Movie reviews of The Massie Twins

An uncommonly dark Disney release, yet it’s also full of comedy and adventure. Plus, there’s a love story in here, though it’s regularly pushed aside for humor and music. Review

The dance choreography is exceptional, with Astaire and Rogers reinforcing their collaborative effectiveness, but the combination of singing and dancing talent, comedy, and romance isn’t nearly as refined as in Top Hat a year later. Review

A madcap, slapstick type of comic conclusion, with no real hope of marital longevity. Nevertheless, it’s terribly romantic. Review

The movie is full of humor and heart, most effectively provided by Steinfeld, who manages to be both genuine and relatable, despite acting predominantly in front of fully CG personas. Review

May not be the most striking of sci-fi dramas (it definitely carries on for too long), but it’s a pleasant, life-affirming, touching bit of entertainment. Review

A masterpiece of deception and manipulation. Review

Its descent into chaotic madness is exquisite, although it’s overlong in the process, going into a considerable amount of detail for its depiction of escalating insanity. Yet the closing revelations are breathtaking and unforgettable. Review

The real stars of the film are mind games and manipulation, sharply brought to life by the restrained verbal feuding between Bogart and Robinson. Review

The refusal to play by traditional rules is thoroughly refreshing. Review

The love story isn’t as affecting and the drama isn’t as significant as many of its peers, but To Have and Have Not still boasts an exciting climax and a satisfying conclusion. Review

Instead, it feels confused, unfocused, and unsatisfying – perhaps a result of studio meddling and the director’s waning visionariness. Review

The Master of Suspense may prefer to manipulate his viewers, but he’s not so ruthless as to deprive them of a supremely satisfying finale. Review

His brand of monster is nuanced, unique, and highly cinematic. Review

May be low budget and devoid of stars, but the music by Edward Bilous is rather rousing, if a touch overdramatic. Review

It’s a fascinating study of crime and consequences, of love and fatalism, even if the parting shots are contrived and rushed – but also perversely poetic and redemptive. Review

By the end of this bloated, small-town crime saga, a few moderate (and guessable) surprises turn up, but they’re not shocking or severe enough to warrant such a long, meandering theatrical adaptation. Review

It may betray its genre intentions, but it’s nevertheless well-acted and routinely entertaining. Review

The central romance becomes a slight perversion on the love stories in Gone with the Wind and Wuthering Heights and Jezebel, yet with a hint of redemption that isn’t the least bit believable – and a climax that nods to Casablanca but lacks the sensibility and sentimentality. Review

Nicely complementing the violence is a pervasive tongue-in-cheek vibe. Review

Amid the haunted-house jump scares and the graphic violence, decent bits of humor work their way into the picture. Review

Surely one of the cleverest of the musical comedies of the ’30s, as well as, arguably, Astaire and Rogers’ greatest collaboration. Review

As a ripped-from-the-headlines police procedural, Frenzy is above average. But it’s somewhat lacking for Hitchcock, despite its fascinating deviations from his usual projects... Review

It’s original, confounding, and profound, though it culminates in an ending capable of exasperating half of its viewers, while giving the other half a glimmer of hope. Review

Actually could have been a touch longer, to detail a bit more of the characters’ predicaments, yet its fast pace, coupled with its use of history as an intermittent backdrop to love, is strangely, hauntingly unique. Review