Randall Colburn

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Consequence, The A.V. Club
For 79 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 48% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 50% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Randall Colburn's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 62
Highest review score: 91 Weiner
Lowest review score: 16 War Dogs
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 79
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 79
  3. Negative: 11 out of 79
79 movie reviews
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    • 93 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    Shoplifters
    It’s moving stuff, even if Kore-eda threatens to dilute his themes by overindulging in them. Shoplifters overstays its welcome somewhat as the third act rolls on, with an epilogue that seems to exist only to absolve characters that don’t quite deserve it. The empathy is admirable, but one wishes for a touch more restraint, especially in the wake of such an emotionally devastating climax.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Cameraperson
    Johnson, being a primary voice behind some of this century’s most important documentaries, is a particularly qualified candidate to chronicle life in this way, and her greatest feat, one I can’t imagine anyone else achieving, is her ability to tell the story of her life without ever once talking about herself.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    Hell or High Water
    A rich, complex drama that’s as much about consequence and justification as it is destiny.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 91 Randall Colburn
    Hereditary
    Hereditary‘s horror functions on multiple levels. What we see is undoubtedly terrifying, but it’s how we see it that truly distinguishes the film.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    First Reformed
    Hawke is too committed for Toller’s humanity to not shine through. It’s a layered, transformative performance, his gritting, introverted Toller bearing no traces of the rambling, loose-limbed Hawke of Richard Linklater’s canon.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    Booksmart
    It’s easy to get swept up in Booksmart‘s pace and pleasures, but take a breath and you might find yourself longing for a world that’s at least a touch more familiar.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 91 Randall Colburn
    Weiner
    In the end, it’s not Weiner with whom you’re furious, but a media climate that routinely prioritizes scandal and lewdness over the intricacies of a candidate’s platform. With the circus that is our forthcoming election rapidly approaching, this message is all the more resonant.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 91 Randall Colburn
    Mustang
    This is a film about sisters, yes, but also the identity we all must forge independent of our families, and the pain that comes with outgrowing the innocence that once defined our sibling bonds.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    Don't Think Twice
    Don’t Think Twice is a brisk, engaging watch. It’s sweet, it’s melancholy, and, perhaps most importantly, it’s hilarious. And despite the film’s soft teeth, it’s still the most honest and unfiltered exploration of improv comedy you’re likely to find out of Hollywood.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    A Quiet Place
    The careful, strategic navigation of silence and noise is the film’s greatest asset, and when it explores this tension, and the way in which it impacts both the characters and monsters, the result is vibrant, urgent, and innovative.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Us
    Us is something of a frustrating watch, a visual and technical marvel that just doesn’t seem to know what it is. Unlike Get Out, which only swelled in impact as you left the theater, Us is best viewed on a visceral level, not an intellectual one.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Randall Colburn
    The Highwaymen
    It’s a valid mission, one supposes, but rendering Bonnie, Clyde, and their cultural impact in such a one-dimensional fashion doesn’t add weight to its subjects. It only serves to strip dimension away from their own story.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    Fences
    In this instance, the medium just doesn’t elevate the material. That said, Fences is still a gripping watch, but it’s gripping for the reasons the play has always been gripping: the language and performances.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Brawl in Cell Block 99
    It’s not easy, balancing careful character development and a vivid sense of place with the bloodlust of expectations, but Zahler’s done it here.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    It Comes at Night
    It Comes at Night isn’t scary so much as it’s horrific, though Shults is extremely gifted at cultivating the kind of slow, droning dread that inflates in your chest like a black balloon.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    Sorry to Bother You
    It’s a mess, but a glorious one, the kind of ambitious, unapologetic project that’s most notable for its perspective.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    The Day Shall Come
    The Day Shall Come remains a riveting watch, though, if only for Morris’ deft, lightning-fast pace and the cast’s mastery of his language. ... The problem is that the film’s humanity is often eclipsed by its big-picture message and satirical edge.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Christmas, Again
    Poekel and Audley keep exposition to a minimum, allowing the truth behind Noel’s breakup to emerge organically, in the weight of an object or his reaction to a beaming couple. It’s elegant filmmaking, seamless in its storytelling.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    A Prayer Before Dawn
    What makes A Prayer Before Dawn so powerful is also what makes it so punishing.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 83 Randall Colburn
    Hacksaw Ridge
    It’s a movie about bravery and the power of inspiration, be it divine or corporeal, in moments of hopelessness. Desmond’s faith is placed front and center, and the way it operates here celebrates not the object of that faith, but the power it has to motivate both Desmond and his squad.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Cam
    It’s gripping stuff, especially since Goldhaber and Mazzei map out an endgame that’s maintains an intriguing ambiguity while still providing a definitive conclusion.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    The Peanut Butter Falcon
    While one wishes the beats were a touch more oiled, the film’s strengths reside outside the confines of narrative.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    Berlin Syndrome
    Berlin Syndrome isn’t a sensational film; the emotions on display are warped and scarred, but rooted in identifiable desires. In some ways, this makes their impact that much more ingrained.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    Blockers
    Director Kay Cannon‘s perspective is the film’s biggest asset, as it freshens up the traditional formula’s inevitable focus on love, consent, and orientation in ways that maintain the sub-genre’s trademark raunch.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Randall Colburn
    The Monster
    The Monster is worth watching for Kazan and Ballentine.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 91 Randall Colburn
    22 July
    22 July is a thoughtful, gutting achievement that you’ll likely never want to watch again. Greengrass’ approach here is graceful and deeply resonant, but it’s undoubtedly draining, especially considering you still have roughly two hours to go after the shootings that ignite the narrative
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Randall Colburn
    The Night
    Ahari’s script is perhaps too focused on the secrets of its central couple, which are compelling but foreshadowed in a belabored way. By the end, the emotional catharsis is dulled somewhat by the sheer obviousness of it all, not to mention the convoluted route Ahari takes to get there.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    The First Purge
    The First Purge is every bit as nakedly, hysterically symbolic as its predecessors. But if there’s one thing that the current political climate is teaching us, it’s that a subtle touch isn’t always the solution.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
    What’s clear in Perkins’ second feature is that he’s clearly become aware that his talents as a visual storyteller outweigh his skill with narrative. He’s leaning into that, and while it might make for a more “difficult” film, it’s ultimately a more satisfying one.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Randall Colburn
    The Blackcoat's Daughter
    This is the kind of film that follows you home, that makes you scared to enter a dark alley or go in the basement.
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