AltWeeklies Wire
Not Quite Apatow: Rogen, Franco, Hill, and McBride Joke Around
“This Is the End” exposes the narrow limits of the self-referential humor favored by Generation Z comics James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
06-11-2013 |
Reviews
Illegal Alien: Superman the Underdog
“Man of Steel” takes a fresh approach to the well-worn origin of the Superman narrative (first published as Action Comics #1 in 1938).
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
06-10-2013 |
Reviews
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaksnew
Play it where it lies.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
06-05-2013 |
Reviews
Canned Shakespeare — Joss Whedon Falls on His Sword
Josh Whedon’s sophomoric attempt at swimming in Kenneth Brannagh’s waters of expertise — namely adapting Shakespeare plays to film — is akin to watching a wet cat lick itself dry.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
06-03-2013 |
Reviews
Dumb and Dumber: Teen Adventure Fantasy Flounders
Coming on the heels of Jeff Nichols’s superior Huckleberry Finn-styled boys’ coming-of-age movie “Mud,” “The Kings of Summer” reaches farther into the realm of fantasy, but comes up short.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
05-28-2013 |
Reviews
Gen X Grows Up — Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke Put a Cherry on the Cake
For better or for worse — mostly better — Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke may best be remembered for their romantically euphoric trilogy in collaboration with wunderkind Generation X auteur Richard Linklater.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
05-28-2013 |
Reviews
Capitalist? Terrorist? Don't Be Reluctant to See This Thrillernew
"In that moment [of 9/11], I felt the awe, audacity, the ruthlessness of the act, surpassed only by its genius."
Boise Weekly |
George Prentice |
05-15-2013 |
Reviews
The Great Gatsbynew
Baz Luhrmann infuses the Fitzgerald classic with lots of life but little soul
Orlando Weekly |
Cameron Meier |
05-14-2013 |
Reviews
Boldly Going: Star Trek’s Eternal Mission Continues
“Star Trek Into Darkness” is a lot of movie. It gets personalities and dialogue right, but lets gigantic plot problems slide around like ocean-bound rubber duckies on an oil slick.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
05-14-2013 |
Reviews
Renoir the painter and Renoir the filmmakernew
Renoir, a ravishing and sensuous imagining of one summer late in the life of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, makes the great painter's work matter again by putting an aging man's passions into an emotional and historical context.
A Killer Vacation — Lovebird Serial Killers Take On Northern England
Blacker than the La Brea Tar Pits, director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy about a couple of serial killer lovebirds is an exquisitely funny movie.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
05-07-2013 |
Reviews
Blood Feast Xan Cassavetes Sinks Her Teeth In
Xan Cassavetes [daughter to the Godfather of independent cinema] pays stylish homage to vampire films of the past 40 years with a blood-soaked predator thriller based on romantic obsession — BDSM comes gratis.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
04-29-2013 |
Reviews
The Big Killer: Michael Shannon Gets Cold
A refreshing addition to the contract killer biopic genre, Ariel Vromen’s Friedkinesque dramatization of Richard Kuklinski’s rise and fall, via three decades of heinous crimes, is a doozy.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
04-29-2013 |
Reviews
A Compelling Tale of NYC Graffiti Artists in Gimme the Lootnew
For his very low-budget debut, writer/director Andre Leon makes a spirited teen comedy with predominantly minority characters, which is damn near amazing in itself.
Tags: graffiti, Gimme the Loot
