AltWeeklies Wire
Les Misérables reaches the screen in an extravagant visualizationnew
If you are one of the many fans of the popular Les Miz, you will find the cinematic version exciting and rewarding. Not a fan? You may remain unconvinced.
The Artist is deserving of the feverish praise it has inspirednew
A French silent film as Oscar's Best Picture of 2011? I'm voting oui.
From the streets of Baltimore to Sesame Street, Kevin Clash has spent a lifetime Being Elmonew
Elmo is warm, curious and affectionate, seemingly a reflection of the talented artist who supplies his voice.
The Best (So-So) Movies of 2011new
Five lists from five film critics, and a few quibbles ...
INDY Week |
Craig D. Lindsey, David Fellerath, Neil Morris, Nathan Gelgud and Laura Boyes |
12-21-2011 |
Movies
Tags: Best Movies of 2011
Conspiracy Theater in Anonymousnew
Anonymous is a hoot for literate moviegoers, a treat for theater geeks, a rag on backstage egotists, and an alternate version of the Elizabethan Age. But I seriously doubt that it is history.
Mao's Last Dancer Blooms in Americanew
It may be hopelessly retro to say it, but this is the kind of film Hollywood used to make regularly: not focus-grouped to a niche market; dealing with the joys and sorrows of life and art.
Tags: Mao's Last Dancer, Bruce Beresford
'Coco Before Chanel' Needs a Stylistnew
If only Audrey Tatou could have summoned a little more fire to melt the glacial pace of this ambitious biopic.
Ellen Page Whips it Good in Her Best Post-'Juno' Rolenew
After seeing Juno, my outraged teen daughter rightly asked, "Where is the girl's version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off?" Whip It steps into that void.
Ang Lee's 'Taking Woodstock' is a Marvelous, Unabashedly Nostalgic Trip Backnew
Lee (born in 1954) is just barely old enough to claim membership in the Woodstock generation, even if he was living in his native Taiwan at the time. Still, the Oscar-winning director nails the groovy vibe as effortlessly as he conjured up 1970s suburbia in The Ice Storm.
Tags: Taking Woodstock, Ang Lee
'The Proposal' Manages to be Both Predictable & Unbelievable At the Same Timenew
This film, mechanically directed by Anne Fletcher (responsible for last year's worst movie, 27 Dresses), is the second Taming of the Shrew retread appearing this month, after My Life in Ruins, which, in comparison now looks tolerable.
'Burn After Reading': A Country for Ridiculous Mennew
Burn After Reading hearkens back to Coen classics Oh Brother Where Art Thou and The Big Lebowski, films propelled inexorably forward by bizarre characters and slashing humor.
'Across the Universe' isn't Audacious Enoughnew
Director Julie Taymor attempts to take the entire decade of the 1960s, fold it flat and slide it into the record sleeve of a Beatles LP.
Tags: Across the Universe, Julie Taymor
The Extravagantly Staged 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'new
So far, it's the best of 2007's mainstream Hindi films.
Tags: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Shaad Ali
Car Racing: An Unusual Subject for Bollywoodnew
NASCAR's bid for global product placement is puzzling here, as racing is not a popular sport in India -- and the American love of a cool car, incomprehensible.
Tags: Siddarth Anand, Ta Ra Rum Pum
Female Troublenew
Penelope Cruz's magnificent, Oscar-nominated performance also marks a welcome return to Spain from the wife-and-girlfriend ghetto of her disappointing Hollywood sojourn.
