AltWeeklies Wire
Is it Possible 'The Road' Isn't Grim Enough?new

Wanting the movie version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road to be even more bleak may sound like the ultimate in moviegoer masochism—thank you, sir, may I have another cannibal holocaust?
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
'Pelham' Remake Makes It Out of the Station Only to Jump the Tracksnew
Director Tony Scott turns a presciently post-9/11 movie into an explicitly post-9/11 movie. Make that post-post-9/11: The chief bad guy only looks like a terrorist, when in fact he's an even scarier, more au courant foe -- a commodities trader!
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
06-12-2009 |
Reviews
Three Bachelor-Party Bozos Loose in Sin City Wake Up with the Very Funny 'Hangover'new
This messy, raunchy farce about three groomsmen on a lost-weekend bender in Sin City continues director Todd Phillips' fascination with the alpha male's default setting, childhood reversion.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
06-05-2009 |
Reviews
A Daredevil's World Trade Center Tightrope Walk was Made for the Moviesnew
As James Marsh's documentary Man on Wire tells it, a mischievous French teenager was sitting in a dentist's office in 1968 when a magazine image caught his eye. It was a sketch of two gleaming towers, under construction, piercing the clouds above lower Manhattan.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: James Marsh, Man on Wire
'Mongol' Paints a Historically Hazy but Kick-ass Picture of Genghis Khannew
Here's a brawny old-school epic to make the CGI tumult of 300, Alexander and Troy look like sissy-boy slap parties.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
06-27-2008 |
Reviews
'Son of Rambow' Celebrates Moviemaking Fever, Middle-school Stylenew
Why is it that kids playing dress-up in blockbuster tropes rarely gets old? Perhaps more to the point, why does the idea of rough-hewn DIY cinema seem so appealing now?
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
05-27-2008 |
Reviews
A Sticky Wicketnew
A Jamaican teaches a young Jew what's cricket -- in every sense -- in Wondrous Oblivion.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
11-02-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Paul Morrison, Wondrous Oblivion
'Gone Baby Gone': Kenzie's Choicenew
Ben Affleck's directorial debut leaves nothing but grave moral doubts -- to its credit.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
10-19-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
Visually Stunning Documentary Captures the Big Picture of Chinese Industrynew
Nothing illustrates the monstrosity of globalized commerce more vividly than the lateral tracking shot that opens Jennifer Baichwal’s mesmerizing documentary Manufactured Landscapes.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
09-24-2007 |
Reviews
Can a Hard-Hitting Dafur Doc Inspire Intervention?new
Tonal modulation is everything in a political doc; the more dire the matter at hand, the more delicate the issue of how to address it. The crisis in Darfur compels The Devil Came on Horseback to commence in full-on grab-and-shake mode.
Nashville Scene |
Rob Nelson |
09-07-2007 |
Reviews
'This is England': Anarchy in the UKnew
Remarkable child actor highlights superb drama of British punk era.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
08-24-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Shane Meadows, This is England
How Do You Like Me Now?new
The new Toby Keith starring vehicle is not one for the bus.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
09-07-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Broken Bridges, Steven Goldmann
True Westnew
Edward Norton's riveting performance highlights this offbeat modern Western.
Nashville Scene |
Noel Murray |
07-13-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: David Jacobson, Down in the Valley
All-Day Suckersnew
Amy Sedaris and Steve Colbert peddle some hard Candy.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
07-13-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Paul Dinello, Strangers With Candy
The Truth Hurtsnew
Al Gore's sounding the sirens about global warming -- will anyone listen?
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
06-21-2006 |
Reviews