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Nerd Report

Nerd Report is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Fred Topel.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Critters Attack! (2019) Fred Topel Critters 3 took place all in one apartment building, and 4 was in space on a spaceship set that was manageable. Now a straight to video Critters movie holds up with the theatrical Critters films, which admittedly were always low budget.
Posted Aug 02, 2019  Edit critic review
Overlord (2018) Fred Topel We may not have ever gotten this polished a version of it before, but it still feels familiar, like A-listers slumming it...
Posted Apr 23, 2019  Edit critic review
Paradise Hills (2019) Fred Topel A beautiful original dystopia, with something to say about the extent to which parents want their kids to conform.
Posted Feb 04, 2019  Edit critic review
Little Monsters (2019) Fred Topel Writer/director Abe Forsythe creates suspenseful zombie action while maintaining the absurdity of a kindergarten field trip.
Posted Jan 30, 2019  Edit critic review
Love, Antosha (2019) Fred Topel From the moment Love, Antosha opens with adorable childhood home videos of Yelchin, there's no way you won't love him.
Posted Jan 29, 2019  Edit critic review
Honey Boy (2019) Fred Topel A revealing expose on Labeouf and a touching drama that any family can relate to, in show business or not.
Posted Jan 27, 2019  Edit critic review
The Dark (2018) Fred Topel There are so many forest based horror films, from The Evil Dead to The Blair Witch Project, it's a clever twist to make The Dark from the 'monster''s perspective.
Posted Jan 16, 2019  Edit critic review
Final Score (2018) Fred Topel This Die Hard in a stadium (and therefore Sudden Death with soccer) is the kind of solid high concept action movie we need more of.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Roma (2018) Fred Topel The same techniques with which Cuaron made Gravity and Children of Men immersive experiences work for Roma's more intimate drama.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Sunset (2018) Fred Topel I'm sure there's a lot more life in his technique, as well as different signature techniques he might develop in future films. Sunset is a sophomore slump but the lessons of this misstep might just make his next film stronger.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Mary Queen of Scots (2018) Fred Topel It's basically House of Cards for royal politics. You get to watch two smart and savvy women make political maneuvers.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Destroyer (2018) Fred Topel Kidman has the grizzled cop attitude down. She gets beat up, but she's scrappy and fights back. You believe she's been through decades of this so for her it's just Tuesday.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Family (2018) Fred Topel It takes an indie film like Family to say, 'No, family's not going to change your life but it's got good parts and funny parts so you can do both.'
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
Cold War (2018) Fred Topel What most engrossed me in Cold War was the framing. The square frame envelops you and focuses your eye more so than even widescreen or IMAX movies often do.
Posted Nov 27, 2018  Edit critic review
On the Basis of Sex (2018) Fred Topel On the Basis of Sex turns Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Felicity Jones)'s life into an electrifying courtroom drama, including all the prep.
Posted Nov 12, 2018  Edit critic review
Kidnap (2017) Fred Topel Was Kidnap the fastest most furious movie of the year? Well, we did have Baby Driver. But Kidnap was probably the fastest most furious movie of 2014 when it was made.
Posted Nov 30, 2017  Edit critic review
Mr. Roosevelt (2017) Fred Topel Observant about the comedy/social media culture but transitions to irreverent, whimsical, existential insights.
Posted Nov 17, 2017  Edit critic review
Officer Downe (2016) Fred Topel This is what a Troma movie might be like with misogyny and entitlement in place of vision and actually having something to say.
Posted Nov 06, 2017  Edit critic review
Inconceivable (2017) Fred Topel The Hand That Rocks The Cradle with a surrogate!
Posted Aug 30, 2017  Edit critic review
Dunkirk (2017) Fred Topel Being as objective as it is may ultimately rob the film of some of its potential for emotional impact, but there is no denying Dunkirk is unlike any war film we've ever seen.
Posted Jul 18, 2017  Edit critic review
Annabelle: Creation (2017) Fred Topel Annabelle: Creation is full of terrifying creepy imagery, and it's great at teasing the audience with buildup.
Posted Jun 22, 2017  Edit critic review
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) Fred Topel In trying to connect all five films while moving forward, The Last Knight is all over the place but every place it goes is worth visiting.
Posted Jun 20, 2017  Edit critic review
Cars 3 (2017) Fred Topel I would love to say one of these movies is the fastest, most furious Pixar movie but they can't even give me that! It's right there!
Posted Jun 12, 2017  Edit critic review
Wonder Woman (2017) Fred Topel Her sincerity and compassion are her greatest super powers of all.
Posted May 30, 2017  Edit critic review
Baywatch (2017) Fred Topel Unlike the great movies based on TV shows, Baywatch never decided if it was making fun of the show... or celebrating it... It doesn't so much try to have it both ways as it just doesn't seem to understand there are ways at all.
Posted May 23, 2017  Edit critic review
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Fred Topel Cinematic takes on King Arthur have attempted to be realistic, romantic, fantastical and even musical (that one began on Broadway to be fair). King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is all posturing bravado.
