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David Rooney

@DavidCRooney1

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Chief Film Critic @THR . Formerly Chief Theater Critic. Previous work published Variety, NY Times, LA Times. Member of @NYFCC , @NatSocFilmCrix . Opinions my own

New York
Joined May 2020
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
7 months
My 2023 Top 10 1. Past Lives 2. Poor Things 3. All of Us Strangers 4. Killers of the Flower Moon 5. Fallen Leaves 6. The Zone of Interest 7. Showing Up 8. Anatomy of a Fall 9. Perfect Days 10. Passages Honorable mentions + full @THR critics' lists below
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 years
@MarkHarrisNYC @AOC WTF? Even the “who are 50 years her senior” at the end of the opening graf smacks of the disapproving headmaster putting the rebellious student in her place. The starchy establishment tone in so much of the NYT’s coverage lately is just tone-deaf to what’s going on in the country
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
Just so everyone’s clear, we are definitely going to be talking about the spellbinding PAST LIVES all year: And yes, I’m delighted to be quoted on the poster
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
S.S. Rajamouli pulls off a surprise @nyfcc best director win for the historical action blockbuster RRR, currently the best 3 hours you can spend watching Netflix
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
The best film I've seen this year, PAST LIVES, gets a June 2 release date
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Just a random reminder of four richly deserving performances that fell through the cracks this awards season
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
Someone on here mentioned the travesty of Isabelle Huppert not winning an Oscar for ELLE. Reminded me how often nominees from non-English-language films lose out to vastly inferior performances by American actors. These are just 4 who should have won. Who am I missing?
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David Rooney
5 months
Karen Carpenter would have turned 74 today, making this a good time to remember Todd Haynes’ deeply moving SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY. The original and still the best Barbie movie, not to mention a brilliant reflection on the plastic nightmare of American pop culture.
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Brendan Fraser gets the role of a lifetime and shatters your heart with it in Darren Aronofsky’s THE WHALE, which seems a sure bet to whip up the Oscar pundits. My @THR review of the #venezia79 competition entry
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 years
@DanRather There's a special place in Hell for Mitch McConnell for so many reasons, but the loathsome disrespect shown for Merrick Garland is high among them
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
How gorgeous is this new poster for the April re-release of JEANNE DIELMAN in French theaters?
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David Rooney
3 years
This candid response from the brilliant Tracy Letts to the NYTimes survey of artists' accomplishments during lockdown really hits home. For any of us who have struggled with time management, productivity & focus this past year, it's a relief to read this kind of honesty
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
@awards_watch He’s so terrific. I’m annoyed with myself for forgetting to include him in my review
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
Still thinking about Jenny the miniature donkey
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Hirokazu Kore-eda picked up the Palme d'Or last time he was here with SHOPLIFTERS. He returns to #Cannes2022 with BROKER, about another makeshift family on the margins, this time in Korea. My @THR review
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David Rooney
11 months
I doubt Andrew Haigh is capable of making a bad film, but that didn't prepare me for the emotional wallop of ALL OF US STRANGERS, with a performance from Andrew Scott that pulverized my heart. My @THR review of the #TellurideFilmFestival premiere
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Andrew Ahn's delightful FIRE ISLAND does for 'Pride & Prejudice' what CLUELESS did for 'Emma.' The rom-com also does for queer men of color what Jane Austen did for complex women characters. My @THR review, ahead of the June 3 #PrideMonth premiere on @hulu
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David Rooney
1 year
Name this band
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, star of three previous top prize winners at Venice, A CITY OF SADNESS, CYCLO and LUST, CAUTION, will receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the festival this fall
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David Rooney
11 months
Wow. Yorgos Lanthimos' POOR THINGS is a mordantly funny, breathtakingly designed feminist fairy tale about a reanimated woman's odyssey of enlightenment that gives Emma Stone the juicy role of a lifetime. My @THR review of the #Venezia80 entry
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
My top 10 films of 2021 1. Drive My Car 2. The Power of the Dog 3. The Worst Person in the World 4. Parallel Mothers 5. The Lost Daughter 6. The Souvenir Part II 7. West Side Story 8. Petite Maman 9. Passing 10. The Tragedy of Macbeth
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David Rooney
4 years
@donwinslow @Jeff_Daniels Very stirring. Don, these are getting better and better. You are doing heroic work this election cycle.
