AltWeeklies Wire
Women in Lovenew
This film adaptation of a two-woman show about the beginning of a lesbian relationship means well, but it's a failure.
East Bay Express |
Melissa Levine |
05-16-2005 |
Reviews
Cold Casenew
In the telling of this tortured tale of a 13-year-old boy facing tough choices, David Duchovny commits almost every crime the coming-of-age genre is prone to.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
05-02-2005 |
Reviews
Deaf, Not Dumbnew
Writer-director Michael Dowse's mockumentary posits itself as a true-story biography of a legendary Ibiza-based DJ named Frankie Wilde, who goes deaf from too much noise and drugs.
East Bay Express |
Robert Wilonsky |
05-02-2005 |
Reviews
Head in the Sandnew
This documentary honors the desert race the Baja 1000 with overheated prose.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
04-11-2005 |
Reviews
Love in Gloomnew
A dour resolve undermines attempts at humor in this account of three young Muscovites' quest to adjust to post-Soviet life.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
04-06-2005 |
Reviews
MInd Gameynew
Dot the I wants to mess with your head. It's a mess all right.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
04-02-2005 |
Reviews
Mail-Order Strifenew
There's talent and intelligence behind this film chronicling one man's attempt to marry a woman out of a catalogue. But the fake documentary is the wrong genre for it.
East Bay Express |
Melissa Levine |
04-02-2005 |
Reviews
Still Hardnew
One of the best sequences of this meditation on war and suffering takes place in the ruined Sarajevo public library, a gutted shell, with fire barrels burning in the corners of a great empty room in which people are sorting through piles of books, trying to catalogue them.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
01-31-2005 |
Reviews
Color Blandnew
South Korea's first anime feature is a wondrous sight, but it's ponderous to contemplate once you get over the thrill of witnessing its spectacle.
East Bay Express |
Robert Wilonsky |
01-25-2005 |
Reviews
Unreal As It Getsnew
Jessica Yu documents the life and work of Henry Darger, a reclusive artist who created an alternate universe of paintings and fiction that remained unknown until his death.
East Bay Express |
Melissa Levine |
01-14-2005 |
Reviews
Director's Cutsnew
Relying on everything from Jonathan Swift to the tacky sci-fi classic Soylent Green, writer and director Anders Thomas Jensen cooks up an elaborate, sometimes tortured allegory about self-esteem, fame, and striving for success at any cost.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
01-14-2005 |
Reviews
Splish Splash, It's a Bathnew
The early reviews for Beyond the Sea have been so hateful that a latecomer to the bashing bash is tempted to head straight for the spiked eggnog and let the man pass without further abuse.
East Bay Express |
Robert Wilonsky |
01-03-2005 |
Reviews
Extended Sentencenew
Tackling a touchy subject, Nicole Kassell looks at Walter, a released pedophile, not as a case study but as a single human being under tremendous pressures, internal and external. In the process she stirs us to examine our own fears and prejudices.
East Bay Express |
Bill Gallo |
01-03-2005 |
Reviews
All You Can Eatnew
Adam Sandler is perfect in the role of the put-upon husband in Spanglish. Despite wonderful performances, the film about a crumbling marriage never quite works.
East Bay Express |
Robert Wilonsky |
12-20-2004 |
Reviews
Smells Like Clean Spiritnew
The 85-minute documentary on the spirtual gathering Kumbh Mela espouses enlightenment, but it's sketchy on how to get there.
East Bay Express |
Luke Y. Thompson |
12-13-2004 |
Reviews
