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Chuck Klosterman
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Being John Malkovich (1999) |
It sometimes seems like there is more legitimate creativity in [Malkovich] than there's been in almost every other movie released this year. The script is completely insane and consistently brilliant, and it's funny on almost every level imaginable. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Drive Me Crazy (1999) |
There's more to like about this movie than you'd probably expect (certainly more than I did). Besides, the all-girl band the Donnas performs a cover of REO Speedwagon's Keep On Lovin' You at the big high school dance. That alone is worth $7.50. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Random Hearts (1999) |
That kind of unorthodox (and perhaps unintentional) undercurrent is precisely what keeps Random Hearts interesting. Time and again, we see people reacting in ways that are unexpected, yet somehow realistic. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Anna and the King (1999) |
Perhaps the true problem with Anna and the King is its medium; this probably should have been a TV miniseries... It has all the problems of an overlong art piece, but it still feels incomplete. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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End of Days (1999) |
End of Days is never interesting and usually silly, but it might help Arnold get some momentum if he really does run for the governorship of California. At least he'll get the anti-Satan vote. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) |
Parts of The Messenger are downright inspiring. Unfortunately, other parts are accidently funny, and a few are simply boring. This is ultimately a sprawling fiasco with a few glimmers of greatness. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Anywhere but Here (1999) |
By the end of Anywhere But Here, everything has worked out perfectly (and predictably), but that perfection seems implausible and almost disappointing. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Bats (1999) |
The mechanical bats... are among the worst movie props in recent history. Sometimes they look like cats with wings; sometimes they resemble gargoyles; sometimes they look like little gray Yodas with oversize incisor teeth. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) |
There is something unworldly about [Tiger] that makes it seem like a story you imagined, not a film you watched on a screen. Somehow, the film is transcendent -- but in a completely straightforward manner. Quite simply, this is the year's best picture. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Freddy Got Fingered (2001) |
One gets the impression that Green consciously tried to make the worst film ever produced, and he’s doing it simply because a boardroom full of suits at 20th Century Fox gave him a dump truck of money. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Human Traffic (1999) |
Watching this movie is sort of like taking drugs: Human Traffic is great fun for the 84 minutes you're there, but it's hard to remember what exactly happened and ultimately feels pointless (at least in retrospect). - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Turn It Up (2000) |
This is one of those pictures that is at its best when illustrating a certain kind of life in a certain kind of place at a certain point in U.S. history. In 40 years, it might make a valuable period piece. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Gladiator (2000) |
The individual performances are great and the images are stunning, and -- perhaps most important -- Gladiator offers an escapist quality that makes its derivative flaws seem minor. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Bringing Out the Dead (1999) |
It seems like Bringing Out the Dead should be highly complex and multi-layered, but it's unlikely that anyone would walk out of the theater at its conclusion with new insight on anything. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 30, 2023
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Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) |
All the characters make these self-evident, monotone comments about all the supernatural insanity that plagues them, and nobody seems nearly as upset as they should be. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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The Watcher (2000) |
What's ultimately most frustrating about The Watcher is the way it takes a scenario that's genuinely frightening and makes it seem implausible. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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Shaft (2000) |
This is really a totally different creation, and it ends up being almost as good for totally different reasons. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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The Straight Story (1999) |
This is probably the best Disney movie I've ever seen, and I can't imagine how anyone (and I mean anyone) could not find something appealing about this wholly wonderful narrative. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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Sleepy Hollow (1999) |
All the trees are wickedly gnarled, the sky is never blue, and nothing seems real For a story about a headless assassin in 1799, the setting is completely flawless. The story, however, is not. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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Shadow of the Vampire (2000) |
Does this mean Shadow of the Vampire is good? Sort of. Does it means it's bad? Sometimes. But it's usually entertaining. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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Flawless (1999) |
The problem is that we really don't care about either of these people. Instead of feeling nervous, I felt bored. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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Gossip (2000) |
The college kids in Gossip live unreal lives in an unreal world and deal with unreal problems. We watch them destroy themselves in a remarkably unreal fashion, and I still think we're supposed to feel sorry for them. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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American Psycho (2000) |
I will not give away the ending to American Psycho, but I will say this: The last three scenes are implausible and unnecessary (and totally unrelated to the book) and the ending includes the cheapest, most manipulative trick in filmmaking. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 28, 2023
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The Hurricane (1999) |