Posted May 09, 2017  Edit critic review
Gifted (2017) Fred Topel Focusing on making intelligence less scary could go a long way towards showing you can be both smart and compassionate.
Posted Apr 06, 2017  Edit critic review
Fits and Starts (2017) Fred Topel An indie version of those movies where a bad night keeps escalating, like After Hours or Adventures in Babysitting. Only since it's about a bunch of pretentious artists, the only escalating danger is smugness.
Posted Mar 12, 2017  Edit critic review
Burning Sands (2017) Fred Topel Writer/director Gerard McMurray has compassion for these kids and a passion for shining light on these abuses.
Posted Feb 05, 2017  Edit critic review
Walking Out (2017) Fred Topel Seeing Matt Bomer get rugged is a captivating change of pace.
Posted Feb 05, 2017  Edit critic review
Call Me by Your Name (2017) Fred Topel Equally a portrayal of good parenting as it is honest sexual becoming.
Posted Feb 05, 2017  Edit critic review
Passengers (2016) Fred Topel Many of the plot developments undermine the moral complexity of the premise, but it asks interesting questions even if it doesn't always have the right answer.
Posted Dec 21, 2016  Edit critic review
La La Land (2016) Fred Topel The opening and closing dance numbers are so brilliant and uplifting that they are probably the best sequences in cinema all year.
Posted Nov 16, 2016  Edit critic review
Rules Don't Apply (2016) Fred Topel Made me lament all the characters Warren Beatty could have played in the last 15 years but did not.
Posted Nov 12, 2016  Edit critic review
The Comedian (2016) Fred Topel It is totally worth it to see De Niro do standup comedy. The plot providing the vehicle for the stand-up comedy is thin, but there's enough stand-up comedy that I'm glad The Comedian exists.
Posted Nov 12, 2016  Edit critic review
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) Fred Topel It's so blatant it feels more like a parody of his own other graphically violent movies. There's an actual Evil Dead moment in a battle scene, followed by heads literally exploding.
Posted Nov 03, 2016  Edit critic review
The Magnificent Seven (2016) Fred Topel All the low angles looking up at our heroes makes them look heroic, and the wide shot of all seven walking down the street feels special.
Posted Sep 23, 2016  Edit critic review
The Village of Middlevale (2015) Fred Topel The world according to LARP.
Posted Aug 14, 2016  Edit critic review
Dead Body (2017) Fred Topel The paranoia is really effective, leading many of the innocent characters to kill the wrong people. Their reasoning is smart based on the information they have, and the way they debate their decisions is scarier than the murders.
Posted Jul 10, 2016  Edit critic review
The Purge: Election Year (2016) Fred Topel The pretense of a self-reflective political message makes The Purge: Election Year the most distasteful kind of exploitation. The franchise is a cautionary fantasy that is allowed to have fun with the dystopian premise, but you can't have it both ways.
Posted Jun 29, 2016  Edit critic review
Shortwave (2016) Fred Topel It gets more harrowing for Isabel and more harrowing for us the further along it goes.
Posted Jun 28, 2016  Edit critic review
Paint It Black (2016) Fred Topel Alia Shawkat and Janet McTeer in bravura performances within a harrowing drama.
Posted Jun 28, 2016  Edit critic review
Free State of Jones (2016) Fred Topel A harrowing, illuminating portrayal of a time in American history that I frankly did not learn in school. It's the perfect illustration of how there's always a fight at every point in history, no matter how much progress we think we've made.
Posted Jun 24, 2016  Edit critic review
The Brothers Grimsby (2016) Fred Topel It's taboo, it's politically incorrect, it's disrespectful and all with a love for the buttons it's pushing. They had me at the Daniel Radcliffe joke.
Posted Jun 21, 2016  Edit critic review
Muddy Corman (2015) Fred Topel Sounds like it could be the plot of an Adam Sandler or Rob Schneider movie, where they have to pull off a crazy scheme to get enough money to keep their school open. Imagine the highbrow approach to that and that's more like Muddy Corman.
Posted Jun 21, 2016  Edit critic review
Bear With Us (2016) Fred Topel Bravo for such an unflinching take on comedy and using the confined location to pull off a complex world of shenanigans.
Posted Jun 21, 2016  Edit critic review
Finding Dory (2016) Fred Topel A compassionate portrait of mental illness for families with young ones... It's also got a Die Hard 2 thing going on.
Posted Jun 13, 2016  Edit critic review
Lights Out (2016) Fred Topel Lights Out does for fear of the dark what Halloween did for slashers.
Posted Jun 09, 2016  Edit critic review
The Conjuring 2 (2016) Fred Topel A whole lotta conjuring!
Posted Jun 02, 2016  Edit critic review
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Fred Topel Wonderland should be a place you can always visit for weird surreal shenanigans. That's what the sequel is.
Posted May 24, 2016  Edit critic review
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