AltWeeklies Wire
The Music Soars and the Story Bores in 'Cadillac Records'new
The story obeys the same music-biography conventions that we last saw being parodied in Walk Hard. This film is by Darnell Martin, the writer-director who has largely been confined to TV since his 1994 filmmaking debut I Like It Like That, a movie pitched at Latino audiences at a time when very few other movies were. He doesn't have the advantage here of working in a field where there's no competition, and his sense of drama is incurably hackneyed and unsubtle.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
12-04-2008 |
Reviews
Dallas Filmmaker Casey Gooden Pays for His Funny Short Films as He Goesnew
Last year's Lone Star International Film Festival saw the unusual sight of a program of short films playing to a packed house, and among the entries screening for an appreciative crowd was Casey Gooden's Intervention. Written and shot in less than a week during January 2007, the film is a comedy about two down-and-out criminals who try to rob a church that they think is empty.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
09-05-2008 |
Movies
'What Happens' Feels Longer Than a Quickie Marriage and is More Embarrassingnew
This is a mean-spirited piece of work, and you know what? It needed to be meaner. Maybe that wouldn't have made the movie any better, but at least it would have been consistent. Instead, we have an irredeemably phony twist halfway through, when the filmmakers suddenly seem to remember that these characters are supposed to be appealing.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
05-08-2008 |
Reviews
'Redbelt': You Can't Spell Mamet Without MMA!new
The famed playwright goes jiu-jitsu on us.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
05-08-2008 |
Reviews
"Africa Screams," "Diary of a Mad White Woman," "Chow Fun"new
AltWeeklies Award - Arts Criticism
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
The Seniors in 'Young@Heart' Are Never Too Old to Learn New Songsnew
If you saw the Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light and were impressed by the energy of those sexagenarian band members, you should check out another concert film that's about an even older -- and, in some ways, even cooler -- group of musicians.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
04-17-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Walker, Young@Heart
'Nim's Island': Survivor Girlnew
The secret of Nim is the location of a girl's island home in this overly silly family film.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
04-04-2008 |
Reviews
'Under the Same Moon' Feels Syntheticnew
The recent surge in Mexican-made films on both sides of the U.S. border has had mostly positive results, but I suppose we were due to see a downside at some point. This relentlessly goopy kid-in-jeopardy film is that downside, unless you were yearning for a Spanish-language version of last winter's August Rush.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
03-20-2008 |
Reviews
Recent Comedies Mostly All Wetnew
Some observers are calling this a golden age for comedy films, but even a golden age has its share of fool’s gold.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
02-07-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Andy Tennant, Fool's Gold
Guild Cultivates Local Talentnew
The buttoned-down tenor of the CD won't be to everyone's tastes, but fans of the guitar guild will surely want to hear founder Mitch Weverka play Mauro Giuliani's Le Rossiniane, a series of six pieces by an early 19th-century Italian virtuoso based on arias from Rossini's operas.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
01-31-2008 |
Reviews
Solid Cast Doesn't Helpnew
Over Her Dead Body is being sold as a light comedy but winds up giving you indigestion.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
01-30-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Jeff Lowell, Over Her Dead Body
There are Strengths, But Film is Overall Weaknew
There are surefire signs that this is one of Woody’s stinkers, right? Well, no. It’s not one of his best movies, either, but it’s an interesting failure.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
01-30-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Woody Allen, Cassandra's Dream
Oscar's Hidden Goldnew
And the Oscar goes to ... that guy. An analysis of the awards' not-so-major categories.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
01-24-2008 |
Movies
Oh, the Horror!new
Why Fort Worth filmmakers are focused on vampires and zombies instead of neurotic urban singles.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
12-27-2007 |
Movies
Cosmic Dustnew
The Golden Compass spins wildly trying to hit every point on the dial.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Kristian Lin |
12-06-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Chris Weitz, The Golden Compass
