Moira Macdonald

Select another critic »
The Seattle Times
For 615 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 26% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Moira Macdonald's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Parallel Mothers
Lowest review score: 25 Fifty Shades Darker
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 505 out of 615
  2. Mixed: 74 out of 615
  3. Negative: 36 out of 615
615 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Blink Twice
    The film goes on longer than it needs to, and as with so many in its genre, its director loses control by the third act. But “Blink Twice” is a promising debut that’s haunting for its performances (Ackie gives a vivid, vulnerable star turn; Tatum finds, behind his good-guy smile, an eeriness he’s never shown on-screen; Geena Davis pops up to steal a few scenes, as is her right) and for its feminist sensibility.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Going in Style
    It’s an agreeably generic mishmash of every old-guys-pull-one-last-heist movie you’ve ever seen.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    A Wrinkle in Time
    Its message is of a young woman’s empowerment, and of how love can save a family — and if the special effects sometimes overwhelm that message (such as a glorious field of flowers that takes flight in a colorful frenzy), it rings through loud and clear by the end.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Long Shot
    It’s a raunchy comedy, with a plot that ends up hinging on a very R-rated video. And, most surprising of all, it’s also a conventional and rather sweet rom-com.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Lost & Found
    None of these stories feel monumental, and all of them resolve themselves neatly in a quarter-hour or so. But they have a kindness to them; a way of seeing people as they are, with their flaws and their goodness.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Nocturnal Animals
    Nocturnal Animals is, I think, a beautiful mess, but I might have to watch it again to be sure.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Zookeeper's Wife
    It’s a remarkable story, told in a movie that doesn’t always quite live up to it; except for a few crucial scenes, The Zookeeper’s Wife feels a bit too soft-focus for the devastating story it tells.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Happy Prince
    Florid but warmhearted — much like the man at its center — The Happy Prince is a haunting portrait of the aftermath of betrayal; of how the master of comedy became a tragedy.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Beguiled
    Candles illuminate faces in the dark; a curving staircase looms like a shadow. And the actors pitch their roles perfectly: Kidman’s breathy calm; Farrell’s charm, just hinting at something dark within it; Fanning’s way of prettily arranging herself, showing off Alice’s newfound power; Dunst’s quiet melancholy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Juror #2
    There’s nothing remotely fresh about Juror #2, but that’s what makes it fresh — it’s simply a story about neither heroes nor saints, but a group of people trying hard to do the right thing.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Babes
    Life, as a character in Babes points out, isn’t always like a Nora Ephron movie, but it’s a pleasure to watch these two stumble toward their own happy ending.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Obsession
    Barker has a knack for jump scares — and for making a wildly fanciful story feel real.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Luca
    It’s a nice message, told with charm aplenty. And as always, the Pixar magicians create a wonderfully populated world.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Sing
    It’s hard to get too excited about Sing, which takes a bit too long to travel its familiar path, but it’s also quite impossible to dislike it.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Stronger
    Stronger, ultimately, leaves its audience feeling a little stronger; we fall with Jeff, and we stand with him.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Jurassic World Rebirth
    The bottom line, for any movie that purports to be a thrill ride, is whether the end result is thrilling — and I’d give a definite yes to that.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Roman J. Israel, Esq.
    Roman J. Israel, Esq., isn’t as good as the performance at its center, but perhaps that’s inevitable.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Marvels
    DaCosta whisks us through the story with plenty of wit, particularly from Kamala’s family.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Little Stranger
    The Little Stranger is a haunted-house movie, but not one with cheap scares. In fact there are few scares at all — it’s mostly just an atmosphere of lingering, musty dread — and horror-movie fans should be warned that it’s all quite subtle. But it’s haunting, in its quiet way.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Man Who Invented Christmas
    It’s a pleasant Christmas-season offering; both mild (read: family-friendly) and sweet.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Dinner
    The film’s strength is its cast, and each of them finds moments of truth.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Cyrano
    Dinklage isn’t a strong singer, but it doesn’t matter a whit: his swaggering but vulnerable Cyrano, reveling in words but aching with love, will break your heart
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Empire of Light
    Colman, on whose face the film frequently rests (does anyone in cinema have a more open, guileless smile?), quietly holds the drama in her hands. Her Hilary is fragile, yet touchingly determined to will herself toward the light.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Birth of a Nation
    It’s part of the strength of Parker’s film that the current controversy doesn’t entirely overshadow its impact — and that Birth of a Nation immediately becomes part of another crucial conversation, about race.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Girl on the Train
    Girl on the Train isn’t likely to haunt its shivering viewers the way the “Gone Girl” movie did. Blunt, however, makes the ride well worth taking.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Great Buster: A Celebration
    A conventional but thoroughly entertaining film.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Beatriz at Dinner
    Hayek plays her role with such gentle conviction, the movie quickly becomes something else: a sort of tragedy of manners.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The Gospel According to André
    The Gospel According to André leaves you wishing you knew a little more about this complex, elegant gentleman and his lifelong love affair with style.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    Drop
    Drop gets the job done, and even throws in an excellent cocktail-piano rendition of “Baby Shark.” Go see it on a first date, if you’re brave.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Moira Macdonald
    The White Crow
    It’s a movie full of small pleasures.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »