AltWeeklies Wire
Just What You Wanted on Vacation: Stabbings!new
"Nothing bad ever happens in Hawaii," one touristy character in A Perfect Getaway naively notes.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
08-06-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: A Perfect Getaway, David Twohy
'Julie & Julia' Will Make Foodies Furiously Masturbatenew
More or less entirely delightful, Julie & Julia has a pretty foolproof formula: It's a movie based on a popular book that's based on a popular blog that, in turn, was inspired by America's most popular chef.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
08-06-2009 |
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
'G-Force' is Less Fun Than a Gerbil Up the Heinienew
It's probably not surprising to learn that G-Force, the new 3D half-animated/half-real-life kids movie from Disney and über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, isn't very good. It's noisy, crude, and nonsensical -- none of which is bad in and of itself -- but it's also insultingly stupid and not nearly funny enough.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
07-24-2009 |
Reviews
'Public Enemies': Johnny Depp's Got a Tommy Gun!new
For all of Public Enemies' muddled attempts to delve into the history of America's first "war on crime," it works better as a thriller, an action flick, and a character sketch of Dillinger -- and all of those are things which, in its fast-paced, sharply edited second half, Public Enemies becomes.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
The Oscar-Winning 'Departures' Is Good, but Not That Goodnew
While moving and carefully done, Departures is hardly revelatory -- it sticks to tear-jerking iterations on circle-of-life themes. As the Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, the film's greatest profundity reveals more about the questionable decisions being made by the Academy than those of love, death, or life.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
Courting Condi: A Good Example of Why There Aren't a Lot of 'Musical Docu-Tragi-Comedies'new
The comedy wears out its welcome about two minutes in, but the engaging, too-sparse info about Rice suggests there's a truly excellent documentary to be made about our former secretary of state. Unfortunately, Courting Condi isn't it -- this might be the only film in history to include both a fat dude on ice skates falling down and photos from Abu Ghraib.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
06-19-2009 |
Reviews
Old People Are Worthwhile! (Well, At Least They Are in 'O'Horten')new
O'Horten sets out to disprove an equation that young folk calculate each time we see an old person eating a tuna melt by themselves, paying bus fare in nickels, or filling a shopping basket with single serving soup cans and cat food: elderly + alone = depressing.
The Portland Mercury |
Allison Hallett |
06-19-2009 |
Reviews
'Year One' Tries (and Fails) to be a Monty Python Movienew
Harold Ramis has had a hand in some seriously great comedies -- Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day -- but, lest we forget, he was also responsible for Club Paradise and Stuart Saves His Family. Year One might be better than either of those movies, but not by much.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
06-19-2009 |
Reviews
Delve Even Deeper into 'Watchmen' with 'Tales of the Black Freighter'new
Not content with his three-hour-long, hyper-dense feature, director Zack Snyder has executive-produced two supplemental short films for DVD, both based on material absent in Watchmen, but present in the comic books the film is based on.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
03-26-2009 |
Reviews
'The Cake Eaters': Not as Interesting as Cakenew
The Cake Eaters is another well-intentioned indie drama you don't need to see.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
03-26-2009 |
Reviews
The Green Card of Doom: 'Crossing Over'new
Crossing Over tries to make us feel bad about the unfair difficulties of becoming a US citizen, and also to make us remember how everybody in the world wants to become an American because, by golly, we're terrific! But if this movie is any indication, we're actually self-righteous, pompous bores.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
03-26-2009 |
Reviews
All Hail Cliff Clavin!new
It's banal, it's predictable, and it's basically excruciating.
The Portland Mercury |
Logan Sachon |
02-19-2009 |
Reviews
Cash Documentary Says Nothing Newnew
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is not especially penetrating; it's more of a puff piece using archival photographs and current-day interviews.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
02-05-2009 |
Reviews
'He's Just Not that Into You': The Longest, Most Unnecessarily Complicated Chick Flick Evernew
He's Just Not That Into You looks like a fun, awesome chick flick, and parts of it live up to that promise —- but unfortunately, this bitch is long, and by the time it finally ended, it felt more grueling than any bad date I've ever had.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
02-05-2009 |
Reviews
