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Tom Meek
Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, Cambridge Day, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and teachers writing and journalism in the Boston Area.
Publications:
Critics' Group:
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Close Your Eyes (2023) |
To say that “Close Your Eyes” is reflective of Erice’s own cinematic arc would be both true and false, but it is an oblique, hypnotic sojourn into the emotional darkness of a filmmaker’s heart. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Sep 06, 2024
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Jackpot! (2024) |
There’s nothing in this film that punches any ticket – not even a scratcher – and everybody loses. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 23, 2024
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Borderlands (2024) |
This lackluster sci-fi adventure based on the hit video game gets an extra half-star just for its fine cinematic framing of Cate Blanchett’s alluring cheekbones. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 19, 2024
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Alien: Romulus (2024) |
The execution’s shoddy, not the least bit nuanced (or nostalgic), and mostly falls flat. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 19, 2024
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The Instigators (2024) |
The Instigators is a missed opportunity considering its incredible cast, headlined by homeboys Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 09, 2024
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Knox Goes Away (2023) |
The Miles subplot is a little overbaked, as is Marsden’s performance, but overall Keaton and his immersion into a character in transition drive the film confidently. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 02, 2024
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Queendom (2023) |
The scenes of performance art executed on the shore of a raging sea or in a muddy quarry pit are breathtaking in composition and framing, and made all the more alluring by Gena’s keen sense of presentation and otherworldly personas. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 02, 2024
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Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) |
The charms of yesteryear (nearly 10 years ago) largely float around like the remains of a bad, high-fiber meal left unflushed. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 29, 2024
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A Family Affair (2024) |
The “affair” here, directed by Richard LaGravenese, is a plastic one, driven by hollow, entitled sorts with problems many would envy. Z - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 25, 2024
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Land of Bad (2024) |
Crowe and Hemsworth make the fairly pat play watchable. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 25, 2024
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Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024) |
Nikolai and Beerkus are bona fide artists and know how to strike a pose atop the universe, and the shots looking down are viscerally dizzying – if you have acrophobia, this is your content warning. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 25, 2024
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Faye (2024) |
“Faye” is a great rewind of one of (if not the) most defining periods in filmmaking, but holds the cards too tight on Dunaway as a person. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 25, 2024
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Touch (2024) |
Given that much of “Touch” takes place in the kitchen of a Japanese restaurant, Ólafsson, the director, does a nice job of bringing the sensuality of the food to the fore. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 18, 2024
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Longlegs (2024) |
Cage is unquestionably the reason to see the film: His well-meted appearances as the pasty, androgynous and indelibly ghoulish Longlegs make the film, though the upping of the ante gets to be a little much near the end. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 18, 2024
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MaXXXine (2024) |
This, however, is Goth’s show, and she’s worth the price of admission, taking command of every scene she’s in even when the script doesn’t give her much to work with. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 11, 2024
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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) |
It’s unlikely there’s enough going on in “Axel F” to garner much generational crossover, but for those who dug Murphy’s cheeky, in-your-face schtick and Frey’s energetic fist pump, “Axel F” may not sizzle, but it is a nice nostalgic heating pad. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 11, 2024
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Kinds of Kindness (2024) |
At nearly three hours, “Kindness” is long, but it puts its hooks in you from frame one and from there you can’t look away. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 11, 2024
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Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot (2024) |
“Sound of Hope” is a clear cut above a Lifetime fairy tale, but not far off in construct. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 03, 2024
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Fancy Dance (2023) |
The chemistry between Roki and Jax is deep and soulful, steeped in blood, social situation and a way of life. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 03, 2024
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A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) |
Day One builds with purpose and fervor, but ultimately drifts into the predictable. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 01, 2024
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Daddio (2023) |
The casting of Penn and Johnson is genius; their chemistry is palpable and natural from the moment the meter rolls. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 27, 2024
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Flipside (2023) |
The film washes over you. You feel anchored and adrift at the same time. And, in the end, magic happens. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 27, 2024
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Thelma (2024) |
The ensemble is all-in but know this is Squibb’s show. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 27, 2024
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The Bikeriders (2023) |
The performers are all in character too, yet the grind of the gangland network gets occasionally sidetracked and lost is in the melodrama of minutiae. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 25, 2024
