Sean Patrick
Bio
Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.
Stories (1986)
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Movie Review: 'National Champions' Lays Out the Case to Pay College Football Players. Top Story - December 2021.
National Champions aims to tell the story of how College Football exploits players. It’s a compelling bit of polemic on behalf of the players as the story gives strong voice to the complaints that many have had regarding the millions of dollars given to coaches and the billions of dollars raked in by universities and conferences that do little to benefit the young men laying their bodies on the line to actually earn that money.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Unbalanced
Movie Review: 'Don't Look Up' is a Savage Satire of Modern Politics and Media
Don’t Look Up is a savage satire that pulls few punches in calling out those who would deny either COVID-19 or climate change. Playing like a modern Doctor Strangelove, the famously anti-war war movie, Don’t Look Up uses clever caricatures of modern politics to criticize and humiliate those who appear prepared to watch the world burn just to protect some ego born version of their political team, one they believe can’t lose no matter what winning might look like, even if it looks like the death of humanity.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Being the Ricardos' Aaron Sorkin Makes Lucy Unfunny
The talent of writer-director Aaron Sorkin is undeniable. Sorkin is a man of words, of wit, and caustic observation. I have no intention of diminishing Mr Sorkin’s talent but I have to quarrel with his choice of subjects. While Sorkin’s rat-a-tat banter and scintillating discourse on important issues is usually very welcome when providing a voice to good hearted politicians on The West Wing or when creating a recognizable version of a social media titan like Mark Zuckerberg, under the strict direction of David Fincher, in The Social Network. However, having that same style saddled onto the legend of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez feels completely out of place.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Nightmare Alley' Another Masterpiece from Guillermo Del Toro
Nightmare Alley is a gorgeous cinematic achievement. Director Guillermo Del Toro crafts visuals like few modern directors. With Academy Award nominated cinematographer Dan Laustsen, Del Toro crafts cinematic visuals of remarkable clarity and detail. It’s truly a sight to behold and it shows Del Toro as a consummate filmmaker, a man who cares so much about his film presentation as to turn each frame into a work of art. If you’re waiting for me to offer a caveat, keep waiting. I have nothing bad to say about Nightmare Alley.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'The Death of a Telemarketer' and the Uncanny Valley of Mediocrity . Top Story - December 2021.
It’s not that there aren’t truly bad movies anymore but rather that our society has changed to such a degree that it has become harder for a movie to be truly incompetent or terrible. The incompetent and the terrible still exist but they are finding it harder to escape into the mainstream. In their place have arisen movies that are competent but tone deaf. These movies are well made enough to convince people that they deserve to exist but they aren’t objectively good movies. Mediocre is one way to describe these movies or perhaps merely dull.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'The Hand of God'
The Hand of God is a nickname given to soccer legend Diego Maradona in the wake of a miraculous goal he scored while leading his Napoli soccer team to victory over his home country team, Argentina. It was an immense point of pride to Napoli that, arguably, the greatest soccer player of his time was choosing to come and play for lowly Napoli. It became an even greater point of pride when Maradona’s goal was allowed to stand despite Maradona having punched the ball with his hand, something that is against the rules of soccer, for those who don’t know.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Encounter' is a Strong Showcase for Star Riz Ahmed
Encounter stars Riz Ahmed as Malik, a man who believes that bugs have been infected with an alien virus that the bugs are then transmitting to humans via bites. So convinced of this is Malik that, in the middle of the night, he storms into his ex-wife Piya’s (Janina Gavankar) home, assaults and restrains Piya and her new husband, Dylan (Misha Collins), and runs off with their kids, Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and Bobby (Aditya Geddada).
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Classic Movie Review: 'The Duellists' Ridley Scott's First Feature Film
Without knowing it, director Ridley Scott broke through in Hollywood in 1978 by exploring and critiquing what we would today call, Toxic Masculinity. Scott’s first feature, The Duellists was intended as an examination of obsession, honor and tradition. What it also ended up achieving was an examination of the nature of masculine ideals, the notion of how personal honor was a code for protecting an ego driven perception of self, especially when that perception is challenged by the 'honor' of another.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Titane' is Weird and Enthralling
Director Julia Ducournau is among the most challenging and unique filmmakers in the world. Her work on 2016’s Raw was deeply unsettling and yet entirely engrossing. The same could be said of the director’s new film, Titane, a film that matches Raw for every unsettling beat and perhaps out does Raw for outlandishness. Does that mean that Titane is entirely successful? Perhaps not, but it is undeniably memorable and teeming with ingenuity, dark wit, and bizarre insight into humanity and our desire to connect.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Documentary Review: 'Adrienne' is a Cathartic and Heartfelt tribute to Adrienne Shelly
One of the darkest days of my career happened on November 1st, 2006 and I didn’t even know it at the time. That was the day that actress turned director Adrienne Shelly was murdered in her office in New York City. I was aware of Adrienne Shelly but I had not yet seen her masterpiece, Waitress. Once I saw Shelly’s extraordinary film, and named it among my favorite movies of 2007, I was both deeply moved and desperately distraught over her loss and the loss of the incredible works of art she undoubtedly would have created in the future. The new documentary, Adrienne, was a cathartic experience for me as an admirer of Adrienne Shelly the artist and the human being.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'House of Gucci' True Crime Story or Parody of Excess? You Decide
House of Gucci is a true crime story about the death of Gucci scion, Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver. As a true crime story it’s not bad, as a serious drama about real people in a real life tragedy, House of Gucci is rather disastrous. Unable to distinguish whether he is making a real life crime drama or a campy satire of wealth and privilege, director Ridley Scott has made a strange and off-putting movie that is consistently at odds with itself, it’s intentions, and it’s actors who swing wildly from parody to serious intent.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Documentary Review: 'Punch 9 for Harold Washington'
Punch 9 for Harold Washington documents the rise to Chicago Mayor of former Congressman Harold Washington, a brilliant, charismatic, and dedicated reformer. After years of patronage determining the fate of Chicago under the Mayor Daley regime, Washington’s rise to the highest office in the third largest city in the country felt like a breath of fresh air. The optimism and heart of Washington’s leadership felt like a new dawn and made his far too early death all the more tragic, especially as Chicago sank back to the depths of Daley era duplicitousness.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in The Swamp
