AltWeeklies Wire
Maybe Some Regrets ...new
The problem with La Vie en Rose isn't that it takes liberties with the facts of Edith Piaf's life. So did she. But the reverence for allegory leads to a film that feels as long as Piaf's life.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
06-29-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: La Vie en Rose, Olivier Dahan
Maybe Some Regrets ...new
Edith Piaf: a biopic protagonist for the ages, or at least for the awards season.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
06-28-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: La Vie en Rose, Olivier Dahan
The Sinking Feelingnew
So, you've got source material from Raymond Carver ... you've got Laura Linney ... you've got Gabriel Byrne. What you haven't got is a comedy.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
06-14-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Jindabyne, Ray Lawrence
'Once': Ballad Of a Relationshipnew
Hey, movie musicals needn't blow ... who knew?
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
06-01-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: John Carney, Once
When We Were Strangersnew
Some young filmmakers flaunt ambiguity as insurance against their own sloppy intentions -- Sarah Polley puts it to use with wrenching precision.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
05-19-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Away from Her, Sarah Polley
Flick Off!new
Twenty summer movies, ruthlessly assessed before we've even seen them.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer and Matt Coker |
05-09-2007 |
Movies
Puppy Lovenew
It's not a banal tale about a boy and his dog, but a fresh one about an older woman and hers. Who knew Molly Shannon playing a petulant nutjob could be so moving?
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
04-26-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike White, Year of the Dog
Cheese It, the Cops!new
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?" Well, it's a darn fine way to pay homage -- and have a few laughs -- at the typical action-fest cop film.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
04-23-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz
Cheese It, the Cops!new
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
04-19-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz
Schlock and Awenew
Tarantino sets movies back 30 years -- too bad for Rodriguez.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
04-12-2007 |
Reviews
Watch and Waitnew
In the latest this-kid-is-good movie, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt reminds us that he's the actor you'd get if you could scour all the vanity from Robert Downey Jr., or reverse Keanu Reeves' lobotomy.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
04-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Scott Frank, The Lookout
All the Things That Make Us Laugh and Crynew
Seth McFarlane's success with Family Guy and American Dad might make him a contender to succeed Kurt Vonnegut as America's resident ironic wit -- if it weren't for The Winner.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
03-22-2007 |
TV
Tags: TV
Markymanshipnew
Shooter is plainly concerned with some of those base human appetites to which the cinema has proven so conducive over the ages -- namely voyeurism and murderous violence -- but mysteriously unconcerned with squandering them.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
03-22-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Shooter
A Strange Kind of Lovenew
Peter O'Toole's still got it -- his performance as a "dirty old man" in Venus is a sly reminder of the obvious yet overlooked point that many a distaste may be defeated with a helping of the highly tasteful.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
02-15-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Roger Michell, venus
Throw it Backnew
Could a truly feminist, non-patronizing romantic dramedy even exist today, or ever?
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-26-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Catch and Release, Susannah Grant