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Robot Dreams (2023) |
“Robot Dreams” is a heartfelt portrait of loneliness, connection and loyalty. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 17, 2024
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Hit Man (2023) |
The win here is the all-in performance by Powell. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 13, 2024
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Lumberjack the Monster (2023) |
The auteur of J-horror [Miike] gets back to his gory roots. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 13, 2024
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) |
The film’s gorgeously shot and boasts some imaginative world building, but there’s a lot going on, perhaps too much. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 08, 2024
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) |
Taylor-Joy is seamless as the can-do, younger version of what Charlize Theron brought to the screen nine years ago. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 08, 2024
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Atlas (2024) |
The thing that’s most artificial about this AI thriller is the script. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 08, 2024
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Ezra (2023) |
Despite the film’s title and Fitzgerald hitting a long ball in his big-screen debut, this is Cannavale’s film. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 08, 2024
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Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter (2021) |
it’s eye-opening yet no surprise to drink in this bio-doc about Chicago restauranteur Charlie Trotter - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Sep 30, 2023
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Bottoms (2023) |
Bottoms is something of a rimshot off the raucous, sometimes sex-crazed high school hijinks of Heathers, Porky’s, American Pie and more recently, Booksmart, topped with a dousing of social commentary. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 31, 2023
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Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) |
Near apocalyptic at times and, in one scene, hauntingly reminiscent of the village mob out with torches in a mad search for Frankenstein’s monster, the film is also imbued with deft touches of Fellini-esque absurdity. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 25, 2023
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Heart of Stone (2023) |
The inert script, soulless characters and vapid MacGuffin plotline that feels like a twice-flushed Bond idea make this high-production-value tale of intrigue and continual action a joyless thrill ride. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 18, 2023
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War Pony (2022) |
There are some notable lags in the pacing, but overall War Pony is a gripping tale of personal strife and a mirror reflecting American shame. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Aug 04, 2023
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Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023) |
The main thread is his 2008 junior-year season at... Davidson, where under McKillop’s humanistic approach the Wildcats go shockingly deep in the NCAA tourney. The other great aspect of the film is Curry’s commitment to getting his college degree. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 21, 2023
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Oppenheimer (2023) |
[Oppenheimer] is more than a movie or a just a biopic; it’s an immersed contemplation on destiny, control and power, and obligations to the future. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 20, 2023
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) |
Tom and Mr. McQuarrie are tight and have a good thing going, and are sure to keep at it until it’s not. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 12, 2023
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The Matrix (1999) |
The performances by Fishburne, Moss, and Hugo Weaving as a relentless agent are noteworthy, but the real stars of The Matrix are [the Wachowskis] and their slick, gothic future world. - Boston Phoenix
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| Posted Jul 10, 2023
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) |
This last Indy plays its nostalgia perfectly, checking all the boxes and ending the series aptly. This is what summer viewing used to be and should be. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jul 07, 2023
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No Hard Feelings (2023) |
[No Hard Feelings] charms on its comedic merits and moments of humanity. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 22, 2023
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The Flash (2023) |
The Flash does pass the time. But then it begins to rewind it -- too often -- and in the end, feels pointless. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 15, 2023
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Sanctuary (2022) |
Zachary Wigon’s psycho-erotic thriller is an edgy clash of wills that feels stagey -- in a good way. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted Jun 02, 2023
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Love to Love You, Donna Summer (2023) |
The 1970s queen of the airwaves who bridged disco and soul gets a loving embrace by filmmakers Brooklyn Sudano and Roger Ross Williams. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 31, 2023
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Being Mary Tyler Moore (2023) |
The power of Moore’s legacy comes through her in her own words. The adulations and framings don’t feel up to her game, and game she was. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 31, 2023
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Fast X (2023) |
The series that keeps on grinding away even though the creativity tank hit E a few chapters back. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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The Mother (2023) |
The no-nonsense Lopez holds the standard issue together and the action, as directed by Niki Caro, clicks by with the rapid-fire confidence of Lopez’s mom on the trigger. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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White Men Can't Jump (2023) |
Not sure that a remake of the 1992 Ron Shelton sports curio starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes was necessary, but this updating is passable enough to make the bench. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023) |
It’s hard not to like Fox, and the film only deepens that by detailing what he’s overcome, his acceptance of his current challenges and commitment to family. - Cambridge Day
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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