AltWeeklies Wire
Azazel Jacobs Candidly Shares His Family's Quirks in a Docudramanew
Azazel is son of the experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs, yet this movie expresses awe for his mother, Flo.
New York Press |
Armond White |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
Why Sexual and Character Ambiguity Don't Mix in 'A Girl Cut in Two'new
What makes Claude Chabrol's A Girl Cut in Two (2007) so trying is not that it's unsure of what it wants to be, but rather that it refuses to decide.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Claude Chabrol, A Girl Cut in Two
The New Star Wars Film Would have Made a Better Video Gamenew
The animation in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni's completely unnecessary but somewhat entertaining addition to the ever-growing Star Wars prequel franchise, looks perfect. Too perfect.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews
Aaron Rose Presents a Love-letter to the Creative and Dispossessed in 'Beautiful Losers'new
Rose's directorial debut, is a quirky documentary about the rise of 10 under-appreciated—but highly influential—independent artists whose late 1980s and early '90s street culture roots and childlike spirit continue to shape contemporary pop culture.
New York Press |
Ashna Ali |
08-07-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Aaron Rose, Beautiful Losers
'Hell Ride': A Grindhouse Rejectnew
This Tarantino-produced flick is all geek posturing and biker cliches.
New York Press |
Armond White |
08-07-2008 |
Reviews
Looking Back at a Rock-and-roller Like Patti Smith is Hard to Donew
I've liked Patti Smith ever since Detroit's legendary Creem magazine published her definition of rock and roll in the poem "We Don’t Look Back!" So it's weird to see a looking-back film like Dream of Life, even though it is distinguished by documenting her constant effort to keep moving forward.
New York Press |
Armond White |
08-07-2008 |
Reviews
Courtney Hunt's Simplistic Look at Poverty is a Perfect Example of ‘Smudged-Doorframe Cinema’new
The threshold from which director-writer Hunt views her characters' hard times makes them look more pathetic than necessary.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-31-2008 |
Reviews
Kevin Costner Returns in a Heartfelt Film that Satirizes the Electoral Processnew
Like Warren Beatty's Bulworth, Swing Vote examines the electoral process as a personal one.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-31-2008 |
Reviews
The Duplass Brothers Give Horror Films a Hipster Twist in 'Baghead'new
The Strangers has already proven that people with bags over their heads are terrifying, but the Duplass Brothers--whose first feature film, The Puffy Chair, is already a cult favorit--have gone out of their way to explore the funny side of a faceless man wearing a brown paper bag.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Epic 'Santago' Can Be Easily Seen and Handled on a Three-disc Versionnew
The term "greatness" is often heaped upon Satantango as a fail-safe. It's easier to kowtow to the heft of the thing, rather than make sense of it--that is, submitting its tale of shiftless folk in a rural Hungarian hamlet (deceitful members of a farm collective) to real critical scrutiny.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Bela Tarr, Satantango
Standing Beside Philippe Petit Atop the World in 'Man on Wire'new
The biggest risk director James Marsh takes in Man on Wire, Marsh's documentary about Philippe Petit's daring tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, is in indulging Petit.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
The Quirky Adolescent Alienation of 'Boy A' Leaves a Lot Out of Life's Complexitynew
Over-stylized and under-thought, Boy A ruins its simple story of a young man in Manchester, England, trying to escape a grievous youthful error.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Boy A, John Crowley
Nanette Burstein Pretends to Document Our Country's Soul in 'American Teen'new
Not exactly a humanist document, American Teen actually belongs to the Disaster Movie genre. It gathers a mixed group of high school students in their senior year—a preppie, a jock, a nerd, a princess (The Breakfast Club cliches)--and leers at their hostility to each other.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
A Joe Strummer Doc Explains the Many Contradictions of the Clash Man and Mythnew
As presented by Julien Temple, Strummer is his own narrator, drawn from archival radio shows. Filling in the gaps are bonfire conversations with family, friends and followers--kept equal by being kept "anonymous," their anecdotes not their names or titles the focus.
New York Press |
Tony Ware |
07-17-2008 |
Reviews
The Key to Understanding Johnny To's Schizophrenic Sherlocknew
Mad Detective, Johnny To's latest collaboration with screenwriter/director Ka-fai Wai is just as cerebral and meaty as the pair's last project, Running On Karma, an action-comedy that had something for everybody.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
07-17-2008 |
Reviews
