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Mike McGranaghan

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

I started doing movie reviews in 1986, when I joined the staff of my high school newspaper and won several Keystone awards (the Keystone award is the highest honor given to high school journalists in Pennsylvania). That was all the encouragement I needed to continue. While still in college, I became the film critic for two central Pennsylvania newspapers: The Selinsgrove Times-Tribune and The Middleburg Post. I stayed with those papers for five years. In 1995, I became film critic of Gamut! - an online magazine devoted to entertainment. My website (www.aisleseat.com) is an off-shoot of that magazine. Additionally, I am the on-air film critic for Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation, which operates three central PA radio stations. My reviews run weekly.

Publications:
Favorites:

Favorite Films - The Brothers McMullen, JFK, Fletch, Do the Right Thing, Chasing Amy, Fargo, The Blair Witch Project
Favorite Directors - Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Edward Burns, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, the Farrelly Brothers, the Coen Brothers, John Waters, Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Best of All Time: Schindler's List
Worst of All Time: Caligula

Critics' Group:
Location:

Central Pennsylvania

Official Website:

http://www.aisleseat.com/

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
You, Me & Tuscany (2026) 68% 2.5/4 EDIT “Pleasant but shallow.” – Aisle Seat Apr 10, 2026 Full Review Hunting Matthew Nichols (2024) 91% 3/4 EDIT “Basically follows the template of The Blair Witch Project, but director Markian Tarasiuk has a few tricks up his sleeve to make it effective.” – Aisle Seat Apr 10, 2026 Full Review Exit 8 (2025) 95% 3/4 EDIT “If you don’t already think being unable to find your way out of a building is scary, you will by the time the end credits start to roll.” – Aisle Seat Apr 9, 2026 Full Review Dreams (2025) 52% 2/4 EDIT “Director Michel Franco has something to say; unfortunately, he waits too long to say it.” – Aisle Seat Apr 8, 2026 Full Review Faces of Death (2026) 69% 3/4 EDIT “The film has an unsparing quality that’s perfectly in line with its inspiration.” – Aisle Seat Apr 7, 2026 Full Review Fantasy Life (2025) 81% 3/4 EDIT “Amanda Peet has been doing fine work in film and television for decades, but her performance in Fantasy Life is a particular highlight.” – Aisle Seat Apr 5, 2026 Full Review The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) 43% 2/4 EDIT “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie tries to go bigger than its predecessor yet ends up seeming smaller.” – Aisle Seat Apr 3, 2026 Full Review The Drama (2026) 77% 3/4 EDIT “The Drama, despite the misleading marketing, is an audacious work, not always entirely on point but perpetually challenging.” – Aisle Seat Apr 3, 2026 Full Review A Great Awakening (2026) 67% 3/4 EDIT “A lively historical drama with a potent faith message.” – Aisle Seat Mar 31, 2026 Full Review They Will Kill You (2026) 63% 2.5/4 EDIT “They Will Kill You is bloody insanity for its own sake. That becomes repetitive after a while.” – Aisle Seat Mar 28, 2026 Full Review Our Hero, Balthazar (2025) 92% 4/4 EDIT “Top-tier social commentary, using hints of dark comedy to make smart observations about gun violence in America.” – Aisle Seat Mar 26, 2026 Full Review A Magnificent Life (2025) 63% 2/4 EDIT “The movie delights the eye, but that’s about it.” – Aisle Seat Mar 25, 2026 Full Review Forbidden Fruits (2026) 72% 3/4 EDIT “Quite likely to become an ensuring cult favorite, just like The Craft.” – Aisle Seat Mar 25, 2026 Full Review Alpha (2025) 57% 2/4 EDIT “A muddled story that’s weirdly free of shocks.” – Aisle Seat Mar 24, 2026 Full Review Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) 73% 3/4 EDIT “Offers up plenty of sick, twisted fun.” – Aisle Seat Mar 21, 2026 Full Review Project Hail Mary (2026) 94% 4/4 EDIT “This is the sort of grand, impassioned, magical cinematic adventure that only comes along once in a blue moon.” – Aisle Seat Mar 20, 2026 Full Review The Pout-Pout Fish (2026) 63% 3/4 EDIT “A bright, big-hearted, and funny adventure.” – Aisle Seat Mar 17, 2026 Full Review undertone (2025) 73% 2.5/4 EDIT “As technically impressive as the finale is, it’s also anticlimactic from a story standpoint.” – Aisle Seat Mar 15, 2026 Full Review Reminders of Him (2026) 57% 3/4 EDIT “The film hits you right in the feels - each and every one of them.” – Aisle Seat Mar 14, 2026 Full Review Bodycam (2025) 88% 3/4 EDIT “Not for the timid.” – Aisle Seat Mar 11, 2026 Full Review Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead (2026) 42% 1/4 EDIT “It plays like Waterworld fan fiction written by a 12-year-old.” – Aisle Seat Mar 10, 2026 Full Review THE BRIDE! (2026) 57% 3/4 EDIT “Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein mixes a historical time period with a modern sensibility, leading to a horror-romance that’s unlike anything else we’ve ever seen.” – Aisle Seat Mar 7, 2026 Full Review Heel (The Good Boy) (2025) 87% 3/4 EDIT “An intense story that hits the ground running and never stops.” – Aisle Seat Mar 6, 2026 Full Review Protector (2025) 21% 1/4 EDIT “Makes you want to unbolt the seats from the theater floor and throw them through the screen.” – Aisle Seat Mar 5, 2026 Full Review Youngblood (2025) 65% 2.5/4 EDIT “It goes down easily enough without ever making a true impression.” – Aisle Seat Mar 4, 2026 Full Review
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