Alissa Simon

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Variety
For 88 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 10% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 6.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Alissa Simon's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 72
Highest review score: 100 Rocks in My Pockets
Lowest review score: 30 Euphoria
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 88
  3. Negative: 3 out of 88
88 movie reviews
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    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    Blizzard of Souls
    With its muscular direction by former documentarian Dzintars Dreibergs, atmospheric cinematography and careful attention to period detail, this account of a troop of Latvian Riflemen fighting first for the Russian Imperial Army against invading German forces and then for an independent Latvia should appeal to WWI buffs and fans of Sam Mendes’ “1917.”
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    Three Minutes: A Lengthening
    Stigter’s method is simultaneously creative and forensic, but never sentimental. Working with a digitized copy that bears the blemishes left by the deterioration of the original celluloid, she conjures up exactly what she declares in the subtitle: a lengthening.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    About Elly (2009)
    While not equaling the depth of characterization of Farhadi’s previous films, About Elly takes the complexity of his storytelling to a fascinating level. However, the variable quality of the thesping also prevents the pic from being his best work.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    My Happy Family
    Providing certain vivid detail but rather lacking in vitality, Ekvtimishvili’s screenplay is stronger on sociology than drama.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    Night Will Fall
    Night not only conveys the almost unbelievable atrocities captured by the Russian, American and British camera teams and photographers, but also highlights the dedication of the team determined to document and disseminate this evidence and the changing policies of those in charge of postwar reconstruction.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    The Other Side of Everything
    Mila’s film honors Srbijanka’s legacy of activism and brings her spirit of honor and responsibility to a new generation and a wider audience.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Blue Sun Palace
    More akin to European art films than to American indies, “Palace” prioritizes mood over plot. Tsang allows her experienced actors plenty of breathing space to convey the melancholy of their existence in situations where dreams are more likely to be deferred than to come true, but are necessary nevertheless.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Window Horses
    Director-writer-animator Ann Marie Fleming creates an entertaining, educational, and poignant tale about identify and imagination that is filled with stories and poetry.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    Rams
    As Hakonarson’s beautifully modulated film progresses, recurring images contrast and poignantly resonate with meaning.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Alissa Simon
    Folktales
    With the epic, primal beauty of its remote location, Folktales scores high on visual aesthetics, but rates lower on actual content, as the youth characters aren’t as fully-fledged as one could wish and the school experience is not enough of a trial to provide real drama.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    The Girl Without Hands
    Each shimmering frame is composed of multiple layers of diverse drawing and painting techniques and washes of color combined with 2D computer animation.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Drowning Dry
    Audiences open to a different sort of world cinema that repays careful attention should find it a stimulating and imaginative work.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Alissa Simon
    Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains
    The screenplay by Sher-Niyaz, Bakytbek Turdubaev and Kyrgyz culture minister Sultan Raev takes an “important moments” approach to Kurmanjan’s life, requiring the casting of four different actresses. Unfortunately, the result plays like an illustration of her Wikipedia entry rather than providing any psychological insight into her feelings.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    My Love Affair with Marriage
    With My Love Affair with Marriage, animator Signe Baumane creates another dense personal narrative that expresses complicated concepts and ideas in images.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
    Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me blends intimate and unflinching medical details, poignant performance footage and a survey of its subject’s place in musical history through well-chosen archival footage and interviews with other iconic performers.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Tu Dors Nicole
    The actors, some of whom have worked with Lafleur before, are entirely in tune with his intentions and display a beguiling chemistry.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 Alissa Simon
    Rocks in My Pockets
    Boasting a narrative of extraordinary complexity and density, stuffed with irony, humor and tales-within-tales, the imaginative animated memoir Rocks in My Pockets merges a mini-history of 20th-century Latvia with that of helmer Signe Baumane and her forebears.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    In Between
    What makes this spiky dramedy so compelling are the Palestinian-Israeli protagonists, whose split lives have rarely been depicted on screen.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Tempestad
    Mexican-Salvadorean helmer Tatiana Huezo superimposes her subjects’ recollections over lyrical images that complement the emotions conveyed by their voices.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    Those Who Remained
    In his sophomore feature, the France-born, Budapest-based helmer (perhaps best known for his prize-winning 2018 short “Chuchotage”) sensitively establishes and sustains an affecting but understated dramatic tone, aided by his superb leads.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    A Man of Integrity
    A Man of Integrity is a tense, enraging drama about corruption and injustice, set in a small village.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    Bye Bye Tiberias
    If there is any one takeaway from the film, it’s the importance of family attachments and the succor they provide.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Alissa Simon
    The Teacher
    Although dealing with weighty matters, Jarchovsky’s script (which is based on a real-life incident he experienced during primary school) is leavened with welcome humor and irony.... As usual, Hrebejk’s direction is smooth and the ensemble performances top-notch.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    And Breathe Normally
    What might, in other hands, be melodramatic or emotionally manipulative remains resolutely unsentimental here.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Josep
    The strong subject matter as well as the eponymous subject’s storied life makes one wish for a longer running time than 72 minutes.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    Incitement
    While Incitement is a compelling watch, with archival footage neatly woven in, and offers a salutary warning about how easily democracies are endangered, this psychological profile of a political assassin nevertheless falls into a kind of moral trap.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    The Twentieth Century
    The more familiar one is with Canadian history, the funnier it is. But even without prior knowledge of our neighbor to the north, it can be enjoyed for its combination of supreme creativity, jaw-dropping audacity and amusing tongue-in-cheek dialogue.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Alissa Simon
    Brighton 4th
    The tender screenplay by Boris Frumin captures characters living in the new world in much the same fashion as they did in the old. It also offers a touching showcase for Levan Tediashvili, a non-professional actor and real-life wrestler.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    Confessions of a Good Samaritan
    Despite being a tad too long and a trifle repetitive, the documentary essay “Confessions of a Good Samaritan” from American helmer Penny Lane is a thought-provoking personal investigation into a subject rarely examined: the nature of altruism.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Alissa Simon
    The County
    Once again showing a keen eye for detail, Hákonarson naturalistically presents the rigors of farm work, the plainness of his solitary protagonists’ lives and their affection for their cows.
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