Lael Loewenstein
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Publications: | Boxoffice Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Variety, FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles) |
| Critics' Group: | Los Angeles Film Critics Association |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | When Lambs Become Lions (2019) |
A really fascinating and well-made cinéma vérité documentary. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 22, 2019
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| 94% | Dark Waters (2019) |
It's really heavy going and hard to swallow, but worth seeing. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 22, 2019
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| 96% | Knives Out (2019) |
It is a great cast, but mostly underutilized... It had a lot of interesting elements -- looking like an "Eye Spy" book come to life -- but it wasn't quite sharp enough, if you will. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 22, 2019
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| 96% | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) |
This made me feel hopeful and genuinely transformed at the possibility of goodness.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 22, 2019
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| 76% | Frozen II (2019) |
As far as the story -- it did not move the franchise forward at all. In fact, it seemed to have a terrible case of sequel-itis. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 22, 2019
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| 67% | Adopt a Highway (2019) |
Hawke does an excellent job carrying it off. It could have been a stronger film, but I thought he was excellent. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 1, 2019
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| 100% | The Apollo (2019) |
This is one of the best docs I've seen this year.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 1, 2019
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| 96% | The Irishman (2019) |
[Scorsese] does play with our expectations both stylistically and thematically... And I've got to give props to Scorsese for embracing new technology relatively late into his career. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 1, 2019
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| 71% | Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) |
This really is a return to form... It brings a liberal dose of humor, plenty of action, and a little bit of a Deadpool sensibility. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Nov 1, 2019
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| 60% | Ask for Jane (2019) |
It felt almost like you're reading a sixth grade sex-ed primer in terms of the way it hit every conceivable cliché. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Oct 1, 2019
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| 60% | Ophelia (2019) |
It looks beautiful and is engaging... A clever reimagining.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Oct 1, 2019
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| 98% | Maiden (2019) |
What a revelation... It's quite stunning. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Oct 1, 2019
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| 90% | Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) |
A fresher, reinvigorated, [and] much more energetic Spider-Man than I've seen in a long time. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Oct 1, 2019
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| 33% | Domino (2019) |
I was not a big fan of this movie... I thought it was narratively a disaster. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 30, 2019
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| 75% | Halston (2019) |
What struck me [about the film] that I didn't realize: Halston was the progenitor of so much of what we now associate with fashion. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 30, 2019
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| 60% | The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l'empire américain) (2019) |
I love the way [director Denys] Arcand blends different genres. This is satire, a romance and also a thriller. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 30, 2019
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| 89% | Rocketman (2019) |
Sometimes it feels just a little contrived, but it has a freeness and a lightness and a sort of Bollywood-ness to it that is a lot of fun to watch.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 30, 2019
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| 100% | At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (2019) |
Hard to watch, but important to see.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2019
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| 81% | Long Shot (2019) |
It has everything you want in a romantic comedy and more. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2019
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| 83% | High Life (2019) |
There's some semblance of a plot, but it's style over substance. Too many bodily fluids and scatological instances for my taste. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
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| 66% | The Public (2019) |
Yes, it's earnest and it tries a little too hard, but it sucked me in. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
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| 44% | The Chaperone (2019) |
It never really comes alive. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
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| 86% | Ramen Shop (Ramen teh) (2019) |
A sweet, family comedic drama. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
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| 99% | Amazing Grace (2019) |
It lives up to its name... There is nothing more visceral, transporting, or transcendent than watching than watching Aretha Franklin. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2019
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| 100% | Slut in a Good Way (Charlotte a du fun) (2019) |
I thought this was a pretty charming, sort of French-Canadian take on 'Easy A', if you will. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2019
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| 93% | Diane (2019) |
It's a very slow burn... But by the end, I feel that she had revealed these different layers and I thought it worked. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2019
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| 84% | The Brink (2019) |
This is fascinating and horrifying at the same time. It leaves you kind of feeling sick. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2019
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| 98% | 3 Faces (2019) |
It's a beautiful and difficult film. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 23, 2019
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| 86% | The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019) |
It's a remarkable story... I just wish the movie had been a little more suspenseful. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 19, 2019
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| 99% | Apollo 11 (2019) |
This movie is compulsory viewing for anyone who is interested in the space program or even just curious about what the moon landing was like. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 19, 2019
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| 90% | Tito and the Birds (Tito e os Pássaros) (2018) |
It felt incredibly alive... very tactile, and I loved the score. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 17, 2019
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| 63% | Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) |
It's difficult to walk [the] line of comedy and horror... It walks the line fairly well.‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 17, 2019
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| 89% | Arctic (2019) |
If you like survival epics -- and I happen to love them -- this is one of the very, very best. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 17, 2019
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| 37% | Close (2019) |
This a straight-out action thriller and... I would say not one of the better ones. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
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| 82% | All These Small Moments (2019) |
A collection of small and wonderful moments that added up to a pretty decent film. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
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| 22% | I Hate Kids (2019) |
It's an uneven film, but there are some funny turns. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
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| 79% | Fyre Fraud (2019) |
A little more comedic, a little more about millennials. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
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| 37% | Glass (2019) |
Like a mosaic put together by a not-gifted preschooler. It just doesn't come together. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 13, 2019
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| 29% | Between Worlds (2018) |
I'm sorry -- who does Nicolas Cage owe money to that he had to take this movie?‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2019
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| 74% | On the Basis of Sex (2019) |
This film did a persuasive and compelling job of painting a portrait of a woman who truly was a path breaker. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2019
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| 66% | Vice (2018) |
I think Adam McKay -- better than any filmmaker I can think of -- does a terrific job of rendering the opaque comprehensible. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2019
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| 55% | Strange But True (2019) |
A wasted opportunity... It ends up being very straightforward and not that unusual. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2019
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| 86% | Ms. Purple (2019) |
This is a very accomplished film... There is so much depth in these characters. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2019
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| 67% | Blink of an Eye (2019) |
This is a surprisingly moving documentary that also taught me a lot about the world of stock car racing. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2019
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| 88% | Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019) |
This is a really good documentary -- and a really poignant one, as well. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Sep 9, 2019
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| 74% | Adam (2019) |
I didn't really care for the film. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2019
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| 18% | Hot Air (2019) |
It's a satire and silly, but I -- for the most part -- enjoyed it. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2019
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| 96% | Jawline (2019) |
It was scary to me. I thought "Wow, the young people are so easily swayed by [social media]." ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2019
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| 89% | Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019) |
A lovely, sort of upbeat, inspirational female empowerment [movie]. ‐ FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2019
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| 53% | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) |
[It's] formulaic in adhering to the sitcom-style tone of the first two films.‐ Variety
Posted Aug 2, 2012
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