Mel Valentin
Featured Critic
Mel Valentin has been writing about his first and possibly his last love, film, for more than a decade. Born somewhere on the East Coast in the last century, Mel moved to the San Francisco Bay Area two decades ago. Mel spends his days looking forward to when we can all return to movie theaters and film festivals in person.Articles by Mel Valentin:
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May 25, 2023
The Little Mermaid Review: Disney’s Live-Action Adaptation Flounders and SinksHalle Bailey may be a root-worthy Ariel, but the live-action adaptation of Disney classic #TheLittleMermaid manages to sink instead of swim.
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May 13, 2023
The Mother Review: Vaguely Feminist, Passably Engaging Star VehicleNiki Caro’s efficient, economic direction makes The Mother a passably engaging star vehicle for the always-watchable Jennifer Lopez.
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April 22, 2023
Evil Dead Rise Review: Deadite Family MattersThe Evil Dead Rise, the latest iteration of Sam Raimi’s franchise, goes light on the series’ black humour and heavy on the blood and gore.
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April 14, 2023
The Pope’s Exorcist Review: The Power of Crowe Compels YouDoes Russell Crowe’s career need an old priest and a young priest following The Pope’s Exorcist?
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March 31, 2023
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ReviewDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, starring Chris Pine, delivers adventurous fun for the whole D&D-playing family.
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February 24, 2023
Cocaine Bear Review: A Title That More than Delivers on Its PromiseElizabeth Banks’s zany horror comedy about a bear on a coke-fuelled rampage more than delivers on its premise.
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February 17, 2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review – Once More Unto the MCU BreachEven a die-hard MCU fan will have to acknowledge a level of Marvel fatigue with this tired entry, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
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December 15, 2022
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, Surface-Deep Storytelling, Immersive VisualsAvatar: The Way of Water delivers immersive visuals and surface-deep storytelling in equal measure.
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October 21, 2022
Black Adam Review: Dwayne Johnson gets a super-anti-hero franchise to call his ownBlack Adam is a labour of love for star Dwayne Johnson, but audiences are likely to be indifferent to the punch-first, plot-second end result.
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September 30, 2022
Smile Review: Sosie Bacon Delivers a Career-Making PerformanceSosie Bacon’s career-making performance make SMILE a must-see horror outing.
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August 19, 2022
Orphan: First Kill Review: Gloriously Loony Camp HorrorIsabelle Fuhrman reprises her role as the murderous “child” Esther in Orphan: First Kill.
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August 14, 2022
Day Shift Review: Jamie Foxx Hunts Vamps in a Thoroughly Entertaining Action-ComedyNetflix’s Day Shift, starring Jamie Foxx, is a perfectly serviceable, entertaining, time-wasting genre entry.
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August 3, 2022
Bullet Train Review: Brad Pitt Stars in a Tedious, Repetitive ActionerIt’s clear that everyone involved in David Leitch’s BULLET TRAIN had a great time making the actioner, but does that make it an entertaining ride?
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film
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TV
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music
HEDDphone Over-the-ear Air Motion Transformer Headphones Review
We paired one of the best music players in the world – the FIIO M17 – with Heinz ElectroDynamic Design's HEDDphone to see what the results would be.
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podcasts
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