AltWeeklies Wire
'Seven Pounds' is Agonizing, Incessant and Impervious to Ironynew
Will Smith continues in the vein of his last three movies by maintaining a clenched, anguished, clotted expression on his face. He has completed his transfiguration into the Fresh Prince of Airlessness.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
12-17-2008 |
Reviews
Stop the 'Earth,' We Want to Get On!new
The cheesy new Keanu Reeves film, however utterly unnecessary and half-assedly realized and anticlimactic it may be (quite, it's fair to say), is also, in fact, a model of the true and absolute essence of cinema. I am offering a way to really appreciate this film, if only you can open your mind.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
12-17-2008 |
Reviews
Clint Eastwood Finds Salvation in 'Gran Torino'new
Above all, Gran Torino feels like a summation of everything he represents as a filmmaker and a movie star, and perhaps also a farewell.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Steven Soderbergh's Che Opus is Indulgentnew
Out-perversing Gus Van Sant's Milk, Soderbergh makes a four-hour-plus biopic about a historical figure without providing a glimmer of charm or narrative coherence.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
The Timeless Showbiz of 'Frost/Nixon'new
Frost/Nixon displays bursts of some of Ron Howard's sharpest work in his fifty years in show business, but it functions best as a cartoon that chooses to think of itself as burnished bravura.
Chicago Newcity |
Ray Pride |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
'Cadillac Records' is a Quick-Sketch B-Movie Biopic That Looms Largenew
Darnell Martin's film tells a story of black popular music -- its rapidly changing phases during the 1950s from the blues to race records, from rock 'n' roll to R&B -- with richly exciting characters but not one hint of exoticism.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-04-2008 |
Reviews
'Frost/Nixon' Prioritizes Media Over Politicsnew
Frost/Nixon dramatizes the series of 1977 TV interviews that British chat host David Frost did with President Richard Nixon following his resignation after the Watergate scandal. A minor TV event -- on the level of Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs at tennis -- Howard confers it lunatic importance.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-04-2008 |
Reviews
Gus Van Sant's 'Milk' is Itself a Political Actnew
Milk hits theaters amid a renewed debate over the place of homosexuals in American life. Whether the cause will help the film is anyone's guess, but there seems little doubt that the film will help the cause.
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
12-02-2008 |
Reviews
'Doubt' Stumbles In Transition to Film
Playwright John Patrick Shanley adapts his award-winning '60s era drama for the silver screen with mixed success.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-01-2008 |
Reviews
Baz Luhrmann's 'Australia' Disappoints
Its grandiose title might encourage visions of a sweeping epic romance but Baz Luhrmann's bloated and boisterous movie is little more than a computer-graphic assisted western that takes place over the period of a few months.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-24-2008 |
Reviews
Vampire Romance 'Twilight' Makes an Awkward Leap from Page to Screennew
Stephenie Meyer's dunderheaded brick of a book may be poorly written pap, but it affords its audience a level of pure escapism as alluring as it is unrealistic and unhealthy. Twilight the movie brings all of that crashing down to earth, and inspires only nervous laughter.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
11-20-2008 |
Reviews
Daniel Craig Tries to Keep the Bond Legacy Afloat in 'Quantum of Solace'new
If nothing else, Quantum of Solace has that mouthful of a title. It's less important that the title derives from Fleming's fiction, as the movie itself generally doesn't. Which is to say, unfortunately, that it feels like a misfire.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
11-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Slumdog Millionaire' is One of the Best Films of the Yearnew
At first glance just another Third World children-of-the-slums weepie, it transcends the limitations of that slender genre in leaps and bounds.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
11-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Role Models' Counters the Apatow Curse with More than Self-Indulgencenew
David Wain's film looks like another of those comedies about boorish males that threaten to turn American cineplexes into frat houses or romper rooms, but it flips the script instead.
New York Press |
Armond White |
11-06-2008 |
Reviews
Bernie Mac Seals His Career With a Laugh in 'Soul Men'
Bernie Mac's last film before his untimely death is a let-it-rip irreverent comedy invested with Bernie's trademark brand of earthy humor.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-03-2008 |
Reviews
