Lisa Alspector

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Chicago Reader
For 550 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 44% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 13.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Lisa Alspector's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 52
Highest review score: 100 Tarzan
Lowest review score: 0 Bless the Child
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 178 out of 550
  2. Mixed: 239 out of 550
  3. Negative: 133 out of 550
550 movie reviews
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    • 40 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Nightwatch
    The filmmakers show habitual thriller viewers some respect by condensing the background story into iconic sound and image bites during the opening-credits sequence, suggesting they know we get the drill; this and the other stylish elements make it all the more disappointing that the movie's mediocre.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Lisa Alspector
    Meet Joe Black
    A businessman is visited by an otherworldly presence who has the nerve to fall in love with his daughter in this savory, extralong feature, whose obvious plotlines unfold with an almost painful slowness that somehow makes them deeper.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Fallen
    Denzel Washington is admirable in the role of a dauntless detective investigating murders and metaphysics, but his sincerity can’t carry the outlandish plot—you just wonder what a guy like him is doing in a movie like this.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Illuminata
    Insights about romance are enhanced by the novel production design, which includes puppetry, but the story's reflexivity is smug and cloying.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Lisa Alspector
    The Others
    The payoff matters at least as much as the setup, and this story's secret is way too easy to guess.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Lisa Alspector
    Twilight of the Ice Nymphs
    The line between romance and sex is blurred in this enthralling feature by Guy Maddin, whose overwhelming stylization unexpectedly produces an emotional and psychological authenticity.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Lisa Alspector
    Flawless
    This 'heartwarming' thriller refuses to distinguish realism from stylization, and much of the plot is a twisted mess of repetition and unpersuasive motivation.
    • 24 Metascore
    • 30 Lisa Alspector
    Dirty Work
    The pranks are as bland as Macdonald’s demeanor, which is supposed to subvert expectations about the role of the straight man in a comedy duo; the subjects of running gags range from anal rape to anal rape.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Rush Hour 2
    This action comedy transforms LAPD detective Chris Tucker from an intolerably annoying egotist into a practically lovable intolerably annoying egotist.
    • 19 Metascore
    • 20 Lisa Alspector
    Lost & Found
    Schmaltzy comedy.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    Center Stage
    An ounce of self-awareness about its almost gleeful use of cliches would have improved this dance soap opera.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 80 Lisa Alspector
    Can't Hardly Wait
    It's not supposed to be a revelation--just a pleasant rendition of a teen-comedy trope
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    The Waterboy
    Geek-triumphs-after-all comedies can be charming, but in this one the triumphing begins so early it's hard to feel for the geek.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 30 Lisa Alspector
    Sugar & Spice
    This ambiguously pitched comedy--its idea of sexy humor is a cheerleader farting--shoots for camp without bothering with satire.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    In Too Deep
    This earnest yet cynical drama makes the gang-infiltration genre seem exhausted.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    U-571
    Yet another unironic war movie.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 60 Lisa Alspector
    Super Troopers
    Though there's a crime to be solved, a romance to go awry, and lots of trooper-police politics to elaborate on, the strangely drawn out pacing somehow feels fresh rather than oppressive.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Lisa Alspector
    South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
    Inspired, self-referential animated musical.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    The Best Man
    Nicely toned.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 30 Lisa Alspector
    Angela's Ashes
    If misery were inherently interesting, this adaptation starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle as a couple plagued by alcoholism and child mortality might be too.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    Fantasia 2000
    The rest of these animated sequences...depend on gimmickry, cuteness, or facile ideology, and don't come close to demonstrating the complex relationship between sound and image found in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Lisa Alspector
    Star Trek: First Contact
    The script by Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore provides all the background necessary for viewers unfamiliar with the characters' previous movie and TV-series exploits, but not so much as to annoy fans.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    Gang Related
    Shakur’s performance get increasingly intriguing as his character becomes disenchanted with his partner’s tactics, but Belushi is in way over his head.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Mystery, Alaska
    Nothing's wrong with this movie--the hockey footage is exciting, the characters quirky, the subplots idiosyncratic--but nothing's special about it either.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Lisa Alspector
    Next Stop Wonderland
    This low-key romantic comedy proves that destiny-powered love stories can be formulaic without being predictable.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 40 Lisa Alspector
    The Tao of Steve
    The clunky plot is set in Santa Fe, and includes a foil character who might as well wear a sign on his forehead.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 30 Lisa Alspector
    I Dreamed of Africa
    Ultimately the movie is alluring and respectful--its sadness may be what saves it from becoming sensationalist or trite.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Lisa Alspector
    Julien Donkey-Boy
    The movie is truly an open text--its generous poetry inspires free association rather than predictable emotion.
    • 13 Metascore
    • 10 Lisa Alspector
    Down to You
    Prinze and Stiles regularly talk to the camera, but that doesn't make their characters self-aware.
    • 18 Metascore
    • 50 Lisa Alspector
    Valentine
    Lightweight slasher.
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