AltWeeklies Wire
Bugged: William Friedkin Follows the Trajectory of American Fear
William Friedkin ratchets up suspense and terror to an almost unbearable level with his adaptation of Tracy Letts' award-winning 2004 Off-Broadway play Bug.
Tags: Bug, William Friedkin
William Friedkin Talks About 'Bug'
I spoke with "Billy" Friedkin in the library dining room of a sleek purple and blue yacht floating beside a pier at last year's Cannes film festival where Bug won the International Critic's Prize.
Maui Time |
Cole Smithey |
05-14-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Bug, William Friedkin
A Very Long Engagement: The Cannes Film Festival Turns 60
Round-the-clock screenings, celebrity interviews, crowded press conferences, elite parties, luxurious lunches, word-of-mouth buzz and chance encounters with icons of cinema fly by in a dizzying blur.
Generational Bubble: Searching for an Anti-hero in a 70s Mold
Luke Wilsons written, acted and debut-co-directed homage to offbeat 70s era satires, ala Rancho Deluxe, is a study in movie-by-committee entropy.
Sequel Dud: The Plague is the Movie Itself
It's a cut-and-paste example of how movie sequels are predictably inferior to their ancestors.
Spider-Man Franchise Loses Steam
After bucking the pitfalls of creating a sassy big screen superhero based on a popular comic book, and following it up with an even better sequel, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series has fizzled into a flagging mix of confused passion and diluted villainy.
Tags: Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 3
Exploitation Bologna: Steve Austin Goes Rambo -- Snuff Style
The Condemned might just be the first in a new line of exploitation movies to revive the genre.
Tags: Scott Wiper, The Condemned
Motel Matches: Faulty Horror Burns Out
Even for a trashy little hide-and-seek movie, Vacancy is a disappointing excursion.
Tags: Nimród Antal, Vacancy
Probing Both Sides of the Dutch WWII Resistance
Black Book is Paul Verhoeven's first film made in his native Netherlands since 1985, and he brings to it valuable lessons learned from working for 20 years in Hollywood to forge an unprecedented World War II-era masterpiece.
Tags: Black Book, Paul Verhoeven
Tarantino & Rodriguez Wang It Up Old-School
In their overzealous double bill homage to the cheap grungy urban cinemas of yore, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have created an unparalleled irreverent concoction of dueling films.
Pass Over -- Lightweight Horror Plagues All Concerned
The Reaping is a would-be horror movie that defies its own anemic logic.
Tags: Stephen Hopkins, The Reaping
Ghetto Theme Park: Terrence Howard Goes Off Track
Based on the true story of inspirational swim coach Jim Ellis, a black beacon of community renewal in 70s Philadelphia, Pride blends that era's racial and economic realities into a Hollywood smoothie of formulaic pablum.
Tags: Pride, Sunu Gonera
Bullock Jumble - Domestic Troubles Arrive In a Puzzle of Fate
Ageless beauty Sandra Bullock gives her typical automated performance in a superficial cross between the recent Deja Vu and Bullock's own excruciating movie The Lake House.
Tags: Mennan Yapo, Premonition
David Fincher Triumphs With Unsolved Murder Mystery
David Fincher has said that with Zodiac he wanted "to make the last serial killer movie."
Tags: David Fincher, Zodiac
Blues Roots Take Hold In Craig Brewer's Gothic Tale of Redemption
The title Black Snake Moan comes from Texas bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson's song about going blind, and the swampy imagery serves as a beacon of primal anguish for writer/director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow).
Tags: Black Snake Moan, Craig Brewer
