Josh Bell
Contributing Editor
Contributing editor Josh Bell he has been a Las Vegas Weekly staffer since 2002, writing film and TV reviews and covering local entertainment. He is a member of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, and his movie reviews appear on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
A Las Vegas resident since 1995, Bell took a brief detour to Massachusetts, where he graduated from Amherst College in 2002 with a degree in English. He has contributed to publications including Las Vegas Life, Casino Player, Kirkus Reviews and Media Life. Like everyone, he has a blog (signalbleed.blogspot.com).
When not at a screening or in front of the TV, Bell enjoys reading novels and comic books, and taking naps.
Josh's favorite movie is Heathers.
Call Josh at 702-990-2411.
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Story Archive
- Three days, 100 titles at the Dam Short Film Festival
- Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012
- Championing an underrated art form in an underrated city.
- CD: Van Halen's 'A Different Kind of Truth' is surprisingly decent
- Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012
- David Lee Roth's first album with the band in 28 years is much better than its first track would indicate.
- Film: Denzel can't save 'Safe House' from action-thriller mediocrity
- Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012
- Even Washington’s mischievous smile can’t elevate it.
- TV: Broadway drama 'Smash' is tuneful and smart
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- Please, don't call it a Glee rip-off!
- TV: 'The River' navigates choppy waters
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- The found-footage trend hits the small screen, with solid enough results.
- Film review: 'The Woman in Black'
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- Daniel Radcliffe ditches the Harry Potter robe and heads to Creepyville.
- Jewish Film Festival scales back on the scope, but not on the quality
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- This year's Jewish Film Festival offered fewer films, but still had plenty of quality
- CD review: Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic'
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic' feels nothing but anticlimactic
- Film review: 'Chronicle'
- Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
- Found footage + superhero origin story = meh.
- Few thrills in the gimmicky ‘Man on a Ledge’
- Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
- The movie sure delivered on its title, but did it deliver much else?
- HBO horse-racing drama 'Luck' gets stuck in the mud
- Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012
- The new series has big names attached. So why is it so lifeless?
- Film review: 'Albert Nobbs'
- Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012
- Glenn Close is unconvincing as a woman posing as a man.
- Hits and misses from today's Oscar nominations
- Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012
- Josh Bell likes the "Man or Muppet" nod but wonders why Albert Brooks didn't make the cut.
- Film review: 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'
- Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
- Josh Bell says Stephen Daldry’s adaptation feels empty and reductive.
- Film review: 'Red Tails'
- Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
- George Lucas' turn as uncredited director results in—guess what?—wooden dialogue.
- An hour spent in hell -- er, watching 'Bad Girls Club: Las Vegas'
- Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
- Josh Bell watches 'Bad Girls Club: Las Vegas' and lives to tell about it
- Tool: concert review + setlist
- Monday, Jan. 16, 2012
- Guess who showed up to jam with the band ...
- Is 'Alcatraz' just another show trying to be the next 'Lost'?
- Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
- Just piling on the mysteriousness isn't enough.
- Even Meryl's great acting chops can't save 'The Iron Lady'
- Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
- Hungering for a movie about Margaret Thatcher? You still probably won't find much to like in 'The Iron Lady'
- The Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival screens the Sherman Brothers, Gustav Mahler and the history of Nevada's Jewish communities
- Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
- The longest-running film festival returns for its 11th year
- Film review: 'Contraband'
- Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
- Mark Wahlberg stars in yet another heist movie
- Concert review: Guns N' Roses
- Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012
- Guns N' Roses returned to Vegas for New Year's Eve, and it was something to celebrate
- Film review: 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'
- Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012
- A spy thriller without explosions or car chases? Josh Bell is so there
- TV review: 'House of Lies'
- Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012
- Showtime's newest show, 'House of Lies', is a mixed bag
- TV review: 'The Firm'
- Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012
- Is 'The Firm' still fresh 19 years later? Josh Bell has the answer
- Guns N' Roses puts on a surprisingly strong NYE show
- Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012
- Axl Rose's 'new' crew ushers in 2012 in entertaining fashion.
- The Year in Review: Film and TV
- Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011
- Our critics pick their favorite films and shows from 2011.
- Film review: '8 Murders a Day'
- Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011
- Great title, but that's about it for '8 Murders a Day'
- Steven Spielberg is back with two new films. Should we be excited?
- Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011
- 'The Adventures of Tintin' and 'War Horse' are both family-friendly ... and fairly skippable.
- Film review: 'We Bought a Zoo'
- Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011
- It's corny, sure, but not in a bad way.
- Film review: 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'
- Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
- Sherlock Holmes is known as a guy who solves mysteries. But he does more booty-kicking in Guy Ritchie's interpretation.
- Charlize Theron is stunningly awful in the great 'Young Adult'
- Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
- Can you go back home? Charlize Theron finds out the hard way in 'Young Adult'
- Josh Bell's week of entertainment at this year's NFR
- Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
- Weekly critic Josh Bell takes in the entertainment during this year's NFR
- Film 'New Year's Eve' is a perfect storm of bland superficiality
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
- No joke, the team behind 'Valentine's Day' is taking another holiday.
- TV review: 'Bag of Bones'
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
- The latest Stephen King adaptation fails to capture its source material.
- Pet Project
- The Thompson prepare their next movie
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
- Local filmmakers Jerry and Mike Thompson follow Thor at the Bus Stop with another project.
- Film review: 'The Sitter'
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
- Josh Bell recommends you don't spend time with 'The Sitter'
- Peter Pan's world gets gritty in 'Neverland,' and not in a good way
- Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011
- Sci-fi dreck just a step or two above Sharktopus.
- CD review: Michael Jackson
- Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011
- Immortal doesn’t function well as a hits package, but it works for Cirque.
- Whose CD sucks more? Nickelback's or Daughtry's?
- Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011
- Both CDs are pretty lame, but which one is lamer -- Nickelback's or Daughtry's? Josh Bell investigates
- Film review: Grief feels overly pleasant in 'The Descendants'
- The Descendants
- Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011
- Latest from 'Sideways' director doesn't sting the way it should.
- Muppets 2.0: Kermit & Co. enter a new era
- Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011
- A solid big-screen return from the beloved puppet creations.
- Film review: 'My Week With Marilyn'
- Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011
- A brief slice of its subject's life, presented without much passion.
- Showing die-hard admiration for a 'Die Hard' villain
- Friday, Nov. 18, 2011
- UNLV prof Clarence Gilyard - aka Theo - sits in the crowd for Rave's reshowing.
- 'Breaking Dawn, Part 1' is a dull two-hour 'Twilight' interlude
- Werewolves, vampires and a wedding, with some anti-abortion drama on the side
- Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011
- Werewolves, vampires and a wedding, with some anti-abortion drama on the side.
- CD review: Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk'
- Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
- Rihanna puts out a lot of music, but that doesn't mean it's all good
- Josh Bell looks at the highs and lows of the 'Twilight' series
- Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
- The good, the bad and the Twilight: A Josh Bell list
- Indie-film discoveries and a bit of Vegas at LA’s AFI Fest
- Josh Bell travels to California to fill the CineVegas void
- Friday, Nov. 11, 2011
- It’s been two years since CineVegas announced its demise, and I’m still missing the presence of a large-scale, general-interest film festival in town.
- The biggest problem with 'J. Edgar' is its subject matter
- Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011
- J. Edgar Hoover wasn't a pleasant man -- and neither is Clint Eastwood's biopic about him
- Michael Shannon brings uncomfortable intensity to 'Take Shelter'
- Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011
- The Boardwalk Empire actor remains creepy as ever in this unsettling drama.