Phil de Semlyen
Select another critic »For 128 reviews, this critic has graded:
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49% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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48% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.2 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Phil de Semlyen's Scores
- Movies
- TV
Score distribution:
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Positive: 62 out of 128
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Mixed: 64 out of 128
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Negative: 2 out of 128
128
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Phil de Semlyen
Meirelles injects enough visual snap to remind you that he once made City of God. If the second half gets a little sidetracked by flashbacks, another meaty Vatican scene is never too far away. Watching these two actors chewing over big issues—God, aging, loneliness, celibacy, abuse in the priesthood—under the vast ceilings of this gilded palace is a joy.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 27, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) can do this stuff with his eyes closed, and sometimes it feels like he might be doing that as the plot chugs from London to Berlin and secrets are duly uncovered. But there’s enough visual flair to elevate things above standard genre fare.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 15, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
If Frozen was about coming to terms with who you are, Frozen II is about transformation. Does it offer further evidence for those who saw "Let It Go" as Elsa’s covert coming-out anthem? Sadly not, though she remains an intriguingly elliptical canvas on which to project genuinely groundbreaking ideas about empowerment and identity.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 14, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
If you’ve ever wondered what the boredom threshold is for watching a musician tuning a hurdy-gurdy, you’ll find the answer here.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
If Last Christmas isn’t quite irresistible in its emotional moments and the cheesiest bits are borderline indigestible, its effervescence makes it a fun enough watch. At the very least, it’ll make you fall hard for its other romantic lead: London.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 7, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Widows' Cynthia Erivo supplies dramatic weight to a project that squanders it on awkward action moments and simplistic showdowns.- Time Out
- Posted Nov 1, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The predictable fish-out-of-water comedy gradually gives way to something deeper, as conflicting world views are exchanged, homespun wisdom dispensed and minds broadened.- Time Out
- Posted Oct 31, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It has a kernel of raw torment and an unforgiving streak that hints at still-unreconciled wounds, too. It’s not the best film of the year, but it’s definitely one of the most personal.- Time Out
- Posted Oct 24, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Even with the original stars returning, the sequel feels weightless, disposable and hardly the stuff of Skynet nightmares.- Time Out
- Posted Oct 22, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Its trump card, of course, is Zellweger, who blows through the film in a gust of jittery energy, wounded ego and half-buried star quality. The transformation is startling.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 26, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Yes, it’s basically an episode of the show stretched out to two hours, but like the Crawley family silver, it’s so polished you can practically see your face in it.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 19, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The tonal lurches – from jokey to earnest and back again – will have whiplash setting in by the time its eccentric fourth-wall-breaking coda comes around, while some odd casting choices (and accents) drain gravity from the serious moments.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 13, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It's the exuberant yin to the stately yang of Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie, Larrain’s last film, and it’s full of the pheromones of sexual discovery and the piss and vinegar of toxic relationships.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 13, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It definitely demands patience ... but it rewards it with a similarly narcotic effect.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 6, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Sure, some of the historical detail is terrible (did Henry V really get crowned topless?) and Shakespeare purists may scream heresy, but director David Michôd has done something genuinely fresh and confident with this well-told piece of English folklore.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 3, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The Informer is a film that favours brawn over brains, punching its way through any plot predicaments. A smart hairpin or two would have made it a juicier watch.- Time Out
- Posted Sep 2, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Joaquin Phoenix is devastating as the villain-in-the-making in this incendiary tale of psychological escape and psychopathy.- Time Out
- Posted Aug 31, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s often thrilling, occasionally improbable, sometimes confounding, but like its director, Ad Astra is never bound by the gravitational pull of the ordinary. Strap in.- Time Out
- Posted Aug 29, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s frenetic, brashly executed and so full of shooting, you’ll stagger away with tinnitus.- Time Out
- Posted Aug 21, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted Aug 9, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted Jul 8, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Clearly surge pricing also applies to jokes, because it’s mostly about as funny as a traffic jam.- Time Out
- Posted Jul 6, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The storytelling never lacks for sincerity and quiet power. It’s a cry from the heart with a courageous message.- Time Out
- Posted Jul 1, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
As an object lesson in leadership, Maiden is compelling, but its flashbacks to a less enlightened time in sport are the biggest showstoppers – and jaw-droppers.- Time Out
- Posted Jun 24, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s not nearly as good as Logan or X2, but it’s a whole lot better than the eyeball-poking affliction that was X-Men: Apocalypse. On the flipside, it still feels like a fairly pointless retread of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s The Dark Phoenix Saga, which we’ve already seen (and hated) in Brett Ratner’s 2006 disaster X-Men: The Last Stand.- Time Out
- Posted Jun 5, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Diego Maradona has the football and the drugs – think Scarface with screamers – but it’s a surprisingly emotional ride too. In the spirit of all good docs, it’ll make you reappraise your feelings about the man and the myths around him.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
The Whistlers has a tonne of pulpy circuit-breakers – look out for a hilarious ‘Psycho’ tribute – to remind you not to take it all too seriously. Hitchcock would have approved.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
It’s a hugely impressive debut and visually arresting from first to last.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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- Phil de Semlyen
Maybe the film loses its head a bit at this point too, with its deeper message lost in the epic bloodshed, but the chances are you’ll be having too much fun to mind.- Time Out
- Posted May 28, 2019
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