Movie reviews of Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen

Complete with incredible, state of the art photorealistic animation, Toy Story 4 is a wise and funny sequel which holds a comforting central message and growth for characters that we may not have realized needed some. Review

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is three different things all at once. This is, obviously, a love letter to late 1960s Hollywood — and, in length, to Tarantino’s childhood — but it is also both a wish-fulfillment alternate reality revenge fantasy for Hollywood of that era — a cinematic opportunity for payback and justice — as well as a genuinely moving and warm hangout movie about male bonding, male... Review

The Hateful Eight is a three hour, self-indulgent and plodding chamber piece western that has its moments of greatness, but which is also, in my mind, a serious step back for the seasoned writer-director. Review

An incredibly entertaining and well-made western from top to bottom, even though there are a couple of times when it feels like Tarantino didn’t know when to rein himself and his story in. Review

It contains all of the elements that people love Tarantino for, such as pop culture references of varying depth, style, extreme violence, tension-filled scenes, memorable characters, clever dialogue, and undeniably and satisfyingly humorous moments in otherwise serious scenes, but it doesn’t have the sometimes impractically nonlinear structure of his earlier work. Review

Though the first half of the film is obnoxiously self-indulgent, the second half of the film removes the blemishes of the first half and becomes quite satisfying. Review

Again, this movie has its moments, but the pacing and rhythm of Kill Bill, Vol. 2 is unlike the pacing of the first volume. It is nowhere near as intense or satisfying as the first film. Review

Though Kill Bill, Vol. 1 isn’t as flawless as I had remembered it being, I still love this cinematic love letter in the form of a martial arts, samurai revenge tale. Review

It is calm, character-focused, and much warmer than anything he had done before. Review

While I take issue with the structure of the film, it is a hilarious, thrilling, deliciously unforgettable, and inventively well-written crime film. Review

Ultimately, Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut, is a simple but violent and clever film. It is a gripping crime drama with witty but profanely punchy distinctive dialogue. Review

Biggest strength of the film are the creatures, creature effects, and scary story sequences in which Sarah Bellows’ stories come alive. Review

I can’t escape the fact that it feels rushed and incomplete. Something is missing in The Kid, D’Onofrio’s first western as a director. But, ultimately, I dug enough of what he brought to the film to be able to recommend the film to fans of the genre as a well-shot and entertaining Old West tale of domestic violence, lawlessness, and revenge. Review

I’m not sure if it is too ‘incredible’ to be true. But, as a film, it is too thrilling, captivating, damning, terrifying, and astonishing to miss or dismiss. Review

Midsommar is a bizarre and surprisingly funny daytime folk horror film about grief and relationship drama complete with ‘shrooms, brightly colored flowers that breathe and sway, and a brilliant leading performance. Review

Replicas is a trite, overlong, unintentionally funny, and badly designed science-fiction film that includes dated visual effects and horrendous performances. Review

It’s a fairly good but undeniably underwhelming sequel that, even when I enjoyed it, made me question the lifespan of these films. Review

Far From Home earns great laughs, features great action as well as a message about deception and gullibility that is perfect for our time and the characters that the film makes use of and, in one case, perfects. Review

Annabelle Comes Home certainly tests your patience. But I must say that I had a lot of fun with the gimmicky, funhouse concept of the simple but playful and promising Annabelle Comes Home... Review

While it may not be as ambitious as it could’ve been, Danny Boyle’s simple but irresistible and winning ‘what-if’ film Yesterday will charm your socks off eight days a week. Review

I doubt that there is anything of value that I’ll remember this Netflix film for, even though it might be the most watchable of Sandler’s made-for-Netflix comedies. Review

Booksmart deserves to stand the test of time and become a go-to female friendship-film in the vein of Mean Girls and Bridesmaids, and it deserves to become as iconic of a cultural milestone as American Pie or Superbad were to their target audience’s generations. Hopefully, time will be kind to this wonderful coming-of-age comedy. Review

It isn’t just a history lesson, it is an outstanding must-watch television show. Review

Though the trilogy-capper is probably the weakest of the three films, I am of the opinion that Dean DeBlois’ How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World stuck the landing as it gave its audience a bittersweet but incredibly moving conclusion to one of the best animated film trilogies ever made. Review