AltWeeklies Wire
Getting Back in the Gamenew
This dewy story of a girl and her horse has its snout stuck on Page One of the family-flick playbook: Well-meaning dad does something to disappoint his sensitive kid; kid bolts from the room in tears; they reconcile a few scenes later; repeat as necessary.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
10-21-2005 |
Reviews
Where Rivers and Gurus Convergenew
This documentary about a massive yet surprisingly unknown spiritual gathering shows 70 million enlightenment-seekers arriving in Allahabad, India, where three holy rivers (one of which is a mythical, nonphysical river) converge.
Orlando Weekly |
Jason Ferguson |
10-21-2005 |
Reviews
U Got the Looknew
It's not often you feel compelled to recommend a film almost entirely on the basis of its art direction, but that's the case with MirrorMask, luscious evidence that the look of modern fantasy cinema can amount to more than bald-faced Tim Burton swipes arriving 15 years after the fact.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
10-21-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Dave McKean, MirrorMask
Black and White and Red All Overnew
George Clooney's sophomore directorial outing, Good Night, and Good Luck, could be the soberest look a former TV star has ever taken at the medium that put him on the map.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
10-21-2005 |
Reviews
Go Figurenew
A filmed adaptation of a four-character play about math wizardry seems doomed to wallow in esoterica, but Proof is at its strongest the closer it veers toward the multiplication tables.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
09-30-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Proof, John Madden, James D. Stern
Gruel Intentionsnew
Well, he's got the dinginess down. In Roman Polanski's interpretation of Dickens' Oliver Twist, the London streets see hungry, unwashed masses taunted by nearby reminders of unattainable solvency.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
09-30-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Oliver Twist, Roman Polanski
Review of Film: The Greatest Game Ever Playednew
The prospect of yet another uplifting, history-based Disney sports drama sounds like enough to make a grown man pull his head off his shoulders, but this Bill Paxton-directed golfing memoir is surprisingly easy to sit through.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
09-30-2005 |
Reviews
Saigon but Not Forgottennew
It's almost impossible to review a film like Winter Soldier in the traditional sense of the verb.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
09-30-2005 |
Reviews
What's Your Favorite Layer?new
Director Matthew Vaughn (producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch) spins an involving underworld tale of deception and double-cross, relying on good old piss and vinegar to keep us invested in basic story elements that are more fun than novel.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Matthew Vaughn, Layer Cake
Yanking the Food Chainnew
Way before he had a presidential seal to lend him the veneer of diplomacy, Ronald Reagan called for America's blacks to quit moaning and realize how good they have it in the U.S. Substitute animals for people of color and you'll have the odd worldview behind Madagascar.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
You Really Got a Hold on Menew
A tough broad is a joy forever, as director Ruth Leitman reveals in her backward-looking inquiry into the distaff wing of America's favorite pseudosport.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Lipstick & Dynamite, Ruth Leitman
Cinderella Mannew
As Depression-era sports stories go, Seabiscuit is looking better all the time. Though terminally obvious, it was at least willing to take a stand on behalf of New Deal policies.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Cinderella Man, Ron Howard
The Honeymoonersnew
This ill-thought-out money grab pratfalls into the pit between reinvention and homage, then wallows there in a muck of trite situations and half-baked characterizations.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: John Schultz, The Honeymooners
Oldboynew
This South Korean shocker takes unabashed glee in heaping abuses upon Oh Dae-Su, a troublemaking womanizer who is tossed into a one-room detention chamber and held there for 15 years.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Chan-wook Park, Oldboy
Rumba Fishnew
This documentary takes up the cause of diverting kids through ballroom dance with all the zeal of an inner-city politician crusading for after-school basketball leagues.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Mad Hot Ballroom, Marilyn Agrelo