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
My top 10 films of 2022, plus those of the @THR critics team 1. The Banshees of Inisherin 2. Decision to Leave 3. Tár 4. Aftersun 5. Bones and All 6. EO 7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed 8. Armageddon Time 9. The Inspection 10. The Quiet Girl
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David Rooney
1 year
The most anticipated movie of the year, Martin Scorsese's KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, more than lives up to expectations. It's a sprawling epic that holds you enthralled, and a great director expanding his legacy. My @THR review of the #Cannes2023 premiere
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David Rooney
2 years
Rewatch time. One of the best biopics about a female music artist. Conventional but brimming with heart, thanks to Sissy Spacek’s raw emotionality. With the huge plus of Beverly D’Angelo as Patsy Cline. This movie made me love Loretta Lynn. RIP to a great lady of country music
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David Rooney
4 years
@TheRickWilson Always loved that Gene Pitney song "24 Hours from Tulas," though the Dusty Springfield version has the edge
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 months
Luca Guadagnino’s CHALLENGERS is a ravenously sexy good time, the most fun I’ve had at a new movie in months. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor & Mike Faist all deliver power serves and the pounding techno score is an all-timer. Do not miss this. My @THR review
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
6 months
Devastating day for Broadway, losing two legendary performers. I was lucky enough to see Hinton Battle in Dreamgirls and The Tap Dance Kid; and Chita Rivera in The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Nine, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Visit. RIP
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David Rooney
1 month
@La_Pfeiffer Jamie Lee Curtis is TERRIBLE in that role. Chews every bit of furniture in that house to pieces
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David Rooney
4 months
Ate up RIPLEY, Steven Zaillian’s unsettlingly moody, completely distinctive take on Highsmith. Andrew Scott, Dakota Fanning, Johnny Flynn all superb. Eliot Sumner a revelation. Intoxicating visuals. Heady sense of time & place. And Lucio is a screen cat for the ages. Riveting
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David Rooney
3 years
Watched BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN for first time in 15 years on my NY-LA flight. Such an exquisite movie. Timeless. Wrecked me all over again. Still one of the Academy’s more lamentable moments that Ang Lee won best director but best picture went instead to the heavy-handed CRASH
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David Rooney
2 years
Join me on @TwitterSpaces Thursday at 11am PT to dissect the best actor contenders and weigh their chances of a win with my @THR colleagues @tylercoates , @bverhoev and @_tiffanytaylor :
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David Rooney
6 months
This is exactly how you should follow a brainy blockbuster. Cillian Murphy is superb as a haunted man whose psychological wounds are reopened in SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, which opens #Berlinale2024 on a quiet but powerful note. My @THR review
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David Rooney
4 years
@homemadeguitars @RayPride Still waiting for someone to explain how someone who delivers zero for his state and has a 13% approval rating can get re-elected
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David Rooney
5 months
The ageless Juliette Binoche turns 60 today, and if you haven't yet seen her luminous work in Tran Anh Hung's exquisite hymn to food preparation, love and loss, THE TASTE OF THINGS, you need to get on that
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David Rooney
3 years
A few hastily assembled thoughts for @THR about my love for Sondheim and his colossal place in the cultural landscape
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David Rooney
2 years
Wow. Todd Field’s thrilling TÁR sets a high bar early in the #Venezia79 competition, and while I generally leave the Oscars punditry to others, Cate Blanchett’s scorcher of a performance should catapult her to the top of awards forecasts. My @THR review
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David Rooney
3 months
So, Faye Dunaway was on my flight to Nice, which just landed. #Cannes2024 can only go downhill from here
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David Rooney
2 years
@KnivesOut Phoebe Waller-Bridge
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 years
