Movie reviews of Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen

It is an incredible rise-and-fall story that you have to see to believe, but the documentary itself certainly is not as good or deep as the story it contains. Review

The Pale Blue Eye is an atmospheric period crime thriller that is well acted, with well-tuned performances from Christian Bale and Harry Melling, but its slow pace will be a stumbling block for some, the mystery is somewhat predictable, and the Holmes-Watson-esque connection between the main characters is not as well-realized as it ought to be, which makes their final scene together somewhat ineffective emotionally. Review

Mumbai Mafia: Police vs the Underworld is primarily a by-the-numbers documentary that chronicles how the pendulum swung back too much and made criminals of the law enforcement that had initially set out to merely rid the streets of a controlling and dangerous crime syndicate. Review

Small quibbles aside, I think Park Chan-wook’s first English-language feature film is an engrossing little mystery with all of the traits that have come to define Park Chan-wook as a master filmmaker with breathtaking visuals, violence, and taboo subject matter. Review

It’s an occasionally fascinating exercise that is a little bit too navel-gazey and bloated for its own good. Review

It is much showier than Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance especially and is a great example of Park’s visual slickness and inventiveness. It also features an excellent performance from Lee Young-ae. Review

Oldboy is Park Chan-wook fully unleashed. It is a showy and perfectly paced action-revenge mystery with an amazing payoff and masterful and precise shot compositions. Choi Min-sik is also just incredible in the primary role. ... Review

Park Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is masterfully made but also exhaustingly bleak. Review

I think of it as a thoughtful and soft meditation on grief, existence, memory, family dynamics, and what it means to really know someone and something. I found it to be both fascinating and quietly moving. Review

Park Chan-wook shows major signs of the filmmaker he will become, and his steady, stylish, and level-headed approach to a tough subject matter really helps to make this film succeed, as does Song Kang-ho’s dedicated and complex performance. Review

When compared to Knives Out, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion is equally witty and just as sharply written and edited. It comes oh so close to matching the incredible first film. Review

Morbius is an undeniably messy Frankenstein’s monster of a film that is so awkwardly stitched together that scenes right next to each other lack connective tissue and are tonally uneven. Review

Ti West’s period slasher film X is about religious fanaticism, sex positivity, aging, and the allure of the American Dream. Throughout, West achieves the right atmosphere through the look of the film, the soundscape, and some fun visual and editing touches. Review

Avatar: The Way of Water is a fitting title because, in certain ways, it blows the first film out of the water. I’d call it a definite improvement on the first film, which I merely liked. I am in awe of the updated breathtaking visuals, and I was moved by its beautiful focus on our bond to misunderstood creatures from the vast ocean. James Cameron, I see you. Review

The thing about Avatar is that even though it is a great film in so many aspects, some of the criticisms that people have of it are perfectly valid. None of this stops it from being a great film, but it does prevent its archetypical story from sitting with you as being uniquely its own thing. Review

I know that it is a tough ask for an animated film with as dark and real a backdrop as this one to be accepted by families, but this is one of the most impressive stop-motion animated films that I have ever seen and it packs an emotional and earned wallop that will sit with you. Review

It is full of beautiful colors, great imagination, gorgeous costumes, and eye-opening visuals. It is a marvelously ambitious fantasy-fairy tale film that gets so close to being a true all-timer. Review

Eiza Gonzalez is credible as the paramedic, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II makes for a solid lead struggling with how his life is blowing up all around him, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is unhinged in a way that is really entertaining. Review

Transfixing and sometimes startling, Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All is a genre-bending coming-of-age road romance film with pinches of horror and gore that, to me, is all about rejection, abandonment, loneliness, and the need to feel seen. Review

Packed with nostalgia, heart, humor, and his lovable Marvel misfits, James Gunn’s The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special is precisely the kind of thing I needed to get back in the holiday spirit. Review

Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love is a fantastic and, in moments, beautiful documentary about the fires between two people burning hot and the extraordinary external hotspots bringing them together. It absolutely is one of the best documentaries of the year also because it in moments emphasizes how it is of paramount importance to listen to scientists... Review

It is a great documentary that showcases an individual risking his life for the good of the world knowing that his outcome is up in the air. Review

Mark Mylod’s The Menu is a darkly comedic thriller and a scrumptious and sizzling satire of the often-wealthy takers in society. Review

Sebastián Lelio’s The Wonder is an absorbing period drama about the transformative power of stories. Review