AltWeeklies Wire
The Damned: "Exorcist" Knock-Off is a Sin
"The Rite" posits that the Catholic church is doing a record number of exorcisms these days.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-24-2011 |
Reviews
Fallout: Hollywood Can't Come to Grips With America's Economic Collapse
Two years after America's economic crisis began dispatching millions to the unemployment lines, Hollywood pretends to examine the fallout.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-17-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: John Wells, The Company Men
Caged Slurry: Period Adventure Horror Hoax
This movie sucks so awfully that you'd think it was a vicious prank.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-10-2011 |
Reviews
Insubstantial and Apolitical: Sofia Coppola Aspires to Narcissistic Frivolity
The awful ennui suffered by spoiled Hollywood stars is the pathetic subject matter for Sofia Coppola's crushingly dull anti-plot drama.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-03-2011 |
Reviews
Messy Heartbreak: Gosling and Williams Go the Distance
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams credibly play a young married couple--Dean and Cindy--whose relationship is falling apart in director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance's heavyweight romantic drama.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-15-2010 |
Reviews
Spectacle Trumps Story: Tron Sequel Doesn't Know Where to Spend the Money
If you're young and easily impressed, then "Tron: Legacy" won't feel like a rip off.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-13-2010 |
Reviews
Bridging Wayne
Leave it to Ethan and Joel Coen to reinvent the modern western.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-13-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Ethan and Joel Coen, True Grit
Back in Black: Natalie Portman Soars and Swoons En Pointe
Darren Aronofsky's voyeuristic psychological thriller about an upstart prima ballerina's descent into madness employs the same subjective dancer's-point-of-view that gave "The Red Shoes" its sense of frenetic authenticity.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-29-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Sex Sells: Social Satire Comes Up Wanting
Drawn from the same murky well of Hollywood ethical ambiguity that gave us "Thank You for Smoking" and last year's "Up In the Air," "Love & Other Drugs" audaciously defines its slick anti-hero protagonist as beyond reproach.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-22-2010 |
Reviews
Split Ends: Harry Potter Lurches Toward The Final Curtain
A flawed decision to split the final installment of the Harry Potter books into two films results in a formless narrative that overstays its welcome.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-15-2010 |
Reviews
Cartoon Indoctrination: Anti-Obama Propaganda Gets Packaged for Kids
Riffing on the same foolhardy villain-as-good-guy-protagonist motif that contributed to the confused premise of this year's "Despicable Me," "Megamind" is a resounding flop.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-08-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Megamind, Tom McGrath
Straight Man/Funny Man: Downey Jr. and Galifianakis Go Rogue
On the rebound from the mammoth box office success of "The Hangover," director Todd Phillips ("Old School") has sharpened his comic sensibilities to detonate laughs where none seem possible.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-01-2010 |
Reviews
The Dragon Kicked the Fire and the Hornet's Nest: Stieg Larsson Film Adaptation Ends With a Whimper
The same exponential decrease in story complexity that occurred between the first and second cinematic installments of Stieg Larsson's posthumously published "Millennium Trilogy" continues here.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-25-2010 |
Reviews
Anything Goes: Johnny Knoxville and Team Will Make You Laugh
What began as a juvenile MTV series in 2000 has gone on to inspire outbursts of uncontrollable laughter and groans around the world via the Jackass franchise's progressively more hilarious movies.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-18-2010 |
Reviews
All Climax and No Impact: 2010 Shaping up as Year of the Abysmal Action
Here's another pound of proof supporting the theorem that "story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts."
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Red, Robert Schwentke