We lost Sam Shepard, a giant among contemporary American playwrights and a screen actor incapable of a false moment, three years ago today. Here’s an appreciation I wrote for @THR at the time of his death
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David Rooney
2 years
A never-better Colin Farrell reunites with his always commanding IN BRUGES co-star Brendan Gleeson and director Martin McDonagh on THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, a violently beautiful ballad of broken friendship. My @THR review of another #Venezia79 highlight
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David Rooney
3 months
Terrific performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong keep you glued in THE APPRENTICE, Ali Abbasi's detailed account of the formative alliance between cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn and the young Donald Trump. My @THR review from #cannes2024
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
There's blood & gristle but also sweetness & heart in Luca Guadagnino's BONES AND ALL, a story of fine young cannibals & first love that deftly blends the director's interests in romance and horror. My @THR review of the #Venezia79 competition entry
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David Rooney
2 years
Some thoughts for @THR on the painful loss and dazzling legacy of Angela Lansbury, including the time I made the mistake of mentioning another Mrs. Lovett to her. RIP to a grande dame of the stage, and so much more
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David Rooney
3 years
An early happy birthday to the irreplaceable Rita Moreno, who turns 90 tomorrow, just as she's hitting screens again in Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY remake. If you haven't seen this celebratory doc about her remarkable life, you should. My @THR review:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Ryan Coogler delivers an emotionally cathartic, deeply respectful salute to Chadwick Boseman and a sequel that remains head and shoulders above the recent Marvel pack with BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. My @THR review
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David Rooney
3 months
Jacques Audiard's exhilarating musical about crime, transformation and redemption, EMILIA PEREZ, was just the kick I needed midway through #cannes2024 . Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and the divine Karla Sofia Gascón just great. My @THR review
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David Rooney
2 years
That’s a wrap for this year’s @nyfcc awards, with Todd Field’s TAR taking best film, on top of best actress honors for Cate Blanchett
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David Rooney
2 years
A real pleasure to moderate tonight’s Academy Q&A with THE QUIET GIRL writer-director @ColmBairead at the beautiful #CrosbyStreetHotel screening room, one of my NYC favorites. I love this movie more every time I see it, deceptively simple yet emotionally so layered. Just gorgeous
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David Rooney
3 years
It's not always the smoothest ride to get there, but a tremendously moving final act makes NO TIME TO DIE a worthy valedictory salute to Daniel Craig in his fifth and final stint as 007. My @THR review:
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David Rooney
2 years
If TOP GUN felt the need for speed, the vastly superior TOP GUN: MAVERICK mostly feels the need for Tom Cruise, delivering slick thrills and self-worship. It's going to make a fortune. My @THR review
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David Rooney
3 years
One reward of covering NY theater is the constant discoveries in a bottomless pool of talent. Justin Cooley, making an assured Off Broadway debut in @AtlanticTheater 's Kimberly Akimbo, is a real find; stellar vocals, unforced charm, impeccable comic timing, genuine heart
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David Rooney
4 years
What LOVE, SIMON did for queer representation in Hollywood teen movies the captivating HAPPIEST SEASON, starring the always magnetic #KristenStewart and bowing on @hulu , does for the Christmas rom-com. I’ll take a glass of that eggnog
@THR
The Hollywood Reporter
4 years
Film review: @Hulu 's 'Happiest Season'
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David Rooney
3 years
Jane Campion takes on corrosive masculinity and repressed sexuality on a canvas of fine-grained Americana in THE POWER OF THE DOG, her first feature after a 12-year break, which does not disappoint. My @THR review of the #Venezia78 premiere:
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David Rooney
1 year
@WWENikkiCross @MichaelMatteoRo Still torn up whenever I think about that episode
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David Rooney
1 year
@strangeharbors Remember CHERRY? Didn't think so. People need to stop throwing wads of cash at the Russo Brothers
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
With OPPENHEIMER, Christopher Nolan has made the kind of big, brainy, cinematic event movie that’s all but extinct from the studios. See it on the biggest screen you can find. My @THR review
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David Rooney
2 years
So tragic about Anne Heche, always a magnetic, flinty screen presence yet a career never given space to flower to its full extent. Loved her in Nicole Holofcener's WALKING AND TALKING, in DONNIE BRASCO, on HUNG & fearlessly facing off with Sandra Oh in the ferocious CATFIGHT. RIP
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David Rooney
3 years
I’m late to the DRIVE MY CAR party, but wow. The 3 hours of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s unassuming masterwork fly by with a gently seductive rhythm, seamlessly blending Murakami and Chekhov in an intoxicating reflection on love, death and the complexities of human connection. Wonderful
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David Rooney
2 years
Damnit! No living director has more consistently poured heart and soul into creating magnificent roles for women than Pedro Almodovar. Was really hoping Penelope Cruz would be the one finally recognized with a best actress win. Missed opportunity #Oscars
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David Rooney
1 year
As terrific as Sydney Sweeney is in 'The White Lotus' & 'Euphoria,' her heart-stopping work in REALITY is next-level. My @THR review of Tina Satter's taut adaption of her verbatim docudrama, 'Is This a Room,' premiering at #Berlinale2023
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David Rooney
8 months
Zack Snyder’s wannabe franchise starter, REBEL MOON PART ONE: A CHILD OF FIRE, feels like what you might get by feeding STAR WARS & SEVEN SAMURAI into an AI screenwriting program. My @THR review of the turgid Netflix space saga
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David Rooney
6 months
Thrilled for @JustinCChang , a friend and colleague since he started at Variety 20 years ago, fresh out of college. Watching this genuine mensch blossom into one of the best working film critics out there has been a joy. The New Yorker is lucky to have him
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
@tylercoates Looks like Exhibitor Relation Co. skipped the Sarcasm class in Humor 101
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David Rooney
1 year
I’m always a skeptic about superhero movies, but found BLUE BEETLE an unexpectedly captivating & funny throwback, drawing its strength not just from an alien biotech relic but also from the love of the protagonist’s Mexican American family. My @THR review
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Aside from a couple advance Sundance reviews I’ll be mostly off Twitter for the next two weeks. Flying back to Australia tomorrow for my Dad’s funeral. One comfort is getting to feed the birds he loved in his backyard one more time. Seems a good way to remember him
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
The combo of director Pablo Larraín and star Kristen Stewart was always going to yield a distinctive Diana portrait, but SPENCER is stranger and more transfixing than you probably could have imagined. My @THR review of the #Venezia78 premiere:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Celine Song's remarkably assured first feature, PAST LIVES, is far and away the best film I've seen at #Sundance2023 . Its reflections on love, fate and life-changing choices have been haunting me for days. My @THR review
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
11 months
Hate to be one of those people making Oscar predictions way too early, but if Gael García Bernal doesn’t land his first nomination for CASSANDRO, the system’s broken. My @THR review of the stirring queer trailblazer portrait, in theaters tomorrow
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
A brooding Pattman owns the cape and cowl in THE BATMAN, Matt Reeves' gripping grunge noir anchored in a very recognizable contemporary reality of political and institutional distrust. My review for @THR
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David Rooney
3 years
John Krasinski thrillingly expands on the world of terrified silence from his 2018 horror hit with the taut sequel A QUIET PLACE PART II, which richly rewards the big-screen, big-sound experience. My @THR review:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 months
A suitably hypnotic poster for an unsettling stunner of a movie. Beautiful. Delighted to be quoted on this one
