AltWeeklies Wire
But What About the Children?
Intentionally very literary, but feelings that might persuade on the page don't work when all the characters are embodied by movie stars.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
10-20-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Little Children, Todd Field
Lost in Forestation
A fill-in-the-blanks experience that defines itself more by what it isn’t than what it is.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
10-20-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Kelly Reichardt, Old Joy
Songs of the Road
On one level, Riding Alone is Zhang’s most sentimental film, with lots of tear-jerking and even some outright blubbering. It’s also a remarkably sanguine portrait of the Chinese penal system, which proves unconvincingly receptive to the fixation of one bull-headed Japanese tourist.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
10-20-2006 |
Reviews
Pulling Up Shortnew
The movie is amiable enough, but what makes Shortbus actively irksome is the suggestion that its genuine erections and unsimulated ejaculations constitute some sort of revolution.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
10-13-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: John Cameron Mitchell, Shortbus
Chinese Takeawaynew
Martin Scorsese is a great filmmaker who rarely makes great films and The Departed is another not-great one, but it is a raucous, bloody romp with more juice than any Scorsese movie since 1990's Goodfellas.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
10-13-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Won't Have Jet Li to Kick Around
Fearless resembles the '70s and '80s Shaw Brothers Studios films.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-29-2006 |
Reviews
That Ealing Feeling
Everything harmonizes in this cozily retro fable, which could have been produced by Ealing Studios, Britain's postwar comedy factory -- take that as either a commendation or a warning.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-29-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Keeping Mum, Niall Johnson
Instant Karma Hindsight is 20-20
A more amusing, and probably truer, version of the story would show Nixon battling to deport a fickle rocker who'd already forgotten that he'd ever written a dumb ditty for John Sinclair.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-29-2006 |
Reviews
The Ice Storm
This film is as concerned with escape as it is with imprisonment.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-29-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Gabrielle, Patrice Chereau
Snooze Alarm
This film is more proof that Gael García Bernal has the worst taste in screenplays of any currently hot actor.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-22-2006 |
Reviews
Unsafe Harbor
Haven is no masterwork, but Flowers orchestrates local color and intricate melodrama with more flair than many more experienced directors.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-22-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Frank E. Flowers, Haven
Kiss Off
Dorky dude takes hot chick for granted in this formulaic remake.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-18-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: The Last Kiss, Tony Goldwyn
Good Grief
Foulkrod's one-sided doc is nonetheless uniformly worthy.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-18-2006 |
Reviews
Code Unknown
Dick merely assumes accusations of of a "fascist" system are true and never really makes the case for them.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-18-2006 |
Reviews
Shooting Stars
Somewhere along the way, this movie lost its original name, Truth, Justice and the American Way, and became Hollywoodland -- that the latter title is even more generic turns out to be entirely appropriate.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
09-08-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Allen Coulter, Hollywoodland
