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 (1969)
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Visual Filmmaking in Russell Crowe's 'Unhinged'
A man sits sweating in his pickup truck in a suburban neighborhood. Distress is written across his face and a jumpy camera helps communicate his jumbled mental state. The man pops some unnamed pills from prescription bottles and begins to settle down. The man pulls out a match and lights it with his thumb. We get a shot of a suburban home with a for sale sign in the yard. Just from the visual cues alone you know where we are and what is about to happen.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'The Twentieth Century'
The Twentieth Century is a truly bizarre movie. Set in Canada at the turn of the century that gives the movie its name, The Twentieth Century follows protagonist William Lyon Mackenzie King (Dan Beirne) on his roundabout journey to become Canadian Prime Minister. That’s an accurate thumbnail sketch of the plot of The Twentieth Century but it most certainly does not prepare you for the crazy you will encounter in this brilliantly bizarre movie.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Vanguard' Shows Jackie Chan's Still Got Some Action Star Left
Vanguard is Jackie Chan’s long awaited reunion with his Rumble in the Bronx and Super-Cop director Stanley Tong. The two made monster hits back in the nineties before Jackie found success in the United States with the Rush Hour movies. Jackie has since seen his American fortunes dwindle as he has advanced in age. A return to Tong and a well funded Chinese production is quite a smart and, it turns out, successful move.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Run' Finally Debuts on Hulu
Run is one of many 2020 movie releases that was hit hard by COVID-19 schedule shuffling. I first wrote about Run back in March when the film was set to be released in theaters over the Mother’s Day weekend in May. Then the theaters shutdown due to COVID-19 and the movie release schedule became a game of whack-o-mole with movies bouncing from one weekend to the next in search of time when audiences would be willing to leave the house again and brave the movie theater.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Ammonite'
Comedian Eddie Izzard has a brilliant bit in one of his many stand up specials about British movies. In the bit Izzard describes the charged drama but also the stiff upper lip, deeply coded and guarded approach to presenting that drama. It boils down to one person in a room and another entering the room and a series of awkward silences ensues while one character sorts matches. Switch matches for scraping mud off of rocks and you have a good description of the new drama Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saorise Ronan.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Point and Purpose: 'Dirty Harry' Gets Lucky
This week's classic on the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast is Clint Eastwood's 1971 cop movie, Dirty Harry. The film launched Eastwood as a bankable movie star and franchise head before such a thing even existed. And yet, the reason Eastwood became an icon, one line of dialogue that turned an otherwise unremarkable action movie into a beloved genre 'classic' is a scene that really doesn't belong in the movie.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Last Three Days' is a Shabby Little Time Travel Thriller
Last Three Days is a low rent bit of action-fantasy nonsense. This time travel cop fantasy toys with time so much that it becomes impossible to follow if you aren’t paying careful attention to it. And, because none of the performances are particularly compelling, attention is not something this movie will be paid. Because this is an obnoxiously amateur in production, Last Three Days is a blur of boring dialogue and dull characters amid a misguided and confounding plot.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Bullets of Justice' is an Exhausting, Gross, Pornographic Waste of Time
I feel like I have to share my Grindhouse bona fides in order to demonstrate that I am no stick in the mud critic, incapable of enjoying extreme cinema. Thus I can say that one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years is the Spanish horror movie Night of the Virgin, an extremely grotesque bit of stomach churning gore, deeply dark humor, and spectacular viscera. I was also a huge fan of the Asian horror classic, Martyrs, another proprietor of the extreme in terms of violence and gore.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'The Giant' is a Confounding Murder Mystery
The Giant is a baffling mess of arty pretension, horror imagery, and strong intentions ultimately amounting to nothing. This divisive teen horror movie has strong elements including a compelling visual style and a crime story at the heart that should help give shape to the flights of artistic fancy. Unfortunately, The Giant is so muddy, laconic and confounding that it’s difficult to surmise what the actual story of the movie is.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Horror
Movie Review: 'Fatman' is Unfunny Dark Christmas Comedy
Whoever thought it was a good idea to have Mel Gibson play a gritty and violent version of Santa Claus probably needs their head examined. It’s bad enough that Gibson has cultivated a reputation as an abuser and generally vile human being, casting him as a dyspeptic version of Kris Kringle is more than merely misguided. Add to that Gibson’s declining charisma and general air of disinterest and you have Fatman, an ugly, unfunny bit of nasty holiday business.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
Symbolism in Hitchcocks' 'Marnie' 1964
One thing you must get used to when writing about what you think something in a movie means is disagreement and derision. One must accept that there are those who will mock what you think is a fair rationalization of a piece of symbolism in a movie. Creators as well may mock your notion of what you think they meant when they created a piece of work. Bottom line, it takes confidence and a thick skin to read into a movie for a meaning that may or may not be there for others.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Criminal
Movie Review: Survival Skills is a Trenchant Parody of Police Training
Director Quinn Armstrong’s new movie Survival Skills takes the perspective of a 1980’s police training video, complete with a VHS sheen and tracking issues, to create a parody of the seeming futility in the lives of Police Officers. The intent is both a dark humor and a plumbing of the depths of how poorly we have equipped ourselves for those who commit acts of terror against the people closest to them. Survival Skills is a little disjointed and not particularly funny for a parody but the impact is still felt.
By Sean Patrick5 years ago in Geeks
