AltWeeklies Wire
'Planet 51' Mainly Succeeds at Reminding You of All the Better Movies That Inspired Itnew
Handsome doofus Chuck is a chip off the Buzz Lightyear block, and Planet 51 lacks Pixar polish (particularly in its writing). Still, it's not a bad knockoff.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-23-2009 |
Reviews
The Bad Lieutenant Gone Wildnew
When I first read about Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, it was described as a sequel to Abel Ferrara's 1992 cult favorite about a drug- and gambling-addicted police detective in New York City. When I next read about it, it was described as a remake. Now that I've seen it, I can report that it's neither.
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
11-23-2009 |
Reviews
The Latest in the 'Twilight' Saga is Gooey Tedium for Fans Onlynew
New Moon is a terrible movie, worse in some ways than Twilight, better in others, and no doubt baffling to the many who don't spend their time fantasizing about being swept off their feet by Robert Pattinson's controlling vampire Edward Cullen or Taylor Lautner's petulant werewolf Jacob Black.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
11-20-2009 |
Reviews
'Precious': Who Wants Some Oprah-Approved Ghetto Tourism?new
Sexual abuse and incest are realities, and there's no reason why art shouldn't confront them. But when pop culture addresses them (and Precious, with its against-all-odds cheerleading and music-video casting, is very much a pop-culture commodity), the results deserve scrutiny.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
11-19-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Precious, Lee Daniels
'The Blind Side' May be 'Feel-Good,' but That's Not the Same as Feeling Real
The enemy isn't emotion; it's empty-headed uplift. And that's where Hollywood dramatizations have their own blind side.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
11-17-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: John Lee Hancock, The Blind Side
John Woo's 'Red Cliff' is a Must-See Chinese War Epic
Compared to typical big spectacle Hollywood blockbusters like 2012, Red Cliff contrasts its visually stunning epic-scale compositions with a far greater sense of historic purpose.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-16-2009 |
Reviews
'2012': BOOM! CRASH! JOHN CUSACK!new
2012 is pure pandemonium, and it's like two and a half hours of it, and if you're not in the mood for an inane summer blockbuster in the middle of November, then move along, killjoy -- no one wants you here.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
11-13-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Roland Emmerich, 2012
Disregard the Crappy Marketing Campaign; 'A Christmas Carol' is an Enchanting Movienew
This is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, with a little 3-D whiz-bang thrown in for good measure. When the frantic sequences are squished together in a short preview trailer, they are just annoying. Within the film, effectively spread apart, the sequences become exhilarating.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
11-11-2009 |
Reviews
'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
'Taxidermia' is Either Magical Realism or the Most Disturbing Movie You'll Ever Seenew
Some films are tough to watch and others may make you queasy, and then there's Taxidermia, a bizarre, squirmy parade of grotesqueries that requires a titanium-lined stomach to simply endure. In fact, you don't so much watch Gyorgy Palfi's film as sit back and let it happen to you.
Metro Times |
Corey Hall |
11-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Gyorgy Palfi, Taxidermia
With 'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' Wes Anderson Finds His Genre: Animation
In Wes Anderson's hands, Roald Dahl's imaginative child's story takes on a meta significance as a human-development-coming-of-age story that applies across age groups, generations, social strata, and even species.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-09-2009 |
Reviews
'Precious': The Sad Education of Precious Jonesnew
Hothouse melodrama one moment, kitchen-sink (and frying-pan-to-the-head) realism the next, with eruptions of incongruous slapstick throughout, this may be Lee Daniels' stab at finding a cinematic analog for the novel's inventive, naïf-art language -- a film style, like Precious' writing, seemingly being made up as it goes along.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
11-09-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Precious, Lee Daniels
'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Falls Short of Strangelovian Laughsnew
Grant Heslov's film is so intent on being funny and ironic that it erodes any audience investment in the characters and their plights. We spend so much time laughing at their travails that when it's time to root for their victory, it's just too damn late.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
11-04-2009 |
Reviews
Graham Reznick Ventures into the Genre Woods and Twists Out the Unique 'I Can See You'new
I Can See You takes its characters out to the woods for the scare of their lives, but it isn't overly concerned with subtext. Reznick draws on the non-narrative avant-garde for inspiration; ultimately, his movie has as much in common with David Lynch's weirdest moments or Stan Brakhage as The Blair Witch Project.
Baltimore City Paper |
Steve Erickson |
11-03-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Graham Reznick, I Can See You
'Precious' is an Urban Drama Pressure-Cooker Steeped in Verite Realism
The intrinsic truth in this unforgettable drama outweighs any exploitation or politics that might attend such material. If you're looking for a gritty socially-conscious movie, this is it.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-02-2009 |
Reviews
