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Butler's Cinema Scene

Butler's Cinema Scene is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Robert W. Butler.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
B
A Star Is Born (2018) Robert W. Butler Unlike a lot of show-biz movies where the acts we see on screen would never wow a real audience, the tunes and performances depicted here are first-rate.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
Crime 101 (2026) Robert W. Butler “Crime 101” is an OK ride, but it never gets close to the heights of “Heat.”
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Apex (2026) Robert W. Butler Baltasar Kormakur's direction is taunt and creepy, slowing sowing seeds of premonition that bloom into outright panic. Pulse-pounding stuff.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
Ballerina (2025) Robert W. Butler Here’s the thing… if you can sit through the gosh-awful opening scenes, director Len Wiseman and his crew unleash a slew of spectacularly choreographed fight sequences.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B
#Skyking (2026) Robert W. Butler Most documentaries aim to neatly answer our questions. Patricia Gillespie’s “#Skyking” leaves us in limbo.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Hamlet (2025) Robert W. Butler Ultimately, though, it all boils down to our Hamlet, and Ahmed more than holds his own. This actor oozes intensity and physical presence and here he channels it into one of drama’s seminal roles.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) Robert W. Butler At the core of it all is Seyfried’s performance, which makes Ann fully human even as she says and does things that many of us find, well, hugely eccentric.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
C
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) Robert W. Butler Like the first film, this one was scripted by Alex Garland. But “Bone Temple” reeks of desperation. It’s as if Garland was heaving ideas against a big bloody wall hoping some would stick.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Fantasy Life (2025) Robert W. Butler Also remarkable is Shear’s ability to balance the film’s moments of poignancy and wry humor. It’s the sort of thing that takes some directors an entire career to nail. He gets it right out of the gate.
Posted May 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Nuremberg (2025) Robert W. Butler “Nuremberg” is most effective in hammering home the idea that the rise of Naziism was not some aberration but rather a sly exploitation of the fears, foible and prejudices that still afflict the human race.
Posted Mar 25, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025) Robert W. Butler This time around it feels forced and phony -- not that the original was realistic, but it at least radiated originality. “Sisu: Road to Revenge” feels too calculated, too by-the-numbers.
Posted Mar 25, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026) Robert W. Butler Oh, the atmosphere is as brooding as ever, and Murphy is always watchable. But the whole production seems to have been glued together from a bunch of pieces Knight had lying about.
Posted Mar 25, 2026  Edit critic review
C
War Machine (2026) Robert W. Butler Movies don’t get much sillier than “War Machine,” a fascist wet-dream mated to a “War of the Worlds” actioner.
Posted Mar 12, 2026  Edit critic review
B+
Sirāt (2025) Robert W. Butler Lopez is haunting as a Job-like Everyman being put through one horror after another.
Posted Mar 12, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Year 10 (2024) Robert W. Butler I found “Year 10” surprisingly involving. I was especially taken with the film’s heavy, the cannibal leader (Luke Massy), a sort of unstoppable malevolent force.
Posted Feb 24, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Predator: Badlands (2025) Robert W. Butler I found “Predator: Badlands” intermittently amusing and enjoyed the way the yarn expands the whole Predator/Alien mythology. But... I found my interest waning with the repetitive mayhem.
Posted Feb 24, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
Honey Don't! (2025) Robert W. Butler It’s fun… until it wears out its welcome.
Posted Feb 24, 2026  Edit critic review
B+
The Survivor (2021) Robert W. Butler Ben Foster is simply shattering in the role.
Posted Feb 24, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
The Smashing Machine (2025) Robert W. Butler Dwayne Johnson gives what may be a career-high performance in Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine.”
Posted Feb 09, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
The Rip (2026) Robert W. Butler Little by little “The Rip” devolves into a b-the-numbers action flick. The cast is strong, but they’re at the mercy of the material.
Posted Feb 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B+
Secret Mall Apartment (2024) Robert W. Butler His attitude permeates the film… playful, modest, unstoppably creative.
Posted Feb 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B
All of You (2024) Robert W. Butler The Brit romance “All of You” is far from perfect, but it’s got some of the best dialogue heard in ages while depicting a love story that simmers at low heat.
Posted Feb 09, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
F1 The Movie (2025) Robert W. Butler Given its gruel-thin content, F1’s 2.5-hour running time isn’t warranted. Still, I don’t regret the time spent on watching it.
Posted Feb 09, 2026  Edit critic review
C+
Marty Supreme (2025) Robert W. Butler Chalamet gives a breathless performance -- which is a problem because the film never slows down enough to let us catch our breath. It’s just one instance of bad behavior piled on another.
Posted Jan 12, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Dead Man's Wire (2025) Robert W. Butler The key to Skarsgard’s performance is his ability to make us identify with Tony (haven’t all of us felt ripped off at some time by a big impersonal institution?) even as we squirm at the dangerous situation he’s created.
