AltWeeklies Wire
Deconstructing Heroism
Clint Eastwood distills a wartime story of epic proportions and personal truths from Iwo Jima, the worst single engagement of WWII.
Barry Levinson Throws a Cinematic Softball at Voter Fraud
Writer/director Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”) squanders an attempt to stir debate over republican voter fraud that marred the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and that threatens to cloud the upcoming 2008 balloting, with an imploding satire about a television comedian who runs for President of the United States.
Tags: Barry Levinson, Man of the Year
Underground Boston Undercover
Scorsese scores a stunner with The Departed.
Tags: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
School’s Out
School For Scoundrels relies on Thornton's hovering performance to drive the film.
A Grand Martial Arts Finale
Jet Li's Fearless isn't just a martial arts movie; it is a truly great one.
Tags: Ronny Yu, Jet Li's Fearless
Harlin Phones It In
Darkly lit blue-tinted fog accompanies nearly every scene as a group of teenage descendants of witches, called the Sons of Ipswich, turn their Massachusetts prep school into a chamber of minor horrors.
Tags: Renny Harlin, The Covenant
It Warms Hearts
This was Christopher Reeve's final film project, and the simple story of a little boy who risks everything to restore order to his family's depression-era existence is a well tempered and heartwarming animated children's movie.
Weak Story, Strong Martial Arts
Muay-Thai martial arts phenomenon Tony Jaa follows up his impressive debut with an action-packed, if less than sophisticated, story line.
Tags: Prachya Pinkaew, The Protector
Navel-Gazing Tedium
Navel-gazing director Michel Gondry wears his developmentally arrested heart on his sleeve in the most self-indulgent movie of 2006.
Dick Skewers the MPAA
Even if you've never given a second thought to who bestows ratings on movies or how those ranks are given, Dick's enlightening documentary will catch you up in its infectious spin of curiosity.
French Policier is Alive and Well
The rarely done genre of the French policier is alive and well in director Beauvois' dynamic movie about a young police academy graduate who gives up his life in a small province to work in Paris.
Grand Cayman Island Corruption
Flowers loses track of his own narrative puzzle that includes a story about a shady but rich Floridian with an 18-year-old daughter escaping to Grand Cayman from the feds who want to arrest him.
Tags: Frank E. Flowers, Haven
1940 Novel Gets a 1938 Setting
Charles Sturridge adapts this heart-warming story with strict attention to its modest emotional underpinnings of family, devotion, and a beautiful collie.
Tags: Charles Sturridge, Lassie
Insightful and Penetrating Drama
This independent jewel from writer/director Laurie Collyer showcases the ever-dependable Maggie Gyllenhaal in her first leading role since Secretary.
Tags: Laurie Collyer, Sherrybaby
Opposing Elements Cancel Out De Palma’s Cinematic Flower
In spite of several momentarily propulsive eye-popping set pieces, suspense master Brian De Palma is unable to pry a cohesive movie from Friedman’s abstruse script.
Tags: Brian De Palma, The Black Dahlia
