AltWeeklies Wire
Documentary 'Taqwacore' Examines Muslim Punk Musiciansnew
Director Omar Majeed doesn't try to hide the artists' laziness and contradictory ideologies. His film embraces the musicians for the confused, irresponsible, sometimes delusional yet often admirable punks that they are.
NOW Magazine |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
10-16-2009 |
Reviews
'Spread' is Spread Thinlynew
Wonder if Spread's producer and star, Ashton Kutcher, drew on his relationship with Demi Moore for the role of Nikki, a New Age gigolo who whores himself out to rich cougars so he can squat in their Hollywood Hills pads and take them shopping for his Prada threads.
NOW Magazine |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
08-17-2009 |
Reviews
'Bandslam': Like 'High School Musical' for Indie Kids, but Better Than That Soundsnew
Director Todd Graff infuses the movie with a palpable reverence for the process of making music, giving it a beating heart that separates it from the usual calculated teeny-bop fare.
NOW Magazine |
Matt Semansky |
08-17-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Bandslam, Todd Graff
Sacha Baron Cohen's Shock Tactics in 'Bruno' Are Ass Backwardsnew
In scene after scene, Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles throw transgressive images and suggestions at the audience, daring them to take offence. It's shock comedy based entirely on gay panic.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
07-13-2009 |
Reviews
'Growing Op': Weed Killernew
Growing Op might fizzle as comedy, but it does answer the question "Whatever happened to Rosanna Arquette?" The former A-lister, whose charm and acting skills are intact, plays the mother hen in a family involved in growing weed in the burbs.
NOW Magazine |
Glenn Sumi |
11-24-2008 |
Reviews
'JCVD' is Van Damme Goodnew
Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest movie hits like a helicopter kick to the head. Who knew the Muscles from Brussels could act, especially when he's required to stretch more than just his inseam?
NOW Magazine |
Barrett Hooper |
11-17-2008 |
Reviews
Kaufman Conquers: 'Synecdoche, New York' is a Surreal Surprisenew
Kaufman's directorial debut is as conceptually daring and narratively complex as his screenplays for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Elements of all three films can be spotted in this one, but with his own hand on the joystick Kaufman burrows further into his idiosyncratic world than ever before.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
11-10-2008 |
Reviews
'Filth and Wisdom' is Surprisingly Chastenew
If Alex Rodriguez is Exhibit A in Guy Ritchie's pending divorce from Madonna, then Exhibit B must surely be Madge's immaterial and unambitious directorial debut.
NOW Magazine |
Barrett Hooper |
11-03-2008 |
Reviews
'The Tiger's Tail' is a Tepid Talenew
I saw John Boorman's film in January 2007, when it closed the Palm Springs Film Festival. At the time, it felt like a casual disappointment from a once-great director, destined for DVD obscurity. I'm not entirely sure why it merits theatrical release now, almost two years later.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
10-27-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: John Boorman, The Tiger's Tail
'The Secret of the Grain' Shows Its Heartnew
Abdellatif Kechiche's warm and inviting portrait of a man and his restaurant is a hearty feast of gender politics, generational conflict, cultural metaphors and kettle-whistling family drama, all served with the same affection as the couscous at the film's center.
NOW Magazine |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
10-06-2008 |
Reviews
Marc Abraham Makes His Directorial Debut With 'Flash of Genius'new
The result is a plodding, thumpingly obvious gloss on the decade-long efforts of Dr. Robert Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper, to be properly acknowledged for his efforts after Ford cheated him out of the money and the credit.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
10-06-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Flash of Genius, Marc Abraham
Anne Hathaway Puts on an Oscar-worthy Performance in 'Rachel Getting Married'new
Academy Award poolies, take note: Anne Hathaway plays a junkie in Jonathan Demme’s new movie and she’s sure to draw Oscar’s attention.
NOW Magazine |
Staff |
10-06-2008 |
Reviews
'Tell Us More' Delivers Hitchcockian Thrillsnew
Guillaume Canet's taut, gritty thriller went straight to video, in Canada, in January. And nobody noticed. This is a shame, because the film is an excellent example of the sort of crackling psychological thriller that Americans don't seem to know how to make any more.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
09-29-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Guillaume Canet, Tell Us More
'Igor': A Good Hunchnew
The latest it's-for-kids-but-it's-really-for-their-parents-too animated fantasy flick is Igor, starring the voice of John Cusack in the title role.
NOW Magazine |
Deirdre Swain |
09-22-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Igor, Anthony Leondis
'Sukiyaki Western Django': Takashi Miike's Misfirenew
Set up in a brief, bizarre introduction by Quentin Tarantino in cowpoke garb, the film is the story of an introverted gunslinger who arrives in a remote village where two colour-coded gangs, the Genji Whites and the Heike Reds, are locked in an endless feud.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
09-22-2008 |
Reviews
