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Movies Thru the Spectrum

Movies Thru the Spectrum is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Al Alexander.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
B
Arco (2025) Al Alexander It’s very sweet, but also tragic and quite moving, even when a droid meets a gruesome end. It and its fellow Oscar nominee, the equally stirring "Little Amelie," thrive on genuine emotion and deep dives into existentialism.
Posted Jan 30, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
A Poet (2025) Al Alexander     John Dryden wrote that "rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck." It’s a literary quote that can literally be applied to Oscár Restrepo, the bumbling pro-vers libre hero of Simón Mesa Soto’s funny, cringy "A Poet."
Posted Jan 30, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Islands (2025) Al Alexander Although challenged, my interest never waned. But what about you? Should you skip "Islands?" Not atoll.
Posted Jan 30, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Sound of Falling (2025) Al Alexander Despite its numerous flaws, "Sound of Falling" remains a film richly deserving of making the Oscar shortlist, even if it doesn’t always fully and meaningfully connect.
Posted Jan 26, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
H Is for Hawk (2025) Al Alexander The bond between woman and bird is touching at first, but Lowthorpe and Donoghue dwell on it to distraction.
Posted Jan 23, 2026  Edit critic review
C-
In Cold Light (2025) Al Alexander Why Helen Hunt and "CODA's" Troy Kotsur got mixed up in this discombobulated mess remains a mystery. One that I’m sure is far more interesting than the riddle Maika Monroe's ex-con is attempting to solve after being framed for murder.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
The Rip (2026) Al Alexander That "Good Will Hunting" chemistry is still very much in evidence, but it’s not enough to warrant arrest, let alone conviction.
Posted Jan 19, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
The Choral (2025) Al Alexander It all adds up to a spoonful of cinematic comfort food, satisfying for the moment, but soon forgotten.
Posted Jan 16, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
A Private Life (2025) Al Alexander If not for Foster, it would sink like a rock in the River Seine, further proof that the two-time Oscar-winner can turn cheese into gold.
Posted Jan 16, 2026  Edit critic review
B+
Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) Al Alexander There’s never any doubt that you are experiencing a virtuoso dedicated to making movies his way. They may not appeal to the masses, but for a select few, they are cinematic poetry.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Dead Man's Wire (2025) Al Alexander Bottom line: Should you see "Dead Man’s Wire"? By all means! But it’s ultimately up to you. After all, it’s not like there’s a gun to your head.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Rosemead (2025) Al Alexander Lucy Liu seeks to shift the focus from her looks to legitimize her bona fide acting chops and does not disappoint, completely disappearing into the role of a mother charging a hundred miles per hour toward an abyss from which there’s no escape.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B
All That's Left of You (2025) Al Alexander Much like her breakout film, "Amreeka," Dabis isn’t so much interested in the politics of the crisis as she is advocating for compassion and understanding in a land where hatred and violence are the order of the day.
Posted Jan 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B
The Plague (2025) Al Alexander Drawing inspiration from such puberty-is-worse-than-death classics as "Carrie" and "Black Swan," Polinger cleverly probes many of the same themes, but from a male perspective. And what’s most revealing is that boys can be even more catty than girls.
Posted Jan 02, 2026  Edit critic review
C
Goodbye June (2025) Al Alexander Mirren can only do so much before June, and the movie carrying her name, succumbs to an incurable illness. Apathy.
Posted Dec 25, 2025  Edit critic review
A
No Other Choice (2025) Al Alexander If you’re desiring to be wowed by a film emblematic of these uncertain times, it’s clear to me you have no other choice.
Posted Dec 25, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Song Sung Blue (2025) Al Alexander Yes, good times never seemed so good, especially when Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are working their butts off selling what, in the wrong hands, might have been a schmaltzy disaster.
Posted Dec 25, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Marty Supreme (2025) Al Alexander Subtly is not thy name. But pomposity is. And it is personified by Chalamet’s Marty Mauser, a world championship-caliber ping-pong hustler who doesn’t give a damn about how many bridges he burns so long as he gets his way.
Posted Dec 25, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Is This Thing On? (2025) Al Alexander When Dern’s front and center, "Is This Thing On?" soars. When she’s not, it’s a sluggish ordeal.
Posted Dec 19, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) Al Alexander I can’t recall a film that stirred anger, empathy and utter helplessness quite like Kaouther Ben Hania’s emotionally devastating "The Voice of Hind Rajab."
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Dust Bunny (2025) Al Alexander "John Wick" meets "Annie," sans the music. And it’s alluring thanks to its two stars and the magnetic appeal they generate through exchanging snappy, quip-filled dialogue.
Posted Dec 13, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) Al Alexander True, the dialogue may commit a deadly sin or two. But I swear on a stack of Bibles that you won’t be offended, just enthralled, and left hungering for more, as Craig and O'Connor miraculously finesse blasphemy into a blast.
Posted Dec 11, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Hamnet (2025) Al Alexander "To go, or not to go?" Ah, that is the question. But given the slings and arrows of our winter of Oscar discontent, I say get thee not to a nunnery, but to "Hamnet." All that glisters is not gold, but this comes pretty damn close. 
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
C-
Jay Kelly (2025) Al Alexander Baumbach wagers everything on Clooney’s charisma and oversized personality. Sorry, not happening. Neither is "Jay Kelly," a wonky tale of a mecurial star imploding into an existential black hole. My advice? Don’t get sucked into it.
Posted Dec 05, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Fackham Hall (2025) Al Alexander With its plethora of dad jokes, chronic flatulence and cheesy sight gags, I desperately wanted to hate the silly "Fackham Hall." But damned if this "Downton Abbey" send-up didn’t win me over with its effusive eagerness to please.
