AltWeeklies Wire
Pretentiousness the True Leading Role in The Art of Getting Bynew
While one could argue about where the line between brilliance and bullshit starts to blur with films like Richard Linklater’s 2001 mindbender Waking Life, Darren Aronofsky’s 2006 mystical sci-fi drama The Fountain, or anything from the conceptual mind of director Terrence Malick, the creative weight they carry should be considered when deciding whether you ultimately deem the work profound or phony.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
06-20-2011 |
Reviews
It was a Low, Dishonest Decadenew
Throughout the decade, while Osama bin Laden remained out of reach, gloating, Americans channeled their resentments by turning against one another. You heard it on the talk shows, where loathing gained the highest ratings.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
12-30-2009 |
Commentary
'A Rebel Life' Remembers Molly Ivinsnew
In First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family, Bill Minutaglio deciphered Dubya's career as a campaign of filial devotion and rebellion. Turning now to Bush's spunkiest critic, Minutaglio interprets Ivins as similarly driven by resentment toward her overbearing, overachieving father.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
10-21-2009 |
Nonfiction
Michael Keaton Directs Himself in 'The Merry Gentleman'new
If films were punctuation marks, Michael Keaton's most famous vehicle, Batman, would be an exclamation point. But this one is an ellipsis, and it challenges a viewer to imagine what lurks between the dots.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
06-17-2009 |
Reviews
Jiri Menzel is Still Depicting How History Swallows Little Livesnew
Using accelerated motion, period music, and silent sequences in black-and-white to suggest history as farce, Menzel makes a mocking spectacle of Czechoslovakia in the 20th century.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
10-22-2008 |
Reviews
'The Lucky Ones': Back From Iraq, But Lost in Americanew
The Lucky Ones is a road movie, but, though Colee, Fred Cheever, and T.K. Poole cover more than 1,700 miles after deplaning at JFK, the film is remarkably indifferent to the physical landscape of the United States.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
10-01-2008 |
Reviews
Graham Vickers Examines the Causes and Consequences of 'Lolita'new
Less concerned with text than context, Vickers provides a lively account of the climate in which the novel was produced and received.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
08-13-2008 |
Nonfiction
Siblings Different as Apples and Orangesnew
In Apples and Oranges, a memoir of sibling discord within her own family, Marie Brenner applies her skills as an investigative reporter to trying to fathom and repair her strained relationship with Carl. Jumping about in space and time, her memoir challenges the reader to find design amid absences and missed connections.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
05-28-2008 |
Nonfiction
David Mamet Shows Jiu Jitsu Some Lovenew
Redbelt is a likable distraction, especially for Mamet's trademark staccato dialogue and the deft choreography of its martial-arts sequences.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
05-07-2008 |
Reviews
"Playing With the Passion," "Attachment Disorder," "Going Down in History in Flames"new
AltWeeklies Award - Arts Criticism
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
Band in Israel Banned in Egyptnew
Cultural exchanges do not always make the noise generated by the New York Philharmonic's recent visit to North Korea.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
03-05-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Eran Kolirin, The Band's Visit
Tough Love in Jerusalemnew
The seventh-annual edition of the San Antonio Jewish Film Festival, screening at the San Antonio Museum of Art February 16-21, surpasses its predecessors in range and artistry.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
02-13-2008 |
Movies
The Oscars as Blood Sportnew
Our critic dissects the Academy Awards and contenders. (Warning: Here be spoilers.)
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
01-30-2008 |
Movies
Only a Director's Mother Could Love 'Mama's Boy'new
It's easy to imagine that screenwriter Hank Nelken conceived Mama's Boy while reading a magazine article reporting on the full-nest syndrome -- the increasing tendency for grownup children to continue residing with their parents. It is too depressing to contemplate the possibility that anyone had artistic ambitions for this irksome fluff.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
12-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Mama's Boy, Tim Hamilton
Robert Redford's Well-Meaning Movienew
This earnest film poses the questions that ought to be posed in this, the sixth year of the American occupation of Afghanistan -- about the responsibilities of leaders, educators, journalists, soldiers, and citizens. But this is canned theater of ideas, and the tin has made the mind grow rusty.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
11-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford
