ROTTEN TOMATOES: Erik Childress

Official Websites:
eFilmCritic
Nick Digilio (WGN Radio)

ERIK CHILDRESS

"One of these days I’ll be making films of my own, as I have several screenplays completed and many more in the works. And when that day comes I hope everyone will remember me here and praise my films to the largest audience possible. Until then, I will continue to envy the great films and skewer the bad ones.

(For all the people who always wanted me to mention them on the air or to people I just wanna thank for everything up to now – Jonathon Brandmeier, Buzz Kilman, Nick DiGilio, Dann Gire, Gary & Michelle Mitchell, Erik Laws, Gino & Chris Falcone, Gwen Mayers, Joanna Juneau, Dan & Nicki Styka, Jerry Rushing, Nora Lenihan, Kevin Flozak, Ken Carollo, Tom Badon, Matt Crisci, Jeff Kahn – and the Family, Jack and Pat Childress, Jennifer and Kim Childress (Sisters), Genevieve and Ed Tomashewski.)"

Agrees with the Tomatometer 71% of the time.

Biography: Erik started reviewing films as a frequent guest on the Jonathon Brandmeier Radio Showgram (105.9 FM in Chicago / 97.1 FM in LA) back in 1998 through 2001, which led to a mailing list over the Internet of his reviews to listeners of the radio show. Known as "Erik the Movieman", these appearances also attracted the attention of another Chicago radio show host, Nick Digilio (WGN 720 AM in Chicago, 11-3 AM Fri, 1-4 AM Sat, 12-2 AM Sun) where he's now become a regular guest on his Sunday night show to finish up the movie discussion. He is also on to discuss impending awards, top ten lists, new articles, etc...) Erik was also heard on Buzz Kilman & Wendy Snyder's midday show in Chicago (105.9 FM WCKG, 11-2 PM Mon-Fri) from Jan 2001-Mar 2002. Erik writes for eFilmCritic.com and has been a member of the Online Film Critics Society since February 2000 and also became the first online writer inducted into the Chicago Film Critics Association alongside such names as Roger Ebert, Michael Wilmington and Dann Gire.

Favorites: Back to the Future, JFK, the Star Wars films, the Indiana Jones films, E.T., pretty much anything directed by Steven Spielberg, Aliens, Broadcast News, Die Hard, Flash Gordon (1980) (Hey - I was a kid!)

Publications: Apollo Guide, eFilmCritic.com, Hollywood Bitchslap

Critics' Group: Online Film Critics Society, Chicago Film Critics Association

Total Reviews: 995
Total QuickRatings: 22

Location: Elk Grove Village, IL (Chicago)

