AltWeeklies Wire
Harry's First Snognew
Yes, it's true: Harry Potter manages his first kiss, in between all manner of expository storytelling, and never was a young man's wand more ever-ready.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-13-2007 |
Reviews
Wings Over Parisnew
Luc Besson delivers a gorgeous-looking but ill-conceived mash note to the city of Paris that stars a petty crook and an ethereal beauty.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Luc Besson, Angel-A
Cars That Eat Peoplenew
What matters most about Transformers isn't subtext (this is Michael Bay after all), but what happens when big, loud, heavy things bang into other differently colored big, loud, heavy things.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-03-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Michael Bay, Transformers
'Ratatouille': How to Build a Better Rat Trapnew
Pixar scores another triumph of animated wonder with this story of a rat who craves haute cuisine over garbage.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-28-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Brad Bird, Ratatouille
'Live Free or Die Hard': Back in the Saddlenew
As John McClane, Bruce Willis once more brings the noise and blows the bejesus out of the bad guys.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-28-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Len Wiseman, Live Free or Die Hard
'Golden Door': Streets of Goldnew
Despite the hardships depicted, this is a sweet film that plays witness to the immigrant birth pangs of modern America.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-22-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Emanuele Crialese, Golden Door
'Fantastic Four' of a Kindnew
Although it tries mightily to top 2005's origin story by introducing fanboy favorite the Silver Surfer, this film is nevertheless relentlessly dull and curiously bombastic.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-22-2007 |
Reviews
'Severance': Not Just Another Day at the Officenew
This British horror comedy ricochets from violence to vengeance to outright survivalism, with comedy -- some brilliant, some less so -- underlying it all.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Christopher Smith, Severance
'Hostel: Part II': Where It's Always Check-Out TImenew
Roth has accomplished the near impossible: He's crafted a vastly superior sequel to Hostel, one that supersedes the original's sadistic quotient, gore effects, and narrative subversiveness.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Eli Roth, Hostel: Part II
'Beyond the Gates': Machete Madnessnew
With infinite grace but no real suspense, this film bears dramatic witness to the Rwandan ethnic genocide of the last decade.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-01-2007 |
Reviews
The Ogre Who Wouldn't Be Kingnew
The big, green cash machine has finally run dry, perhaps not of box-office power but most assuredly of the caustic wit that made the first two films so winning.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
05-18-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Chris Miller, Shrek the Third
After Survival Comes the Task of Livingnew
This first feature from Bosnian director/writer Jasmila Zbanic offers up a slice of life after hell in which a widowed mother and daughter still veer perilously between fear and hope.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
05-18-2007 |
Reviews
'Henry Fool' Livesnew
The lunatic charm of Parker Posey is the best reason to see this wild, borderline-screwball sequel to Hal Hartley's 1998 film, Henry Fool.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
05-18-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Fay Grim, Hal Hartley
Innoculation Nationnew
This continuing story of a populace that fears infection from a "rage virus," forges ahead with panic-paced sequences of graphic, random violence.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
05-10-2007 |
Reviews
Silence Is Chartreusenew
At once eerie, picaresque, and evocative, this is a daring and breathtakingly constructed documentary about the Carthusian monks of the French Alps, who have taken a vow of silence.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
04-26-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Into Great Silence, Philip Groning
