AltWeeklies Wire
The Decline of the Western
But no matter how well-played, a string of scenes without narrative justification is a string of scenes.
Washington City Paper |
Louis Bayard |
04-17-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Don't Come Knocking, Wim Wenders
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Anyone who's expecting a solid telling of a talented man's self-destruction should stay away.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
04-07-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Woolley, Stoned
Dead Can Dance
If you can't guess exactly what's coming, you've obviously never seen a dancing movie before -- or any movie, really.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
04-07-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Liz Friedlander, Take The Lead
Boy, Can She Pick 'Em
Seduction doesn't look all that seductive in Basic Instinct 2.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
04-07-2006 |
Reviews
Noir School Confidential
Evoking John Huston, Jean-Luc Godard and John Hughes without resorting to slavish imitation, Brick doesn't come out of nowhere, but it does end up in a class of its own.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
04-07-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Brick, Rian Johnson
Miasma Vice
This is a carefree exercise in murder and retribution, more concerned with style than the moral implications of its protagonist's crusade.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
04-07-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Lucky Number Slevin, Paul McGuigan
Choice Sophie
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days fails to click for two reasons, one practical and the other conceptual.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
03-27-2006 |
Reviews
The Word at War
The film successfully conjures war and peace, as well as its competing notions of Christian duty, but it's vague on any but the most generic sort of humanity.
Washington City Paper |
Mark Jenkins |
03-27-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Christian Carion, Joyeux Noel
Bride and Prejudice
This is a surprisingly resonant allegory about arrogance and missed opportunities for connection -- and about the dismal odds of ever reaching peace because of these roadblocks.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
03-27-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Eran Riklis, The Syrian Bride
Cracking Wiseguy
Didn't anyone ever tell Sidney Lumet the one about putting lipstick on a pig?
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
03-27-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Sidney Lumet, Find Me Guilty
Huffing About Puffing
It's all in fun, but obviously there's a message here: You can't trust anything or anybody, because even the worst of situations can be spun to look golden.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
03-17-2006 |
Reviews
Spinning Out of Control
Set in a futuristic Great Britain, this adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's graphic novel has everything to do with red-statism run amok.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
03-17-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: James McTeigue, V for Vendetta
Closet Stretchers
Duck Season has found a niche you never knew existed: It's a coming-of-age movie in which no one is quite ready to come of age.
Washington City Paper |
Louis Bayard |
03-17-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Fernando Eimbcke, Duck Season
Nothing Matters
Despite indulging in such Errol Morris-y touches as convex lenses and distorted sound to convey Bruce's initial dislocation, Murray tells this story with empathy and grace.
Washington City Paper |
Louis Bayard |
03-17-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Rupert Murray, Unknown White Male
Hazy Shades
Winter Passing is enervated and underrealized.
Washington City Paper |
Louis Bayard |
03-10-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Adam Rapp, Winter Passing
