AltWeeklies Wire
Sundance Festival Goes Back to its Roots... Or Does It?new
This year, the movie that's attracted the scalping scene outside Eccles is The Runaways, a stylish biopic of the all-teen girl band of the same name. The film has been the subject of blog gossip, thanks to casting of Twilight starlet Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett.
L.A. Weekly |
Karina Longworth |
02-05-2010 |
Movies
Do I Want to Discuss the Symbolic Use of Firewood as a Weapon...? Nonew
Sometimes, I think Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier is a genius (The Kingdom, for example). Other times, I think he’s just an asshole (let’s go with Dogville). His newest film, the controversy-baiting horror whatsit Antichrist, is a coin toss.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O’Leary |
02-02-2010 |
Reviews
Matthew Porterfield Talks About His Latest Projectnew
The second feature by filmmaker Matthew Porterfield is almost finished, though not the one you may have heard about. Putty Hill is making its world premiere at the Berlinale's International Forum for New Cinema in early February.
Baltimore City Paper |
Bret McCabe |
02-02-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Matthew Porterfield, Putty Hill
Videogame Mentality: Action Post Card from Paris Self-Destructs
As with Spaghetti Westerns and sit-coms, you know they've jumped the shark when the tone turns to self-mockery. So it is that in one fell swoop John Travolta and suicide bombers have bid audiences their valediction.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
02-01-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: From Paris With Love, Pierre Morel
Mel Gibson Crosses the Line in 'Edge of Darkness'new
In the pair of emotionally contradictory images that open Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness, swollen corpses surfacing on a moonlit river are followed without pause by grainy home video of a little girl playing in the surf.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
01-29-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Edge of Darkness, Martin Campbell
The War Comes Home in 'The Messenger'new
The backdrop for The Messenger, Oren Moverman's astonishing directing debut, is especially resonant and cinematically uncharted.
Tags: Oren Moverman, The Messenger
'Extraordinary Measures,' Ordinary Resultsnew
Harrison Ford turns up in a supporting role in Extraordinary Measures, and it's a good fit, probably the reason he also signed on as an executive producer.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
01-27-2010 |
Reviews
Hal Holbrook Shines in 'That Evening Sun'new
Like the Jeff Bridges vehicle Crazy Heart (scheduled to open locally this Friday), That Evening Sun is one of those films that generates nearly all of its goodwill from a smashing central performance by a long-established veteran.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
01-27-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Scott Teems, The Evening Sun
With 10 Best Picture Noms, is Oscar Up In the Air?new
After years of shrinking audiences and low-grossing Best Picture nominees, the Academy this year is hedging its bets. Why not expand the slate from five to 10, allowing voters to give lip service to the artsy-fartsy fare while also nominating the big box-office potboilers that they and everybody except for film critics really wanted to see?
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
01-27-2010 |
Movies
'The Providence Effect' Stands, Doesn’t Delivernew
Thanks to films like Dangerous Minds and Stand and Deliver, the "inspirational teacher" movie genre has become one of Hollywood's most predictable formulas. The Providence Effect proves that educational documentaries can succumb to clichés just as easily.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-26-2010 |
Reviews
'Hideous Men' Transcribes Interviews With Jerksnew
John Krasinski’s adaptation comes off awkward and obvious. Krasinski (of "The Office") wrote, directed and co-stars in his adaptation of the book by the late David Foster Wallace, but wastes his cast's manpower on themes that could fit on the average tweet, with letters to spare.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-26-2010 |
Reviews
Swedish Director Takes Us On a Guilt Trip Around the Worldnew
Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth employs a polyglot cast, a wide-ranging backdrop and assorted convergent storylines to ruminate on the sad state of interpersonal politics — in this case, modern parenthood and the worldwide socioeconomic factors that affect it both positively and negatively.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O’Leary |
01-26-2010 |
Reviews
Looking Back: Mel Gibson Atones, Defeated
Acting in his first film since 2003, Mel Gibson is a bit rusty as retiring Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven in a part corporate-thriller and part old-school revenge fantasy that feels dated from the start.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-25-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Edge of Darkness, Martin Campbell
The Exceptionally Cranky Life of Brother Theodorenew
To those who remember his appearances on David Letterman's show in the '80s, Brother Theodore was a German-accented, white-haired old crank whom Dave tried to goad—without much success—into a smile.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
01-25-2010 |
Movies
Dinner & a Movie: My Date With Sandra Bullocknew
Dinner-and-a-movie joints face two main challenges: 1) having the clout to book first-run pictures from studios and 2) pricing a menu above the cheese-drenched nachos at Pacific Place yet below the $100-plus you can spend for a dinner date at Gold Class.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
01-25-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