Posted Jan 12, 2026  Edit critic review
B
Bugonia (2025) Robert W. Butler A new film by Yorgos Lanthimos comes with a promise. It’ll be fascinating. Terrifically well acted. And very weird. “Bugonia” more than lives up to that standard.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
C
Eden (2024) Robert W. Butler “Eden” looks good (the cinematographer is Mathias Herndl) and there are some moments of involving physical action, but far from making a big statement the film seems satisfied with silliness.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B-
Roofman (2025) Robert W. Butler “Roofman” features a whole bunch of heavy hitters in its supporting cast -- LaKeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, Juno Temple, Uzo Aruba and Ben Mendelsohn -- but Tatum and Dunst are front and center giving the yarn its emotional oomph.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
B+
Blue Moon (2025) Robert W. Butler Ethan Hawke has always been watchable, but in recent years his work has taken on near-legendary weight. “Blue Moon” cements his rep as one of our best actors.
Posted Dec 30, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Song Sung Blue (2025) Robert W. Butler Laughter, song and tears. It’s a satisfying package.
Posted Dec 30, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
The Secret Agent (2025) Robert W. Butler There’s enough going on in “The Secret Agent” to warrant multiples viewings, but even a cursory glimpse will cement Moura’s place as one of the great actors of his generation.
Posted Dec 20, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Ballad of a Small Player (2025) Robert W. Butler Toss in Tilda Swinton as a comically stuffy investigator hot on his trail and Fala Chen as the casino hostess who provides a love interest, and you’ve got a good-looking if not terribly deep outing.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
C+
Nobody 2 (2025) Robert W. Butler It’s pretty much the same thing all over again… minus the sense of discovery that made the first film so enjoyable.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
Sorry, Baby (2025) Robert W. Butler Every once in a while you encounter a film so achingly on target that you instinctively realize that it had to be torn from someone’s personal experience. So it is with “Sorry, Baby."
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Eternity (2025) Robert W. Butler Part of the problem is that “Eternity” is nearly 30 minutes too long; after a while it starts to feel like an eternity watching it.
Posted Dec 12, 2025  Edit critic review
B
After the Hunt (2025) Robert W. Butler After the Hunt manages to be gripping even while withholding key pieces of information. This has not a little to do with Roberts’ performance, which gos from haughty to wretched wreck.
Posted Dec 12, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Nouvelle Vague (2025) Robert W. Butler Nouvelle Vague oozes youthful exuberance and intellectual precocity. It’s both lighthearted romp and a serious appreciation of an important moment in cinema history. In other words, it’s a lot of fun.
Posted Dec 12, 2025  Edit critic review
B
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025) Robert W. Butler I’m in awe of Byrne’s work here. It’s Oscar-level and then some. But the film itself is tough going.
Posted Dec 12, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Sentimental Value (2025) Robert W. Butler The performances are strong all around, but especially in the case of Skarsgård and Reinsve, whose scenes together are a form of emotional jousting. It’s like a master class in subtle acting.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
It Was Just an Accident (2025) Robert W. Butler Beyond the compelling plotting and characters, It Was Just an Accident is a quiet condemnation of the [Iranian] regime. I found myself wondering how a film this critical of the government ever got made.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Jay Kelly (2025) Robert W. Butler Noah Baumbach’s latest film is a character study… sort of… of a man who apparently has no character.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Hamnet (2025) Robert W. Butler “Hamnet” only comes fully to life in the last 20 minutes, but it does so with devastating intensity.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
The Life of Chuck (2024) Robert W. Butler The film has been so deftly directed and acted (even from the unseen Nick Offerman, whose narration provides just the right taste of detached observation) that more than a few viewers will find themselves in tears.
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
A-
Train Dreams (2025) Robert W. Butler If Terrence Malick and Kelly Reichart had a baby it would be “Train Dreams,” a visually ravishing examination of one human life.
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
B-
Hedda (2025) Robert W. Butler If you can get past the anachronistic elements, “Hedda” offers some terrific acting. If.
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
C+
Eddington (2025) Robert W. Butler “Eddington” is a mess, but at least it’s an ambitious mess.
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
B
Weapons (2025) Robert W. Butler Even if the big explanation is a fairy-tale head-slapper, most of "Weapons" is extremely watchable and quite involving.
Posted Nov 15, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Frankenstein (2025) Robert W. Butler Here del Toro goes for an emotional and spiritual catharsis. That might seem a stretch for what is essentially a horror movie, but damned if he doesn't pull it off.
Posted Nov 15, 2025  Edit critic review
B+
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) Robert W. Butler Fathers and sons. Failed love. Lifelong friendship. These are universal stepping stones in human life, and “Deliver Me From Nowhere” finds both the beauty and the dread.
Posted Oct 27, 2025  Edit critic review
C
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025) Robert W. Butler It’s all wrapped up with a posh gala on a Norwegian fiord that deteriorates into a sort of soggy Velveeta pizza. Didn’t believe a word of it.
Posted Oct 27, 2025  Edit critic review
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