AltWeeklies Wire
Perched on the Edge
Though Americans aren't directly indicted in Austrian filmmaker Hubert Sauper's latest documentary, its portrayal of an unbalanced global economy arguably puts all First World nations in the hot seat.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
12-02-2005 |
Reviews
Gushing Over the Ush
Don't bother with the nonsensical Romeo and Juliet-ish plot. All you need to know about this movie can be gleaned from the tag line "Everyone wants a piece of his action," which floats above an image of Usher Raymond dressed in a fly suit.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
12-02-2005 |
Reviews
The Shock Wears Off
The 72-minute film is about an hour's worth of Sarah Silverman's stand-up, padded with a weak story line that enables it to pass as a movie.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-18-2005 |
Reviews
Cash on Delivery
Yes, kids, we have another Ray. Nearly to the letter, actually. But Joaquin Phoenix does Jaime Foxx one better by singing Johnny Cash's songs himself, a ridiculously risky move in portraying an icon whose voice was the thing. But damn if the boy doesn't pull it off.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-18-2005 |
Reviews
Love in Space
Ultimately, though, this is a story about love -- with robots, reptilian monsters, and unfriendly spaceships that try to shoot the kids' home into oblivion.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-10-2005 |
Reviews
Twit Wit
The heroine of Jane Austen's novel is not a giggler. She is quick-witted and headstrong, capable of being charming and even playful but more known for sharply speaking her mind. Unless, that is, she's being played by Keira Knightley.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-10-2005 |
Reviews
Derailed
Though it may take a few years and many movies to wash the Rachel out of Aniston's hair, her turn in Derailed is a good Good Girl-ish step.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-10-2005 |
Reviews
Rainy-Day Man
In The Weather Man, director Gore Verbinski has achieved the impossible: making Bob Seger's Chevy-pushing "Like a Rock" poignant again (or, perhaps more accurately, for the first time).
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
11-04-2005 |
Reviews
Fast-Forwarding Through Life
Writer-director Ben Younger seems to think that merely showing Rafi (Uma Thurman) and David (Bryan Greenberg) tonguing each other after each sparkless date is enough to make the audience believe in their romance.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-27-2005 |
Reviews
Lost in Interpretation
Shopgirl, based on the novella by Steve Martin, will inevitably be viewed as Martin's Lost in Translation. But Martin, it turns out, is no Bill Murray.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-27-2005 |
Reviews
Reality Bites
Cynics have suggested that Hollywood loves no subject more than itself. And Reel Paradise proves that you don't need a big studio--or even the pretense of fiction--to make a self-important movie about movies.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-20-2005 |
Reviews
Sugarcoated Tale
This DreamWorks production about a little girl and a special horse is slow-moving and treacly, and--unless you actually buy that bit of marketing flimflam about being "inspired by a true story"--it yields no surprises.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-20-2005 |
Reviews
The Singing Defective
This is Hollywood's sorta-true version of Domino Harvey's story of a model turned bounty-hunter.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Tony Scott, Domino
The Singing Defective
In this film, the ideal '50s housewife goes beyond rearing her children and keeping a spotless home. She instantly defuses her spouse's alcoholic rages, with a quip, a bright smile, or, when things got especially tense, maybe a flung bowl of Jell-O.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-14-2005 |
Reviews
Waiting...
Let me tell you from experience: When restaurant workers struggle to find the humor in their soul-sucking jobs, they’re not thinking about genitals.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
10-07-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Rob McKittrick, Waiting ...