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Fresh 3/4	Fresh 77%	Invictus (2009)	" What we get is a larger metaphor about change that is as adaptable now to our current Commander-In-Chief as it is to many difficult transitions throughout history." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Dec 11, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 31%	Ninja Assassin (2009)	" If I want to spend 90 minutes with better lighting on the ninja's body than the fighting, give me Lucinda Dickey in Ninja III: The Domination any day of the week." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Nov 25, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 92%	Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)	" Wishing it was Chicken Run and never achieving the depth of Where The Wild Things Are, Anderson and Baumbach create a half-fun, half-humdrum affair that I'm sure they will enjoy watching over and over." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Nov 25, 2009
Fresh 3/4	N/A	Taking Chances (2009)	" Hopefully someday we'll look at Taking Chances as just a flash of a very specific time in our nation's history and we'll be able to laugh at more than just the elements that make it a really solid comedy." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Nov 20, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 24%	Law Abiding Citizen (2009)	" Anyone who enjoys this film and feels that the 'point' had been made must sit in their own padded cell with nothing but a copy of the documentary Dear Zachary to see what a true miscarriage of justice looks like." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 15, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 73%	Where the Wild Things Are (2009)	" The sort of innovative storytelling that will see Where the Wild Things Are mentioned in the same breath as some of the best family films ever made." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 15, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 12%	Couples Retreat (2009)	" A giant black hole in the center of the comedy universe sucking in the best ideas and situations from other entities into an inescapable ride to nothingness." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 9, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Rotten 29%	Women in Trouble (2009)	" Guys may remember this film as the finest collection of ladies who almost take it all off ever assembled. But in-between all the underwear and fetish outfits is a rather amusing collection of stories described by its very title." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 92%	Mary and Max (2009)	" Mary and Max has the look of a kids picture but is another chapter in the growing evolution of animation for grown-ups." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	N/A	Lovely, Still (2009)	" The chemistry between the two of them is so beautiful and the astonishing poignancy of the final scene, done with all of just one line of dialogue is applause-worthy in and of itself." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 94%	An Education (2009)	" The first two acts are the best with the radiance of Mulligan's performance putting all eyes on her and subsequently seducing us into her discoveries." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 8, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 89%	Zombieland (2009)	" Despite films like Transformers and G.I. Joe cleaning up at the box office, Zombieland, even with its earned R-rating, is the one true film this year that reminds us of what its like to be a kid at the movies." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 1, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 82%	Whip It (2009)	" Whip It is the kind of film that you can't quite recommend but certainly wouldn't begrudge other people for liking either." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Oct 1, 2009
Rotten 0/4	Rotten 22%	I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009)	" May be the first film from the perspective of a Van Wilder villain and by the time this vile, amateurish and supposed true story is over, you may feel as if you've just spent 100 minutes looking through Michael Myers' first mask." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Sep 24, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 44%	Jennifer's Body (2009)	" A pathetically worthless horror piece from nearly top to bottom that fails in virtually every genre and subgenre it wanders into." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Sep 24, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Rotten 57%	The Invention of Lying (2009)	" The Invention of Lying deserves to take its place as a modern American comedy classic right alongside such worthy counterparts as Groundhog Day and Idiocracy." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Sep 22, 2009
Rotten 0/4	Rotten 6%	All About Steve (2009)	" I suspect that this is a film that speaks to those who believe Every Breath You Take is a love song." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Sep 4, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 63%	Extract (2009)	" The film's performances and a selection of perfectly timed comic conversations are individually better than anything seen in this year's big comedy hits, The Hangover or Paul Blart: Mall Cop." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Sep 3, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 88%	Inglourious Basterds (2009)	" After two and a half hours, it's impossible to question the greatness within but hard to ignore what also makes it his most laboring and flawed feature to date." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Aug 20, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 85%	World's Greatest Dad (2009)	" Robin Williams' best work since his psycho double-dip in 2002 with Insomnia and One Hour Photo and that's paired with Goldthwait's finest outing as both a writer and director." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Aug 18, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 26%	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)	" Struggling to fill out its 80 minutes before the final codas, The Goods has the definitive feel of a film that has been chopped up and left for dead. Of course you have to wonder how bad the cut footage is if this is all we're seeing." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Aug 14, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 75%	Julie & Julia (2009)	" As a writer herself and a woman in an even more cutthroat business, you would think that Ephron might shed off her usual goody-goody fantasies and stick one to Powell. Heh, ridicule in a Nora Ephron film? Even Julia Child would raspberry that one." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Aug 14, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 82%	Thirst (2009)	" Park's welcome streak for dark comedy does overcome the monotony here and there, but when the sun finally comes up we're left with little but scattered particles of something that tried to do something good, but ultimately failed." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Aug 14, 2009
Fresh	N/A	Make-Out with Violence (2009)	" This is a far more complex and thoughtful examination of the transition to adulthood and how we deal with death rather than just another zombie flick." — Hollywood Bitchslap Posted Aug 12, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 68%	Funny People (2009)	" Sandler has turned in his best performance to date and Apatow has joined the ranks of other distinguished writer/directors like James L. Brooks and Cameron Crowe." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 31, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 92%	The Way We Get By (2009)	" These remarkable individuals contribute to a story that is not just indescribably moving but is a timeless metaphor for our country." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 27, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Rotten 55%	Orphan (2009)	" This is a poorly directed wannabe horror film that nevertheless contains more laughs than The Proposal, The Ugly Truth, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Land of the Lost combined. Is that a compliment? Kind of." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 24, 2009
Rotten 0.5/4	Rotten 14%	The Ugly Truth (2009)	" While it may have been directed by a man, albeit one with all the talent of a water bra, it's screenplay is credited to three women who have managed to make Defending the Caveman seem like the height of exposing our Martian tendencies." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 24, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 95%	In the Loop (2009)	" Can you remember the last time you saw a topical political satire with rapid-fire obscenity (morally and literally) and character exchanges that would rival the best of the screwball era?" — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 24, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 86%	500 Days of Summer (2009)	" Probably the closest this generation has come to having their own Annie Hall." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 15, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 83%	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)	" A film that stands on its own, The Half-Blood Prince is the purest example of virtuoso storytelling we have seen all summer and maybe all year joining a short list that includes Up, Away We Go and The Hurt Locker." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 13, 2009
Rotten 0/4	Rotten 15%	I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)	" A film so badly executed that you have to wonder if Larry Doyle (who serves as screenwriter) ever read his own book, let alone wrote it." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 9, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 67%	Bruno (2009)	" While there are some big laughs to be had, Bruno ultimately fails at its more grandiose intentions as a sharp satire about our obsessions with celebrity and tendencies towards homophobia." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 9, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 100%	The Square (2009)	" Those who seek it out, I suspect, will have no problem in another decade citing the names of the Coens, the Wachowskis and the Edgertons on their list of siblings who used noir to find the light towards a successful and acclaimed filmmaking resume." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 2, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 66%	Public Enemies (2009)	" We've been left with a film that can't settle on which history it wants to tell and ends up dispelling the myth that a new film by Michael Mann is a cause worth celebrating." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jul 1, 2009
Rotten 0/4	Rotten 20%	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)	" This is the single worst film to be released thus far in the summer of 2009 and that's a whole helluva pile of bad to overcome in achieving that title." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 24, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 43%	The Proposal (2009)	" Anne Fletcher has practically established herself as the anti-feminist, playing more to the hopeless ring chasers out there rather than those who might be insulted at the prospect of independent women needing a man in their lives to complete them." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 51%	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)	" Is this some statement on what happens to white collar criminals in prison? They come out and interject sodomy jokes when they're trying to be taken seriously? Is this how we should expect Gordon Gekko to be in the Wall Street sequel?" — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 12, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 66%	Away We Go (2009)	" The debut screenplay of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida have given Sam Mendes quite the gift in just one of the many pieces that make this one of the best films of 2009." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 12, 2009
Rotten 0.5/4	Fresh 78%	The Hangover (2009)	" With The Hangover Todd Phillips has officially become the Uwe Boll of comedy." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 5, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 25%	Land of the Lost (2009)	" Land of the Lost will have kids asking if they can just go see Up again. Hopefully mom and dad have a little money left after blowing it on this." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Jun 5, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 92%	Drag Me To Hell (2009)	" Raimi's fans will no doubt be pleased that he's whipping out the greatest hits. But just the same, it's the greatest hits package equivalent to Peter Gabriel's best-of album not including In Your Eyes." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 28, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 98%	Up (2009)	" Saying Up ranks somewhere right in the middle is like dissing the bottom half of the top 10 titles that any genre has to offer. And if that is where Up appears on the list of 2009's best films, then so be it." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 26, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 32%	Terminator Salvation (2009)	" By the time it looks like Richard Dawson's Running Man crew created another stunt body double to get audiences all riled up, all the nostaglia has been sucked out thanks to a script unworthy of a direct-to-video sequel." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 20, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 36%	Angels & Demons (2009)	" Angels & Demons only exemplifies the problems with both movies and, thanks in part to a headsmacker of a third act, winds up being worse than its predecessor." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 14, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 25%	Powder Blue (2009)	" Few will remember Powder Blue as a desperate copy job of Paul Thomas Anderson's brilliant Magnolia but rather as the film where Jessica Biel finally took it all off." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 7, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 40%	The Limits of Control (2009)	" At 15 minutes, it might be deemed an interesting experiment. At ONE-HUNDRED and 15 minutes you have a film that tests the limits of the audience's control to stay awake and in their seats." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 7, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Fresh 95%	Star Trek (2009)	" For nearly its first hour, I felt I was witnessing Abrams hitting every beat just right, only to see him and his writers spend the final hour getting just about everything wrong." — eFilmCritic.com Posted May 7, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 36%	X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)	" May not be the final drop in the X-Men cash bucket but its clear that whatever creative well fans wished upon for their beloved series has been officially dried up." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Apr 30, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Rotten 27%	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)	" You know you're watching a bare-bones, witless screenplay when the writers can't merge the Dickensian parable with the morals of modern-day casual sex by making a good old-fashioned Yet-To-Come joke about the final ghost." — eFilmCritic.com Posted Apr 30, 2009

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ERIK CHILDRESS

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