Keith Phipps

Select another critic »
The A.V. Club, The Dissolve, The Verge, UPROXX
For 1,277 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Keith Phipps' Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Lowest review score: 0 A Life Less Ordinary
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 625 out of 1277
  2. Mixed: 463 out of 1277
  3. Negative: 189 out of 1277
1277 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 75 Metascore
    • 83 Keith Phipps
    How to Train Your Dragon
    It’s a great-looking film--and an impressive use of 3D--but ultimately, the story makes it memorable.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    The Motorcycle Diaries
    Handsomely shot by Brazilian director Walter Salles and beautifully played by the two leads, The Motorcycle Diaries would amount to little more than a minor, softly politically conscious coming-of-age story, if not for its historical context.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Keith Phipps
    The Boxer
    Through quietly fiery performances by Day-Lewis and Watson, as well as novel-like depth and complexity, The Boxer not only avoids these pitfalls but emerges as a thoroughly engrossing movie.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Keith Phipps
    Eastern Promises
    An engaging thriller done in the Cronenberg style is still worth anyone's time. And this one boasts memorable turns from Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Vincent Cassel.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    Super Dark Times
    It’s a film that remembers how awful it can be to grow up, and that even those who survive it usually don’t get out without taking a few scars.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    The Full Monty
    A winning mix of humor and poignant character examination, and a satisfying film.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    Thoroughbreds
    Finley’s debut is an odd, hypnotically compelling film filled with dark laughs and unanswered questions.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Keith Phipps
    Mid-August Lunch
    It’s a trifle, but a trifle that sticks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    In This World
    Has a message, which it effectively conveys by succeeding first as an affecting film. Winterbottom's actors give a human face to current events as they proceed along their grim road-movie toward a destination that may not even want them. They may be statistics, too, but their stories stick in the mind.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Keith Phipps
    Good Ol' Freda
    While Good Ol’ Freda will surely fascinate hardcore Beatles fans, there simply isn’t a feature-length story here.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 91 Keith Phipps
    Blast of Silence
    Working with a miniscule budget, Baron creates charged compositions out of found locations and makes a virtue out of the film's cheapness.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    A House of Dynamite
    The film’s structure comes with some built-in restrictions, limiting how well we can get to know House of Dynamite’s many characters, who range from low-ranking soldiers to the highest rungs of power. But it also challenges a first-rate cast to tease out their characters’ hidden depths.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Keith Phipps
    Manhunter
    Mann takes all the instincts he learned as a Miami Vice producer and trims them of their excesses, and the result is an unsettling thriller whose detached style perfectly complements its psychological intensity.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    They Died with Their Boots On
    As history, it's mostly bunk. Flynn's Custer is a heroic, high-spirited, Indian-respecting dunderhead prone to plunging into battle without thought and winning the day in spite of overwhelming odds (until, of course, the odds catch up with him). Dramatically, however, it's much more interesting.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Keith Phipps
    Waitress
    It's an imperfect film, but it's the kind of imperfect film of which it would be nice to have seen Shelly make more.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    The Grey Zone
    The atmosphere makes a deeper impression than the drama, which might represent a failing on Nelson's part, but could it be avoided? His film portrays the pinholes of light in a place of otherwise unrelenting darkness.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    The Heartbreak Kid
    Not especially gag-driven, May's deadpan style clears the way for some remarkable performances by Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, and especially Grodin, who has to remain likable even while doing stupid, mean things.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    My Mother's Smile
    As absurd as the situation gets--and the film occasionally launches into surreal asides that only heighten the absurdity--director and star both keep it grounded in the situation's emotions.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    The Ignorant Fairies
    His Secret Life's languid pace and general aimlessness keep getting in the way.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Keith Phipps
    Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
    The artist's arresting images speak for themselves, even though now only the bystanders are left to tell his story.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 85 Keith Phipps
    Mary and The Witch's Flower
    The results suggest that Ponoc was guided by a single principle: If Studio Ghibli won’t make Studio Ghibli films anymore, then we will. Which is to say Mary and the With’s Flower is delightful — a visually stunning fairy tale filled with whimsical ideas and warmly realized characters — but also familiar.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    The Devil's Rejects
    Zombie fills The Devil's Rejects with thrilling setpieces, pays homage to his inspirations without outright ripping them off (most of the time), brings back some cult-movie icons (hello, Mary Woronov and E.G. Daily), and works in some profanely clever dialogue.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    Shine
    Memorable, deeply affecting movie.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    End of the Century
    As for the unfortunates who aren't already in love with The Ramones, End Of The Century should give them a better understanding of what they've been missing, and leave them wondering why they've missed out on it for so long.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Keith Phipps
    Forty Shades of Blue
    Investing a lot of time on each corner of his three-sided character piece, director Ira Sachs (who co-wrote the film with Michael Rohatyn) has created a film as dramatically intense as it is opaque.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 91 Keith Phipps
    The Magnificent Seven
    Well-crafted, star-driven entertainment doesn't come much better.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Keith Phipps
    Kundun
    A slow, meditative movie-an appropriate choice given the subject matter-that ultimately fails, in spite of clearly heartfelt good intentions, because of its almost inhuman detachment.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    Gods and Monsters
    While McKellen's sharp performance provides the main attraction, the film wouldn't work without both Fraser, who brings something extra to a character who could easily have been a mere lunk, and director Bill Condon's careful integration of larger themes.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Keith Phipps
    Ain't Them Bodies Saints
    While virtually every shot looks like a work of art, much of the beauty of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints comes from Lowery’s refusal to choose sides.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Keith Phipps
    Interstellar
    Interstellar often seems afraid to let any development go unpacked and uncommented upon, except for a handful of points that dive into the action and expect viewers to catch up. The film is at its best in these moments, when it’s unafraid of challenging storytelling, particularly since Interstellar never has trouble finding visuals to match its heady concepts.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »