AltWeeklies Wire
'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus': City Paper Grade B+new
The narrative is a showy gloss on the Faust legend with Tom Waits as a carny-huckster Beelzebub and Christopher Plummer as a monk-turned-immortal showman, and its reliance on oft-told tales and fairy tale archetypes is welcome given how the narrative seems to unravel rather than unfold.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Natural Performances Save Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida and Sam Mendes from Themselvesnew
Its opening scene, a deadpan discussion of "vaginal flavors" during oral sex, threatens 90 minutes of the sort of self-satisfied wise-assery that too often intrudes on Dave Eggers' fiction. But Away We Go soon settles into a less strident pace, driven less by its authors' whims than by the casual airs of its leads.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
06-16-2009 |
Reviews
Life Goes On 'I Served the King of England'new
In many ways, Menzel's latest serves as a bookend to that early masterpiece, Closely Watched Trains, beginning with another wide-eyed youth on another train platform, his personal desires consuming his entire attention as the Nazis march in just offscreen.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
09-09-2008 |
Reviews
Darby Crash Gets a Biopic as Ragged as He Wasnew
What We Do is Secret is told in a combination of narrative and faux-doc pieces, which becomes something of a patchwork, with the talking-head segments a jarring shift from the gritty punk milieu.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
09-02-2008 |
Reviews
Steve Coogan Suffers the Slings and Arrows of Being a Dopey Shakespeare Hopefulnew
Coogan spends the film in a tug-of-war with the script; he's forced into some blatantly obvious humor, from the broad commercial parodies to the endless mangling of his character's consonant-heavy name. But he also maximizes the thinly veiled rage burbling under Marschz's veneer of undying optimism.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
Preachy Politics Spoil Thomas McCarthy's Otherwise-quiet Character Studynew
For his sophomore effort McCarthy has burdened his slight character drama with a capital-M Message, which weighs down even the most intimately observed character moments.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
04-29-2008 |
Reviews
Striking Oilnew
There Will Be Blood explodes with greed and corruption.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
01-08-2008 |
Reviews
'The Rape of Europa': Shot Through the Artnew
How the Nazis looted and destroyed Europe's cultural treasures.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
12-04-2007 |
Reviews
The Action-Packed 'Kingdom' Misfiresnew
Peter Berg's film feels too rote and near-Rambo in its simplistic portrait of a foreign policy disaster as easily remedied with a few well-placed brutal killings.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
10-02-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Peter Berg, The Kingdom
'The Hunting Party' is On the Wrong Tracknew
The film has less luck finding the right tone than its heroes have locating their quarry.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
09-25-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Richard Shepard, The Hunting Party
'Them' Does Its One Thing Wellnew
Hardly in need of recap, the film simply involves a young couple in a large house being terrorized by unseen aggressors over the course of a long, dark night.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
09-04-2007 |
Reviews
Lars Von Trier Puts the Camera in Chargenew
In The Boss of It All, the owner of a Danish IT firm has invented the titular Boss, an absent ogre who communicates with his underlings only through e-mail.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
07-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Lars von Trier, The Boss of it All
'Rescue Dawn': Staying Alivenew
Werner Herzog breathes new life into a captivating survival story.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
07-17-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog
Fallen 'Angel-A'new
Luc Besson's love story is less than heavenly.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
06-21-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Luc Besson, Angel-A
Latter-Day Sinnernew
Peter O'Toole oozes wolfish glee in Venus.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
01-23-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Roger Michell, venus
