AltWeeklies Wire
'The Spiderwick Chronicles': A Surprising Addition to a Saturated Genrenew
Shockingly, watching Nickelodeon Movies' latest release is much like a newborn baby's very first breath of air.
Dig Boston |
Josh Elmets |
02-13-2008 |
Reviews
'In Bruges': Hitmen on Holidaynew
The presence of Colin Farrell in a film usually has a number of possible outcomes, none of them good.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
02-06-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
'Teeth': Worse than Consequential Pre-Marital Sexnew
It's hard to decide which is more disturbing: a movie about a cock-chomping vag with a razor-sharp bite, or the fact that somebody thought making said movie was a good idea in the first place.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
01-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth
'27 Dresses': A Tulle Catastrophenew
Here are some things to do on a Friday night that are preferable to seeing 27 Dresses: get a colonoscopy, file tax forms, stab yourself repeatedly in the eyes.
Dig Boston |
Polly Furth |
01-16-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: 27 Dresses, Anne Fletcher
'Alvin and the Chipmunks' is Really Not Badnew
It's damned near impossible to look at those furry CGI rodents and not want one for your own.
Dig Boston |
Josh Elmets |
12-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Alvin and the Chipmunks, Tim Hill
Soprano James Gandolphini Sings Tenor ... or Somethingnew
Yes, Romance and Cigarettes is a musical, falling somewhere between the impossibly bleak Pennies From Heaven and, at the other end of the genre spectrum, the weirdly meta cheeseball antics of Moulin Rouge.
Dig Boston |
Shaula Clark |
11-28-2007 |
Reviews
'Lions for Lambs' Offers Bumper-Sticker Platitudesnew
The next time Robert Redford decides to make a film about Iraq and the Bush administration, I really wish he'd run the script by me first. Or at least show it to Joe, the bum that hangs out in front of Starbucks. Or my cat Pearl. Because any of the above could easily have told him that this well intentioned muddle of mediocrity misses the mark by a mile and half.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
11-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford
'Dan in Real Life' Is Pure Evilnew
You have to see it to appreciate how awe-inspiringly awful it all is -- But wait! Don't do it!
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
10-24-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Dan in Real Life, Peter Hedges
Ben Affeck, Natural Director?new
It's easy to forget that Affleck won an Oscar for the Good Will Hunting screenplay. With his latest release he's rediscovered the perfect role for himself, one that he probably should have been playing all along: the guy behind the camera.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
10-17-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
'30 Days of Night' = Half-assed Horrornew
Though it's based on the gloriously grotesque graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, director David Slade and his screenwriters don't appear to be up to the task of transforming the source material into a viable horror film.
Dig Boston |
Shaula Clark |
10-17-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: David Slade, 30 Days of Night
'The Darjeeling Limited': Hop on the Bastard Expressnew
With Darjeeling, Anderson has pared things down to what he cares about most: severely damaged-but-lovable rich brats and their photogenic knickknacks.
Dig Boston |
Julia Reischel |
10-04-2007 |
Reviews
'Michael Clayton' Marks the Start of Oscar Seasonnew
First time director/longtime screenwriter Tony Gilroy has outdone himself with this sordid tale of corrupt big-money lawyers.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
10-04-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
'The Kingdom': The Middle East for Dummiesnew
The film's main fault lies in its didactic pretensions, and in wanting to be something more than it's capable of being -- at heart, The Kingdom is really just a standard little TV action show for the big screen, with decent actors and a hyperactive cameraman.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
09-27-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Peter Berg, The Kingdom
'Superbad': Teen Boners Come Out Swingingnew
It is indeed a horny teenager movie, and as such, it's got its fair share of predictability and stupidity -- but it's also really, really funny, and it manages to create a world of interesting people who are both likeable and believable.
Dig Boston |
David Wildman |
08-15-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Greg Mottola, Superbad
'The Ten': Wet Hot American Old Testamentnew
The film embodies The State's style of delivering the dumbest jokes with the straightest face -- it's a formula that's been around since Airplane! and earlier, but Wain pushes the irony to near-toxic levels, putting on his biggest smirk and daring us not to laugh.
Dig Boston |
Rob Turbovsky |
08-08-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: David Wain, The Ten
