AltWeeklies Wire
'Pirate Radio' Rocks the Boatnew
This is one of those ensemble comedies in which each member of the ensemble tends toward one-dimensionality, but that's OK because there are so many members, and they're all so talented.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
11-11-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Pirate Radio, Richard Curtis
Is 'Amelia' Ready for Takeoff?new
Sticking to the period of the middle 1930s during which she became a celebrity, Mira Nair's film doesn't have much to add to the Earhart lore, but by necessity of movie convention does have much to subtract from the actual life.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
10-28-2009 |
Reviews
'Couples Retreat' is Like a Half-Assed Update of 'Fantasy Island'new
Getting away from it all isn't easy. Start by getting away from this movie.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
10-14-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Couples Retreat, Peter Billingsley
'Capitalism': Love It or Leave It?new
If Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story teaches us one thing about the global economic crisis, it is how much the stunt-documentary gold standard has declined in value.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-30-2009 |
Reviews
'All About Steve' Should've Been About Sandranew
It is reasonable to assume that the delay of All About Steve's release, from late February to Labor Day weekend, is not a sign of studio confidence. But with Sandra Bullock resuscitated by The Proposal and Bradley Cooper proven bankable by The Hangover, it's now or never for the tale of Bullock's nutty crossword puzzle designer following Cooper's TV news cameraman all across the country.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-09-2009 |
Reviews
'Extract,' Like its Lead Character, is About Averagenew
As a sketch-like trifle built from well observed details, it pretty much splits the temperamental difference between Mike Judge's cartoons: subtler than Beavis and Butt-Head, but broader than King of the Hill.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Extract, Mike Judge
'Shorts' is Bigger Than You'd Expectnew
Shorts is a zippy, slapsticky comedy about a suburban company town going bonkers when a wish-granting, rainbow-colored rock falls out of the sky.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
08-26-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Shorts, Robert Rodriguez
'Management' Gets a Little Mired in Quirkiness for its Own Sakenew
Management can't be accused of excessive realism, but it does give your good will the benefit of the doubt. Stephen Belber and company have sense enough to find their own contrivance suspicious, but heart enough, thankfully, to want to indulge it anyway.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
06-17-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Belber, Management
How Did It All Start for Wolverine?new
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the elaborate yet curiously dull backstory of Marvel Comics' favorite razor-clawed mutant badass.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
05-06-2009 |
Reviews
'March' of the Dingbatsnew
For a crass sex comedy, Miss March seems strangely self-neutering—quite literally, given the last-act revelation that one character was born without genitalia. Gentlemen, ask yourselves: Better or worse than a four-year coma?
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
03-25-2009 |
Reviews
Kill Skills: 'Taken'new
In Taken, Liam Neeson kicks so much ass. How much? Well, imagine the exact amount of ass-kicking you think is enough, plus even more. Now double it.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-28-2009 |
Reviews
Tom Cruise Gets Fuhrer-ious in 'Valkyrie'new
Valkyrie puts forth the idea that not all Nazis should be categorized as either ferocious barbarians or craven order-followers. We knew this, of course, from Schindler's List. And from history. And from not being idiots. And yet we watch. We are curious.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-07-2009 |
Reviews
Stop the 'Earth,' We Want to Get On!new
The cheesy new Keanu Reeves film, however utterly unnecessary and half-assedly realized and anticlimactic it may be (quite, it's fair to say), is also, in fact, a model of the true and absolute essence of cinema. I am offering a way to really appreciate this film, if only you can open your mind.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
12-17-2008 |
Reviews
'Four Christmases': Holidazed and Confusednew
In the annual tradition of forgettable Vince Vaughn holiday vehicles (last year brought Fred Claus), Four Christmases is underfunny and insubstantial, but sweet and innocuous: a nice little stocking stuffer of a movie.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
12-03-2008 |
Reviews
Daniel Craig Tries to Keep the Bond Legacy Afloat in 'Quantum of Solace'new
If nothing else, Quantum of Solace has that mouthful of a title. It's less important that the title derives from Fleming's fiction, as the movie itself generally doesn't. Which is to say, unfortunately, that it feels like a misfire.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
11-12-2008 |
Reviews
