AltWeeklies Wire
'All About Steve': The Nail in Sandra Bullock's Career's Coffin!new
Poor Sandra Bullock: She's an actress that everyone seems to love to hate, but up until now, she didn't deserve half the flak and sarcasm she's suffered in a world full of far-less-likeable Jennifer Anistons and Renee Zellwegers.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
09-03-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: All About Steve, Phil Traill
'Cold Souls': Paul Giamatti! Paul Giamatti!new
I'm not exactly sure how to characterize Cold Souls -- maybe as an existential dark comedy that deals with the black market of soul trafficking? -- but I do know it does writer/director Sophie Barthes' film a disservice to compare it to just about anything else.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
09-03-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Sophie Barthes, Cold Souls
'Amreeka' Skillfully Evokes American Post-9/11 Uneasenew
Amreeka hops over every one of its predictable, carefully laid-out hurdles.
New York Press |
Armond White |
09-03-2009 |
Reviews
'Halloween II': Unmasking Crapnew
Rob Zombie's initial Halloween was decent, but the sequel is terrible.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Halloween II, Rob Zombie
'In the Loop': War Machinenew
A fictional exploration hilariously takes aim at chicken-hawk politicians.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Armando Iannucci, In the Loop
'The Baader Meinhof Complex' Exhaustively Explores the Red Army Factionnew
Uli Edel's sober, clear-eyed view of the youthful and sexy yet arrogant and murderous, gun-toting radicals at the center of Baader-Meinhof's mythology -- a complex construct, indeed -- manages to do justice to the core of their sprawling chronology, while never overstating their narrative's obvious post-9/11 relevance.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Robin Williams Does His Best Work in Years in 'World's Greatest Dad'new
It'd be somewhat inaccurate to call Bobcat Goldthwait's new movie a more mature effort than his earlier films, because it contains as much nastiness. But in some ways, it's more mature because it tackles some serious subject matter and actually provides Robin Williams with his best role in years.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
'O'Horten' Examines Life After Retirementnew
A story of lonely, passive people struggling with age, infirmity and boredom might sound like a subtitled snooze-fest, but director Hamer deftly infuses this work with wry humor and a subtle surrealism that arrests the audience's attention.
Boise Weekly |
Jeremiah Wierenga |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
'Still Walking' Observes a Family in Quiet Crisisnew
This is Kore-eda's most truly naturalistic, let alone Ozu-like film since his first -- the comparatively bleak 1995 Maborosi -- as well as a dysfunctional-family seriocomedy uncommonly beautiful inside and out. It's a quietly funny and insightful two hours capable of inducing one pretty ecstatic afterglow.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Still Walking, Hirokazu Kore-eda
'Extract,' Like its Lead Character, is About Averagenew
As a sketch-like trifle built from well observed details, it pretty much splits the temperamental difference between Mike Judge's cartoons: subtler than Beavis and Butt-Head, but broader than King of the Hill.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Extract, Mike Judge
Real (Scary) World: When Reality Shows Killnew
The tragic story of Ryan Jenkins allegedly murdering a swimsuit model named Jasmine Fiore would have been just another obscure, SoCal, TMZ footnote were it not for the fact that Jenkins was a rising star in the reality show world. That juicy tidbit is now shining an unwelcome light on the sleazy world of reality show one-upmanship.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O'Leary |
09-01-2009 |
Movies
DIY Documentary 'Handmade Nation' Chronicles the Indie Crafts Movementnew
Several years ago, Faythe Levine set out to document the world of DIY art, craft and design. This deeply personal quest led to the creation of a just-released feature documentary called Handmade Nation and a popular companion book of the same name.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O'Leary |
09-01-2009 |
Reviews
Two Chicago Filmmakers Adapt Tom Frank's 'What's the Matter With Kansas?'new
Joe Winston and his wife, Laura Cohen, optioned the rights to Thomas Frank's best-selling book and began to ponder how they might turn the book into a documentary. "It's a brilliant book," says Cohen, but "there are no characters with arcs, and there's not really a plot."
Chicago Reader |
Andrea Gronvall |
09-01-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jonathan Leyser Works to Finish the First Documentary on the Entire Life of William Burroughsnew
The 24-year-old is nearly finished with an ambitious assessment of perhaps the greatest literary outlaw of the 20th century.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
08-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Extract' Star Jason Bateman Plays it Straightnew
After working in the film and television industry for almost three decades, Jason Bateman has finally become a leading man. He says that Extract director Mike Judge saw similarities between Arrested Development's Michael Bluth and Joel and felt that he would be believable in the role.
The Georgia Straight |
Ian Caddell |
08-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
