Derek Elley

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Variety
For 400 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 45% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 52% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Derek Elley's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 62
Highest review score: 100 Atonement
Lowest review score: 10 Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 199 out of 400
  2. Mixed: 178 out of 400
  3. Negative: 23 out of 400
400 movie reviews
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    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Very Bad Things
    Basically a very conventional movie gussied up with a few jaw-dropping moments. Unlike genuinely amoral pics such as "Heathers" or "Shallow Grave," it never seems really comfortable with its characters' actions.
    • 18 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Mr. Nanny
    Cross Uncle Buck with Home Alone, stir in the Hulkster, and you've got Mr. Nanny, a gonzo comedy-actioner that should entertain the under-12 and couch-potato sets.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Snow Cake
    Boosted by a delish performance from Carrie-Anne Moss as a local vamp who helps unthaw the Englishman, but holed beneath the waterline by a gratingly miscast Sigourney Weaver as the persnickety autistic.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    The Ghost Writer
    What the picture most needed was a complete cinematic rethink and, yes, even some action to move it along.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Blind Mountain
    Low on drama and originality, and high on deja vu, sophomore outing by writer-director Li Yang ("Blind Shaft," 2003).
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Quitting
    What gives Quitting its freshness is its setting in a country that often denies it has such problems and the decision to anchor the film strongly within the Chinese family fabric.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Bright Young Things
    An easy-to-digest slice of literate entertainment for upscale and older audiences that lacks a significant emotional undertow to make it a truly involving -- rather than simply voyeuristic -- experience.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    A Shot at Glory
    Mediocre, dramatically flat picture.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Tuya's Marriage
    Mainland helmer Wang Quanan and his regular lead actress, Yu Nan, tread on largely familiar ground in Tuya's Marriage.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Very Annie Mary
    A half-klutzy, half-engaging eccentric comedy.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Anatomy
    A fantastical romp with a buoyant pace, exotic locations, a finger-popping score, appealing leads and spicy cooking demonstrations.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Mahjong
    Pic is the eclectic Taiwanese helmer’s most accessible work since the 1986 “The Terrorizer” but is flawed by hit-and-miss scripting and performances.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    The Burning Plain
    Many of the weaknesses and few of the strengths of Guillermo Arriaga as a scripter are evident in his directing debut, The Burning Plain.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    A Life Less Ordinary
    Part kooky romance, part screwball comedy, part quirky fantasy and part Roadrunner cartoon, this is a movie that has everything except an involving storyline and characters.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Berlin 36
    The picture sports a strong lead cast but is diminished by TV-style helming and production qualities.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    S21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine
    There's no shortage of existing docus on the subject, and Panh's doesn't bring either a fresh enough angle or enough new material to the table to justify its length.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Dragon Wars: D-War
    A feast of A-grade f/x married to a Z-grade, irony-free script.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Thirst
    An overlong stygian comedy that badly needs a transfusion of genuine inspiration.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Purple Butterfly
    An often remarkable, often infuriating lateral spin on genre material that desperately needs another sesh at the editing table.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Millennium Actress
    Contains some brilliant invention between duller stretches.
    • 19 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    The Hillside Strangler
    Plays as a blackly comic slice of mock '70s-style exploitation that flirts with the viewer before applying its chokehold.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Nathalie...
    An intellectual-cum-sexual teaser whose twist is apparent far too early on.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    My Kingdom
    An intriguing spin on the British crime genre that's more a series of strong performances than a fully worked-out character drama.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Kung Fu Hustle
    Devoid of genuine inspiration or involving character development.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Pirate Radio
    Picture generally stays afloat on the strength of its characters but sometimes threatens to sink under its overlong running time and vignettish structure.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    The Mistress of Spices
    Beautiful but lifeless, poetic but unelevated, The Mistress of Spices reps a brave but flawed attempt at that most unforgiving of contemporary genres, magical realism.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Dung che sai duk
    The temptation of artists to fiddle with their earlier works brings predictably mixed results in Ashes of Time: Redux.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    Returner
    Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    The Theory of Flight
    A risky idea only occasionally gets both wheels off the ground in "The Theory of Flight," a sometimes wryly amusing, oftimes dramatically awkward story
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Derek Elley
    L'autre monde
    First hour is an often gripping look at the realities of modern Islam ("You can do anything you want, as long as it's not in public," says a soldier's wife), before silliness takes over.
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