James Berardinelli Quotes

#1. Since 1977, there have been many science fiction movies, but none has managed to equal [ A New Hope 's] blend of adventure, likable characters, and epic storytelling.

James Berardinelli

#2. The Drop's unpredictability is organic rather than sensationalistic. The movie doesn't pull surprises out of thin air for the sole purpose of shocking an audience - it lets them develop naturally.

James Berardinelli

#3. For the most part, however, Lady in the Water comes across as a movie that's too bad to be good, and not bad enough to be so bad that it's good.

James Berardinelli

#4. Norbit operates on the principle that vulgarity is automatically funny. Crassness doesn't need a joke attached because it is (in and of itself) the height of hilarity.

James Berardinelli

#5. Side note to parents: Anyone who thinks 'Dude, Where's My Car' is more appropriate for children than 'American Pie' because it obtained a PG-13 rating needs to stop trusting the MPAA.

James Berardinelli

#6. Parodies are hard to do well, as is shown by the mediocrity of so many recent attempts. No matter how ripe a genre is for satirizing, unless you know how to do it, there are no guarantees.

James Berardinelli

#7. There's good news and bad news about 2 Fast 2 Furious , the moronic follow-up to The Fast and the Furious and a contender for the worst movie of 2003. The good news is that it's better, albeit marginally, than Freddy Got Fingered . The bad news is that it's 15 minutes longer.

James Berardinelli

#8. There's nothing terribly wrong with The November Man in a serviceable late-night cable TV sort of way but neither is there anything terribly right about it. It's unnecessary and derivative.

James Berardinelli

#9. This is as brain-dead as a movie can be and it assumes the audience will have the I.Q. of a rutabaga.

James Berardinelli

#10. John Wick is a rousing action thriller of the sort rarely encountered in theaters these days.

James Berardinelli

#11. Although I am not averse to wasting a few hours playing computer games, I have never tried my hand at Doom . Judging by sales figures and testimonials, playing the game has to be an infinitely preferable experience to watching this pathetic excuse for a movie.

James Berardinelli

#12. Being snarky and smug doesn't equate to providing insight, and there's more than one occasion when the filmmakers lose sight of this in their zeal to spread the Gospel According to Maher.

James Berardinelli

#13. People need gods. They need faith. They need to believe in something bigger than themselves. It gives them succor when the world around them seems to be collapsing. They don't want truth. Those who desire it can seek it out.

James Berardinelli

#14. The Phantom Menace is not a masterpiece, but it's an example of how imagination, craftsmanship, and technological bravura can fashion superior entertainment out of something that is far from flawless.

James Berardinelli

#15. A sci-fi yarn that ponders the meaning of time and the importance of evolution while occasionally throwing in some shootouts.

James Berardinelli

#16. If you thought it was impossible for a film to contain less effective comedy than Date Movie , here's evidence to the contrary.

James Berardinelli

#17. A generic vampire tale in the Underworld vein that comes closer to the infamous Van Helsing than a memorable re-interpretation of a legendary monster.

James Berardinelli