AltWeeklies Wire
Paul Haggis Gets the Iraq War Right
Writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash) uses a biblically grounded metaphor as an all-encompassing touchstone for the desperate plight of physically and psychologically wounded Iraq War soldiers returning home.
Tags: Paul Haggis, In the Valley of Elah
'The Brave One' Wants to Turn the Clock Back
As its blandly heroic title forecasts, the film is a revenge fantasy that floats like a narrative helium balloon waiting to find its ceiling.
Tags: Neil Jordan, The Brave One
Crowe Vs. Bale: Mangold Reinvents Elmore Leonard Western
Director James Mangold’s update of the Elmore Leonard short story that spawned the original 1957 Western, is a gritty action-packed movie that trades on the talents of its headstrong leading men.
Tags: 3:10 to Yuma, James Mangold
Rod Lurie Takes Jackson and Hartnett Nine Rounds
Lurie puts another feather in his directing hat with an absorbing character study about a daily newspaper writer who takes a shortcut to success only to discover that, like the subject of his career-saving article, he is not the man he thought himself to be.
Tags: Resurrecting the Champ, Rod Lurie
LOL: Rowan Atkinson Dusts Off Mr. Bean One Last Time
A highly enjoyable family comedy for every unadorned moment of Rowan Atkinson's comic genius.
'Delirious' is, Well, Delirious
There's enough retro modern social satire here to support the comical efforts of a talented cast adding layers of emotional nuance.
Tags: Delirious, Tom DiCillo
'Death at a Funeral': Over the Top, Backwards
Director Frank Oz nearly redeems himself, after his disastrous Stepford Wives remake, with a British black comedy.
Tags: Death at a Funeral, Frank Oz
'The 11th Hour': A Fount of Vital Information
This film is an essential bookend chapter to An Inconvenient Truth.
'The King of Kong': Enjoyable Gaming Action
Here's one of those unfolding documentaries where unforeseen events and deeds make the subject more appealing than even filmmaker Seth Gordon expected.
'Dedication': Disarmingly Funny
Actor Justin Theroux makes an auspicious directorial debut with a romantic comedy full of emotional life and witty filmic textures.
Tags: Dedication, Justin Theroux
'Superbad': Apatow Gang Gets Funny With the Funky
That venerable genre, the teen sex comedy, gets a hot shot of warm lovin' in director Greg Mottola's (The Daytrippers) rendering of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's irreverent script.
Tags: Greg Mottola, Superbad
'Descent': A Modern Art Film
Apart from its obvious exploitation element and disjointed second act, the movie achieves a cool momentum by sheer force of the intimate power play that takes place over the course of a slow build-up.
Tags: Descent, Talia Lugacy
'Rush Hour 3'
In their third and ostensibly last outing together, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker go through the motions of energizing the Rush Hour franchise, albeit with less physical action and much less apparent joy.
Tags: Brett Ratner, Rush Hour 3
Final 'Hour': Chan and Tucker Go Out With a Whimper
In their third and ostensibly last outing together, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker go through the motions of energizing the Rush Hour franchise, albeit with less physical action and much less apparent joy.
Tags: Brett Ratner, Rush Hour 3
The Bourne Ultimatum
Even audiences new to the Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) spy thriller franchise will respond with compulsory excitement at the elaborately orchestrated chain of exhilarating chase sequences that lead up to a philosophically satisfying whopper of a climax.
