M. E. Russell

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Portland Oregonian
For 417 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 65% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 32% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

M. E. Russell's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 62
Highest review score: 100 Toy Story 3
Lowest review score: 0 Underclassman
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 222 out of 417
  2. Mixed: 159 out of 417
  3. Negative: 36 out of 417
417 movie reviews
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    • 53 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    In Time
    To my thinking, the grand simplicity of the metaphor is a big part of In Time's oddly retro sci-fi charm. Niccol is practicing the old-school craft of making a barn-broad alternate-reality that forces you to think about the way we all consensually agree to participate in systems -- even when those systems are hopelessly screwed up.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 42 M. E. Russell
    The Nativity Story
    Other than its overwrought Herod-Antipas scenes, The Nativity Story sticks so closely to the text that it's a total snooze.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    The Protector
    The Protector is the nuttiest movie I've seen all year, and I've seen the last 20 minutes of "The Wicker Man."
    • 52 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    The Holiday
    Despite this familiarity-wallow, The Holiday is likable. Really likable, in fact.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 100 M. E. Russell
    Black Snake Moan
    A gorgeous, life-affirming movie. On paper, it sounds lurid bordering on ridiculous.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 58 M. E. Russell
    Gridiron Gang
    Feels less like a movie and more like a Tony Robbins motivational seminar.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
    No one joyfully embraces this absurdity better than Michael Sheen. The actor finds a ridiculous-yet-perfect way to deliver every single second of his performance as head of the global vampire council -- He's all over the film's finale. It's fantastic.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 M. E. Russell
    Race to Witch Mountain
    The Rock charms you through the worst of it, but the effects are cheap, the dialogue is about as challenging as a "Hannah Montana" episode, and the pace manages to be both brisk and numbing.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 58 M. E. Russell
    Safe House
    There are several things to enjoy here. The use of motel service-industry code words by the safe-house staff is dryly funny.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    First Descent
    Vastly entertaining, slightly overlong.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 M. E. Russell
    Due Date
    Still, this feels like minor Phillips to me -- something in the neighborhood of 2006's "School for Scoundrels," quality-wise, though with a much grimmer heart.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 25 M. E. Russell
    Mamma Mia!
    I can see how Mamma Mia! might be a fun stage musical. As a movie musical, it's a train wreck.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 58 M. E. Russell
    Aquamarine
    This is a totally predictable exercise if you're not in the target market.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    Saint Ralph
    Wants to be a sex farce, a sports film and a serious meditation on Catholicism. To its credit, it succeeds as all three.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    Land of the Lost
    I'm pleased to report the new Land of the Lost movie keenly understands that what was once scary is now ridiculous.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 58 M. E. Russell
    Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
    It's almost like you're watching a 100-minute trailer for a much better six-hour miniseries.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    The Promotion
    Conrad seems to have used whatever clout he got from "The Pursuit of Happyness" to fund something personal and sincere -- a story that's ultimately about victories of character and suppressing your worst impulses.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 100 M. E. Russell
    The Fountain
    It's an ambitious, passionate, grief-stricken work of film art.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    Holly
    A fairly good movie about an evil subject.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    Predators
    While Predators isn't nearly as vivid or fresh as the original, it's certainly its strongest sequel.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 M. E. Russell
    Morning Light
    At one point during the big race, the kids get passed at close range by a team of pros so seasoned, they wrote the navigation software the kids use. I was begging the camera crew to follow them.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 83 M. E. Russell
    Ellie Parker
    Watts is a champ for seeing this through now that she's actually famous.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    The Night Listener
    A movie adapted from a novel inspired by a person who probably never existed.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    John Carter
    John Carter is too wickedly strange not to recommend. Movies this expensive usually play it much safer.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    Taken
    If you find the film's xenophobic undercurrents distasteful, take solace in this: Taken was co-written and directed by the Frenchmen responsible for "District B13," so at least the xenophobia is imported.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 M. E. Russell
    Super
    I suspect audiences will divide sharply on the movie's wild tone shifts. I found them sort of fearless.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    Constantine
    It all sort of plays out like "Law and Order: Spiritual Victims Unit," but the movie's stuffed (some might say overstuffed) with wonderfully staged moments and set pieces.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 42 M. E. Russell
    No Reservations
    The romance is boring. Everything is blandly good-looking. The emotional beats are so programmed, you can predict the entrance of every single note of the Philip Glass dirge of a score. And the title means nothing beyond its double-entendre.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 67 M. E. Russell
    Two for the Money
    While it's focused on the people -- on men who never had mentors struggling to mentor themselves and each other -- the movie works as a smart B film.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 58 M. E. Russell
    My Super Ex-Girlfriend
    Super Ex does have a certain low-key, adult-contemporary charm. It's almost entirely because of Luke Wilson.
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