There are a handful of scenes that Washington carries all by himself, but the rest of The Hurricane is an ill-constructed failure. It's slow and poorly written, and -- somehow -- it's a non-fiction story that often feels unrealistic - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) |
It's too stupid to be offensive, but it's also not edgy enough to be funny. This is just bad in every direction. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Boiler Room (2000) |
The main reason Boiler Room succeeds, despite its unoriginal premise: It's brilliantly contemporary. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Whole Nine Yards (2000) |
If you're the type of person who thinks you could write a Hollywood screenplay, see this movie. It will give you a lot of confidence. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Waking Life (2001) |
My sleep is never this exciting. I wish I could dream like this. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The World Is Not Enough (1999) |
There are only a few good moments in The World Is Not Enough, and all of them involve co-star Denise Richards running away from explosions and climbing around a submarine. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The In Crowd (2000) |
What's most frustrating is the utter lack of ideas: The penultimate scene implies that all of this death and mendacity is the fault of society, but it doesn't seem the least bit convincing. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Dogma (1999) |
It's hard not to be charmed by the seamless combination of high and low humor in this script. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Hollow Man (2000) |
Verhoeven's work is always fun to look at it. What's far shoddier is the story itself; it starts poorly and grows progressively worse, finally collapsing into an ending that is so laughably dreadful that I don't want to ruin it. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Insider (1999) |
As a piece of entertainment, it works amazingly well -- the story never drags and it seems to get a little more interesting with every scene. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Chuck & Buck (2000) |
If it sounds like something you'd hate, you're probably right. But for those who are interested in films about ideas -- and particularly ideas that challenge your perception of normalcy -- Chuck & Buck might be the only "must see" of the summer. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Three Kings (1999) |
Three Kings does offer nice comedic interplay between its lead performers and a compelling visual gimmick, all of which adds up to a strong (if not necessarily soul-shaking) production. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Story of Us (1999) |
There's no doubt that The Story of Us can tug at the heartstrings, but it should have tried to pull a few mindstrings once in a while. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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For Love of the Game (1999) |
It's kind of like watching an actual baseball game: deliberate and slow, but occasionally perfect. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Love Stinks (1999) |
This is a movie for aging bachelors who hate women and have given up all hope of ever getting married. To be frank, it's really quite sad. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Ocean's Eleven (2001) |
It’s well - paced and completely entertaining and -- unlike its predecessor -- this take on Ocean's Eleven even has a semimeaningful plot. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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The Bone Collector (1999) |
The Bone Collector is an example of everything bad about the serial-killer genre -- it's gruesome and needlessly complex, only to end with a sudden avalanche of simplicity that teaches us nothing about the people involved. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Fight Club (1999) |
Fight Club is very, very, very good. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Bowfinger (1999) |
Bowfinger is a terrifically witty movie that skewers all the right targets. It's self-referential and geared toward movie buffs, but it's not so insular that you need an in-depth knowledge of the industry to get the jokes. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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The 13th Warrior (1999) |
On paper, that description undoubtedly seems ridiculous. But remember -- what The 13th Warrior does best is make the ridiculous seem (for lack of a better word) "cool." - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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The Astronaut's Wife (1999) |
A strikingly unremarkable picture that starts with an unoriginal idea and ends with a cheap conclusion designed to prompt a sequel (although it's unlikely this movie will be successful enough to warrant one). - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Brokedown Palace (1999) |
Brokedown Palace might be the least gritty prison movie ever made, and it makes human tragedy seem like an inconvenience. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Outside Providence (1999) |
Both absurdly hilarious and genuinely insightful (sometimes wickedly so). - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Mumford (1999) |
Philosophically, it doesn't succeed at any goal that deep. But because it doesn't take itself too seriously (and because the interaction between its players is charming and smart), Mumford works as an example of harmless fun for smart audiences. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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The Muse (1999) |
This kind of subject is barely interesting; it's insular and reflexive, and sometimes it laughs at its own jokes. But when you populate the story with some of the most unlikable characters imaginable, it evolves into something that's simply repellent. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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Detroit Rock City (1999) |
Much like the rock group it celebrates, Detroit Rock City is so brazenly moronic that it ends up seemingly brilliant for all the right reasons. - Akron Beacon Journal
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| Posted Oct 26, 2023
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O.J.: Made in America (2016) |
It's the finest film ESPN has ever produced and the absolute pinnacle of its 30 for 30 ideology: If you want to understand why sports matter so much to the fabric of our society, there is no clearer illustration than this documentary. - GQ
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| Posted Dec 05, 2016
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