deftly assembled a story that has psychological complexity as well as relevance to discussions about the environment. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 05, 2022
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Resurrection (2022) |
Rebecca Hall is the riveting presence at the center of Resurrection. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 27, 2022
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Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990) |
Director Kelly, who had previously made documentaries, uses the Montana locations to give an epic feel to the story, but keeps it warm and human by never caving in to melodrama. The performances are uniformly good, especially by Rosalind Chao. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Feb 16, 2022
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The Great Postal Heist (2022) |
Illuminating and alarming. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 03, 2022
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France (2021) |
In a performance that's a comic highlight of this year, Blanche Gardin plays Lou, France's colleague. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Dec 17, 2021
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Surge (2020) |
Surge, the impressive debut feature of Aniel Karia, feels both fresh and primal. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Sep 23, 2021
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History Is Made at Night (1937) |
Jean Arthur was a bright light of the screwball comedy genre... - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Jun 28, 2021
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Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (2021) |
As a double portrait of daughter and mother, it covers a range of emotions and concludes with a moving and poetic illustration of the women's deep bond. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 14, 2021
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Ingagi (1930) |
...although Ingagi dates from this time, it doesn't have any dialogue scenes, only the narration. And the narration is a killer... - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Mar 29, 2021
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Clueless (1995) |
Like an Evian atomizer spray, Clueless refreshes for a few seconds, then evaporates without a trace. Heathers-strength satire, it ain't. - Boston Globe
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| Posted Mar 16, 2021
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Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) |
Wiig is dependably fun in her dual roles. The revelation is Mumolo, who has popped up in movies and on TV but never in such a prominent role. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 18, 2021
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News of the World (2020) |
If News of the World falls short as a broad canvas, it succeeds as a satisfying, intimate two-shot. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Jan 08, 2021
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White Riot (2019) |
Superb, and sadly relevant-to-our-time... - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Oct 22, 2020
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The Ghost of Peter Sellers (2018) |
The documentary has a "why me?" element to it, with a dark comic edge, but it isn't a pity party. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 29, 2020
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The High Note (2020) |
There's warmth in the performances by Johnson and Ross, but Ganatra doesn't create a believable world for their characters to inhabit. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted May 28, 2020
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Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) |
[The full story] of the creative contributions of women to the film industry in its early decades is still fighting for a place in mainstream awareness. The informative -- and emotionally involving -- Be Natural is a valuable battering ram in that fight. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Jan 16, 2020
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Her Smell (2018) |
The performances are fine all around with Moss, of course, the standout. There's a deliciousness to the wholesome name Becky applied to such a gonzo persona. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Apr 27, 2019
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Tehran Taboo (2017) |
The movie's intertwining stories are engrossing, with Pari the standout character. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Feb 14, 2018
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The Last Laugh (2016) |
What upends The Last Laugh is that the scenes with Firestone, which take up a good percentage of the screen time, follow the template of scores, if not hundreds, of Holocaust-survivor documentaries. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Nov 20, 2017
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Safe in Hell (1931) |
A shout-out is deserved as well for two of the finest African-American performers working in Hollywood in the 1930s, Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Nov 16, 2017
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North Country (2005) |
North Country gives superb dramatic life to a fictionalized version of the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit in the U.S. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Aug 09, 2017
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Cache (2005) |
Michael Haneke's sharp and timely thriller explores how the shadows of a man's past can come back to haunt him with a vengeance. - Arts Fuse
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| Posted Aug 09, 2017
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