Chris Klimek : NPR

Mawkish 'Blinded By The Light' Wears Its Too-Hungry Heart On Its Sleeve

Come on, rise up! Blinded by the Light follows first-generation British teen Javed (Viveik Kalra, center) as he discovers hope and Bruce Springsteen in 1980s Britain. Nick Wall/Warner Bros. hide caption

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Mawkish 'Blinded By The Light' Wears Its Too-Hungry Heart On Its Sleeve

August 15, 2019 • Film critic/Springsteen superfan Chris Klimek says Gurinder Chadha's film about a British-Pakistani kid who finds inspiration in The Boss's music is affected and cloying.

'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham joke, flex, and beat up bad guys in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Frank Masi/Universal Pictures hide caption

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'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

August 7, 2019 • The new film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham. The two play their characters from the Fast & Furious franchise, spun off into a fresh adventure. They race a mechanically enhanced super soldier played by Idris Elba to recover a deadly virus before it can melt the entire population of the planet into a series of small puddles.

'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

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Better Stunts & Actors, Just As Derivative: 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'

Bald-faced fury: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham team up as Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw in this Fast & Furious spinoff directed by David Leitch. Daniel Smith/Universal hide caption

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Better Stunts & Actors, Just As Derivative: 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'

July 31, 2019 • The "genial flexfest" of a spinoff is the "most agreeable" of the franchise, which once again slickly repackages set pieces from other, better, more innovative action films.

'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. Andrew Cooper/Sony Pictures Entertainment hide caption

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'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

July 31, 2019 • Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood is writer-director Quentin Tarantino's ninth film. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a fading western actor named Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his loyal stuntman Cliff Booth. It's set in the changing Hollywood of 1969, and in many ways, it's a breezy romp through studio backlots and makeup trailers — but hanging over every frame is the threat of violence, in the form of a very real historical tragedy — the brutal Manson family murders in the Hollywood Hills. It's glossy L.A. nostalgia laced with grisly violence — it's peak Tarantino, but does it work?

'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

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Tarantino's Turned-On, Tuned-In Tinseltown: 'Once Upon A Time In ... Hollywood'

A bloody business: Cliff (Brad Pitt), Rick (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Marvin (Al Pacino) meet at Musso & Frank in Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood. Andrew Cooper/Columbia Pictures hide caption

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Tarantino's Turned-On, Tuned-In Tinseltown: 'Once Upon A Time In ... Hollywood'

July 25, 2019 • Call it peak Tarantino: The writer/director's ninth film — about a Manson-family-adjacent actor and his stuntman — is an ode to the grimy, neon-lit place and time that shaped him.

Collateral, Damaged: 'Stuber' Is A Tired Retread

Somebody's Uber rating is taking a hit. L to R: Vic (Dave Bautista), Stroker (Pico) and Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) in Stuber. Mark Hill/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

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Collateral, Damaged: 'Stuber' Is A Tired Retread

July 11, 2019 • The latest summer action-comedy to attempt to satirize summer action-comedies by upping the violence, Stuber wastes its two charismatic leads in an unfunny riff on 2004's Collateral.

Spider-Man's 'Far From Home,' But The MCU Is Far From Over

Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Jay Maidment/Sony/Columbia Pictures hide caption

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Spider-Man's 'Far From Home,' But The MCU Is Far From Over

July 5, 2019 • In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Tom Holland's Peter Parker deals with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame by not dealing with it — he takes a class trip to Europe, attempting to leave his great power, and his great responsibility, behind.

Spider-Man's 'Far From Home,' But The MCU Is Far From Over

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'Spider-Man: Far From Home,' But Still On Familiar Ground

In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) goes on a European vacation, but can't catch a break. Jay Maidment/Sony Pictures hide caption

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'Spider-Man: Far From Home,' But Still On Familiar Ground

June 27, 2019 • A charming cast, some fun twists, and the usual third-act bloat; Avengers may be over, but this "bright and buoyant" spider-sequel doesn't give you a chance to forget the Marvel formula.

In 'Shaft,' The Sex Machine Grinds Its Gears

Crime fighting is a family business in Shaft, the newest iteration of the 1971 film of the same name starring Jessie T. Usher, Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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In 'Shaft,' The Sex Machine Grinds Its Gears

June 13, 2019 • The sequel to the sequel to the classic 1971 blaxploitation film is fueled by gay-panic jokes and poorly staged, violence-is-the-answer set pieces.

You Won't Get Much Fire From 'Godzilla: King Of The Monsters'

Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown makes her big-screen debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Daniel McFadden/Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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You Won't Get Much Fire From 'Godzilla: King Of The Monsters'

May 30, 2019 • The sequel to the 2014 Godzilla finds two scientists and a bunch of monsters stranded in an undercooked story about an underdeveloped monster.

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 3--Parabellum. Summit Entertainment hide caption

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John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum

May 17, 2019 • Once upon a time, a man named John Wick retired from his successful career as an assassin. But then he returned to it. And across what's now a three-film series, he's been having a heck of a week ever since.

John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum

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There's No Spoon, But Plenty Of Knives In 'John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum'

Keanu Reeves is back in the over the top John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Summit Entertainment hide caption

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There's No Spoon, But Plenty Of Knives In 'John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum'

May 16, 2019 • The third installment of the Keanu-as-super-assassin series triples down on the gorgeously staged violence, but little things like his character's motivation get hopelessly muddled.

Aw, crap: David Harbour stars in the 2019 reboot of Hellboy. Mark Rogers/Lionsgate hide caption

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'Hellboy': Hell, No

April 11, 2019 • Comics creator Mike Mignola's gruff demon-hero gets a hard-R reboot that swaps out the charm of director Guillermo del Toro's previous iterations and replaces it with "chaotic, repetitive" gore.

Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer star in the new movie Shazam! Warner Bros. hide caption

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'Shazam!' Is Shockingly Good

April 5, 2019 • "Shazam!" is what young Billy Batson says to morph into a big red superhero. It's also the name of the new movie about him. Starring Zachary Levi as the big lug in the suit, Shazam! makes for a lighter DC Comics movie.

'Shazam!' Is Shockingly Good

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'Dumbo': Elephants Never Forget, But Audiences Will

Tim Burton's Dumbo re-imagines the 1942 animated Disney classic. Disney hide caption

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'Dumbo': Elephants Never Forget, But Audiences Will

March 28, 2019 • Tim Burton's take on the classic Disney animated feature does what it sets out to do in a kid-friendly, safe and unsurprising way devoid of the director's onetime idiosyncratic flair.