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Loved moderating an Academy Q&A tonight with director Joachim Trier and his brilliant lead Renate Reinsve for the bittersweet, wistful and deeply affecting WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD. A quiet emotional powerhouse that moved me even more on a second viewing. One of the year’s best
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 month
Osgood Perkins’ LONGLEGS got under my skin and stayed there. Maika Monroe hasn’t been this freaked out since IT FOLLOWS and Nicolas Cage adds another memorable psycho to his Hall of Fame. My @THR review of the serial killer chiller, opening Friday
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
The most unanimously praised film at Sundance, Celine Song's PAST LIVES, drew a similarly ecstatic reception in its international premiere at the #Berlinale today. My @THR review of the decades-spanning romantic drama, opening later this year from @A24
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Andrew Dominik’s BLONDE is many things but definitely not bland — a voyeuristic must-see, if only for Ana de Armas’ fearless plunge into the tortured role of Marilyn Monroe. My @THR review of the Netflix feature, premiering in the #Venezia79 competition
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 years
@MattRogersTho Oh Come All Ye Faithful
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
1 year
Such a gift having WHAT'S UP DOC? back on @CriterionChannl this month. The great Madeline Kahn's Eunice is an all-time favorite comedy performance. Genius
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
No doubt I'll get crucified by Chalamaniacs and sci-fi cultists for this, but despite its moments of breathtaking spectacle, DUNE didn't take me where I wanted to go. My @THR review from #Venezia78 :
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Count me among the camp thrilled by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner's reimagining of WEST SIDE STORY. It doesn't displace the evergreen 1961 version, but it brings a pulsing, youthful vitality that's simply exhilarating. MY @THR review
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
This is already an exceptional year for music docs with Edgar Wright's THE SPARKS BROTHERS and Questlove's SUMMER OF SOUL. Todd Haynes' trippy THE VELVET UNDERGROUND might turn out to be the best of them all. My @THR review of the #Cannes2021 premiere:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Penélope Cruz gives her best performance since VOLVER in Pedro Almodóvar’s emotionally charged melodrama of past and present, political and personal, PARALLEL MOTHERS. My @THR review of one of the year's standouts, opening Friday
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Wes Anderson is in peak Wes Anderson mode in THE FRENCH DISPATCH, his love letter to magazine editors and the foreign correspondents they nurture, featuring a head-spinning ensemble of top talent. My @THR review of the #Cannes2021 premiere:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
RIP James Caan. So memorable as antsy Sonny Corleone in THE GODFATHER, a magnetic bruiser in ROLLERBALL, a fine foil for unhinged Kathy Bates in MISERY and electrifying in one of Michael Mann’s best, THIEF (aka VIOLENT STREETS) Read @THR ’s obit
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 months
After 2 years & countless recommendations I finally got around to SLOW HORSES & devoured all 3 seasons. A gripping spy thriller with sharply drawn characters & a heap of dry humor. Gary Oldman priceless. Great work also from Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas & Sophie Okonedo
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
2 years
Why aren't more people talking about the sublime Bridget Everett in SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE? Not to mention Jeff Hiller and Mary Catherine Garrison. Such a beautifully observed contemplation of the complicated mess of home and family. Not an ounce of saccharine. Just lovely
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
3 years
Blood will have blood. @TheNYFF gets off to a thrilling start with Joel Coen's visually and psychologically intoxicating take on Shakespeare's Scottish play, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, led by Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand in top form. My @THR review:
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
4 years
@JoyAnnReid The Trump base is consistently a great advertisement for healthy mind and body. This guy should be in the dictionary as the textbook Ugly American
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@DavidCRooney1
David Rooney
8 months
Andrew Haigh’s exquisite ALL OF US STRANGERS is emotionally shattering but also strangely cathartic, led by a transfixing performance from Andrew Scott. My @THR review of one of the year’s best, in theaters today
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