AltWeeklies Wire
Ghosts is a Powerful and Realistic Look at Illegal Chinese Immigrantsnew
Made before his terrific 2007 Iraq War docudrama, Battle for Haditha, but only released here now, Ghosts (2006) isn't quite that film's equal. But it's still powerful and realistic.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
11-19-2008 |
Reviews
'Quantum of Solace' Doesn't Deliver on the Hypenew
Overhyped screenwriter Paul Haggis plods away with execrable emotional grand narratives of revenge, love, and betrayal that have no place in a Bond film.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Ben Richardson |
11-12-2008 |
Reviews
Fear(s) of the Dark Offers an Animated Omnibus of Juvenile Dreadnew
Structured as a frame story of sorts, the film begins with a pack of four voracious hounds, tethered to a sadist, who set out across the countryside in search of blood. Positioned along the backdrop of this chase are four vignettes of horror that center on popular phobias.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
10-30-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Various, Fear(s) of the Dark
Madonna's 'Filth and Wisdom' is Another Unlucky Starnew
Seeking to amuse and enlighten, Filth feels joyless and pretentious, yet empty. There will be worse 2008 movies. Probably none will make their makers seem quite so smugly unpleasant.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
10-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Madonna, Filth and Wisdom
'Secrecy' Investigates Executive Power and the Need-to-Knownew
Even as Secrecy's former operatives acknowledge the massive intelligence failures leading to 9/11, they're ready to make the case for the increased need for government subterfuge in the War on Terror: what secrecy begets, only secrecy will solve, and every time the gloves come off, the blinders will go on.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Max Goldberg |
10-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Flash of Genius' is Well Done but Depressingnew
Little man fights big business -- you've seen this story before. But that doesn't mean it's not effective when done right. There may be a formula to Flash of Genius, but in this case it works.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Louis Peitzman |
10-01-2008 |
Reviews
'Sputnik Mania' Takes a Hot Look at the Cold Warnew
Two decades ago, when communism in most territories ended with a whimper, the Cold War era officially died with it. But David Hoffman's documentary Sputnik Mania turns the Way Back Machine to that long moment when it was overwhelmingly, virulently alive.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
08-13-2008 |
Reviews
'Wanted and Desired' Takes Aim at Roman Polanski and the Culture of Celebritynew
Some critics will probably deride Wanted and Desired as pure hagiography, or worse yet, a legitimization of Polanski's crimes and subsequent fugitive status. But Zenovich's intentions circumnavigate any idol worship, as her refusal to err toward his guilt or exoneration makes clear.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'The Wackness' Captures 1994's Halcyon Hustlenew
Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) may not be as brainy and broken as Holden Caulfield or as mortality-fixated and mundane as Andrew Largeman of Garden State, but Peck hits the right notes of cringe-inducing yet pungent realism required to turn this potential cipher into a full-fledged character.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: The Wackness, Jonathan Levine
'Hancock' is no 'Men in Black,' but It Still Teems with Destruction, Funninessnew
It's no Men in Black, but still teems with destruction, funniness
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amber Humphrey |
07-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tom Kalin's 'Savage Grace' is Shallow and Gracelessnew
Other New Queer Cinema mavericks have gone on to make films that challenge artistic, thematic, and commercial assumptions. In comparison, Savage Grace is oddly conservative.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
06-18-2008 |
Reviews
'Stuck' Cuts Both Waysnew
Inspired (very loosely) by an actual incident, Stuck is a eminently satisfying comedy of the grotesque, sporting all of director Stuart Gordon's flair for balancing queasy horror and near-surreal hilarity.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
06-04-2008 |
Reviews
'Bigger, Stronger, Faster' Is Smarter Than It Looksnew
In taking a trip down just such a road to self-betterment, this unexpectedly delightful and deep documentary bumps up against cosmetic surgery, steroid usage, and wheatgrass juice. As it questions the points at which an investment in exterior or physical perfection might constitute cheating, it holds up a mirror to the American way of life.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
06-04-2008 |
Reviews
'Love Songs' Steps Out From Under An Umbrellanew
Love Songs proves few movies are entirely terrible or terrific. Its crushworthy final half-hour is touching and sometimes magnificent. But much of its initial hour is maddening.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
06-04-2008 |
Reviews
'Mister Lonely' Moonwalks between Surreal and Melancholynew
Harmony Korine's latest -- his first feature since Julien Donkey-Boy -- is perhaps his most unusual effort to date, but not for the reasons seasoned Korine watchers might expect.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
05-22-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Mister Lonely, Harmony Korine
