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Joel Arnold

Joel Arnold's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Publications:
NPR

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
The Grand Seduction (2013) 60% EDIT “Translating its accessible premise too cleanly, Grand Seduction neglects the rough edges of character, the very details that make a place and its people memorable to a visitor. They're also what convince a person to stay.” – NPR Jun 2, 2014 Full Review God's Pocket (2014) 36% EDIT “It's always unfortunate to see potential wasted onscreen, in acting, writing, or directing. It's worse to see it happen all at once with artists universally known as capable of much more.” – NPR May 11, 2014 Full Review A Birder's Guide to Everything (2013) 87% EDIT “The film is far from a melancholy wallow, but it does examine the ways we cope with loss and the conflicts that result when one person's healing process is faster or different from another's.” – NPR Mar 18, 2014 Full Review Grand Piano (2013) 80% EDIT “Grand Piano is a screenwriter's fantasy of a self-conscious Hitchcockian thriller, daringly written, improbably made - and more unbelievably made well.” – NPR Mar 6, 2014 Full Review Ernest & Celestine (2012) 98% EDIT “The characters are computer-rendered, but the watercolor environments they move in are expressive and detail-rich.” – NPR Feb 27, 2014 Full Review Teenage (2013) 77% EDIT “Wolf blends newsreels, archival footage, written personal diaries and vivid 16mm recreations in an entrancing collage that puts the voice of youth at the center of a narrative in which the broad strokes of history tend to overlook them.” – NPR Feb 11, 2014 Full Review The LEGO Movie (2014) 96% EDIT “The Lego Movie maybe be one giant advertisement, but all the way to its plastic-mat foundation, it's an earnest piece of work - a cash grab with a heart. Made for, with and about Legos, the movie is also made for, with and about imagination ...” – NPR Feb 6, 2014 Full Review The Nut Job (2014) 13% EDIT “Once Surly and Buddy case the joint, develop a plan, and deal with the inevitable surprises, The Nut Job could be any classic caper flick.” – NPR Jan 16, 2014 Full Review All the Light in the Sky (2012) 80% EDIT “Where the film excels is in capturing the quiet revelations in Marie's life over the few days it chronicles - revelations that represent the aftermath of choices made years before, when expectations were higher.” – NPR Dec 20, 2013 Full Review About Time (2013) 71% EDIT “The film takes few of the liberties you'd expect from its genre, and it conforms to an internal logic throughout.” – NPR Nov 1, 2013 Full Review Rush (2013) 89% EDIT “Howard chooses a few moments to let the film breathe, but for the most part - aside from a clunky first-person narration that book-ends the film - he propels Rush from scene to scene with a momentum that never lets the thing drag.” – NPR Sep 20, 2013 Full Review The Heat (2013) 65% EDIT “The Heat come, they conquer, and they leave you laughing.” – NPR Jun 28, 2013 Full Review Now You See Me (2013) 51% EDIT “Exudes self-importance and can't help but make promises it can't deliver on.” – NPR May 30, 2013 Full Review The Hangover Part III (2013) 21% EDIT “An excessively violent action comedy that handily manages the tough task of feeling at once tired and aggressively heartless.” – NPR May 24, 2013 Full Review The Company You Keep (2012) 55% EDIT “It's a pleasure to watch, even if the payoff is rather less substantial than the backstory.” – NPR Apr 4, 2013 Full Review Wrong (2012) 64% EDIT “In Wrong, reality and the world of the film will regularly upend themselves; it's never quite reliably clear, though, that these inexplicable events are happening for a purpose.” – NPR Mar 29, 2013 Full Review Hunky Dory (2011) 54% EDIT “Hunky Dory flits along blithely from number to transporting musical number until it ends - with a sigh - and dodges any authentic engagement with its own ideas.” – NPR Mar 21, 2013 Full Review Emperor (2012) 31% EDIT “Despite the promising setup, the filmmakers' execution muddles what's inherently dramatic material.” – NPR Mar 7, 2013 Full Review Beautiful Creatures (2013) 47% EDIT “This surprisingly beguiling attempt to blend fantasy, coming-of-age drama, melodrama, camp and social critique isn't always successful - but it's nearly always entertaining.” – NPR Feb 14, 2013 Full Review A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2012) 16% EDIT “Charles Swan might have have been successful if its sensibilities weren't so aligned with its constantly disappointing protagonist's.” – NPR Feb 7, 2013 Full Review Luv (2012) 35% EDIT “Saved from its predictable plotline by a strong cast and a central relationship written and performed with sensitivity, LUV reveals the stakes of trusting in a role model and the costs when that person turns out to be human.” – NPR Jan 17, 2013 Full Review Otelo Burning (2011) 67% EDIT “A heavy-handed but forceful coming-of-age story set circa 1989, against the backdrop of the violent beginning of apartheid's end ...” – NPR Nov 29, 2012 Full Review The Round Up (2010) 57% EDIT “It's a mainstream, sentimental drama because it needs to be. It announces in a clear voice that this happened.” – NPR Nov 20, 2012 Full Review The Details (2011) 45% EDIT “In exploring how easily and strangely the life Jeff and Nealy have built together unravels, The Details lays out a series of mundane and dangerous objects as signposts - provocative keys to the film's darkly comedic and tense puzzle.” – NPR Nov 1, 2012 Full Review Pusher (2012) 46% EDIT “Pusher is some kind of tragedy, though not the one its filmmakers intended.” – NPR Oct 25, 2012 Full Review
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