John DeFore

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The Hollywood Reporter
For 1,483 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 45% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 50% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 5.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

John DeFore's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 60
Highest review score: 100 Mandy
Lowest review score: 0 The Trouble with Terkel
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 703 out of 1483
  2. Mixed: 632 out of 1483
  3. Negative: 148 out of 1483
1483 movie reviews
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    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Godzilla: King of the Monsters
    Easily the most satisfying of his Hollywood-produced adventures and a respectable cousin to the long string of Japanese ones, the sequel to Gareth Edwards' admirably serious but dullish 2014 film is the first to suggest any promise for what Legendary is calling its "MonsterVerse" — a franchise in which the Japanese kaiju world meshes with that of Hollywood's favorite oversized ape, King Kong.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    Domino
    He (De Palma) has rarely been guilty of dullness, as he is with Domino, a counterterrorism thriller offering just slightly more excitement than the average TV police procedural.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 John DeFore
    Funny Story
    Funny Story (co-written with Steve Greene) proves much more polished than its pedigree might suggest — a warmhearted seriocomedy that, even when not thoroughly convincing, projects a disarming sincerity.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    The Spy Behind Home Plate
    It's much more dry than one might expect, demonstrating the truth of something interviewees suggest more than once: As intriguing a person as Berg was, it was not easy to know him.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Running with Beto
    Documentarian David Modigliani's straightforward campaign film Running With Beto captures the excitement of that near-victory and celebrates the grassroots work done by passionate volunteers. But mostly it is a tide-me-over for progressives who are heartened by last year's victories and need to maintain that optimism.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 John DeFore
    Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation
    Barak Goodman's straightforward Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation plays to this group of nostalgic Baby Boomers, offering a rosy view of the titular event that for many is synonymous with Peace & Love
    • 37 Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    The Professor
    The picture fares better at finding occasional moments of warmth than at convincing us of its characters' reality.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    Walking on Water
    Though it starts uneventfully, the doc perks up in its second half, highlighting the kind of practical headaches nearly no other artist in the world has to contend with.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    Perfect
    While some will embrace the shards as a Shane Carruth-like brain-teaser, the movie is ultimately too reflective of its genetically-engineered subjects — soulless under an entrancing veneer.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Burning Cane
    A Faulknerian look at domestic violence, self-destructiveness and faith set in a small Louisiana town, its cinematic style owes something to Terrence Malick — though this spare, 77-minute debut has none of the meandering self-indulgence of that auteur's recent work.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    David Cross: Oh Come On
    It's as stylistically straightforward as concert films get, but should play well to fans in its limited theatrical release as it simultaneously arrives on digital platforms.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 John DeFore
    John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
    An epic of choreographed mayhem that expands the Wickiverse in mostly pleasing ways, it is destined to satisfy fans of this surprise-hit franchise: If its ludicrous aspects bug you, what the hell are you doing here?
    • 35 Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    The Hustle
    Though the 55 year-old plot's bones are sturdy and its new performers gifted, moviegoers hoping for a mercilessly funny post-Weinstein revenge fantasy (its poster declares: "They're giving dirty rotten men a run for their money") will walk away feeling conned.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    The Serengeti Rules
    It simply offers a chance to spend time with engaging people who've enriched our understanding of complex ecosystems, and who assure us that much of what we've done to the planet is reversible — provided we take action before the keystone species in question are still around to be saved.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Lost Transmissions
    [A] modest but heartfelt picture. ... Lost Transmissions tells its story without engaging with foolish cliches about creativity and madness.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    Yesterday
    Neither a no-nonsense delight like "She Loves You" nor the White Album-style head trip its premise might suggest, it's more of a "Yellow Submarine" sort of film: crowd-pleasing and sometimes enjoyable, but pretty damned dumb when you stop to think about it.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 90 John DeFore
    Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
    Final Cut will be screened theatrically ... and it demands to be seen there, both by longtime admirers and by young viewers lucky enough to have their first viewing be in a theater. ... This is an overwhelming sensory experience, with deep colors and nuanced sound amplifying the film's hypnotic effect.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Decade of Fire
    Irizarry sees locals who survived these challenges acquiring new layers of toughness and pride, increasingly ready to fight for their communities.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 John DeFore
    Hesburgh
    Some would say the jury's out on that issue; but near-unanimous love and admiration suggests Hesburgh's stance was a great way to win friends and influence people.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    The Intruder
    A cookie-cutter thriller that takes its time getting to the (sorta) good stuff, it's for die-hards only.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Good Posture
    A finding-yourself dramedy grounded in a sense of place that's socioeconomic as much as geographical, the warm-hearted film ... is an understated but assured debut.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 John DeFore
    Georgetown
    It's the kind of serious but broadly appealing, modestly scaled picture that people love to say doesn't exist any more.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 John DeFore
    Carmine Street Guitars
    The doc's a delight for six-string gearheads and a reverie for those who still treasure what remains of pre-Bloomberg, pre-Giuliani New York.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    Know Your Enemy
    Though completely implausible and hardly revelatory, the screenplay's identification with multiple points of view will be comforting enough to arthouse liberals that they might not object.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise
    Clearly a microbudget labor of love, the earnest documentary never attempts to assess the road pic's place in film history or the culture generally; most frustratingly, it never asks what a young viewer today might think of it.
    • 28 Metascore
    • 30 John DeFore
    Thriller
    Chauncey Page (Jason Woods) is no Michael Myers, and this Homecoming killing spree is far from "Halloween" in almost every respect. Notable only for a cast consisting solely of people of color (and for the involvement of RZA), the pic fails to deliver what its title promises.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 John DeFore
    Mia and the White Lion
    Given its focus, viewers might forgive Mia for its clumsy direction of actors, its contrived plot or its on-the-nose dialogue. But training impressionable kids to identify with a girl who sneaks into lions' cages is a cinematic flaw that could have heartbreaking real-world consequences.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 30 John DeFore
    Hellboy
    It's just lousy. Bloated, vastly less funny than it aims to be and misguided in key design choices even when it scores with less important decisions, the film does make bold choices that might've paid off under other circumstances. But these aren't those circumstances.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 John DeFore
    Berserk
    Never really deciding if it hopes to be a black comedy or a sincere dive into violence and self-delusion, the movie stops abruptly at a couple of points so Wakefield can give his costars chances to act.
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