Posted Dec 04, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Rental Family (2025) Al Alexander There’s a naturalness to Hikari's storytelling that heightens the authenticity of the transformations. You believe in these little miracles, as do her actors.  
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Eternity (2025) Al Alexander  Life’s too short to waste a second of it spent in "Eternity." 
Posted Nov 28, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
The Secret Agent (2025) Al Alexander It’s everything a movie should be: sexy, exciting, informative and endearingly zany. Forget 007; I’ll take this "Secret Agent" over that stuffy Brit any day.
Posted Nov 26, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
Sentimental Value (2025) Al Alexander While "Sentimental Value" doesn’t quite reach the heights of "Worst Person in the World," it remains a marvelous achievement, one in which Trier makes a convincing case that love is art and art is love. And without both, we are nothing.
Posted Nov 25, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Left-Handed Girl (2025) Al Alexander What’s here is no doubt entertaining, but as hard as Shin-Ching tries, her "Left" is at a loss to get everything right.
Posted Nov 21, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Train Dreams (2025) Al Alexander Who wants to lay witness to our man of perpetual sorrow for 90-plus minutes? Granted, Edgerton’s portrayal is fantastic, as is the gorgeous Great Northwest scenery. But you can only absorb so much before repetition and boredom settle in.
Posted Nov 21, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Zodiac Killer Project (2025) Al Alexander Isn’t it about time someone dared satirize the numerous cliches of true-crime entertainments? Well, cheeky filmmaker Charlie Shackleton is game, using his bloody good "Zodiac Killer Project" to dispatch those all-too-familiar tropes.
Posted Nov 21, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Rebuilding (2025) Al Alexander The majority of Dusty’s journey is communicated sans words, which makes O’Connor’s presence even more invaluable. He’s an actor who thankfully realizes less is more. ... And without his dynamic presence, "Rebuilding" would undoubtedly collapse.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
King Ivory (2024) Al Alexander The anti-fentanyl message the muscular "King Ivory" seeks to convey gets snarled in too much "Traffic" to make a full impact. But as a straight-up action picture, it’s pretty damn good.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
Nouvelle Vague (2025) Al Alexander Thanks to Linklater’s meticulous attention to detail, he perfectly recreates the sights, sounds and camaraderie of the Paris film scene. That includes a distinctive "you are there" feel, a setting so sumptuous you’d swear Linklater spared no expense.
Posted Nov 13, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Nuremberg (2025) Al Alexander You must hand it to writer-director James Vanderbilt for using his handsomely mounted post-war drama as a timely reminder of how easy it is for fascists to charm even the most upright of men. But the message nearly gets lost amid all the busyness.
Posted Nov 07, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Die My Love (2025) Al Alexander Ramsay, no stranger to the macabre, structures her film very much like a horror flick, with a woman alone in a rural cabin, haunted – not by a ghost or supernatural being – but by her own fear of losing every ounce of her identity.
Posted Nov 07, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Christy (2025) Al Alexander Sydney Sweeney is the undisputed champion of the boxing biopic “Christy,” a knockout if there ever was one. But a cliche-ridden script consistently has her on the ropes, fighting to hold your interest.
Posted Nov 07, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Anniversary (2025) Al Alexander In his second English-language endeavor, Komasa maintains his usual themes of autonomy and individual responsibility through the Taylors, a once-loving family, torn asunder by suspicion, distrust and that hardly unique American trait, hate.
Posted Oct 29, 2025  Edit critic review
C-
Ballad of a Small Player (2025) Al Alexander All flash and no substance, Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player” wagers everything on Colin Farrell’s roguish gambler and comes up with a losing hand.
Posted Oct 29, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Blue Moon (2025) Al Alexander In the case of Linklater and Hawke, what they’ve done is deliver something bordering on magical, and they’ve accomplished it with great humor and empathy. Or, more simply put, they’ve given heart to Hart.
Posted Oct 24, 2025  Edit critic review
C-
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (2025) Al Alexander Alas, the only bomb here is “A House of Dynamite.” Kaboom!
Posted Oct 24, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
It Was Just an Accident (2025) Al Alexander It’s profound, yet darkly funny, as consciences clash with bloodlust.
Posted Oct 19, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
The Mastermind (2025) Al Alexander Every moment feels like a revelation. But then, that’s what we’ve come to expect from an unassuming filmmaker who continues to challenge herself and us, rarely failing to meet our highest expectations. Dare I say, a mastermind?
Posted Oct 17, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Urchin (2025) Al Alexander Derivative and simplistic, Harris Dickinson’s writing and directing debut is a prime example of a privileged, out-of-touch filmmaker presenting an equally privileged and out-of-touch audience a sanitized glimpse at homelessness and addiction.
Posted Oct 16, 2025  Edit critic review
D
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025) Al Alexander As you’d expect, the ship features multiple levels, with “The Woman in Cabin 10” taking up residence where she belongs – on the poop deck.
Posted Oct 10, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Fairyland (2023) Al Alexander If you’re not weeping by the film’s bittersweet finale, I wouldn’t want to know you.
Posted Oct 09, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Bone Lake (2024) Al Alexander The sex games are admittedly fun and well-staged, but there are far too many holes in Friedlander’s script to take any of it seriously.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Good Boy (2025) Al Alexander Although it’s billed as a “haunted house movie,” it’s closer to a human-interest tale, movingly depicting the unbreakable bonds between man and dog, and life and death.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Predators (2025) Al Alexander In the end, who are the predators of the title? Them, or us? The answer just might surprise you.
Posted Oct 02, 2025  Edit critic review
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