AltWeeklies Wire
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
'Doubt' Wags the Finger of Moral Relativismnew
With its bristling topicality, ritzy cast and the added bonus of Roger Deakins' gracefully bleak cinematography, Doubt is being squired around town as prime Oscar bait. But in Shanley’s hands, it only looks deep.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Australia': Somewhere Over the Datelinenew
You don't have to have been raised on colonial Brit Lit, classic melodramas, Westerns, war movies, or Gone With the Wind to predict the likely outcome of Baz Luhrmann's Australia within its first 15 minutes, but any or all of the above will help.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-01-2008 |
Reviews
'Bolt' is a Starry Dog Storynew
As I laughed my head off, I wondered what it means that children's movies have become the playground for Hollywood's self-loathing.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-21-2008 |
Reviews
'Slumdog Millionaire': Game Show Masalanew
The potential for a treacly Good Will Hunting of the Mumbai ghetto abounds, but Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy think more in terms of a minor-scale Dickensian epic.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
11-14-2008 |
Reviews
'A Christmas Tale' is Ecstatically Bitchynew
Arnaud Desplechin comes home for the horror days.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-14-2008 |
Reviews
'Ballast': Weight of the Worldnew
Taking measure of Lance Hammer's Sundance-awarded drama.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-07-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ballast, Lance Hammer
'The Secret Life of Bees': Buzz Killnew
Saccharine civil rights drama is all honey, no sting.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-17-2008 |
Reviews
'Moving Midway': Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?new
A white Southern family's alterna-history meets reality.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-17-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Godfrey Cheshire, Moving Midway
'Rachel Getting Married': Anne Hathaway Plays the Other Sisternew
Actress makes compelling bad girl in pedestrian family drama.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-10-2008 |
Reviews
'Body of Lies': Terror Porn We Can Believe Innew
British actor Mark Strong steals show in Ridley Scott's latest.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
10-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ridley Scott, Body of Lies
'Lakeview Terrace': Samuel L. Jackson Is the Cop Next Doornew
Director Neil LaBute mounts stealth attack on viewer sensibilities.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
09-19-2008 |
Reviews
'The Women': Ladies Lightnew
From Diane English, just another chick flick.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
09-12-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Diane English, The Women
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' Indie Angeleno Tries to Go Home Againnew
Momma's Man taps into those moments when all of us long to flee adulthood and sink back into being our parents' beloved baby birds, whether or not we ever were in the first place.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
09-05-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Azazel Jacobs, Momma's Man
If Only 'Tropic Thunder' Were as Naughty as the P.C. Protesters Complainnew
Tropic Thunder arrives in theaters hyped, virally marketed and decreed by no less an authority than The New York Times as the naughtiest little studio release of the summer-movie season.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews