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Ian Thomas Malone

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Ian Thomas Malone is an author, comedian, and podcast host. She earned her B.A. at Boston College in 2013, where she founded The Rock at Boston College and an M.A. from Claremont Graduate University. Ian's treatise The Transgender Manifesto is a bestseller in LGBTQ non-fiction. She has contributed chapters to academic books on James Cameron and Star Trek: Voyager. Ian's debut comedy album, Confessions From My New Vagina, was released in 2021. Since 2019, Ian has hosted the Estradiol Illusions podcast, covering entertainment and LGBTQ issues. Ian resides in Long Beach, California.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) 93% EDIT “Weir’s great triumph comes from his firm grasp of the atmosphere, a harrowingly powerful experience. Few films capture the agony of an unsolved mystery with such grace and beauty.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jan 27, 2026 Full Review Loving Annabelle (2006) EDIT “Brooks’ messy feature shines brightest when highlighting the cost of Simone’s decades of repression, capturing the zeitgeist of being gay in George Bush’s America.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jan 13, 2026 Full Review Marty Supreme (2025) 94% EDIT “Chalamet delivers what could very end up being a career-defining performance. Marty is so transparently full of himself, but Chalamet’s charm offensive is quite contagious.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jan 9, 2026 Full Review Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) 66% EDIT “Fire and Ash struggles to overcome the clunky child custody case at the core of its narrative, a story otherwise content with playing a medley of Pandora’s greatest hits.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jan 5, 2026 Full Review Predator: Badlands (2025) 86% EDIT “Trachtenberg delivers a solid popcorn film, entertaining work that falls well short of what we know he’s capable of. One might have hoped he’d swing a little harder for the fences after the treat that was Prey.” – ianthomasmalone.com Nov 13, 2025 Full Review TRON: Ares (2025) 53% EDIT “The result is indistinguishable from the AI it nominally critiques, empty slop poured into its audience’s feed trough. Rarely does a major blockbuster rely so heavily on its composers to add any semblance of creative expression to such a lifeless corpse.” – ianthomasmalone.com Oct 12, 2025 Full Review One Battle After Another (2025) 94% EDIT “Anderson’s great triumph is the way he crafts a sweeping odyssey rooted in an intimate crime thriller. It’s a game of cat and mouse that feels like it completely captures the rot of this decrepit nation.” – ianthomasmalone.com Sep 26, 2025 Full Review Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) 65% EDIT “Spinal Tap’s extended victory tour would be more acceptable if this film had tried to include more actual jokes. There are a couple of gags here and there, but nowhere near enough to pad out a feature-length runtime.” – ianthomasmalone.com Sep 22, 2025 Full Review Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) 91% EDIT “There’s no marquee event like a visit from the King or a mysterious French villa gifted to a dying octogenarian anchoring the narrative. Instead, Fellowes’ modest intentions serve as more of an extended episode of the series, a well-deserved victory lap.” – ianthomasmalone.com Sep 3, 2025 Full Review Metropolitan (1990) 94% EDIT “Stillman finds plenty of subtleties that elevate Metropolitan above a standard comedy of manners, able to engage earnestly with the concerns of youth without ever bending to the self-importance of his characters.” – ianthomasmalone.com Aug 26, 2025 Full Review Last Summer (2023) 87% EDIT “Life doesn’t always go the way we planned. You can’t control the actions of others, only the way that you choose to receive them. Breillat produces the film’s most compelling work when she homes in on that reality. ” – ianthomasmalone.com Aug 26, 2025 Full Review Shin Godzilla (2016) 87% EDIT “Anno delivers a singular take on Godzilla that’s bound to stick with its audience long after the credits roll, a damning indictment on government incompetence that’s only improved with age.” – ianthomasmalone.com Aug 15, 2025 Full Review Summertime (1955) 92% EDIT “While her obvious star power radiates in every scene, Hepburn elicits great sympathy for Jane through the subtle moments of profound sadness, the immutable sting of loneliness still resonating seventy years later.” – ianthomasmalone.com Aug 11, 2025 Full Review Pump Up the Volume (1990) 80% EDIT “Despite a lackluster screenplay, Pump Up The Volume stands out from its contemporaries through its earnest sincerity. Disaffected youth don’t want to hear that it gets better. Slater found a way to reach them anyway.” – ianthomasmalone.com Aug 5, 2025 Full Review The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) 86% EDIT “There’s never a dull moment in First Steps, though the film's frantic pacing often forgets to breathe. The eager cast rarely get a chance to make the roles their own.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jul 25, 2025 Full Review Monika (1952) 100% EDIT “Andersson rarely plays Monika for sympathy, but you can understand her claustrophobia toward her dreary monotony when juxtaposed against the ephemeral nature of summer.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jul 11, 2025 Full Review Superman (2025) 83% EDIT “Gathegi is the film’s secret weapon, stealing every scene that he’s in, even when Mister Terrific isn’t the focus, the only hero unfazed by the film’s universe-shattering stakes.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jul 11, 2025 Full Review Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) 50% EDIT “Rebirth is solid popcorn entertainment. The paint-by-numbers approach won’t appeal to many Spielberg fans, but there’s a lot of fun to be had watching one-dimensional people run away from CGI abominations. ” – ianthomasmalone.com Jul 7, 2025 Full Review Ballerina (2025) 75% EDIT “The film never shakes the sense that it could have produced a better product with a few more passes at the script, but aside from a few janky special effects sequences, Ballerina manages to deliver a satisfying experience for fans of the franchise.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jun 5, 2025 Full Review Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025) 80% EDIT “While the stunts represent Cruise’s insatiable need to top his own absurdity, there’s no denying that the results are top-tier blockbuster entertainment. The film’s sloppy execution undercuts its suspense, but it’s still a sight to behold.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jun 3, 2025 Full Review Thunderbolts* (2025) 88% EDIT “The third act hits a few pacing snags, but shows a lot of restraint as far as typical blockbusters go. Thunderbolts* drama is remarkably human, the product of well-crafted storytelling that actually puts in the legwork to deliver a satisfying resolution.” – ianthomasmalone.com May 3, 2025 Full Review On Swift Horses (2024) 53% EDIT “Edgar-Jones masterfully captures the innate struggle of trying to find happiness in a world diametrically opposed to queer joy.” – ianthomasmalone.com Apr 11, 2025 Full Review Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) 83% EDIT “As Helen, Juergensen brings that vital magnetic Type-A Gen X lesbian energy, the kind of force of will destined to stay with someone regardless of what happens to a relationship.” – ianthomasmalone.com Mar 27, 2025 Full Review Captain America: Brave New World (2025) 46% EDIT “Despite a budget of close to 200 million, the MCU has rarely felt smaller than Brave New World, which often feels like an episode of The West Wing without any of the quippy writing or coherent plot progression.” – ianthomasmalone.com Feb 14, 2025 Full Review Emilia Pérez (2024) 71% EDIT “Emilia Perez contains what is very likely the worst song ever written about gender dysphoria, guaranteed to make any trans person regret the life decisions that might cause people to associate themselves with this trainwreck.” – ianthomasmalone.com Jan 31, 2025 Full Review
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