AltWeeklies Wire
'Thirst' is Out to Impress Somebody With its Perverse Outragenew
Bad boy Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook gives himself away in the birthday party orgy of Thirst when Tae-ju, a tantrummy young housewife, gets her wish:The undead priest Sang-hyun punctures Taeju's arteries and makes her one of the unholy. It's a brat's dream come true.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
'The Collector': A Nail in the Torture Porn Coffinnew
From the writer and director of Saw 4-6 comes this horror film about a handyman who tries to rob his employers' home but finds it rigged with a lethal maze.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
In 'Funny People,' A Master of Giggles Goes for Real Laughsnew
With this story about comedians, filmmaker Judd Apatow rewrites his own songbook in the key of James L. Brooks, a tricky mix of humor and heartfelt.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
'The Girl From Monaco': Trial and Erosnew
To say that writer-director Anne Fontaine's film wanders from genre to genre doesn't exalt her (and Benoit Graffin's) screenplay, but their transparent lift of the trio relationship from Simone de Beauvoir's She Came to Stay is an inspired move.
San Antonio Current |
Ashley Lindstrom |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
'Funny People' Proves Judd Apatow is the King of Comedy
Apatow raises the stakes on his already stellar formula for generating laughs with a comedy that is equal parts sincerity and wit.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
07-27-2009 |
Reviews
'Sleep Dealer': Finally, a Science-Fiction Film About Migrant Workers!new
There are moments of goofiness throughout Sleep Dealer, just as there are moments when Alex Rivera's touch -- which serves him well when it's lighter -- gets too heavy-handed. But overall, the visually striking, impressively imagined film has an energy, purpose, and relevance that much film -- and much modern science fiction -- lacks.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
07-24-2009 |
Reviews
In 'The Ugly Truth,' Even the Vibrating Underpants Are on Autopilotnew
In this formulaic battle of the sexes, no one will be mistaking Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler for Hepburn and Tracy.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'Unmistaken Child' Depicts an Unquestionably Fascinating Love Storynew
Unmistaken Child is one of the strangest romance films I've ever seen. It tells, in documentary form, the story of Tenzin Zopa, a disciple of Geshe Lama Konchog.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg' Honors a Forgotten Sitcom Star from the Early Years of TVnew
Even more than the largely forgotten popular institution The Goldbergs, Yoo-Hoo commemorates the one-woman dynamo who created and sustained it: Gertrude Berg.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
07-22-2009 |
Reviews
'Il Divo' Takes a 'Goodfellas'-Style Approach to Italian Corruptionnew
If you're a longtime follower of European politics, you might have an easier time with Il Divo's dizzying summation of Italy's power structure and the knotty criminal conspiracies linking Giulio Andreotti to murders, suicides and a scandal nicknamed Bribesville.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-21-2009 |
Reviews
'The Ugly Truth' is That an Uptight Heroine Doesn't Make a Romantic Comedy
There's something basically chilly about the way Katherine Heigl comes off in The Ugly Truth. A character like this needs to be more than a ball-buster who learns to soften up; her complexity needs to make sense from the outset.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
07-20-2009 |
Reviews
'Orphan' Relishes Suspense Over Exploitation and Dread Over Abstract Terror
Orphan is a persuasive addition to the subgenre of bad-seed-horror films like The Omen where a creepy little kid wrecks havoc and murder on the lives of ill-equipped adults.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
07-20-2009 |
Reviews
'Lemon Tree': Uprootednew
Lemon Tree is many-sided thing, including an astute political drama, but the film ultimately is about two women forced by circumstance into a rivalry.
Eugene Weekly |
Jason Blair |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
The Boy Magician Answers the Call of His Little Wand in 'Half-Blood Prince'new
We're still wild about Harry, even though this new adventure prefers to flush pink with its lovesick teens than forward-thrust toward the mammoth battle of good vs. evil.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
'Beth Cooper' is Out of Touchnew
After a promising start, I Love You, Beth Cooper quickly becomes a tedious, cliched high school comedy.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
