Kristen Yoonsoo Kim

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L.A. Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Village Voice
For 90 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 27% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 69% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 10.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Kristen Yoonsoo Kim's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 55
Highest review score: 90 Slow Machine
Lowest review score: 10 Donny's Bar Mitzvah
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 47 out of 90
  3. Negative: 12 out of 90
90 movie reviews
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    • 37 Metascore
    • 20 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Aardvark
    Aardvark, the first feature from writer-director Brian Shoaf, is so inane that several times it put this critic into a fugue state. Meandering in message or plot, the film proves to be not just incoherent but excruciatingly boring, quite a feat with a cast that includes Jenny Slate, Jon Hamm, Sheila Vand, and, sure, Zachary Quinto.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 90 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Blockers
    Blockers, on the surface, sticks very much to the formula — even the prom setting is very been there, done that. But it’s subversive in these little details, and the resolution is genuinely touching. The best part is that Cannon doesn’t have to sacrifice any of the laughs to get there.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 40 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    All I Wish
    The jump-skip format renders the chemistry between Senna and Adam so incoherent that by the time you watch them have their big first kiss, then break up, then get back together again, it plays less like a real movie and instead one of those memory slideshows your iPhone photo album generates for you.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    No Light and No Land Anywhere
    There are some nicely shot moments throughout, but they feel empty — slow montages that mostly just fill out the film’s thin plot and already slim runtime.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Roxanne Roxanne
    The film may not end on a tragic note, but in attempting a gritty portrayal of Shanté’s little-known private life, Roxanne Roxanne forgets her genius, as so many other people did back in the day.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Beauty and the Dogs
    Director Ben Hania has a rhythmic, urgent sense of filmmaking, but she makes the odd creative decision of dividing her film into nine chapters, each a single take.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Keep the Change
    Keep the Change, despite David’s knack for making offensive jokes, is a charming, sensitive picture that embraces the characters as they are, without mocking them.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Black Panther
    Written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther brings grounded history — in Black History Month, no less — to a fantastical story, carefully considering the world in which the characters reside.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Other Side of Hope
    For all the deadpan comedy and eccentric characterization, Kaurismäki anchors the film in Khaled’s story and his immigration anxieties, all depicted with quiet humanity that never feels exaggerated. It’s a beautiful companion piece to Le Havre, and a film that will gently warm your cold, cynical heart.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Elizabeth Blue
    Elizabeth inspires empathy, but it often feels like we’re being told to feel a certain way by being shown so much rather than being allowed to naturally warm up to her.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Woodpeckers
    An uncharacteristically melodramatic final act...betrays how grounded (and true to real life) the rest of the movie is.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Motherland
    Motherland opens with a 24-year-old woman already on her fifth pregnancy — just one of many such cases that director Ramona S. Diaz reveals in the vérité-style documentary, which recalls the observational techniques and insights of the films of Frederick Wiseman.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Clash
    Unfortunately, Clash buckles under the weight of its many characters.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Tales of an Immoral Couple
    The film fails to sustain the exhilaration of its initial buildup.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Nile Hilton Incident
    The Nile Hilton Incident, despite a stylish, seedy coating, fails to even come close to the canon of greats that have influenced it.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Fun Mom Dinner
    A perfectly enjoyable way to spend 81 minutes.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Midwife
    Not a whole lot happens in The Midwife, but there’s never a dull moment, thanks to the opposing yet equally stellar performances by the two Catherines in the lead.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Footnotes
    Though it’s not without charming moments, this story of women standing up to the big bad guys is diminished by unimpressive song-and-dance numbers that feel like Michel Legrand throwaways.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Moscow Never Sleeps
    Moscow Never Sleeps is ambitious to a fault. While O’Reilly flexes an ability to tie together several narratives, he introduces so many characters that some of their stories must fall by the wayside. It’s a shame, because that muddles the more interesting vignettes.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Finding Kim
    It’s a well-meaning portrait, with heartfelt moments — especially as Kim recounts childhood hardships — but it’s often muddled, especially in its selection of talking heads.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
    By focusing on the Sungs, [James] puts real, human faces to this corporation, leaving little doubt they’re the ones to root for.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Hounds of Love
    Hounds may be predictable in plot, but it succeeds in making a psychological web of this troubled threesome.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Dinner
    The beauty of a single-location thriller is how the tension escalates in containment, but Moverman fails to seize that built-in advantage.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 20 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Rupture
    Rupture is a sci-fi abduction thriller that leaves little to be thrilled about.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Fate of the Furious
    The biggest show is, naturally, saved for last.... Nothing in all of the Fast & Furious movies has ever felt bigger or more ridiculous — two things F8 rightfully thrives on. It’s exhilarating. Now how will they top this one?
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    Queen of the Desert
    Herzog has previously thrived on madness, so the failure here proves even more curious.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 80 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    i hate myself :)
    It's difficult to label Arnow's cinematic voice, and this particular film, or why anyone would even want to watch something so personal, but i hate myself :) is never not fascinating.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    A Woman, a Part
    Siff gives a modest but poignant performance that rings true for women of a certain age and career.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    The Dark Below
    The problem — aside from the movie being simple and gimmicky — is in the execution — Schulze's, not the villain's.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
    This Beautiful Fantastic
    There is such a thing as too sweet, and after this film, you'll feel a toothache coming on.
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