AltWeeklies Wire
Place Value: All that separates The Rocker and is star powernew
Hamlet 2 works better than The Rocker, because it actually takes star power to play a guy who doesn't have any.
Charleston City Paper |
Scott Renshaw |
08-20-2008 |
Reviews
Blackface vs. Black Faces: It's the claim of authenticity that's truly offensivenew
It isn't the act of painting the hands and face black that's offensive and harmful. It's the claim of authenticity that goes along with that act, the assumption that something real and true is being represented when someone darkens his face, paints on a huge red mouth, and shucks and jives on a stage. So Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer is offensive, as is C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man. But so is Samuel L. Jackson in Black Snake Moan, Terence Howard in Hustle & Flow, and 50 Cent on any given day.
Charleston City Paper |
Conseula Francis |
08-20-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder
Wealth and Privilege Have Rarely Looked So Luscious as in 'Brideshead'new
Lust for companionship. For God. For love. For real estate. For family. Everyone in Brideshead Revisited is hungry for something, and it gets them into terrific trouble.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
08-06-2008 |
Reviews
Darned to Heck: 'Hellboy II' Comes to You Streamlined and Franchisednew
Watching Hellboy II is a process. It feels like it's been tamed and corralled and commodified. Hellboy was rowdy and feral and dangerous, and already, in only its second outing, the franchise has been herded into the slaughterhouse and ground up in chuck chop and wrapped in sanitary plastic.
Charleston City Paper |
MaryAnn Johanson |
07-09-2008 |
Reviews
Steve Carell Stars in Mediocre Remake of TV Classic 'Get Smart'new
In the Apatow era, one more fallible-but-lovable man-boy may be one too many to make Get Smart's concept the laugh riot it aims to be.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
06-18-2008 |
Reviews
'Son of Rambow' is Slightly Off Targetnew
Son of Rambow is an exceptionally earnest film about a blossoming, sweet friendship founded as much on loss as movie love. But it's hard not to long for more in a film that tries hard, but continually misses the mark.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
05-28-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Garth Jennings, Son of Rambow
'Baby Mama' is the Latest Installment of Estro-Comedynew
Michael McCullers doesn't have writer Tina Fey's deft hand. While he does see something significant in the almost entirely sci-fi female-generated pregnancy where men are barely in the picture, his social commentary is only skin deep.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
04-23-2008 |
Reviews
Women's Lib in the Form of a Jewel Heistnew
It's gotta mean something, right? In only the first few months of 2008 we've seen more than two movies about daring robberies pulled off by little people who feel, perhaps justifiably so, that they've been cheated by life while other fat lucky bastards have made out at their expense.
Charleston City Paper |
MaryAnn Johanson |
04-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Flawless, Michael Radford
Princess Feministnew
What Penelope says about chasing Prince Charming.
Charleston City Paper |
Consuela Francis |
03-12-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Mark Palansky, Penelope
Latest Rambo Most Concise of Seriesnew
Not that the Vietnam vet ever stopped to smell the roses, but this is the wrong place to look for narrative twists or witty dialogue. Rambo doesn't even have a catchphrase or a worthy speech to make. He's too busy blowing shit up.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
02-06-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Rambo, Sylvester Stallone
Not Up to Snuffnew
The problem Untraceable is it gives its hero little to do beyond tapping on computer keys and fretting in a maternal way about her daughter and the younger FBI agents under her care.
Charleston City Paper |
Maryann Johanson |
01-30-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Gregory Hoblit, Untraceable
Boys Don't Crynew
Why the best romantic comedies aren't about women.
Charleston City Paper |
Conseula Francis |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: 27 Dresses, Anne Fletcher
The Spooky Art of 'The Orphanage'new
The Orphanage is an effective, desperately unsettling ghost story that shows Hollywood how a horror movie should be done.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Juan Antonio Bayona, The Orphanage
Type Castingnew
Jack plays Jack, Morgan plays Morgan, and The Bucket List plods along.
Charleston City Paper |
Scott Renshaw |
01-09-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Rob Reiner, The Bucket List
Say Hello to 'The Merkin Man'new
What a perfect place for a TV special like Devin Dukes' Gettin' Around the Lowcountry, a short film similar to public TV-style magazine shows, that visits charming locales for in-depth looks at South Carolina's most colorful inhabitants.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
01-09-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Devin Dukes, The Merkin Man
